FIRE in His 40s After Living Paycheck to Paycheck for Years w/Tae Kim

FIRE in your 40s after living paycheck to paycheck for years? Yep, it’s possible, and it’s the surprising path that Tae Kim ( @TaeKimFinancialTortoise ) now a personal finance expert, took. Tae, better known as the “Financial Tortoise” on KZbin, wasn’t the fastest on the path to financial independence-but that was never the point. To Tae, you don’t need to be the quickest to win the money game. All you need is time, perseverance, and a little self-restraint to reach early retirement and financial freedom!
In today’s FIRE Show, Tae shares how he and his wife went from paycheck to paycheck to becoming “quiet” millionaires by making small, simple, but significant steps to make money work for them. He’ll also share how to implement the “FIRE framework” into your life so you can start saving and investing to eventually reach financial independence. But what’s Tae investing in that’s allowing him to live life as a full-time KZbinr and millionaire? He shares the EXACT index fund he picked to park his money in.
If you’re tired of working the endless forty-hour workweeks but think you’re too late on the path to FIRE, think again. Follow the slow and steady path like Tae, and you could be FIRE within just a few years!
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Getting Rich is Overrated, Become a “Quiet” Millionaire w/Tae Kim:
• Getting Rich is Overra...
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00:00 One Step Away from Financial Disaster!
03:41 Getting Out of Debt & Finding FIRE
06:12 Simple Steps Leading to FIRE
09:47 What Tae Invests In
11:26 Quitting His Job
15:11 Getting His Wife on Board
16:58 Biggest FIRE Takeaway
18:28 Connect with Tae!

[@bryan8638]

The secret to EVERY SINGLE ONE of these FITE Interviews, have a successful KZbin channel! 😅

[@ashleymercedesdiaz]

Lol

[@leet8017]

Yeah, i suspect that there's a talking circuit, where people make their youtube rounds on

[@drew8235]

I'm tired of hearing from people who are primarily doing well because they have a successful KZbin channel. I wanna hear from people who make 40k-80k a year with no channel and are still doing well.

[@flashsentry1791]

I agree.

[@davidbrooks8809]

You are 100% correct first of all they have a large income and they still making money they're not retired

[@farmoboy83]

i do less than 20k per year and doing well in Portugal after house mortgage paid off. Minimalist simple living and don't give a fxxxuck about fashion or trends and do vacations inside my country with homemade food...its not a complicated science, just losing the ilusion of overconsumption and have a strong money discipline

[@sarahuber8567]

This guy is my favorite financial influencer.

[@ej2much]

He has the best hair on KZbin

[@user-ho1jz7zv5u]

😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@kirkm4988]

Graduated from business school and still didn’t know how to manage his money. Crazy to hear that.

[@MrPookiexL3oi]

I self educated myself with money and had to learn to manage my emotion to money and after doing that I am now living a happier lifestyle then in the past making only $50K a year but my money is working while I sleep it's so important to be financially educated. It is so crazy how so many college educated students are financially and honestly emotionally illiterate to money. I understand that our government school system is doing this purposely to keep us uneducated about money.

[@loveangelmozart]

You hit nail on the head with the emotional aspect of money.

[@r.massattack4052]

Perfect. 2 of my favorite financial educators Mindy and Tae. I follow both. So much knowledge and information

[@picofreeflow]

I enjoyed this episode! Keep up the good work.

[@VagabondWay]

Wow. So many nuggets in here and so many insightful quotes. It's true - until you can even dream a little and see yourself in an FI position and believe there is a chance it can be true - so much goes over one's head bc you think it could never be you. Great flowing conversation!!!

[@lilibethvilella]

Loved this sooooo much thank you! Fellow VTSAX er here 🙋🏻‍♀️

[@sheenayaj1700]

Love Tae! Great interview!

[@justintx75]

Tae Kim, thanks for sharing your short falls for everyone to learn from

[@kwokweng76]

I ❤ your hair style

[@grigorirasputin425]

What about glasses?

[@briansamaniego-howard1806]

"I realized in 10 years, I'll be one seat over" Dang...

[@spencersgarage]

So, what do you do for healthcare?

[@jdedad]

Inspirational

[@wdeemarwdeemar8739]

Whoa wearing blue I am rocked…. No black shirt wow.

[@Wenshu_Art]

Wait a minute! Were you in Ramit video before??

[@jml9550]

FIRE is easy if you don’t have kids. My home and 3 rentals are all paid off, making $200k+ now. I can easily retire now at 51 with my wife if we don’t have kids. We have 2 teenagers.

[@chih9397]

I'm here for Tae's hair 💁‍♂️

[@TalesOfTrillions]

Tae Kim's story proves that financial independence is within reach, no matter your age or income level. It's not about luck; it's about making intentional decisions and taking steps towards your goals.

[@sarahuber8567]

His name income was 200k 13 years ago. That’s a huge part of it.

[@donaldlyons17]

@@sarahuber8567 Yeah but possibility people are the ones the Tubers need because they watch this CR*P!!

[@fromragstorags]

What is his favorite podcast that he got introduced to? He introduces at 5 minutes and 22 seconds

[@aprilvancleve9463]

45k on a wedding! Holy guacamole!!?

[@TheMclovin3516]

I spent close to $60k on mine 🤦‍♂️

[@aprilvancleve9463]

@@TheMclovin3516 Just think! If you would have invested it in the market, you'd have a million bucks in 35 years! So technically in opportunity cost, your wedding cost a million bucks! 🤣 I can't say anything. We spent probably 15-20k on ours. Should have just had a small vacation wedding and called it a day. Oh well. Great memories!

[@BaoNguyen-bz2qw]

I think the average wedding is not $25-30k

[@nb-hh2kn]

i became paycheck to paycheck due to gambling and cash advances

[@angaudlinn]

I love the humble and soft approach to the subject that Tae has. I've gravitated towards his content before since it spoke to me... I'm pulling the plug this Summer btw. :)

[@coreymadden3650]

Own capital folks..... own capital the old addage takes money to make money

[@DRZLLZRD]

Mindy, does that mean that you started to doing the things you wanted to do rather than trying to continue to save money? Re: your episode on ramits podcast.

[@wli3880]

So how much do we need to do fire?

[@fisgrisen1585]

Mindy 50+ has 4 million and still working so guess 6-8 million? Mr money mustasch did it on 500k in his 30s and still going strong…

[@timobrien4634]

25x your estimated annual expenses is a rough estimate to consider. Depends what you want to spend.

[@ds5651]

Know your yearly spending. The 4% rule is soild. For every million it will generate around $40,000 a year. Adjust accordingly.

[@xx-ql3kv]

tortoise!! bruh!

[@Sar0]

Tae Kim AA is 60/20/hair products.

[@almaortega9261]

😂😂😂😂

[@darrellq6954]

The only thing I disagree is the point that you cannot beat the market. Buying and holding Apple, Amazon, Netflix, Google, Tesla etc have sped up my financial independence. And I am still holding strong…..

[@Liljoozy]

On average, the average person should not expect to regularly beat average market returns...

[@nobnoba]

Well done ur above average performer. Meanwhile.....for average ppl, just go with index ETF

[@nobnoba]

Is 25x expenses still valid though? Research says its actually too much.

[@klevykids]

200k is barely achievable for many. I got MBA and no, not making even 70k. 200k getting set on a path of wealth, it's easy. Try 30-50 K , not possible, can't cut much. Hahaha, you're basically mocking people. Saving? Really? Investing? Don't be ridiculous

[@donaldlyons17]

Well that might depend on expenses. I only say this because years ago I was able to save 35K making 20K after tax but I was super lucky my expenses were very small although I was financially independent of others.

[@Andocus1213]

BS, 200k is definitely achievable for most with MBA. If you think you will never get there - you are doing something wrong

[@donaldlyons17]

@@Andocus1213 you mean possible or do you mean likely? Because no 200k is a ton for many professions!!!

[@patpaof]

Sorry but I really don’t like videos like this where they didn’t start off from scratch. These people had the income and money ALREADY. They were simply financially irresponsible with spending. Dude was a financial director before he started saying he was struggling with living. They were living paycheck to paycheck because they were spending more or the same as what they made, which was already HIGH. Like come on, it’s not hard being ‘wealthy’ once you have the income. Just stop spending on dumb things, put money in a HISA, invest in real estate, Index or EFT.

[@zackdreamcast]

7:30 traditional jobs? You were a DIRECTOR at a company. This is not a standard nor traditional job. Maybe 3-5% of people make it into such a role. What is your guidance for the other 97% youre in a live of privilege so of course you can hit your financial goals . Just don’t spend like your Connor Mcgregor and you’ll be ok

[@donaldlyons17]

Well that all depends on other factors though like location, dependents, school loans etc....

[@user-kpkxgtj]

Depends on the size of the company too, being a director at a small business is very different from being a director at a Fortune 500 company.

[@cyberwapx]

Fire in 40 , is laziness

[@RichLifeMY]

Or jealousy?

[@peachygal8856]

@@RichLifeMYexactly! Haters gonna hate!

[@user-kpkxgtj]

Or defining retirement differently. Retirement is simply not having to trade your time for money at a job. It is not sitting on the front porch watching life go by.