I often get asked how I “retired at 36” so here is a bit of my story!⁣‎
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This really isn’t supposed to be a “see how easy it is” or “anyone can do it the way I did” post. This happened to be my path. Yours will be different. I went the startup route, and was frankly very lucky that it paid off. But had I taken that Microsoft job out of college and maintained the same degree of frugality, I would have ended up at roughly the same net worth as I have today.

You might look at this and say, “Oh, must be nice, this tall rich white dude started a tech company and is now rich”. And that’s a fair critique. I definitely had a ton of unfair advantages and tailwinds. For example, my parents saved a college fund for me that covered most of my undergrad, and I had a supportive network of friends and family. But I also worked hard along the way. I earned a track scholarship (neither parent was especially athletic), and worked a bunch of jobs. I was a server, a camp counselor, a carpenter’s assistant, an IT guy, and had a few internships. Anything to pay the bills.

I also worked HARD at being frugal. I lived on very little, and tried hard to stay out of debt. I bought used cars in cash (i.e. $3K for a 99 Ford Explorer), rented cheap apartments with roommates, and kept food and travel on a shoestring budget.

All in all, that was my path. It won’t be yours but I think you can absolutely do it your own way!
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For you track fans, I ran the 400 and 800 in 46.8 and 1:49.8. I held the school record in the 600m for 21 years until it was recently SMASHED 😭.
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– Jeremy⁣‎