A 29-year-old software engineer from Minneapolis who makes $135,000 a year is set to retire early at age 35.
Tanner Firl and his wife, Isabel, have already saved more than $380,000 and plan to retire with approximately $625,000 in the bank by the time they reach age 35.
The couple, who also have a son and three cats, describe themselves as extremely frugal and have adopted FIRE (short for financial independence, retire early) as their financial strategy.
“I don’t really like buying anything. In fact, it gives me a little anxiety. If I had to guess, I’d say that in terms of the entire population, I’d probably be in the top 1 percent of the most frugal people, maybe the top 0.1 percent.” he said CNBC.
“It never made sense to me. Most people have a problem with not spending money. We have almost the opposite problem.”
Tanner Firl and his wife, Isabel, have already saved more than $380,000 and plan to retire with approximately $625,000 in the bank by the time they reach age 35.
Her main breadwinner also managed to get her couch and patio furniture for free on Craigslist.
He also told the channel that every year or two, he buys secondhand sneakers as a treat for himself.
Firl explained that by consistently saving about half of his salary, his personal brokerage account has more than $221,000, his Roth IRA has more than $57,000, and he has managed to secure more than $26,000 in his health savings account.
He has also managed to save over $75,000 in his 401K account.
When asked how he manages to be so frugal, Firl explained that his childhood was the same and said that going to the bowling alley and getting a piece of gum out of the machine was a treat for him and his siblings.
“Every time we wanted something, we had to spend our own money to buy it or wait until our birthday or Christmas,” she said.
The couple, who also have a son and three cats, describe themselves as extremely frugal and have adopted FIRE (short for financial independence, retire early) as their financial strategy.
In 2017, the couple bought their first home and rented out the ground floor on Airbnb to raise the funds needed to pay off their entire mortgage.
The following year, the couple purchased their current 675-square-foot home for $185,000 and once again listed part of it on the short-term rental website.
But this hustle and bustle ended soon after they became parents.
The couple’s intense budgeting techniques come days after American financial guru Suze Orman revealed the main reason why American workers feel they never have enough money: and it’s because of self-sabotage.
While on stage at a personal finance conference, Orman told the audience that each individual’s mindset is the reason they are constantly short of money.
In 2017, the couple bought their first home and rented out the ground floor on Airbnb to raise the funds to pay off their entire mortgage.
She explained that this was because Americans believed they “didn’t deserve it (the money) or they gave it away.”
In a short clip, Orman passionately tells viewers: ‘I’m here to tell each and every one of you that if you don’t have the money you want in your life, you are the reason.
‘Either you think you don’t deserve it, or you say you’ll never get out of debt, or you take action and give all your money or whatever you do to someone else because you think you’re not worthy.’
In May, Orman advised those who want to retire eventually to put as much money as they can into a Roth IRA.
A Roth IRA is a type of individual retirement account into which you contribute after-tax dollars from your paycheck, and as money expert Orman points out, all future withdrawals are tax-free.
