I’ve never liked cheapskates. I once worked with a guy who – when we went out to lunch – would make sure he only paid for what he ordered. And when it came to figuring the tax he made sure the other person paid the extra penny. The result was that, instead of just “splitting the bill” there was a lot of bookkeeping and figuring going on. After awhile no one would go out with him.
Because of this I was intrigued when I came across a piece in the New York Post titled, “The Richest Cheapskates” by Suzy Weiss. It sported a subhead that said, “They’re making salaries most of us can only dream of – and living like paupers so they can retire young. Meet NYC’s wealthiest penny pinchers.”
INCOME: $270,000, SAVES 70%
Daniel, 36, is a Harvard law grad, makes a six-figure salary as a corporate lawyer and has a next egg of $400,000-plus. He declined to give his last name but says he lives in Jersey City and has a monthly rent of $1,945. He has no TV (just books he buys—10 for $5 at a local church sale).
The incognito corporate lawyer who is a Harvard grad, photo courtesy of the New York Post
An armoire holds five suits that he had specially made in China for $100 each. His shoes cost between $20-$60 and are bought at thrift shops. He is doing this because he’s a member of the growing FIRE movement, which is short for “Financial Independence, Retire Early.” Said differently it’s “Save fast so you can quit working young.” Followers combine investments with penny-pinching so they can quit their 9-to-5 jobs well before hitting 60. Right now, he’s on track to retire in three years.
A FAMILY INCOME OF SIX FIGURES
Shang Saavedra, 34-years-old, is a FIRE follower and corporate strategy consultant. Saavedra and her husband have a $25 monthly entertainment budget, never buy drinks and could retire today if they wanted to or as she says, “Our savings rate right now is 50%, pre-tax.”
Saavedra is a FIRE hack, eight months pregnant and in a “Buy Nothing” group on Facebook. She says, “Most of the stuff I have has been given completely free. We’re buying one stroller. Parents are very generous and this is easy to do in a big city because there is always someone who doesn’t need something and is willing to give it away. (She has a point: I gave away a lot of costly items when I moved four years ago.)
A FIRE follower: $57,000 in debt
Carmen Perez, 32 stumbled onto FIRE three years ago while looking for ways to get out of the $57,000 she owed. She was so frugal, her friends at work jokingly offered to start a GoFundMe to replace her Oxford shoes. “I was making six figures and my shoes looked like they were going to fall apart,” she says.
But Perez was able to save enough to quit her well-paying job in financial services. She now plans to learn how to code while living off her savings. “I have the ability to pivot now and do what I love because there’s money in the bank.”
HOW DOES THIS AFFECT OTHERS?
Daniel, who is single, admits that FIRE hasn’t helped his social life. “My ex-girlfriend never really got on board. Her concept of what I was doing was being cheap – depriving myself and her, too.” Relating to people in his office is also challenging. “They talk all the time about the fancy restaurants, bars and Broadway shows they’re going to,” he says. The bottom line is this: he looks forward to swapping his 60-hour workweek for leisure time that’s his to spend just as he wants.
Comment: In recent years, I’ve listened to endless complaining from recent college grads about the “staggering college loans they have and how long it will take to pay them off.” One wag weighed in with this: “If they stopped paying $8.00 for avocado toast maybe they could handle their debt better.” That’s a thought!
Shaun Nelson-Henrick
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I just read an article that sounded – to me at least – like “a canary in a coal mine” or an early warning of danger. This piece, written by Joe Pompeo, appeared in the May 2020 issue of Vanity Fair magazine with the title “The British Tabloid Invasion” and a subtitle that read, “How the Daily Mail is conquering American gossip.”
The paparazzi horde, La Dolce Vita, 1960 – photo courtesy of Vanity Fair
Apparently the good old U.S. is a nation of “not great” sleepers. Really? And I thought I was the only one! According to a recent study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention it was revealed that one out of three Americans are chronically sleep-deprived. Yikes!
I think we’re all taken by the incredible mystique of the famous French fashion house, Hermès that has been with us for two centuries and is still owned and operated by the same family. From its beginnings in fine equestrian leather goods, they are – in the tumultuous year 2020 – best known for their handbags and many other items.
My image of Hermès has always been rarified products at equally rarified prices so imagine my surprise when I recently received a very stylish publication of theirs in the mail.
Karen Armitage
March 05, 2020
A quick comment on this one. It’s called quality of daily life combined with goals, dreams and above all sharing. I wonder what their lives are like after the retire goal has been reached and there are no friends or family around to celebrate.