3 tips to save and retire early from a person who got it before 40

Managing to save enough to stop having the need to work is an objective that seems to have become fashionable after movements such as the well-known FIRE. Behind this are success stories, some genuine and others with a certain suspicious aspect. The truth is that most people who claim to have achieved that economic and labor freedom have actually changed their office jobs. or as employees for their own projects.

That is also the case of Grant Sabatier, who in 2010, at the age of 24, he had just moved back in with his parents after going from one job to another and being fired in the midst of the 2008 crisis. At that point, Sabatier knew he had to get his finances in order.

His wake-up call came on the morning of August 24, when he wanted to eat a burrito. “I only had $2.26 in my bank account, not even enough to buy a side of guacamole,” says the now founder and author of Millennial Money, a blog that became his first part-time job and has since monetized in a variety of ways until you no longer have to search for the need for a full-time job in a recent interview.

In the story of himself that he tells now, he says that he set himself a goal: get a million dollars and retire as soon as possible.

He started doing everything he could to make money, from buying and selling domain names to buying and selling motorhomes. “She got to have 13 different sources of income,” she says.

Sabatier raised his income to more than $300,000 a year. He also managed to save around 80% of what he earned, which he invested in different options. Five years later, Sabatier reached his goal with more than $1.2 million in savings. That was in 2015.

Sabatier, who is now 34 years old, acknowledges that his story is not easily repeatable, but it is possible to follow certain guidelines that he took to try to increase income and save to have capital to invest.

save as an opportunity

According to your recipe, to achieve this, you have to be willing and able to save constantly between 50% and 70% of income, he says, and that may require a major lifestyle overhaul. “The important thing is to realize that saving is not a sacrifice. It is an opportunity.”

“You’re going to have to live a little differently than most people”he explains on his blog.

“You’re probably thinking, ‘Oh, I’m going to have to get a crappy apartment or drive a crappy car.’ And the answer is: You may have to do that for a while,” he says.

“But we are not talking about doing it forever. We are talking about doing it only for a couple of years to be able to deposit, save and invest the difference,” he argues.

To this is added three tips that he gives to continue earning more money and saving:

Think if you can adjust your biggest monthly expense

What is your largest monthly expense? For many people, it is the rent or the mortgage. Sabatier recommends trying to lower that number as much as possible because it’s an easy way to make a big impact on your savings.

“Live in the least expensive apartment you can. If you can reduce your housing cost by a third, you’ve taken 10 or 15 years off your shoulders in the time it will take you to achieve savings that make you consider that you have much more freedom” .

Start a parallel business to the main one

You can only reduce your expenses to a certain point. But the amount you can earn is unlimited, she says.

“Go out and try to earn a little extra money”Sabatier says. “You don’t have to go crazy, you don’t have to go out and make an extra $10,000 or more a month, but any little extra will do you good.”

He points out that it is also important to invest the extra income. By putting your cash to work, those earnings are able to grow, instead of sitting in a savings account, where they can actually lose value in the long run due to inflation.

And don’t stop doing it

In the end, the entrepreneur says that the “most important” thing is to stay motivated.

“I see a lot of people who get emotional and then you see them again 90 days later and they don’t do it anymore”says Sabatier.

Sabatier remained standing thanks to the gamificación of your savings. “This is one of those things where it can be really fun, and it can be really addictive,” he says. Once you’ve built a little momentum, he says, “Look at your bank account every day for five minutes. … You’ll start to see your money grow and that’s all the motivation you’re going to need.”