The Shockingly Simple Math Behind Social Security
In the world of very early retirement, we tend to ignore one of the most important things for normal retirees: the Social Security program. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great thing for the 73
Mr. Money Mustache
Early Retirement through Badassity
The California Effect
One of the reasons I don’t write as often these days is that my life has gradually evolved into a Personal Finance Bubble. The people around me have learned to be purposeful with their money,
How to Build a Kitchen (and Why)
Well, looks like it has happened again. Since the last time we spoke, I got sucked into building my 17th(?) kitchen, and I have finally emerged from its messy yet addictive grasp as I stand here at
Less Cars, More Money: My Visit to the City of the Future
In my role as Mr. Money Mustache, I do my best to be your one-stop-shop for Lifestyle Guru ideas. So over the years we’ve covered not just the Money side of life, but also the even more important
Frugal Man Buys $52,000 Car – Why??
As I type this, I’m jumping through the various hoops involved in buying a 2023 Tesla Model Y, a rather expensive, luxury “crossover” that is absolutely loaded to the gills with excess: all
The Comfort Crisis
As with many things in life these days, it all started with an episode of the Peter Attia podcast. In this edition, our nation’s most Badass Doctor was interviewing a guest I initially dismissed as
What to Do About These High Interest Rates
Whoa, have you seen what just happened to interest rates!? Suddenly, after at least fourteen years of our financial world being mostly the same, somebody flipped over the table and now things are
The Arizona Experiment!
The thing that drew me to early retirement is freedom, and that’s still the best part of it. Back in 2005, the primary reason for this freedom-seeking was being able to devote my best hours to
How To Afford a House These Days
The other day, an MMM reader stopped by and left the following comment on one of my older posts about the principles of FIRE: As with every critique of our ideas, I thought about this comment for a
The Ultimate Life Coach
Almost nineteen years into early retirement now, I’ve come to realize that the complete freedom of this lifestyle can be a double-edged sword. You’ve already heard me raving plenty about the
$656,000 of Frugal Things I Still Love Doing
“I used to read Mr. Money Mustache”, some people say these days, “Until he got all rich and fancy so that he no longer understands the common person’s plight. Stash probably doesn’t
Six Dumb Misconceptions About The Economy (that the Politicians Want You To Believe)
Well, it looks like we’re here in another US election year already. As Advanced Mustachians, we already know that the ongoing battle of Harris vs. Trump should not be consuming much of our time.
Retired Man Tries to Spend More Money, Mostly Fails
A couple of years ago, Mr. Money Mustache lost some credibility among the faithful when he wrote this blog post about actually trying to spend a bit more money, while buying a Tesla as the first step
Wow, have you seen the stock market lately?
And by lately, I mean the past several years or more. The value of the S&P 500 index of stocks, where most of us hopefully have a good chunk of our retirement savings stashed into index funds, is
How to Navigate the Tariff Circus
Quite accidentally, it looks like we timed our last talk about the stock market pretty darned well. Back in February 2025, the market put the perfect cap on a multi year climb before stepping onto
How Unlimited Free Stuff from Amazon Almost Ruined My Retirement
It all started last winter when I innocently posted a review for a heated vest I had bought on Amazon. I was happy with this fun new way to beat the winter and wanted to share it with others, so I
My Unexpected Journey to Hormone Replacement (TRT)
As a man of Science, I’m supposed to hide my enthusiasm about this somewhat controversial subject, and instead direct you only to the peer-reviewed studies. But man, I feel like I’ve stumbled
