Profiles of Financial Independence


The Financial Independence movement is gaining momentum.  If you want to join the cause today, you're in luck: many others that have successfully gone before you, and many more who are at some intermediate point in the path, maintain active blogs in which they share personal stories and best practices.

On this page, I'll profile some of these bloggers in an attempt to illustrate that financial independence is a real possibility for real people in many different walks of life.


The Financially Independent


Jim Collins (jlcollinsnh)
http://jlcollinsnh.com/
Financially independent in 1989 (age 38); worked on-and-off since; retired in 2011 (age 60)
Dates Active: Jun 2011 - Present

Joe Udo (RetireBy40)
http://retireby40.org (Archive)
Left his job in July 2012 (age )
Dates Active: Oct 2010 - Present
Advantages: an engineering salary; a wife on the same page
History: How To Retire By 40
Budget: 2012

Sydney Lagier (RetiredSyd)
http://retiredsyd.typepad.com (Archive)
Left her job in March 2008 (age 44); went back to work part-time, then left her job permanently on August 2012
Dates Active: Oct 2007 - Present
Advantages: two CPA salaries; a husband on the same page

RootOfGood
http://rootofgood.com (Archive)
Left his job in August 2013 (age 33)
Dates Active: September 2013 - Present
Family: wife, three(!) kids
Advantages: two salaries (one a civil engineer); a wife on the same page
History: Early Retirement at 33, An Overview
Budget: 2010, 2011, 2012

Mr. Money Mustache
http://www.mrmoneymustache.com (Archive)
Left his job in 2005 (age 30)
Dates Active: April 2011 - Present
Family: wife, on kid
Advantages: two software engineer salaries; real estate dealings; a wife on the same page
History: A Brief History of the 'Stash: How We Saved From Zero To Retirement in Ten Years
Budgets: 2010, 2011, 2012

David Cain
http://www.raptitude.com (Archive)
Left his job in October 2011 (age 33)
Dates Active: Mar 2009 - Present
Family: none
Advantages: deep hatred of mindless consumerism
History: How Much Of Your Life Are You Selling Off? A Tweet In Time Saves $19,000


Works In Progress


Brandon Curtis
http://www.andhigherstill.com (Archive)
In graduate school (age 25)
Dates Active: January 2013- Present
Family: none
Advantages: engineering degree, obsessed with optimization, thrifty upbringing
Budget: 2013