Early Retirement

Our family recently became millionaires at ages 35 and 33, and we aim to be Financially Independent (“F.I.”) by 40. Being F.I. means we’ll have enough assets producing passive income to the point that we shouldn’t ever have to work again. What we do after that point will be completely up to us!

Many factors helped make this possible … but one of the most powerful is being a D.I.N.K. family (Duel Income, No Kids: hence the blog name). Well, sort of…. see my 2019 post about my Instant Family.

Being D.I.N.K.s allows our family to spend significantly more time focused on our careers than would be possible if we had children. For example, both my wife and I attended grad school at night, while working full-time jobs. Thankfully it was worth it – leading to massive boosts in our income – but could we have done this with children? Maybe, but it certainly wouldn’t be ideal. Additionally, kids are sooooo expensive! Avoiding day care bills, colleague tuition, food, clothing, baby gear, etc., has saved us a lot over the years. While financial considerations didn’t factor into our decision to not have children, this sure is a great bonus of the D.I.N.K. lifestyle.

Another key to our success has been having a plan and sticking to it! We track all our expenses and monthly budget using Mint.com, which I highly recommend. Budgeting is the foundation of our success because it forces us to live within our means and enables us to prioritize our savings over useless consumerist expenses. For long-term planning I’ve developed a yearly schedule that lays out specific annual goals, which is much less intimidating than considering the years and massive amount we still need for early retirement.

These annual goals are possible because our household income is $300,000/year, which I realize is higher than most, but it’s not always been that way. Ms. D.I.N.K. and I have steadily grown our income over the years, which now allows us to now save roughly half our income annually. Our savings primarily goes toward maxing out our 401ks and Roth IRAs (via backdoor conversion), paying off our once six-figure student loan debt, and purchasing real estate investment properties.

Periodically I post updates on our family’s net worth and progress towards F.I. My goal is to inspire you while helping keep me accountable! Plus, Ms. D.I.N.K. hates when I talk personal finances, so you’re help me keep my marriage strong as well! 😊

Net Worth Updates: