Can the Average American Really Retire in 19 Years?

In today’s glittering world of Instagram and Twitter, it can seem like you are the only one not living your best life. Offline though, the reality is sadly about despondent Millennials who are saddled with student debt, and Boomers for whom retirement is out of reach.

Its refreshing then, to come across a highly practical guy that preaches the virtues of early retirement by way of financial independence. So how can an average person retire in 20, 15 or less years of working? Not by get rich quick schemes or genius side gigs. Instead it’s the rather boring idea of living a simple, frugal, purpose-driven life. The difference here is he does not just dole out advice. He proceeds to demonstrate in a very measure way, how its done. As he (better known as Mr. Money Mustache on the interwebs) puts it, “The only factor is your saving’s rate as a percentage of your take-home pay”. His is frugal living driven not by hyperbole but by one’s own ‘higher purpose’. His is not a life of misery but rather a lifestyle guided by a thorough examination of needs vs wants and ruthlessly eliminating the latter. As I cannot do justice to his piece (and hey, the man should be rewarded for his work), here is the link to his immensely useful post.