184 comments

How I Sold This Website for $9 Million

Dearest Readers,

I’ve been waiting to tell you this with considerable excitement for a whole year, but the sales contract prevented me from doing so until this moment. And as of April 1st, 2019, I’m officially free to reveal that:

Mr. Money Mustache has been sold!

Yep. I’m not sure if it’s the age-old truism that “Everybody has their price”, or the fact that I got bored after eight years of writing it and just ran out of things to say, but over time I have come to realize that it was time to pass this golden opportunity on to someone else.

The highest bidder in this case was Shamrock Financial Trust*, a financial products company in the Isle of Man, UK that specializes in special premium investments that beat the market while dodging the taxman.

I was unsure of exactly why Shamrock would be willing to pay so much for my collection of five hundred articles mostly about spending less money and investing in index funds. But when you put six zeroes after a number on a check, it is amazing how quickly uncertainty and questions can vanish!

From my understanding, a site like MMM has a certain value just from its ranking in the search engines, and ongoing traffic of several million page views per month and about 33 million unique visitors over its lifetime. But still, those are just numbers on the page and don’t seem real because I haven’t been taking full advantage of the opportunity.

But, the Shamrock leadership team has assured me that the site will take on a vibrant new life, with a team of professional writers churning out fresh content on the daily, and an SEO-optimized stream of monetized offers that deliver maximum value-added solutions to all stakeholders.

And I just thought I’d reach out to see if we could jump on a call to catch up on the bleeding edge of some big data, to see if there’s any Corporate Synergy in our Core Competencies.

Fuck! Don’t you hate corporate bullshit and business buzzwords? Me too.

(thanks to reader Ron Cameron in the comments below for mentioning this incredibly appropriate Weird Al / Crosby Stills and Nash song. It is SO good!)

It was both fun and sickening for me to type that cheerful little story, but hopefully you realized from the title alone that it is April Fool’s Day, and I thought I should play along with a preposterous headline of my own.

In reality, of course I have no desire to sell this website, because doing so would violate some of the core math of early retirement happiness:

  • It would subtract something from my life that brings me true happiness (the ability to be in touch with you, which in turn brings more friends and lots of challenge and a sense of meaning into my life)
  • while adding more money, which would make absolutely no improvement to my life because I am not feeling any pain due to a shortage of money.

And that’s the real reason I figured this lame April Fool’s prank also contained a life lesson that was worth sharing as a blog article. Because I am still hearing from people every day who are selling out their own lives for their careers.

So many people are using a successful working career and earning loads of money as an excuse for not facing the realities of life.

Although this is certainly not a gender-specific problem, as a 44-year-old man living in a wealthy area I am surrounded by peers who are afflicted by this disease of Success-itis.

People who are rockstars in the corporate sphere and at the peak of their careers, who have become so addicted to the activity that they can’t see they are just chiseled Kuhl-clad rodents jogging in the latest trail runners on a gilded hamster wheel.

Career success is a very sneaky thing, much like a layered salad of Superfood Greens that gradually devolves into a dessert of Creme Brulee enhanced with crystals of Crack Cocaine as you dig deeper. It starts out with all sorts of self-actualization and personal growth, but as you begin dining you are also hooked up to intravenous feeds of ego stoking and copious income. So even as the worthwhile parts fade, you grow more and more addicted to the superficial rewards.

Of course, the standard American tradition is to spend all of this money as soon as you get it, locking in a lifestyle that is so bloated and inefficient that you “need” to keep earning the enormous bucks to “support your family.”

It becomes very easy to justify career-itis as a noble and selfless thing, rather than the lame indulgence it really is, when you are simultaneously addicted to corporate accomplishment, and bad at managing the veritable shitload of money it generates. If you are making a multiple six figure salary in your 40s and still not even financially independent, please grow up and learn a bit about money beyond just buying yourself nice stuff. It should be embarrassing to be still dependent on a paycheck while sitting in such a privileged position.

But even for those of us who get the money part solved, with investments large enough to see us through several prosperous lifetimes, the career addiction still remains strong. The fact that people still end up on redeye flights, missing their kids’ school performances and barking out buzzwords at underlings during endless conference calls even with tens of millions in the bank, should serve as a real warning of how addictive this disease can really be.

So for this April First, I would like to issue a little reminder, for overly successful men and women of my overly rich country:

A successful career is a fine way to learn some life skills and earn some money. But if you’re still doing it at 40 years old, you are probably sucking at something else.

And if you’re still in the office at 50, you’d better be changing the world and not just a cog in a machine that is doing something you don’t believe in.

Since career-itis is an addiction to success, the easiest way to break free is to give yourself permission to suck for a while.

If you are a Successful Career Man and you want to start a family, there is going to be a 20-year period where you are either a half-assed worker, or a half-assed Dad, or both. But you can’t be amazing at both. And that is totally okay.

Because a good life is one that is well-rounded and nuanced. It’s not about PERFORMANCE at all costs. It’s about being okay with trying new things and making mistakes, and growing as a human in exchange for that.

Your kids don’t care if you make $75,000 or $75 million per year, because either of those numbers is more than enough to have all possible doors to happiness open to them.

So my challenge to you is not to work the longest and most fruitful career possible, but rather to move on to new and bigger challenges as soon as you are strong enough to do so. 

Complacency and doubling down on your existing half-satisfying job is a form of weakness. Moving on and trying new things is a sign and source of flexibility and strength. And mental flexibility and strength are the biggest allies you’ll ever find in the long journey through life.

Thus, of course I did not sell this website, and of course I’m going to keep occasionally writing things for it, on my own schedule and nobody else’s, while struggling and fighting and learning in all the other areas of life.

It won’t be perfect, but it will be interesting and fulfilling and awesome. I wish you the same in your badass and ever-changing life!


* This is a fictional name that I picked because it contained the word Sham, plus a real financial company from the Isle of Man sent around some bogus legal threats to a few bloggers several years ago so I thought it would be nice to combine the ideas. 

  • Allen April 2, 2019, 9:28 am

    That statement about making all that money and still relying on a paycheck…..ouch! The truth hurts. I make more money right now than I ever had and maybe ever will. However, it’s great pay with adjustable hours, depending. I don’t want to retire by 50 nor can I. When the kids get out, I’ll downsize lt all and my hours some. At 250k+ and 28 weeks off, I feel semi retired.

    Reply
  • SachaFiscal April 2, 2019, 9:33 am

    Wow! You really got me…haha! I really thought you sold the site. I was actually like “He monetized his assets, good for him!”. I’m such a sucker for April Fools jokes, one time my husband fooled me for a day that we had won the lottery, I was pretty sad when he finally told me the truth. But I had to give him credit, it was a good one.

    Reply
  • Cory April 2, 2019, 10:08 am

    Many of the podcasts that I listen to have referenced MMM over the years. Today I finally decided to see what it was all about during a lunch break. Being the first post I read, I almost stopped reading mid-post, at the video clip. I was thinking this would be the next investopedia and didn’t want to waste my time.

    The only thing that kept me reading was the statement you hated corporate jargon and I thought that was crazy you would insult a buyer in their “new blog.”

    Went and read a few more articles, some thought provoking and others painful (divorce.) Even though you may not be consistent, at least I have nearly 500 more posts to go through until you decide to write your next one.

    Reply
  • Matt L April 2, 2019, 11:55 am

    This (the part after the prank, which I totally didn’t fall for) is a kick in the ass I really need right now. Thanks, MMM.

    Reply
  • frank Hinde April 2, 2019, 11:57 am

    I was having a really good day looking at the rain thru the window on my permanent vacation.. Then I realised I worked till I was 52.. Now I’m sad cus I failed..:)

    Reply
  • JP April 2, 2019, 1:44 pm

    Wow this hit me right in the gut. I went home so depressed. 50’s – working in a job that isn’t rewarding and not being able to be a good Dad. The truth hurts. Let the countdown begin.

    Reply
  • Chris B April 2, 2019, 4:19 pm

    Has anyone considered how so many of the world’s problems might be due to the fact our leaders (corporate, government, cultural) are generally multi-millionaires who still put in 80 hour weeks at the office, and are therefore irrational? If obsessive/ irrational people always outwork sane people, isn’t it inevitable they will rule the world?

    Second, has anyone ever considered how our culture celebrates obsessiveness? E.g. people who devote their entire lives to doing one thing over and over every day, like star athletes training for the Olympics, business people who make millions and pay other people to raise their kids, politicians whose desire for power makes them work long hours, movie stars, etc? Sure, some of these people have moved on from “work” to accomplishing their life mission, but there’s no way for us to tell if Mark Zuckerberg or Jeff Bezos spend their days in an office because they love it or because they’re sick. When’s the last time you heard pop culture celebrate people who can fix a car, lead a corporate or civic meeting, teach their kid the rules of soccer, do 15 push ups, cook a delicious dinner, repair a broken cabinet hinge, and build a website? None of our culture’s “heroes” can do more than 2 things on any such list.

    Reply
    • dharma bum April 2, 2019, 6:38 pm

      You forgot retired guys who tiled a complete bathroom for the first time.
      We are heroes too, and deserve to be worshipped and idolized!

      Reply
      • Married to a Swabian April 8, 2019, 4:48 am

        Hey Dharma Bum, even though I’d read “On the Road”, I wasn’t aware of “The Dharma Bums” until seeing your posts and googling it. Having read it over the holidays, it is now a favorite and additional inspiration for FI! Thanks.

        Reply
    • DuckReconMajor April 3, 2019, 9:06 am

      The Early Retirement Extreme book centers around this topic, I highly recommend it.

      Reply
    • Married to a Swabian April 8, 2019, 4:45 am

      Yes, as a society, we decided during the industrial revolution, that efficiency increases dramatically when we all become specialists, right? Henry Ford saw this in the slaughter houses and implemented it on his assembly lines. So, it must follow that those among us who are the most obsessively specialized must be held up as heroes…hmmm.
      In agriculture, biodiversity is important (and increasingly rare) and diversity in creative pursuits and skills is equally important for us humans, too!
      For this reason, Some of us are drawn to messages from leaders / writers like MMM, Thoreau (Walden) and Wendell Barry (The Unsettling of America).
      I can’t wait for the day in the not to distant future when my daily routine will include: get up, go swim, remodel a bathroom, chop firewood, plan a hike in the Sierras, build a piece of shaker style furniture, engage in political activism, volunteer, etc, etc…

      Reply
  • Worn Out Engineer April 2, 2019, 7:41 pm

    Mr. Money, thank you for what you do. Thinking about retirement and the incentivize pic from Weird Al made me contemplate my life plan. Been an engineer for 34 years on the tread mill. What you can expect from the company at 50+ is management hoping you expire quickly, quit, or burn out to enhance corporate monetization objectives. All the young readers, save and invest until it hurts. At least you can get off the tread mill on your terms before getting the corporate kick.

    Reply
  • Doug April 2, 2019, 8:48 pm

    I confess to being puzzled briefly, until I saw the posting date and remember one you posted on April 1 some years ago about needing a bigger and more expensive SUV. I also liked the video by Wierd Al Yankovic about the generous overuse of all those bullshit baffles brains buzzwords in the business world. They’re just as bad as lawyers with their jargon like pertains heretofore unto the aforementioned parties said herewith and all that rubbish. Good post!

    Reply
  • Ms Blaise April 3, 2019, 4:20 am

    This post really hits hard. On the one hand I feel like I am ahead in that I work part time hours and have lots of time at home with my young family etc etc ( in my 40s). But I also realised that I hate my current contract and that some poor behaviour has crept in. I also don’t maximise my time with the kids either …. and I’m in my late 40s. Time for a reset. Thanks (again!)

    Reply
  • Millionaire Dojo April 3, 2019, 10:01 am

    You got me! Really enjoyed the whole article though. It’s good to be reminded that my job is a necessary thing to get me to freedom. Trying hard to make money doing things I actually enjoy but working my ho hum job until then!

    Reply
    • Anonymous April 4, 2019, 8:14 am

      Got me too!

      Reply
  • Keren April 3, 2019, 2:56 pm

    I’m pretty good in the frugality department but I suck at knowing what to do with my life after having quit my high-paying corporate job over two years ago. I have a modest passive income, and I dabbled in this and that, but I haven’t really found my place or my balance. I’ve even started thinking maybe I should go back to the work I used to do. Maybe it’s different in the US, or maybe I just suck at life. I’d be happy to read more from you about these struggles and possible solutions. Being frugal and financially independent does not solve all your problems. Thanks for reading.

    Reply
    • Brian M. April 7, 2019, 2:21 pm

      Hi Keren – You are not alone. We move along a predictable path of saving X% of our income, being smart about our expenses and investments, running the gamut of early retirement calculators, and then hop off the career hamster wheel to a big party of high fives, balloons, and visions of eternal utopia. Right? I think the question of what happens next in the process turns from extremely analytical to psychological, which is treacherous territory. What makes you happy? The answer is not one size fits all and figuring that out might actually be more emotionally challenging than hitting auto pilot and spacing out on the predictable path of the career hamster wheel. I’m a couple years behind you in the process but never thought determining what I would do after achieving FI would be difficult. I’m almost embarrassed, as it seems ironic to struggle over a situation others would only dream to be in. And it seems you are struggling with some of the same issues.

      These bloggers are all friends, from what I can tell, so I do recommend taking a look at this very introspective podcast on the Mad Fientist website. He interviews Cal Newport, an expert author on this topic, and it has made a profound impact on me. Don’t worry, you won’t find some cliche answer such as “follow your passion” in this discussion. It’s much more complicated than that. There are no easy answers but hopefully it helps you find your way too.

      https://www.madfientist.com/cal-newport-interview/

      Brian (first time post!)

      Reply
    • Doug April 8, 2019, 8:52 pm

      Keren: Here’s a comment I posted in January of this year on another blog about retirement:

      Nothing to do in retirement? That’s a highly abstract concept my brain can’t comprehend. Consider the following parallel: not far from where I live there’s a small hydroelectric plant that feeds a maximum of 600 kilowatts into the provincial power grid. If it stops running and the output breaker trips, does it cause a large scale blackout like what happened on August 14, 2003? I say it won’t because that 600 kilowatts is insignificant compared to the available power generation across the entire continent. Similarly, when the major disruptive inconvenience of a job is removed from my life there’s more than enough to see, do, and experience to fill the void every day, hour, minute, second, millisecond and microsecond.
      At long last I have time to do other things. Normally I’d be off travelling now, as 3 years ago I was in Mumbai, India and 4 years ago I was scuba diving in Ko Tao, Thailand, and 2 years ago I was getting ready to take off to Australia and New Zealand. I haven’t gotten away recently as I’ve been too busy with hobbies, as well as helping friends, family, and others with various projects. I have a whole book case of reading material I haven’t got around to yet, and have also been doing some self study in Spanish, should I desire to go touring in Latin America.

      My father retired in 1988 and has yet to be bored with the beautiful paradise on Earth freedom of being retired. Someone please tell me, where’s this boredom with being retired? I think it’s just another urban myth.

      In summary get out, do things and ENJOY your freedom! I almost forgot to mention that 13 years ago I was SCUBA diving and sightseeing in Dahab, Egypt and 4 years ago I just returned from Iceland. Great times!

      Reply
  • Anonymous April 4, 2019, 8:14 am

    Omg. I fell for it.

    Mostly because I totally believe that the site is worth $9m (although I was a bit surprised by the amount). I was totally happy for MMM and disappointed by the irony of it. I just read the rest of the article and I guess I can say that my disappointment stemmed from thinking that the lifestyle wasn’t sustainable- a disappointment from losing the best, strongest voice for the movement.
    I am now very glad it was a hoax. But selfishly, I’m glad for for MMM- I wish him the best and $9M would have been awesome- but I’m happy for myself that I didn’t lose MMM. Not yet at least! Here’s to many more years of financial freedom and spiritual fulfillment.

    Reply
  • Maya April 4, 2019, 9:44 am

    Thanks again for such an inspirational post, MMM! I’ve been a reader of your blog for a few years and this past year I finally decided to quit a job that gave me no hapiness and I opened a juice bar & healthy food cafe in my little, beautiful town of Jim Thorpe, PA. While I don’t make millions, I’m soooo much happier and your blog (in addition to a number of other FI bloggers) has helped me to stay focused on not spending frivolously and living in a way that is true to my goals in life and not getting caught up in “the machine” out there. I also had to breathe a sigh of relief as I read further down your post and thankfully realized that it was an April Fool’s joke. Phew! lol! Thank you for sharing what you believe and being your honest, badass, unique self! xo, Maya

    Reply
  • Florida Mike April 4, 2019, 2:04 pm

    “And if you’re still in the office at 50, you’d better be changing the world and not just a cog in a machine that is doing something you don’t believe in.”

    Damn…thats me. :(

    I just wish I knew how to change it up. Hard to find a new job that pays what this one does even though it sucks.

    Reply
    • Taconite April 5, 2019, 10:32 am

      I hear you Florida Mike, I came to really understand FI much later in life than our mustachioed guru. It’s never too late to start. I have been working at it for a couple of years, and I hope to be most debt free except for mortgage next year with a nice little bit saved. Keep using the basic principals of spending less that you, paying your debts and then saving more. I keep telling myself all the time, its a marathon, not a 100 yard dash.

      Reply
    • TO_Ont April 5, 2019, 12:07 pm

      Well, the other half of the equation is spending less than you earn. The less you earn the harder that is, but if you don’t have a super low income there’s usually a lot you can do to reduce spending.

      Then it becomes a matter of weighing the pros and cons. What’s the minimum you can live on? Is this particular thing that you spend money on important enough to you to be worth the extra hours and years of work? Sometimes the answer is yes, this line of my budget is really really important to me. But maybe it can it be cut out or downsized.

      And so on through your spending.

      For me one of the easiest tricks has been when I get any kind of raise or new job… Put most of the extra money directly into savings and keep living as I was.

      Reply
    • Florida Mike April 7, 2019, 7:55 am

      Yeah, I have made the debt-free level but after a lifetime of working for companies with no retirement plans or insurance (like where I am now) I don’t have much saved up. Got my own IRAs and a bit in stocks but I still probably have to work 10-12 years to become FI. A divorce along the way didn’t help.

      Urgh. At least I get encouraged by what others post here!

      Reply
  • Chris April 4, 2019, 2:54 pm

    Dude, I was all set to just say congratulations. I mean, if you want to cash out, it’s yours to sell, after all.

    Good on you for not selling your legacy for money you’ll make anyway.

    My former employer refused to let me and a relative of his take over the company while retaining him as the Chairman of the Board. Instead, he sold his legacy for $8MM about a year ago. It was his to sell, but he was a fool to do so.

    Reply
  • hc April 4, 2019, 7:57 pm

    I’m a new reader, and you really got me. :) But thanks for the enlightening post. I’m mid-40s in a “career” that I don’t mind. I have flexible time and good pay for being rather lazy (so I still get plenty of good time with my kids). I’m the ‘salaryman’ while my wife runs her own business, but you’re right, I don’t trust myself enough to go and do better. I hope to gain insights from your blog and may greater things await :)

    Reply
  • Stephen April 5, 2019, 1:18 am

    I struggle with leaving my fancypants career. The career enables my family to donate about $100,000 per year to various causes, which would decline sharply if I stopped working (in part because of a generous company matching program). How do you weigh another year of work vs literally saving lives in Africa through mosquito nets and helping worthy local causes??

    In some ways, this is a variant of the question about leaving a medical practice in an underserved community.

    Reply
  • Beano April 5, 2019, 1:01 pm

    I recall deciding on a mission statement with my Boss which was… make our portfolio big enough tat we could eventually tell whoever we didn’t like to Fuck off whenever we wanted. It was the Get Fucked Mission statement.

    Still makes me laugh.

    And well he made it. Sold the company for $500 mill…..

    Reply
  • Slow Learner April 5, 2019, 7:27 pm

    Nice Prank, great reminder though. Learned it a little late but not too late. Pulling the plug December 1! Good luck all!

    Reply
  • Laurel April 6, 2019, 12:04 am

    Thank you for this uplifting article and the awesome invitation to “move on to new and bigger challenges as soon as you are strong enough to do so.” This is Week One for me of letting go of a long-term job. There were many good things about it that I will miss, including a worthwhile “mission” that I will always care about and truly dedicated and brilliant folks. But, I’ve been inspired by MMM, the badass readers and commentators here, and the many folks that are living creative, productive, fun, out-of-the-box lives, to change things up and try a different path – because I can and i think it’s time. At the end of Week One, however, I am somewhat surprised by the intensity of the feeling of being unmoored. Then I read this article. The words of wisdom are a like an old friend on the dock throwing a line: “The easiest way to break free (from career-itis) is to give yourself permission to suck for a while.” Yep, that’s gonna help going into Week Two. Thanks again, MMM.

    Reply
  • WTK April 6, 2019, 11:13 am

    Hi Pete,

    I totally agree with you on the decision to quit the rat race and do the things of one’s desire.

    Money is limitless. I am of view that one should make the decision when the generated proceed from investment portfolio is sufficient to last a lifetime. It is up to the individual to decide how much is sufficient.

    WTK

    Reply
  • Vincent April 7, 2019, 6:34 pm

    Great reminder that more is not always better. Sadly, I was once afflicted by the Career Addiction too. The never-ending praises and raises, the status of the position… Taking on a new turn in life now and not really caring about any of this now. By the way, I logged onto Social Security dot gov to see my life earnings and how much I’ve held on to… Not the prettiest sight. I think everyone should do it :)

    Reply
  • Married to a Swabian April 7, 2019, 6:57 pm

    Hey MMM, you got me on that one! Man, I thought, this cannot be true!

    I read this article in Barron’s this morning:

    https://www.barrons.com/articles/americans-unprepared-for-retirement-51554503375

    Hey, this country is in for a real financial disaster in the next couple of decades.

    All of us following this blog are going to be in good shape, if not already FI, but what about the vast majority who are socking away a measly 6-7%? They’ll never be able to retire.

    I know it’s a little off topic for this post MMM, but have you considered a means of reaching out to a wider audience, to help (lower – middle income) folks be able to retire at all?

    Reply
    • Florida Mike April 8, 2019, 7:08 am

      Thats a good article in Barrons.

      I do agree with the statistic that said many believe companies should be made to offer retirement plans. Not that I need someone to make me save money but no company I have worked for has ever had a decent one (the last company’s plan was run by the owner, you had no choice in the investments and each year it lost around 16% so I never invested in it) But at least having a GOOD plan would allow me some of the tax breaks and even better if it had a matching aspect.

      Right now someone like me is limited to what I can put in an IRA and being I make just above that income threshold, I can’t even deduct that contribution.

      FM

      Reply
  • V April 8, 2019, 9:39 am

    I need a vomiting emoji.

    Reply
  • Gary April 8, 2019, 6:02 pm

    OMG I almost flung myself off a cliff as I read the first part of this!! Thank God you didn’t sell out Mr MM !! :-) you have been a great inspiration and hope for many of us….well me at least. :-)

    Reply
  • Mike92 April 9, 2019, 5:13 pm

    “but the sales contract prevented me from doing so until this moment. And as of April 1st, 2019, I’m officially free to reveal that:” Haha, funny.

    Reply
  • Lucy April 10, 2019, 12:46 am

    I was so sickened for a second! Thankfully it was only a second, I could not have lasted much beyond that. That would have entirely ruined your website.

    Reply
  • Marushka April 12, 2019, 8:32 am

    I read most of the mmm posts years ago, and only visit on the rare occasion when I get the email saying a new post has been added. Given that I’m not a regular visitor anymore, I was amazed at my response to this article. I felt devastated, but couldn’t really understand why. – I could almost have burst into tears. I didn’t actually think you were ‘selling out’, I was more thinking along the lines of “9 million…you’d be crazy not to…”, but…”…. When I got to the April Fools part I laughed out loud for a long time. I still don’t reallly understand the strength of my initial life emotional reaction.

    Reply
  • Katie Camel April 12, 2019, 9:38 am

    I’m a little late to the game here, since I just read this post yesterday, but I read it after listening to a conversation between two physicians I work with about their lofty career goals. Their conversation had already ignited some thoughts and plenty of analyses in my mind, then this post mirrored much of what I had been pondering and planning to write about. Seriously, at what point do we leave behind careers and at what cost?

    Reply
    • Florida Mike April 12, 2019, 11:57 am

      Katie,

      Go read the “Petty reason for wanting to FIRE” thread (I paraphrased the exact title) on the Forum. I think many are like me and just don’t want to worry about a career any more. I’ve achieved all I wanted to do and all I want now is to enjoy life. Just need some more saved up to do so!

      Reply
  • marushka April 13, 2019, 1:18 am

    A few years back used to visit this site a lot as I read through most of the posts, but now I only visit to read the latest post when MMM sends out the New Post email, and sometimes I only skim them. Given that, I was really surprised how gutted and despondent I felt when I started reading this post (back on April 1, so I too am late to the game). I almost felt like bursting into tears. It wasn’t like I felt that MMM had ‘sold out’ , I actually thought something along the lines of “9 million, why wouldn’t you?”. Maybe I was just having an emotional day, because when I got to the punch line I laughed – I mean really, really laughed, out loud and for a long time. It actually perked me up for the day, nothing like starting the day with a good long laugh.

    Reply
  • Emily April 15, 2019, 2:29 pm

    Someone once told me you can have everything you want in life, just not at once.

    When we had our two children my partner and I made the choice to move from the big city to a small country town. We both have jobs that we find fulfilling and have negotiated on our terms for the lifestyle we want. While part of me would still like to accomplish more in a career sense for my own self fulfillment I know that this part can come, but just not for the next 15 to 20 years. As I agree with you you cant be amazing at both.

    We are a 5 minute commute from daycare, our girls are only in 3 days a week which they love, and we are 5 minutes from the beach, 15 minutes to the rivers and 1 hour from the lakes and mountains. I still watch my friends trying to raise children in the big city, while most of them want to make the jump to small town living for the next couple of years while they have young kids, something always holds them back.

    Reply
    • Married to a Swabian April 16, 2019, 4:35 am

      You’re absolutely doing the right thing. Go with what your gut tells you and as Steven Covey says, “Begin with the end in mind.” Being there for your children is priceless.

      Reply
  • SilentC April 16, 2019, 11:13 am

    This might have saved me a trip to the therapist! Despite being a top performer, good ol’ last in first out coupled with managerial greed detached me from a massive fire hose of money at my former company in an industry that is sinking faster than the Titanic (high fee investment funds). Fortunately I was able to find a piece of flotsam to hold onto in the icy waters but going to a lower status, lower income job really effed my brain. Thank you for the post, I’m going to give myself permission to “suck” and have a longer journey to FI! Separately, I am open to advise from anyone, if I hustle harder at my current job (or a new equivalent) I could reach FI in 5-7 years. I have an opportunity to take a mostly 40hr/week job with great benefits and telecommuting some days but little opportunity for promotions and even lower salary so my FI outlook would be more like 10-11 years. I have a young child. Any thoughts on how to maximize badassity here? Thank you!

    Reply
  • Mighty Investor April 16, 2019, 4:49 pm

    I have to admit I thought this was real at first. I was like, “Heck. $9 mill. Why not? He probably got bored with it.” I was so so so so wrong. You got me, MMM!

    Reply
  • Nicole April 23, 2019, 2:05 pm

    Thank goodness this was s joke! I just learned about you!

    Reply
  • Travelin'Dad April 23, 2019, 6:22 pm

    Well, you got me with a great, belated April Fools’ prank because I didn’t read this until today. In the vein of Weird Al’s awesome song you shared, I’ll explain thusly… After a thorough analysis of existing resources, I engaged in an attempt to maximize my efficiency across multiple platforms and simultaneous projects, by setting up, on a risk-assessed basis, a dynamic method of automated inbox sorting, which allowed action-critical and time-sensitive items to rise to my immediate attention while simultaneously filing, based on filter parameters I had selected and input, certain subscription-based information messages such as yours into a subfolder designed to be perused at my leisure, time-permitting…. Anyway, today I found that I hadn’t yet read your most recent 3 posts, and so it took me all the way to “team of professional writers churning out” before I realized this had to be a joke. Good one!

    Reply
  • Fay April 28, 2019, 4:28 pm

    I fell for it even though I saw the date on this article I still believed it. However I’m sooooo glad your staying. Anyway it’s for you to decide if you want to sell or not & no one should criticise you for that.

    I don’t earn that much money but I do like my job but hate the corporate culture. I actually feel once FI people should continue to work however hold the company accountable….the more of us who do this will surely hopefully start to change things.

    I actually feel it’s impossible for me to be FI however it’s because I’ve only started last year. In 44 & looking into investing my savings & just going for it aka close my eyes & just jump into it & wait.

    Some people may not be able to strive towards FI & I feel that seriously needs to be further investigated.

    I hope once people start to become FI that they will look at changing the world somehow in someways so as to make it as easy as possible for hopefully everyone. I can’t wait for that day.

    Thank you again for this website as I would not have come across FI without a UK 🇬🇧 (United Kingdom) blogger via Mr MM. keep up the good work

    Reply
  • gordon May 4, 2019, 4:49 pm

    MMM, this one really resonated with me and I struggle with it.

    I’m 34 (with young kids) and could FIRE but I believe I will have more influence to change the world by continuing to climb the corporate ladder and leveraging a senior leadership platform and corporate resources.

    Is this true and if so is FIRE selfish for me?

    Reply
  • Leszek Ciesielski September 23, 2019, 12:24 pm

    Amazing that Standard.co.uk, with their spotless reporting, have just quoted this April Fools article as truth :D https://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/esmagazine/fire-movement-retirement-early-a4227051.html

    Reply
    • Mr. Money Mustache September 26, 2019, 9:03 pm

      I checked out that article and it seemed pretty legitimate to me. And I didn’t see any links from there to any part of my site, let alone this article. Where did you see the link?

      Reply
  • Jeanne October 10, 2019, 9:38 am

    Well here it is October 10 2019 and I was alarmed a bit but read on anyway because I am also smart enough to realize nothing had changed about the blog. I’m new to FIRE and minimalism and was thinking I was too late. It’s never to late to take control of your financed… even at 50 yo with $150k of debt. So maybe I should start my own blog of how a 50 yo with little in savings making the very low end of middle class income can still turn out OK. Maybe not retired early, but at least comfortable in the retirement years. One can still beat the odds and not have to eat dog food in their retirement. In fact, I’m now hoping for good fresh food and frequent travel to boot.

    Reply
  • Ahmad November 5, 2019, 10:50 am

    What a great article. I have to admit, I’m among those jogging in the hamster wheel. Trying to get out of the rat race. Have an idea for a side business that may or may not work but definitely would be a step in the right direction of trying new things and attempting to escape the wheel.

    Thanks for the motivation MMM.

    Reply
  • Rachel May 13, 2020, 10:00 pm

    “A successful career is a fine way to learn some life skills and earn some money. But if you’re still doing it at 40 years old, you are probably sucking at something else.”

    I just found this blog. I’m 39, still working and definitely sucking at a great many things, but I am trying to do *much* better. Thank you for making personal finance entertaining. :-)

    Reply
  • JumpBoo January 4, 2021, 7:35 pm

    Omg. I’ve been reading through your ENTIRE blog series, start to finish, for the last few weeks. And this April Fools got me (in my defense I’m not usually so gullible). Way to break hearts, MMM, and then be like “LOL JUST KIDDING.”

    Reply

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