155: Retired at 35: How Robert from Stop Ironing Shirts Achieved FI Even During The Great Recession

Robert from Stop Ironing Shirts has had quite a lucrative career path. Starting out as a bank teller in college, he learnt that he really enjoyed math that had dollar signs attached to the numbers. From there, he launched his career forward, first as a commercial banker, and later becoming a well-paid top executive.

While he had a great job and a partner who was also bringing in a solid paycheck every month, he slowly started to get tired of the corporate bureaucracy, politics, location dependency, and long hours.

Robert has made some mistakes on his path to early retirement. He lost money on a few real` estate deals and he even bought a brand new car (gasp!). None of this stopped him from still living below his means, siphoning off a large portion of his income for investments, and capitalizing on special programs such as the 409a plan.

Robert now lives life on his schedule. Whether that be spending copious amounts of time shopping at Costco or surfing at the beach, Robert has a life where he decides what he wants to do, everyday. Thankfully, it didn’t take him 30+ years of working to get there!

In This Episode We Cover

• The importance of choosing a highly lucrative skill set
• How to fight lifestyle creep, even when you’re making serious money
• The real cost of a daily commute 
• How he recovered from real estate losses in 2009 (and after)
• The psychological difficulties many face when retiring early 
• What a 409a plan is (and how high-earners can take advantage of it)
• How much cash should be in reserves for financial independence 
• And So Much More!

Links from the Show

• BiggerPockets Money Facebook Group
• BiggerPockets Forums
• BiggerPockets Money Podcast 153 with Bill Bengen
• BiggerPockets Money Podcast 120 with Michael Kitces
• BiggerPockets Money Podcast 136 with Doug Nordman
• Mr. Money Mustache
• The Non-Qualified Deferred Compensation Plan

Check the full show notes here: https://www.biggerpockets.com/moneyshow155

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