Episode 387: Retiring at 30yrs Old & Living A Full Life On $20k A Year W/ Purple

Purple 0:03

I as I was going closer to my goal, I did find that I not in a bad way, but in a good way, cared a little bit less about work in a way that I could, like look at it objectively, instead of more emotionally when things would go wrong, which is very helpful, because then I could solve the problems instead of just freaking out T minus 10

Intro 0:25

seconds, welcome to the journey to launch podcast with your host Jamila souffrant as a money expert who walks her talk. She helps brave journeyers like you get out of debt, save, invest and build real wealth. Join her on the journey to launch to financial freedom. 54321,

Jamila Souffrant 0:52

hey, hey, hey, journeyers, welcome to the journey to launch podcast. I hope you've been enjoying the summer rewind series of episodes. These are episodes that were previously aired on the journey to launch podcast, and they were also case studies mentioned in my book your journey to financial freedom. The last few episodes that aired before this one were based on people paying off debt. So if you found yourself or find yourself in the cadet stage, the second stage of the five journey, or stages where you are focused on paying off consumer debt. Hopefully, those episodes were useful and inspiring for you. If you didn't listen to them, you can always listen to them after you listen to this one, but this next batch of episodes are focused more on people who are on the financial independence journey, and they are starting from different various starting points. Again, all of these episodes and interviewees were mentioned in my book your journey to financial freedom, a step by step guide to achieving wealth and happiness. The book is available wherever books are sold. You can head over to your journey to financial freedom.com to get your copy and check it out. Now, let's get into the episode. If you want the episode show notes for this episode, go to journey to launch.com or click the description of wherever you're listening to this episode. In the show notes, you'll get the transcribed version of the conversation, the links that we mentioned and so much more. Also, whether you are an OG journeyer or brand new to the podcast, I've created a free jump start guide to help you on your financial freedom journey. It includes the top episodes to listen to, stages to go through to reach financial freedom resources and so much more you can go to journey to launch.com/jump start to get your guide right now. Hey, journeyers, I am interviewing someone who I think you will enjoy a lot, because not only has she been on the podcast before, she was on Episode 126, purple, as we call her, from a purple life, but she's someone who is doing what we all are aspiring to do. If you listen to this podcast, at least, I think which is retiring early. She's living a retired life, early life, and is one of the few people I know who are actually like is doing it, you know. So what I mean by that is we talk about early retirement, retiring earlier than the standard retirement age, and quitting our jobs and living life on our own terms, not necessarily worried about money or where our next paycheck is coming from. And most of the people that I know who've done that have either has done that later on in life, which is great like it does to me. It doesn't matter when you do it, even if it's the standard retirement age, if you can stop working at some point and really enjoy your life like kudos to you, no matter eight what age. But oftentimes it's like later in life, maybe that the person is doing it, or they have quit their job and are maybe pursuing entrepreneurship and is making money in that way, which, again, no shade, like make all the money you want retired or not, but to find someone who is pursuing financial independence, retired early and literally just chilling, which is what we're going to hear from purple right now. It's really like, wow. Like, so it happens it can be done, and I want to hear more. So purple, welcome back to the podcast.

Purple 4:11

Thanks so much for having me.

Jamila Souffrant 4:14

All right, so last time you were on the podcast, you're on Episode 126, and this was actually before you were going to retire like this was, you were working up to it. It was, I believe, back in 2019 So, yeah, you were on the podcast back in 2019 This was before, you know, like the pandemic struck. But I remember you were saving up like you were at the last part. I don't even think you quit your job yet. I think you were working up to that. But at that point, you said you were going to retire by 30 live off of $18,000 a year. And your goal was, I think it's your portfolio to or it was at $350,000 so you were going to live off your nest egg of a portfolio of $350,000 I know those numbers may have shifted since our conversation, but. So I want to kind of go back and see exactly when did you actually quit that job retire early, and what was your portfolio when you left everything behind? Yeah, so

Purple 5:10

I think my portfolio was 350 like you mentioned when we chatted, but my goal was to have half a million invested, and I was spending $18,000 a year while living in Seattle. But my retired annual spending goal was 20,000 plus inflation every year. So yeah, we were getting to the final legs of it. And then, you know, March 2020 what's that about? So actually, March 2020 right before the market crashed, I had almost, like, quickly hit $500,000 so I was like, oh, that's exciting. And then it's like, just kidding, we're going down 33% I'm like, Oh, great, that's nice. But yeah, I had to make a choice. Did I want to keep my plan to retire in october 2020 knowing that we were now in the middle of a pandemic and having job security might be a really good thing or what, but I wrote a post about it. Of course, that's how I helped process everything, and I decided to go for it. So at that point, like I mentioned, the market was down a third. I didn't know vaccine timelines. I didn't know what this new world would look like, but I was like, Yeah, I'm still gonna quit in six ish months, and we'll see what happens. So of course, then the market was like, I got you girl, went all the way back up. And then when I retired, I had 500,000 in invested and two years cash cushion, so $40,000 in addition to that in october 2020. Wow.

Jamila Souffrant 6:37

Okay. And again, if you want to hear more Purple's backstory, so listen to episode 126, I think you can listen to this one first like continue to listen. But if you want to hear how she worked out, her plan, how she saved, I think in your story, the last time you were able to go from literally a zero net worth to what you had when you were We were chatting $350,000 in a matter of, I forgot how many years, but it was a short time frame. So if you want to learn how purple did that, listen to episode 126, but we're gonna jump into kind of back to 2020, when you retired and quit your job, because I know for a fact that you were getting a lot of pushback, you know, maybe from on people online. I know you were doing some interviews then and wondering, like, what are you doing? Like, most people are trying to double down, save more secure their jobs. And here you have yourself saying, You know what, I'm not, not doing that. So what gave you the confidence in your plan that this was going to work out for you?

Purple 7:33

So actually, it wasn't confidence. It was fear, because of the pandemic. I was like, Oh, great. So I already kind of am a morbid person in that I think about death every day. I've had, like a lot of people, unfortunately die in my life. So I was already racing towards the school because I wanted to spend more times with my family and friends like present time, because unfortunately, I'm one of those people where even if I'm in the room with you, I'm still thinking about work. I'm not fully there. I'm like, 60% there, but not fully there. And I wanted to be completely actually there with the people I love, and then with the pandemic. I was like, great. So it's really not guaranteed that any of us will still be here in a little bit. I mean, I I have pre existing conditions that would make it bad for me to pre vaccine, have had covid and all that stuff. So it was fear. I was like, okay, so if this is it, I don't want to spend the last couple months of my life being stressed out over I was in marketing over ads that no one wants to see. So I quit.

Jamila Souffrant 8:37

And for you, knowing that you are only going to spend that $20,000 a year. You've done that while working right, like, in terms of making sure you were able to stick to that. Because for a lot of us, including me, that's a low number. I'm like, Oh, I don't know if I'll be able to do that. You know? Like, that's pretty low, but you tested that out right? Like, before you made the

Purple 8:56

leap. That's correct. I was living in New York for four years, the first start of my adulthood, also working in advertising, and I was spending about 35k there, but then I moved to Seattle, and my spending instantly dropped in half. That's how I got the 18,000 number while having a bigger, nicer apartment, living my life, eating at restaurants, doing whatever. But obviously a huge part of that is that my lifestyle is just me. I don't want kids, I don't have them, I don't have a house, a car, a pet. So all of that really helps me keep that number low while living my best life.

Jamila Souffrant 9:30

Yeah, look at you. Because for someone like myself, I'm like, Okay, three kids, Morgan's in New York City. Some people listening. They're locked in mentally and financially, to some situations where it might not allow you to spend that little. But I think it's inspiring anyway to think about okay, because I do want to go into, like, what your life looks like spending 20,000 because that might help allow us to be more creative with the way we spend our money. But I do want just in terms of, like, transfer. Guarantee you have a partner, but you keep finances separate. That is correct? Yes, right, because I know that that probably will be something that comes up like, Okay, what is she not saying? Like, how is she only living on 20,000 in Seattle or just doing some of the things you do? But so can you as much as you can. I know your partner is private, and you keep yourself as anonymous, but how that works out with money and how you separate that?

Purple 10:23

Well, logistically, we just have a spreadsheet. So usually we live full time Nomad lives. We move about every month, and mostly live in Airbnbs. So I'll pay that with my credit card. I'll put it in the spreadsheet. When it gets to a certain amount, he'll pay me back easy and overall, if someone's thinking of doing this without having a partner, I did that in my calculations because obviously we look at slightly bigger places, because we're two people. I've looked and seen that I could almost cut that in half and just have slightly smaller places just for me, which would work. Also, we're mostly staying in the US, because he is still working, and his company is based here. And if I didn't, I wasn't with him, I would actually plan to be a lot more international, which is overall a lot more affordable. Yeah,

Jamila Souffrant 11:11

because one of the things right, like, when someone is considering leaving a job, leaving corporate America, they're thinking about the benefits of like health care and the stability of a paycheck. Now you kind of, like, based on for your finances that you built up your portfolio so that, like, allows you to have your standard paycheck, which we'll talk about. But for you is, are you on his health care?

Unknown Speaker 11:32

I am not.

Jamila Souffrant 11:33

So you pay for your own health care. So this is great, because this is something that a lot of people are scared about. What do they do about healthcare? How did you navigate that and navigating that now? Well, of

Purple 11:44

course, it's very complicated. So originally I had planned to be outside the US about half the year, and obviously, with the pandemic, I had to cancel all those plans and reservations. So when that was the plan, I was going to get expat insurance through img global, which is absolutely wonderful. It but it does require that you're outside the US for half of the year, because the US is so expensive. But with that, it covers absolutely everything that a normal health insurance would, including after with them for one year. It covers preventative care too. So that was my plan. It was going to be amazing. I was very excited, and then obviously that didn't happen. So I had to come up with a stop gap plan until that can be my life. And what I came up with is, I'm currently on world nomads travel insurance, which is very different in that it's just for emergencies. So if, hopefully not, but if I get hit by a car, it'll cover the ambulance, the surgery, the hospital stay, and if I'm in another country, countries that I tell them I'm visiting, it'll cover getting airlifted home and all that stuff. So outside of that, when I have, like, a prescription to pick up, I'm going for a quick doctor's visit, I do pay out of pocket. And luckily, that hasn't been a ridiculous cost yet, but it's just a stop gap plan until I can actually get out of here.

Jamila Souffrant 13:03

Yeah. Well, it also shows you the privilege of being healthy and young. You know, fairly young because you are correct me, if I'm wrong, you're in your early 30s, yes, because you were tired, or you quit your job at when you were 30 years old, right? Correct. Okay, so, again, it's like, you know, I know not everyone has the ability or isn't a place to be healthy in this way, and we can't predict what happens to us, but obviously that's a benefit for you in terms of being fairly taken care of yourself. I see that you taken up running, which I can't wait to talk to you about, because I'm also a reluctant runner, so this would be great.

Speaker 1 13:38

Yeah. No, I love it. No, I

Jamila Souffrant 13:42

want to go back to when you quit, right? So how did your co workers take this like, did you tell them that you were like, quitting? Did they think you were going to go to another job like, or you were like, I'm retiring. And how did they look at you like? Did they look at you like, what are you doing? Well,

Purple 13:59

I worked at a fairly small company, and so a good portion of it, maybe 10% were actually my close friends. We still are friends to this day. So I told them I was retiring. Then they were like, Oh, help me, my four 1k to do. I was like, Sure, happy to help. But then the rest of the company, I was like, I'm gonna take some time off, you know, that kind of thing. And they were just like, Oh no, we'll miss you. Like, come back. The CEO I was like, you're coming back, right? And I was like, and then my boss, I told him the same spiel, but then accidentally let it slip that I retired. I was like, I'm so bad at this stealth wealth thing. And he's like, Yeah, that's what I thought. That's what I thought about you. I was like, I should stop talking about it. Next fun. So much. So, yeah, it came out. And then, since it's been two years like and now everyone there knows that I actually retired. Wow.

Jamila Souffrant 14:47

Okay, so now when it comes to taking, well, I know that you said you had a nest egg or cash, and I want to talk about that. So when people are planning their financial independence journey, how to. With their jobs. I always recommend it's something that said, you know, you have a fu. You can call it whatever you want, right? I like calling it a few money, but it's some cushion that allows you to walk away, or that you're building up so you don't, you really don't need to work or even draw down on your investments. So can you talk about the plan overall with how you were going to fund your lifestyle? So you're retiring at 30 years old. How is purple going to not ever have to have a job again and collect a paycheck until you know she's 80? Well, never again, right, until you naturally die full of God, God willing. How is that happening? What so because that break that down for people with what that looked like?

Purple 15:39

Sure. So the reason for the reason for the cash cushion was actually just because I was retiring into 2020 so I didn't know if the market was going to stay down for two years. I didn't know how long I'd be stuck in my house, or what was going on. So I wanted to start out just living on that cash, if I could. So that was the thinking behind that. And then after the cash is depleted, I'm currently still living on it. After the cash is depleted, I will start withdrawing from my taxable account. And when I retired, I had about half in my taxable and half in my tax advantaged accounts. And at the same time as I take things out of my taxable account, which even if the market doesn't increase at all for the next like, 15 or 20 years, I'll be good to just take all that money out, but hopefully will actually increase a little bit next two decades anyway. So at the same time, last year, I started doing a Roth IRA conversion ladder, which is slowly moving some money from my tax advantaged accounts into my Roth IRA, excuse me, from my traditional IRA into my Roth IRA, which I can then touch after five years. So that the thinking is after the taxable is depleted, and I still have a gap between 59 and a half when I can touch everything in my traditional IRA, that I can start using my Roth. And that's the plan.

Jamila Souffrant 16:57

And this is why I say, you know, money and the numbers and how compound interest works. It's like, almost. It's like magic. It's like, money is not real. It's real, but it's not like, you know, obviously, I know we need it to pay our bills, to to live the lifestyles we want. But when I hear, when I think about some of the things I was able to do, how things appreciate, how our money benefits from compound interest, and hearing what you're talking about, like someone listening for the first time to this is like, well, how can 500,000 last you even with the market fluctuations for the next six years or whatever, right? Like, how is that possible? And it's just like, compound interest and the market rate of returns and the averages, right? Like, the market has gone down, but eventually, as long as you don't need to touch that money, you know, it will go up over time. It's shown to increase in value. And I just think it's something that, if you're not aware that this is possible, yeah, if you just look at the numbers, at how society has taught us to look at money, it feels like a very confined like life and how you can live, but when you realize that, wait, there's something called Roth conversion ladders, because that's the other question, people say it's like, okay, but you're spending or saving all this money in retirement accounts. How can you touch that money before the retirement age? Right? And so there are ways, and I do want you to explain a little bit about the Roth IRA conversion ladder, because it is a tool that for people who are wanting to retire early and access their money before the standard of retirement age, like this is what they'll use. So can you explain what that is

Purple 18:29

for us happy to so basically, it's just a way to if you're not making any money, or a very little money, like I am, you can move money from your traditional IRA to a Roth tax free, because it's still with it below the threshold they have. So that's really helpful when you are retired and not making income. And the only rule is that you stay below the threshold if you don't want to pay taxes, or you can go above and you pay a little bit of taxes. But it might you should calculate it obviously for yourself might be less than you would pay in the long run. For example, I believe it's 70 or 70 and a half when you start getting hit with required minimum distributions, RMDs, and you're you need and have to, via the government, like, take out a huge amount. So I was also trying to get my traditional IRA lower because of that, just thinking, you know, 40 years ahead. Yeah, that's basically Roth conversion. And then the rule is that you can't touch it for five years, so you just do it every year. And then after the five years, you can start taking out what happened five years ago, and you just keep it going. And then it's an annual thing that you can withdraw. And I did want to make one other point about compound interest, so that is one of the reasons I like to be so transparent on my blog with my numbers. That's why I post my net worth at the end of every month, so people can see what's going on. And just for like a concrete example, even though the market is down, what are we 17% this year, I retired with 500,000 invested. I currently have 620,000 And at the beginning of the year, before the market started going down, I hit 750 So just as an example of like, what the market can do, even though we've been in a wild time,

Jamila Souffrant 20:09

yeah, and you haven't contributed to that account, right? So it's just the money is working for you, and once you get past a certain threshold, it works faster. Like I want to repeat that, because just in case, and I'm gonna link to the blog that purple writes about. And by the way, her blog is awesome because she's so transparent with the numbers and what she's spending on so you I'll link to develop it blog post, but you can definitely go and check it out also in the show notes. But I saw that again. You said you're 20. You retired in well, you had a goal of 500,000 to retire, right? But in 2020 your net worth was 620,000 I'm reading this from your box. You can go at the end of the year, yes, at the end of the year, but in the middle of that, it had dropped. And then from 2020 to 2021 it went from 620,000 to 750 500,000 500,000 in net worth. And that's just compound interest. And the market's working now again, right now it's back down. It says the current network. I forgot what year, what month you had posted this blog post, but it went back down to 626,000 so the beauty too, about Purple's situation, guys, is that for her, because she's not touching the money she's working off of her cushion. Like, it doesn't really matter to you. I mean, maybe emotionally, it can a little bit, not really, because you're in this for the long term. So it doesn't matter if it goes down or up, like, it just shows you how important it is to think through the strategies and how you're going to pay for your lifestyle.

Unknown Speaker 21:40

Yep, exactly.

Jamila Souffrant 21:41

So you are now living off of your cash cushion. The plan is then to tap into your taxable and then your broth. But how are you sticking to, like, the $20,000 a year spending, right? Because for some people, it's just like, what if there are spuds you want to make? Like, what can you break down for us? Like, what that is comprised of on a monthly basis, what that equals, and then how you're spending it, and how you're still enjoying your life, for those of us who can't imagine not spending it that little

Purple 22:13

so I in retirement, I think I'm a horrible example, because now I buy whatever I want, and then at the end, like, the end of the year, I'm like, oh, did I feel like I went way over? And I was like, I went $500 over my spending goal last year. That was it. And the only reason I did that is because we had to get a last minute Airbnb to avoid getting covid When the numbers were super high last December. So without that last minute Airbnb, I would have been right on target without checking but I think that's because my main expense, like with most people, is rent. So that's one thing that I can tweak and control. Like sometimes we splurge and we get a beautiful penthouse or whatever in Thailand, but that penthouse in Thailand cost less than our Seattle apartment, even though it was like two stories and gorgeous the view of the sea or I literally typed into Airbnb last August because we had no idea where we want to go, Northeastern USA, and just randomly picked up city that looked cute, and it was Catskill, New York. And we paid $1,200 for a beautiful apartment on Main Street. And then I was eating all this food. I'm like, Oh my goodness. People talk about the Catskills, but this is lovely, and that's just randomly looking so like making sure that overall rent is around where we want our target to be, but some months splurging, some months not. And then overall, I mean, most of the time I cook at home. But then if there's a week that we're in a new city, I go all out, and it just all seemed to kind of even out naturally. So I wish I had better tips, but overall traveling, I thought it would be a lot more expensive, but it hasn't been.

Jamila Souffrant 23:47

Yeah, and so you're still able to travel. I think I read too that you have gone to nine US states, so during the time that you've been two years of retirement, nine US states, Thailand and Mexico.

Purple 23:58

Yep, that was this year. I think last year was maybe another 10 or 12 states, wow.

Jamila Souffrant 24:04

Okay, and so you're planning all of this out. So I guess that's also the beauty of being retired. You have time to plan out the things you want to do, to plan out the vacations and the trips. Yeah,

Purple 24:16

I have time. I also find that, oh, that might be another reason that it's a within budget, because now I fly based on when the flight is cheaper, because I have nothing else to do. So it's just like, Okay, why is it half the price on a Thursday? I'll just go on that Thursday, and then I'll base the rest of it around that same thing with sometimes European bees. I was like, Oh, do they have something special going on? Why is it so much more expensive that week. We'll just go the week before. So, yeah, I can build it around that and just leisurely, like take $30 train rides up the coast, like how I got to Maine, it's lovely.

Jamila Souffrant 24:54

Hey, journeyers, if you are loving this podcast, then you will love my book. Your journey to financial freedom, a step by step guide to achieving wealth and happiness. I wrote this book for you. This book is for you if you want a clear and enjoyable path to having more money options and a rich life. This book is for you if you hate your commute and the fact that you need to seek approval or permission from a boss. I hated that when I worked, this book is for you. If you weren't born into wealth, you didn't marry rich or win the lottery, but you still want freedom. This book is for you. If you're at a crossroads, a major decision or event is imminent, maybe a career change, marriage, starting a family, pressures are reaching a tipping point, and the discomfort and the desire for more can no longer be ignored, and this book is for you. If you find yourself zoned out at meetings, looking out the window or daydreaming about the life you truly want, so go pick up your journey to financial freedom.com. So I can show you how to map out how to get from where you are today to where you ultimately want to be and enjoy the journey. While you're on the path, head over to your journey to financial freedom.com. To see where you can pick the book up. It's available on Amazon, bookshop.org, Barnes and Noble, your local bookstore everywhere. Go to your journey to financial freedom.com. To get the book now. Tell us what an actual day in your life looks like, you know? Or you could break it out in a day, and then maybe, like a week. Because for people who can't imagine retiring early, like in their 30s, it's like they may be thinking, what would I do? And then there are some people like Jamila, you don't have to ask me that I know exactly what I do, right? Like I have all these plans. But then you'll talk to people who actually, you know, the people are older and retired, and they may be bored, they don't have like, it doesn't seem that they're having fun. So I want to know how you are keeping your life interesting without this carrot of work in front of you and deadlines that like, how are you living what you call, I think you said slug life. What does that look like on a day to day basis?

Purple 27:02

Well, I'm actually that quote was because I'm failing at slug life, according to my mom, because I'm always doing something. I was like, No, I wasn't. So anyway, to break down overall, I do have the goal of I was like, I wanted to get better at sleeping because I used to suck at sleep. So that was a goal of mine, and luckily, I am now a rock starts sleeping, napsies, does all of it. And last year I had the goal of reading 52 non fiction books, so a non fiction book a week. And I did hit that goal, but that was a little wild. I was like, Okay, that was too much, but I did it. And this year, my goal is to go from zero to fluency in Spanish. So that is also taking up a huge chunk of my time. But day to day is completely different and dependent on where we are, but I can just give you some examples, or week to week, like I mentioned, I'm in Maine, so this morning, got up at like seven and went for a run with my partner, you know, took a shower. We just made keto pancakes and waffles. And then I was chatting with them having some tea by the window. And then I was listening to some birds. I've gotten into bird watching very retired activity. And then I came in here to chat with you. After this, I have a call with my mom where we speak Spanish with each other, and sometimes watch a ridiculous reality show, and then I think we're going to the beach. And after that, I have a call with my friend in Argentina to also practice my Spanish. So that's just an example of what's happening today, and that's kind of what's been happening this whole week, just hanging out with family a little bit. Yesterday, I spent the entire day reading a book, axioms. End. It was absolutely amazing. Couldn't put it down, and it was raining. So I was like, perfect reading day. So I just had my blanket and my tea, and I was reading the book all day. And I was like, that was awesome. So completely different. And then last week, I was in Connecticut, helping to care for my baby cousin, who is currently two. Luckily, my mom was the main nanny and I was just the assistant, but I was, I was the pack up.

Jamila Souffrant 29:05

I knew back up.

Purple 29:07

So that was my whole week. I was like, what happened? I'm so tired. So yeah, it just changes. I try to see people I love. I try to explore new places, eat new foods, go to the water and the ocean, if it's nearby. Plan out my next travel right on my blog. New Blog post every Tuesday. That's about it.

Jamila Souffrant 29:28

So it sounds like you've created structure for yourself, but also you give your yourself a lot of space for just flow and things should just happen exactly.

Purple 29:39

Yeah, I like having a little bit, well, it's not even structure. I have calls that I like to do every week, just to make sure that I stay up to date with my friends and family and that kind of stuff. But yeah, otherwise, I like that. Okay, I have one call at 7:30pm and the rest of the day is mine. What do I want to do? Yeah,

Jamila Souffrant 29:55

and it sounds like too, like the. I know you, it's more of like these goals you're setting for yourself their work, but it's like work that you want to do, right? So, like taking these Spanish lessons on your own, running, you know, like all these, they're, they're activities that cause you to have to exert energy, and reading the book, you know, like 52 books, like you're setting these goals for yourself, because it sounds like that creates the purpose that's kind of guiding your life, your day to day, versus some people think like if I don't have something that I'm working towards, like it feels like I'm lost. I know I feel that way, like I feel like if I don't, at least have something, and it doesn't have to be necessarily work related. So in my scenario now, my work is journey to launch and like, finding things outside of that is important, because this was once my hobby, kind of my side thing that I did, that I enjoyed. Now it's become kind of like my main, main thing that gives me income. So then it's like, what is that space that I'm creating for myself that I don't get wrapped up into this? Because the whole point of me starting journey to launch was to explore what financial independence and retiring early could look like, right? And so now that I've transitioned transition this platform to kind of be my main job, it's still like the real me and the real me being like, I'm actually not someone who wants to work for anyone, including myself. You know, I just had this revelation talking to you. I don't even want to work for myself. Yeah, it's not that I don't want, like, a boss externally. I don't even want to be my own boss. I just want to just do what I want, still hard work. Yeah, yeah. So I love that for you, it's like you've decided that you still have to create, like, these goals for yourself, and that's what gives you the things that you do on a day to day basis. Now, for the people who are not in the position to have the type of time you have. Are there ways? It seems like there could be ways so that someone could implement a little of this in their life, if they're not too tired external goals. So what do you think? What are your what do you think? Or what's your advice for that?

Purple 31:54

I don't think I'm qualified to give advice, because when I was working, I didn't have the energy for any of this. I didn't even have the energy to, like, think about it, and thinking about having those types of goals stressed me out more. So, yeah, I really, I mean, maybe take, like, a quick sabbatical and then be able to do the things that you enjoy, like I was so I was working so hard and so stressed out, it would take me a full week to remember what I enjoyed doing in life. And I was like, that is a bad sign. And then I'd have to go back to work because the week of vacation was over. So yeah, I guess, like, give yourself some time, if you can. I know it's really tough to step away, but yeah, I was just grinding. I couldn't, I couldn't look

Jamila Souffrant 32:36

up. But that's real. I think it's real because we can, you could have said, and I could have said, like, oh, you know, even when you come home from work after this long day, find that 10 minutes or 20 minutes to, like, squeeze in Spanish lessons and you're listening to me, like, Jamila, I don't do you remember? You not remember what it was like to be working full time with a horrible commute? I don't have the energy to do that. And I think that's why finding out about this life, and like listening to you, I hope is inspiring. I hope it's not defeating to someone, but inspiring that there can be a pathway out. It does take work. It does take sacrifice and or real intention about everything that you do right. So your spending, as we can see, is low. If you had a higher spending amount, this would have taken you a longer time to implement, right,

Purple 33:22

completely, right. Yes, intention was key, and there were, I don't mean it to sound like it's all or nothing. As I was going closer to my goal, I did find that I not in a bad way, but in a good way, cared a little bit less about work in a way that I could, like, look at it objectively, instead of more emotionally when things would go wrong, which is very helpful, because then I could solve the problems instead of just freaking out. And I was more open with my colleagues and my boss being like, No, I don't want to do that project. This person has proven to be an abusive client or something like that, and I don't want anything part of it. And actually I recommend we fire that client, but regardless, I'm not doing it. So there was like, degrees of freedom that I experienced, getting closer to the goal and in and then I felt less stressed because I was being, like, more myself, setting those boundaries. But yeah, still I was so tired, yeah,

Jamila Souffrant 34:23

but you just brought up a good point. Is that, and I like talking about this, is that freedom you experience, even while you may be feeling stuck or still on the path like we may not all be at purpose level, where we literally don't have to do like anything, right? Regardless of how much you want to spend, like we're not, I'm not there yet, and you may not be there yet listening, but when you do have at least an ability to know it's possible, and then potentially a pathway to that, and you start seeing the numbers work to your favor, whether that's paying off debt, saving and investing more, I do think there becomes this level of confidence. And. Space that you give yourself, because before, when you thought your job was everything in it, and the only thing you had until you were 80, you now know that that's different. And so when things are happening, you're not as I know. For me, I wasn't as caught up the commute. It was just like I knew only have a couple more years of this, or only have a couple more months I know what I'm doing like I did feel more freedom as I traveled along light at the end of the tunnel? Yes. So in terms of how things are continuing now for you, so you're still relying on your cast cushion. Do you have plans? Like, when I look at your blog and like, what your perspective, you know, I do think you could potentially make a lot of money, right? Like, there are people who blog kind of meaning, like, even just if you wrote a book about your life, or, like, what you were able to do. So I but this is what this is. This is really interesting because this is that trade off, that for you, like, it doesn't matter, like, about the money you prefer, the freedom that you have. So let's talk about that. I want you to explore that with this,

Purple 36:00

sure. I mean, the book is a good example. Several people in publishing have asked me to write a book, and I've said no, which maybe is because friends that have written a book is like, oh, it's as hard as having a child, and they've had children, so I was like, what? Like, oh, yeah, it was painful. I'm like, You are not selling this to me. And they're like, hardest thing I've ever done. I'm like, Yeah, this is not really gonna fit into my nap and bird watching schedules. So no, thank you. I'm I'm not saying I never will. Maybe I'll change my mind. Maybe I'll want a big challenge in three years when I've, I don't know, become fluent in Spanish and read all the non fiction books on my list. But right now, no, I'm not really looking for that, yeah, and yet the money is not even a consideration. So it would be because I want to do it, not and also because book publishing is so I wouldn't even say fickle, but challenging, like there's no guarantee that you would make much, if at any money. So yeah, that wouldn't be a thing for me? Yeah,

Jamila Souffrant 37:01

well, I mean, I'm in the middle of my book publishing journey. I'm writing my first book this year, and it is a long, daunting process, but you are really looking at this from a level of real freedom, like you're really able to say no to things you don't want to do, like, not even for the money, like, I just That's okay, I'm like, not doing it, and that type of power, I think we all are looking to achieve. But I think for you, and I think for other people, maybe it can be like you've done the work, like so when we listen back to your episode, like you worked, you worked in corporate like you got the raises, you changed, you know, jobs to increase your income, you saved and invested the money. I think what it really comes down to is this trade off, right of your expenses, like the type of lifestyle you want to live and what you consider Nice. So for you, spending 20,000 and maybe spending x amount on a restaurant here or this air and B and B to you, it's it's great. And I think so for maybe someone else, like they can't maybe that same Airbnb, they'd look at and say, Well, I'd want more space, or I'd want the pool, or I want the other option. And I think that's if that's what you want, then it's being honest with yourself. Well, I may have to just work a little harder. Then not I may. I will have to work longer and harder in order to achieve this level of freedom. Then if that's the case, yeah,

Purple 38:20

definitely figure out what you like and what you want. That's what I did. And I do like luxury things, but then I've discovered how to get them more cheaply. For example, I go when I fly internationally, I fly first class period, sometimes business class, now that it's almost as nice as first class, like in Singapore Air when we went to Thailand in February. So that is something that I'm not going to give up long haul flights in a first or business, but if I want, like, that penthouse with a pool, I'm like, okay, then I will get that in Thailand, where it's a quarter, less than maybe a 10th of what it would be in the States. Or when we went to I went to Mexico for nine weeks to jump start my Spanish learning, and we had an amazing free standing house with a pool, like a gardener, like all this fancy stuff, once again, almost as much as our Seattle rent two bedroom like all the walls were glass and you could open them. I was like, what is happening here anyway? So when I want the luxury, I just figure out how to get it, but within my budget, and luckily, that fits into our Nomad life, and my want to be more international and all that kind of stuff. But otherwise, I'm pretty low key in what I need. I did just buy some fancy running shoes, which I was excited about. I'm thinking about getting some bone conductor earphones for like, $200 but, yeah, I don't need much. I don't think.

Jamila Souffrant 39:46

And with the whole being so thoughtful with your purchases, is this something that you need to think about often, or because you practice this lifestyle and you know what you like and want, it's not something that takes. That's a lot of discipline.

Purple 40:01

Yeah, the latter, no discipline at this point. Like, if we were in an actual market downturn and I was taking money out of my portfolio, I probably actually would be looking at my budget. But since I've got my cash cushion, I'm good. I don't really have to worry. For another year or two, we'll see to even touch my portfolio. I'm like, Man, buy the shoes. I didn't even look at the price before I bought them. I was like, Who is she? So I'm fine for now, and also because I'm not, like, buying Fancy running shoes or expensive headphones every year, even maybe every other year. So it's not like I've completely changed to a fancy lifestyle I can't afford. Yeah, and

Jamila Souffrant 40:41

you just brought up a good point, because also the way you you're living on the income, it's from money that is safe, you know, quote, unquote. It's not depreciating or fluctuating as the market fluctuates. So I think it's just, it just may be a good to point out, though, if you were drawing down from your investments, you'd be a little bit tighter, even more tighter than you are now, like with how you're spending your money.

Purple 41:06

Yeah, and one of my like contingencies that made me comfortable with retiring with this quote, unquote little amount is because I'm a nomad, so I would get a regular apartment in Mexico instead of a fancy, fancy one, for example, if the market was down and I was living off more portfolio, and it looked like it would be down for a while. So that kind of thing just slight tweaks, little less luxury, not a big deal. I'll get it back a little bit.

Jamila Souffrant 41:32

Yeah, now when it comes to running, so let's talk a little bit about that. Because, like I said before, I'm also a runner. I should just claim it. Yeah, you are a runner. I'm a runner. Okay, guys, I'm a runner. And purple, you're a runner too. But I know what I'm running. I always, for some reason, I can always relate things back to the journey and money. Because I actually why dislike the moment in which I am about to collapse on mile one. I love, like the feeling, you know, the adrenaline that runners high I get after, like, right after, I love how accomplished I feel, and I relate that to, like, anything, any obstacle, career wise, money wise, financial independence wise, like, there is work to be put in, but like, the benefits are happening while you're doing it. So for you, what have you learned to love about running? Have you been able to translate that to anywhere else in your life? So

Purple 42:29

this is really funny, because I started running in retirement, and I think that my take on running is very retirement focused, because I don't do it unless I'm enjoying it the whole time. So I guess that's kind of my retired life. I'm not gonna do anything that I'm not enjoying. So if I'm not feeling it, like, one time in Mexico, it was like 110 degrees at 6am and 100% humidity, I ran for five minutes. I'm like, Nah, I'm not feeling it. So I went home, and that was that I am, like, so reluctant to do anything if I'm not enjoying it. So this morning, I was originally gonna go for like, almost 5k around a new neighborhood, and the trails were Hillier than I expected, so I did, like, a mile and a half, and then I was like, I'm walking up this hill, and then I ran the rest of the way back. But I was like, this isn't fun, so I'm gonna stop doing it for a second. I'm gonna walk up this hill, and then I'm gonna run at the end. And I was like, sprinting. I was like, This is awesome. So yes, I'm gonna relate it to not the journey to retirement, but the current retirement mindset of I'm gonna do if it is fun. When

Jamila Souffrant 43:36

I hear that, sometimes I think, and I don't know if anyone else is thinking this, but I sometimes think if that's the way you approach everything, which, by the way, it's working great for you. So this is more of us, something for me to consider, and I could be that way too. If I don't feel like running, like, today, I'm supposed to do yoga. And I was like, not feeling it, not going to yoga like, I just want to come home, like, you know, same thing. Like, if I'm not, you know, you have to learn to listen to yourself, your body, and how you're feeling. But sometimes I think, like, where how do you then get to the next level? And I'm not saying life is all about getting to the next level. You know, like a Mario game, right? It's more like, but how do you stretch yourself if you're not doing some things you don't want to

Purple 44:16

do? Oh, my, we're getting existential. So in general, I'm not sure, but for running, specifically, I started with a run, walk run program because I loved walking. I detested running. Absolutely loathed it, and so it had to trick myself into actually, we're just going for a walk, but we're gonna have like, 30 seconds of running every couple minutes, and I'm gonna trick you into that. And then I was reading books about slow running, and discovered that I was running way too fast. And that was why I hated it, because I could I got stitches in my side, which is a sign that you're running too fast. I couldn't catch my breath, another sign that you're running too fast. And so I started running at a comfortable pace where I could properly lay. My foot in the middle of my foot, and all that stuff, and breathe and not get weird cramps. And then I was like, Oh, this is barely faster than walking in the beginning, but I like this, wow. Okay, great. So I'll keep doing it at this speed. But then as I kept doing it, and I think I hit my one year running celebration a few weeks ago, my body got stronger, and so naturally I got faster. So now I run way faster than I walk. But it didn't feel like I was improving. I thought. I literally thought I was going the same distance, or, excuse me, the same pace. But then I'd look at my app, and I was like, Oh, I just shaved two minutes off my pace time. I was like, How did that even happen? I still am breathing normally through my nose. Like, huh, that's great. So it's kind of naturally becoming better and just listening to my body, because if I'm not feeling it that day, I don't think pushing myself will have great results. And

Jamila Souffrant 45:56

I think that speaks to knowing you, right? And what's a good pace for you? Or it's like, there's versions of you, there's like the version of you that was that couldn't run the pace you're running now, that had to do it slower. And then there's a verb that could be, because we're not pushing that, if it's not going to happen. But there could be a version of purple, like next year, if she keeps on, that gets to that. But I think what's good, what I like pull out when I have like these conversations and like these learning points is that sometimes we don't know, like, when we're being like stretched, it doesn't always have to feel horrible. And I'm and I so I don't agree in killing oneself for the sake of it and or being miserable on the journey, whether it's running and or, you know, sacrificing to reach your financial goals. I do believe there is some level of work to be done. Like, for you, like you're you're learning Spanish. For me, if I had to think about like learning Spanish, like, I'd be like, Oh my gosh, it feels like so much work that was stressing me out. But for you, it's like you are enjoying it. I think we all just need to come to terms and find what that is for our own selves, like we can take inspiration from it and the ideas. And maybe someone must say, oh, maybe I'll try Spanish, or maybe I'll try running, or maybe I'll try, like, only living on X amount per month. But I think you have to sometimes try things, to know what you like and what you don't like, and also be willing to be honest with yourself if something's not working, or if you're not willing to

Purple 47:21

do it, yeah, and just with the retired mindset, like, I think I now give myself time to do these things, like I gave myself a kind of challenging one year Spanish goal. So it's like, I'll give myself a whole year to try and learn this language, which, if I was work or still working, I'd probably be like, Oh yeah, I could probably do that in what, three months. And that requires taking my entire after work self to do that, or I have to train in a month for a marathon. So then obviously I would be pushing myself and running, even if I hated it and all that stuff. But my current Spanish and running goal is just to improve a little bit. It doesn't have to be like every day, but just general trend of improvement, and that is happening. So it's probably happening a lot slower than if I pushed myself. But I also, like, I said, really want to make sure I'm enjoying the journey. Yeah,

Jamila Souffrant 48:11

yeah. And that's also nice, because you're setting the goal for yourself. No one is setting it for you, and you have the time to do it. So I want to just like, wrap up some like points. I'd love to hear your biggest takeaways. For anyone listening, if you would give advice to someone who's like, thinking about early retirement and either can't achieve it just yet and it still has to work hard for it, or feels a little intimidated by a thought of it, what you would tell them, sure. So

Purple 48:40

if it seems intimidating, I would say, just keep living and keep thinking about it. Because I took two years to even come around to the idea of fire. I initially dismissed it as ridiculous. So if I can do that, I think a lot of people can. It might seem impossible, but that's one of the reasons I have all of my financial information on my blog just to show you. Yes, I can graduate with $5,000 saved from side jobs in my last year of college and then retire nine years later with half a million. It is possible. And then my other takeaway was, it is worth it. I promise I along the journey was like, once again, this is impossible, or the market's going to crash and I'll never get there. Or is this even worth it? Should I be spending all my money to make myself happy? And so instead, I tried to find a nice balance, where I bought things that made me happy, which was usually time with people I loved, or beach vacations, but also I was saving a majority of my money so trying to kind of find happiness a little balanced along the way, and just believe, if that's your goal, and you guys have a plan of how to get there, you can do it.

Jamila Souffrant 49:53

Yes, and I just want to say that this, for me also just reignited my. My passion for retiring early and financial independence, I think no again, like I said, because what my job has now been turned into kind of what I was doing as my side hustle and or just thing I loved, right? Like, there's still something I love, but it's a little different now, and I feel hearing that, yeah, in retirement, though, you can still enjoy it. Like, if this was, if I did not have obligations that I'm setting on myself, by the way, for journey to launch, like, what would I do with my time? What would I do with my life? And this is like, oh, there's lots of things you can do, and you can do it the slow way. I think we live in a society where, like you said, maybe your goal to have learned Spanish, if you had all these constrictions, would have been faster and then more stressful, right? Versus you can set what it is, but it's important to set something. I don't know if you felt a little at all during your two years of early retirement, like there have been some days where you didn't have anything to do and that felt a little unstable. But it sounds like setting goals, no matter what they are, will help you, like even if they're internal goals and having accountability, which it seems you have from family and friends. I see that you like to do accountability threads with your friends on Twitter, so I feel like that is really the important thing that keeps you going. Yeah,

Purple 51:18

I found that since I took that time to decompress from my job, and I remember what brings me joy and what I like doing and what I'm curious about, and I have so much time to be curious now that I keep being like, I don't have enough time, which is ridiculous, because I have literally all the time in the world, but it seems like it, because, oh, I went whale watching, and I want to research, like, what this sunfish is about that we saw. I was like, That's ridiculous. I didn't know these things existed. They look silly. Or, Oh, I didn't know that whales can hold their breath for an hour to six and they're actually mammals, but they breathe out of like, what? So anyway, I go down all these rabbit holes, and luckily that it actually comes into something, because I summarize some of the things I've learned in my monthly retirement recaps. But yeah, I just have the time to follow whatever random book catches my fancy and just read it all in one day, or listen to birds for hours on end and learn how to identify them by sound, which I can do a lot of now. Plan our next travel, learn about the new country we're going to learn some of the language we're going to like. There's too much to do, basically, and it's a good problem to have.

Jamila Souffrant 52:23

Now, last question before we wrap up, what's one thing that you know now living this retired life that surprised you, that you couldn't have accounted for

Purple 52:32

how little I think about money since I thought about it all the time on the way to the journey, I was on my spreadsheets all the time, and I loved it. I love spreadsheets. I love finance, chatting about finance, but I was shocked that there's a lot of times I don't check my budget at all, but because, like I mentioned, I have my main expense already on lock, rent. It doesn't move the needle as much as I thought it would.

Jamila Souffrant 52:58

Got it all right. Purple. Thank you so much for this amazing, insightful conversation. Can you please let everyone know where they can find out more about you and follow you on your retired journey. Sure, I'm

Purple 53:11

over at a purple life.com new posts every Tuesday. I'm also on Instagram at a purple life and on Twitter at a purple life

Jamila Souffrant 53:20

blog, and I will link all of that in the episode show notes for this episode. Thank you again.

Unknown Speaker 53:25

Thank you.

Speaker 2 53:29

Don't forget. You can get the episode show notes for this episode by going to journey to launch.com or click the description of wherever you're listening to this and you can still grab your jumpstart guide for free to help you on your journey to financial freedom by going to journey to launch.com/jump start. If you want to support me and the podcast and love the free content and information that you get here, here are four ways that you can support me in the show. One, make sure you're subscribed to the podcast wherever you listen, whether that's Apple podcast. That purple app on your phone, your Android device, YouTube, Spotify, wherever it is that you happen to listen, just subscribe so you are not missing an episode. And if you're happening to listen to this in Apple podcast, rate review and subscribe there. I appreciate and read every single review. Number two, follow me on my social media accounts. I'm at journey to launch on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, and I love, love, love interacting with journeyers. There three, support and check out the sponsors of this show. If you hear something that interests you, sponsors are the main ways we keep the podcast lights on here, so show them some love for supporting your girl. Four, and last but not least, share this episode, this podcast, with a friend or family member or co worker, so that we can spread the message of Journey to launch. All right, that's it until next week. Keep on journeying. Journeyers. You.

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