More Money Podcast - 249 Retiring at 30 During a Pandemic - A Purple Life, Award-Winning Blogger & Early Retiree

Episode Date: October 21, 2020

I’ve been following A Purple Life on Twitter for a while now. So, when I saw her tweet about finally quitting her job because she’d reached her financial independence number of half a million dollars this summer, I knew I needed to have her on the show to share her story! Purple (that’s what I’ll call her to keep things simple) started her personal finance blog back in 2015 when she was only 25 to document her journey of becoming financial independent and eventually retiring early. Originally, her plan was to have enough saved up to retire by 2025 when she would be 35. But, as she saved and invested her money, and lived well below her means, she was able to achieve FIRE five years early! Not only that, she made the decision to follow through with her plans during the pandemic. From the outside looking in, that seems like a fairly bold move, but not by Purple. As she explains in our interview, it didn’t have much effect on her plan to retire at 30. She had a solid investment plan, she understood her personal risk tolerance and didn’t freak out in March when the market tanked (unlike many of us), and she also knew that if she had to earn more income, she could through the job she was leaving. Another thing I want to point out that we didn’t really discuss in this episode is that Purple is a person of colour. You may not know that since she’s anonymous online, but I think this is very significant. When you look at the FIRE community as a whole, it’s very white. Purple is actually the first guest I’ve had on my show who achieved FIRE and isn’t white. I’m pointing this out because I’m hopeful that moving forward, and by sharing more examples like Purple, that the FIRE community will become more diverse and better represent what our world actually looks like. For full episode show notes visit https://jessicamoorhouse.com/249 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hello, hello, hello. Welcome back to the Momany Podcast. This is your host, Jessica Morehouse. Welcome back to the show. Are you looking for some inspiration, a super cool guest who did something super cool that when she explains it, it doesn't seem so out of reach? So I have been following A Purple Life for a while. Obviously, that is not her real name, but she is still an anonymous blogger. There's not a lot of, I feel like, anonymous bloggers anymore, but I actually kind of love a good anonymous blogger because they share things that public bloggers do not because they can, like numbers specifically. So I've been following A Purple Life for a little while. You can find her at APurpleLife.com. Also follow her on Twitter,

A Purple Life blog, or on Instagram, A Purple Life. Anyways, she is a black woman who worked in marketing for a number of years, which she shares in this show. So she really knows what she's doing when it comes to blogging and marketing. Maybe that's why I like her Twitter so much. She's very good. And she's blogged about her journey to reach financial independence since 2015. So actually, since I started this podcast, which is kind of crazy. But recently, like for real, very recently, she quit her job and retired and she's only 30 years old. And yeah, it's 2020. We're in a pandemic and she still decided to move forward with her, you know, retire early plans. And we talk all about it. I ask her all the questions that I know you want to know about. I've had obviously quite a few guests on this show throughout the years who've reached FI.

And it's always so fascinating to find out what's the differences between all of them. How did they reach this goal like crazy? But I find with A Purple Life, her story is the most relatable. Like listening to this episode again as I was editing it, I'm like, when she says it, it doesn't seem so impossible. So I think you're going to like it. You're probably also going to like her blog because she really does go in depth about specifics what she does. But yeah, you're going to really enjoy this podcast, I think. Before I get to that interview with her, of course, I have a few words to share about this episode's sponsor. So hang tight, and then we'll get to that interview. This episode of the Mo Money Podcast is sponsored by PC Financial. There's something very exciting happening. If you're a big fan of no monthly bank fees like I am, PC Financial

recently launched their PC Money account. That's right, they are back. Their PC Money account has some major benefits that I think you're going to be very interested to know about. The big draw for me, of course, is that it charges no monthly fees. But on top of that, you can also earn 10 PC Optimum points for every dollar you spend no matter where you shop, which means you'll be earning points by spending money on things you already do anyway. Not only that, to help Canadians get more from their money, the PCMoney account rewards customers with bonus points too. For instance, you can earn 1,000 points for paying bills, up to 5,000 points each month for bills over $50, 10,000 points for

linking an external bank account, and a one-time 25,000 points for setting up and using direct deposits such as your paycheck. Oh, and did I forget to mention that when you spend money at Shoppers Drug Mart, you can earn 25 points for every dollar you spend. To learn more and to stop paying monthly bank fees and start earning points, visit pcfinancial.ca. Once again, that's pcfinancial.ca. Welcome to the show, A Purple Life. I'm so excited to have you on the show to talk about fire and your journey and just get all the tea, basically. Let's dive into the tea.

I know. I've been following you on Twitter for a while, and it's so interesting kind of following, especially the past several months, as you were gearing up to quit your job and do your own thing and live your own financially independent life. And I'm like, oh my gosh, now you're officially financially independent. And this happened recently, right? July. Yeah. Oh my gosh. So you've been financially independent and have quit your job for a few months now. Financial independence in July, but actually this is my first full week of a retired life when we're recording this.

That's exciting. So I've got to start with this. What is it like? This clearly is a weird year for everybody, but did you ever consider putting off your plans until the pandemic was over? How is this different from what you initially envisioned for yourself? Oh, of course. Completely different. I did, of course, have to analyze if this was still a good idea. I believe I wrote a post back in, was it April or May, answering that exact question and going through all of my thought processes. I even had a fun infographic like, am I retired? Just to make it really clear so that I have a logical way to go about this instead of being led by emotions, which obviously this year is testing all of them. But yeah, basically what I decided back then was I'm still going to quit. And I quit my job and gave one month notice in September. And so my first week of freedom is October now. And basically I decided, well, I might not be retired. This infographic is seeing, oh, do I have my fire amount, which is half a million dollars?

If I don't, I'm on sabbatical or I'm unemployed. And then like, how far am I from that goal? And how do I want to close the gap? Do I want to get some freelance projects? Do I want to do contract work? Or do I want to just take a quick break and then dive back in when the world is a little less ridiculous? So those were all the possibilities. And then also, interesting side note, I work in marketing. And that seems to be one of the few industries that is booming right now,

because every company is trying to pivot their marketing materials, obviously, in this wild time. Yeah, it's like, how do we not look insensitive? Exactly. How do we write these emails? So yeah, I was shocked to see. I thought like every industry that everything would go down and unemployment's obviously skyrocketing, but I have alerts set up for specifically remote marketing jobs. I worked remote before the pandemic for four years. And that's what I wanted to continue doing. And that number of emails and open jobs that I qualify for has been just exploding. So I felt confident in that plan that even if I quit, and it was just a quick sabbatical to recharge after four years of working really hard, that was, I usually keep a job for like a year and then take four months off. So for a week or excuse

me, four years without a break, I was like, I'm tired. So that was the plan. And then also, obviously, the pandemic puts a lot of things in perspective, like I want to be near my family in case they need me or in case something bad happens. So just that kind of solidified my thought processes of what's important. Do I want to stay on the opposite coast? I lived in Seattle. My family is mostly in Georgia and I can't get to them if the worst happens. So nope, let's just go for what's important. So did you move back to the East Coast? I did. Coming at you live from Georgia. Was your initial plan, if we weren't in the pandemic, what would you be doing now? You would have quit your job and financially, what would that look like? I would be on a plane to Australia right now. My flight actually took off or would have taken

off yesterday and I got a notification that my gate changed. I'm like, you know this flight was canceled. Don't send me that. Yeah. It's like, what are you doing? Don't you toy with my emotions? I was like, don't remind me. Like, obviously there are much bigger problems, but I was still like, don't stop it. Yeah. Well, I think that's the thing that so many of us, I feel like we've all gone better because we've been doing this for like six months or more than six months now. But it's the life that could have been this year that is kind of canceled for everybody. It's a bit bizarro. But it sounds like it's interesting that you're like, no, we're going to do this. We're going to push through and we're going to still go with the plan. And it sounds kind of

like, especially like reading your Twitter feed, you were ready to quit that job. Yeah. We were ready to go. More than ready. But they're hilarious because every time I, or every time, when I quit or when I told anyone, they were like, oh, well, you're coming back, right? Like, in any capacity, full-time, part-time, freelance, a contractor, like anything, come back. And I'm like, this is really interesting because I didn't expect that at all. But it seems like, and this is from multiple people on many different teams. So it seems like if I do want to make money for some reason in the

future, that would be a really easy way to do it. Which is a good reason to not burn any bridges on your way out. Yep. I burned nothing. Very cordial. Yeah. And I guess that's the one good thing about you staying anonymous, having this kind of second life as this blogger that they most likely, they probably have no idea about. And then being professional you is you can kind of do both. Whereas when I quit my job, I has always been a public blogger. And although I don't think I ever, while I was at the job, talked about the job because I obviously didn't want to get fired and everyone,

like I knew my coworkers and my boss watched it. They listened to my podcast, you know, like they, you know, so I had to be very careful, but oh man, I was so ready to quit that job.

And so once I was gone, I mean, I don't, I didn't burn any bridges and quite honestly, everyone that I worked with there no longer works there. So it doesn't really matter, but oh man, I was, I didn't burn any bridges quite honestly. Everyone that I worked with there no longer works there, so it doesn't really matter. But, oh man, I really did. I really wanted to be like,

fuck all you. I'm out of here. You know, like the classic kind of quitting scenario. But, well, I didn't do that. But even still, I realized life is not a movie. So even if you want to do that, you would do that and people would just be in their cubicles. They're like, okay, I don't care. Can you be quiet? I'm on a call.

It's not glamorous. I know. It's like, even if you want that moment, you won't get it. I gave two months notice, which is too much. That's too much notice. I thought I was being really respectful and nice. but then you're just hanging out there working for two months as people are basically making plans to replace, like I was there for when they were, um, you know, put up the notice of my replacement. And then I think started interviewing. It was, it was like, I shouldn't be here. I should be gone when this is happening. This is bizarre. Um, and also a couple other things. I'm like, I really wish I wasn't here. Part of the reason I quit was because I was up for a promotion that was delayed for eight months.

I kept on asking, where is it? It never happened. And it was obviously an increase in pay and title. And then I'm like, well, I'm quitting, so it doesn't matter anymore. And when they posted my job, it was for that position. I don't know if the salary, I guarantee you it was a title and not the salary, but it was still like, really, guys? Really? Well, it's also just like, I think this is a sign that we were meant to leave. We're done here.

And what can you do? And obviously, I've been doing my own thing for four years. So I'm very happy with the decision. So I know you're going to be very happy with your decision, but it's also too, I did, I made sure not to burn bridges. Like, so even when I left my husband at that time, the last year, I helped them set up a podcast for themselves. And my husband was actually the one who, cause he's an audio mixer, a freelancer, runs his own business. He was actually doing the mixing for that. And he did that for like an extra year. I'm like, you know, I don't work there anymore. Like you can quit if you want. And he's like, I don't know. It's pretty easy. They're nice. So I'm like, okay. So, um, but yeah, so I think that's a good,

you know, tip for everybody, no matter if you're quitting a job or become financially independent, you know, it's just never worth it to burn a bridge or to like go out in flames. Cause you never know. Maybe you do want to go like, I've got some time or don't mind picking up a few projects or something like that. Do you have plans to work though? So that's my question to you. So I know your fire number and I want to kind of get into all of this, but your fire number is half a million dollars. Typically when I've talked to people on the show, usually their number is much higher than that like a million plus was your kind of plan to like

I may earn some new income as I'm financially independent or are you kind of one of those no in terms of financially independent or the retire early portion that means earning no new income just living off this what's your kind of philosophy I guess

when it comes to FIRE? Because people have some feelings. All the feels. So originally, I was going to go full on RE, retire early, not do anything. Well, anything. Not do anything people would claim is productive or quote unquote work, not making money. However, I've already failed at that because I took my blog public two years ago. I absolutely love it. In that time, I've never missed a Tuesday post, posting every Tuesday. And I've promised that at least for a year into retirement, I will continue posting every Tuesday. So if you call that productive, then I failed. It sounds pretty productive. Yeah. But it's so fun.

And then after a year, I'll assess like maybe I'll be like the other early retirees and start posting once a month or sporadically or never again. So we'll reassess. But that's happening. I did semi-recently finally break even on the blog, which was not expected either. So it's paying for itself right now. We'll see how the rest of the year goes, but maybe I'll be in the black for a second. I don't know. And then you'll be like, you're not retired anymore. You failed again. So well, oops. I love that argument of like, oh, you're earning money. So you're a failure. I'm like,

how is earning money a failure? I think we think we know, like, that's not how failure works. Number one. It's a good thing if you're earning money. Who cares if you're, yeah, I just, for me, the whole FIRE community, I think I was so on board several years ago when it was kind of new to me. But if you get really deep, deep, deep into that community, people are so hard on their opinions. It's almost like, I thought the whole point of fire

was flexibility and freedom. And there seems to be a lot of rules. Like why? I thought that's the opposite of what this whole thing is about. No, it is. Some people like their rule books. I like to throw it out. But it's so fascinating because I don't think I know any early retirees who don't do anything, quote unquote, productive or make any money. For example, my mom retired at 55 and like she would not be classified as retired either because she has a rental property that has like passive income. So, oh, nope, not retired. Not at all. Which is so dumb.

I'm like, that's so smart. That's a smart thing to do in retirement. I know. So in addition to her investments, she has that. I think she has like really small pensions from 30 years ago. So I assume that also knocks her out of the retiree category. But anyway, so the point is I am a failure. No, I might make a little money accidentally, TBD.

But also, you're asking basically how I feel comfortable with this amount. The portion besides income is obviously spending and half a million only. I'm very lucky to say only has to cover the costs of myself as in I'm I have a partner, but we have separate finances. So I don't cover my spouse in any way. Basically, usually when I hear about someone retiring, it's with a million dollars, but they mean for a couple. So really it is half a million each. And then also, I have complete flexibility over my spending as in I have no bills month to month. I don't have a house. I don't have a car. I don't have any pets. And this is kind of that I stumbled into when I was trying to figure

out what makes me happiest. My original plan, like I mentioned, I was supposed to be on a flight to Australia right now, was to travel around the world and be nomadic. So before we left Seattle, we got rid of all of our stuff. And we're trying to get back to basically packing a 40-pound backpack and we're going to be gallivanting around the world. But obviously, that's not happening. So instead, we packed, or excuse me, we checked a total of three bags. Ooh, so much luggage.

And that's everything we own. So I am still COVID-pending, planning to slow travel around the U.S., at least until international travel is advisable. And that allows me really a lot of freedom with my costs because, for example, I can decide that I'm going to go hang out in the woods for three months and spend next to nothing while, I don't know, learning about birds. Very random. Or I can say, hey, I want to check out New York City. I used to live there. What are they up to?

And obviously that's much more expensive. But just the fact that I have nothing month to month that I have to pay for really allows me to spend whatever I want or need. And doing so obviously makes it a lot more likely that my half a million will stretch because I have control over that. So, okay, two questions. First, you mentioned we. So is your partner, I guess, along for the ride with you? And did he also reach financial independence or how does that work? So he actually introduced me to FIRE and I ignored him for two years. So obviously I have to give that shout out because he is on the journey. He's not there yet. He actually took a sabbatical for like almost a year. So we're taking kind of like a semi-retired approach. Now he's back in

the workforce, but yeah, he is also remote. So we can still do our nomadic travels together. But yeah, not yet retired. Cool though. So again, that flexibility though, so you can kind of do that slow travel around the US and he can still work until he reaches his fire number. That's really cool. That's awesome. Oh, now I'm going to forget the second question, aren't I? When that happens, you're like, there's two questions. Let's get them out before you forget. And I already forgot the second. Oh, I don't know if this was the original question, but it doesn't matter because no one knows what I was thinking. The question was, what do you kind of have, I guess, prepared in case some of your wants change? Like you mentioned, you know, you're not going to get married, no kids, no pets, no buying a house.

Have you kind of considered what if that changes over the years? What does that kind of look like and how will that kind of change your kind of financial picture of course um i know a couple of those things will definitely never happen as in marriage and kids we've both decided that together but i never say never generally so maybe if i do want a house i was actually looking at the possibility of becoming a permanent resident in mexico and the hoops you have to jump through to own property there as an American, which is complicated, but possible. So for example, if I do change my mind, if the pandemic continues, I might buy a car because we don't currently have one and it's been challenging, especially in the first couple of months to get anywhere in a safe

fashion since we don't want to get anywhere in a safe fashion, since we don't want to get on the bus or in an Uber or anything like that. So never say never. But the way that I plan for that is one, like I said, looking at alternate ways to do it, such as buying property in another country. Or my models actually aren't really based on the 4% rule of thumb. That was like a very low baseline. But I actually spent $18,000 a year when I lived in Seattle in the middle of the city. So I was thinking if I move, for example, to Georgia and seeing the rents around here, my costs are plummeting right now. So I have that flexibility there. Also, my half a million dollar number actually came from that 18,000 a year in the middle of Metropolis plus an 11% buffer. So I just bumped it up to 20,000 just in case. And then also, as I mentioned, it's not really based on the 4% rule of thumb.

The models are based on me spending, basically not having a spending ceiling. So in upmarket years, I can spend more money depending on how high the market is going and even doing so. And that can be like, I think the highest I saw was spending like $200,000 in one year. This is in 20 years or so when it's compounded, but basically not having a spending ceiling. So in that fictional year, I could be like, well, I could technically buy like $150,000 house in cash right now. So yeah, so basically it's complete flexibility around that being able to not have a ceiling. So in an upmarket year, or if I've been thinking about buying a house for a couple of years, I'm like, and now it's time. There's

the money and let's do this. So yeah, never say never, basically. Okay. Since you mentioned models, I'm curious because yeah, I feel like all I hear from other fire people, which probably isn't the right term, but you know what I mean, is the 4% rule. What kind of models or what kind of strategy did you use to kind of figure out your plan? This is how much I need. This is how much I can withdraw every year to sustain myself. How did you figure that out for yourself? So I used cfiresim.com.

Have you used that? No, I've never heard of that one. Oh, it's fantastic. So it has a lot more variables that you can tweak compared to any other FHIR calculator that I've found. And the original 4% rule of thumb was based on a 30-year retirement. Now, obviously, if I'm retiring at 30, knock on wood, I'm hoping to have like more than 70 years. Things go well. So yeah, the 4% rule doesn't really apply. So that was why it was a baseline. And then I was just tweaking that calculator to see like for the last, I think I have investment data for the last 150 years. So for the last 150 years of all of the 70 year time periods that we have available, what amount would allow me to

live to a hundred and still have money in the bank, basically. And that's how I got the number. So I tweaked, if I lower my spending, maybe two or $3,000 a year, which is obviously not hard. Mexico is technically open. So if I want to make that cost and hang out on a beach, I can. I'm not going to, but technically. So just that I have that flexibility to like lower my spending. But then I was also curious what happens if I don't have that spending ceiling. And would that completely ruin me? And I was shocked to see that it does not.

As long as I like increase my amount kind of proportionate to what the market's doing. So yeah, that's how I figured it out. It was a lot of mathematical models and I was shocked to discover that even if 2020 was the next 1929, which based on how it's going, it actually doesn't look like it is as bad, surprisingly, I would have been fine retiring in 1929. Interesting. Yeah. I want to talk about what's going on right now because I feel like, especially around March, there were so many people talking online and articles being like, oh, I bet all those fire bloggers are really regretting retiring because of what happened in March. And then things rebounded and those people are probably just fine or if not way wealthier so

but obviously this is such a weird year we have no idea what's going on especially with the American election it has such a big impact on the stock market in the U.S. and even here in Canada it like we're looking we're like what's going to happen with this election it's going to have an impact on our stock market and our economy so what have you kind So what are your kind of thoughts on this? Are you concerned? You're like, no, no matter what's going to happen, I'm going to be okay. And I'm assuming during their testing out different models for different scenarios, another market crash or a long recession, you kind of maybe played around some of those scenarios. Yeah. So for me personally, I know I'm going to be fine just because when the pandemic did hit,

I, as I said, reevaluated what's going on. I did also decide to up my cash buffer. So originally, I was just my first year spending in cash, high interest savings account, shout out. But then when I was reading about COVID and everything that's happening and looking at vaccine timelines, I decided to increase that to two years. So I currently have that. And then that two years is in addition to half a million dollars invested. So that's where we are right now. Oh, okay. Yeah. I think that's actually an important thing to mention. It's like, I think a lot of people, when people talk about this is how much money I've got from my retirement, they may forget to mention, so there's that cash buffer of a few years or one

or two years, and then also that investment. So at what point do you, so you've got two years in cash, at what point do you start to withdraw new cash from that kind of an investment pile to fund the following year? Yeah. So I'm planning to do it basically on the anniversary of my retirement, which will be each October. Just keep it clean and not around necessarily the beginning of the year or any other weirdness that might happen. So that's the current plan. But like I said, I might be slightly in the black with my side projects. So if that happens, obviously it pushes out my timeline. But looking at just the cash buffer of two years plus the taxable dividends I'll be receiving, I don't need to touch my portfolio

until March 2023. Oh, wow. That's awesome. That's very cool. So hopefully the world's better then. I mean, my gosh, I sure hope so. It will be. Don't worry. I mean, I think a lot of people forget. And I've had a lot of people who've achieved fire on the show. And mainly because they grew their wealth substantially because of the last financial crisis. So I feel like that's what's going to happen again. I mean, it's happened so many times in the past.

So I think a lot of people are really kind of afraid right now. But talking to people like you, this is actually kind of like in weird, uncertain times, this is actually typically a great time to continue investing your money and grow your wealth. So I want to kind of talk a little bit about how did you start investing? Were you always pretty savvy when it came to that? And what and what was your kind of investing strategy philosophy? Like, what are you doing with your money to make sure you were able to kind of achieve? Cause I, I looked on your website and it's really great cause you have, you're very transparent with, which I think is probably part of the reason you're anonymous, which is you could really share those numbers

where I know a lot of other bloggers. Um, I think they did when they were anonymous, then they became public and then they kind of stopped sharing some of those numbers, which fair enough. You don't want someone to steal, you know, to find out your identity and then steal your identity or something like that. But it's interesting to really see, you know, your net worth numbers, your spending numbers, your all that kind of stuff. But it looked like there was a big jump from 2018 to 2020. Like you basically doubled your net worth or something close to that. You kind of explain what, yeah, what are you doing with your money to make it grow so fast? I think we all

want to know. A lot of questions. All right. I know, I know. So I have not always been investing savvy. I was in the camp of that looks complicated. I don't know what that is. But luckily my mom, she didn't start investing in stocks until she was 40, actually, and she still retired at 55. So late starters, you can still do it. It's never too late. So she did tell me when I got out of college, and I had my first job with a 401k, she had me talk to her investment advisor who, hmm, it's not ideal. We discovered later when I did understand investing, but at least I started investing then, which is great and saving some on taxes because I was using 401k. But then

a couple of years passed. And like I mentioned, my partner introduced me to the idea of FIRE. I dismissed him. And then I actually told myself that when I get my dream job, I'll be happy. I don't need to figure out how to retire super early. It's fine. I got the dream job. I still wasn't happy. I was like, what was that fire thing you mentioned two years ago? And then I was like, oh, okay, let me look into this.

And that's when I read every book I can get my hands on about investing. The New York Public Library was like, what is up with this girl? And I had to read them multiple times because I was like, wait, I don't get it. Hold on. How does this work? So it took me a while. But after doing all that research, I ended up where most FIRE people seem to, which is like straight up VTSAX. Because of my flexibility and my lack of emotional response to market downturns so far, I actually have 100% stocks. Yeah. Oh, wow. That's exciting. Always fun to see. I'm like, what's going on today? Oh, lost a year of expenses. Oh, gained three years. What's going on? I i know so how do you how do you i guess manage the emotions because i think that is honestly the hardest part and that's especially

during this year people are so emotional and i get it i've been i've almost made some big mistakes with my money that like wait logic let's not do that let's remember the advice you give other people and take it yourself how are you how have you been able to kind of manage and not like you know be like, no, we're okay. We're switching things because holy crap, things are getting scary. So I have a written out plan. If this happens, you do this. If this happens, you do that, which luckily I haven't had to use, but I've heard from other early retirees that that's important to have, especially after you're retired, because obviously it's a huge life

change. And so there's emotions with that as well. So if something goes not the way you thought, you might react. But the way that I've just generally been calm about it, even in March, is that since I started my journey, which is almost, it was like five or six years ago, I practiced exposure therapy. So I look at my net worth every single day. And I've done that since the beginning. So since when I started this journey, I think I had $50,000 and now I have like 540,000. So throughout that time, I've seen like the little fluctuations and then the little fluctuations get bigger and bigger and bigger. But because I looked at it from the very beginning, I kind of become like numb, not in a bad way to it. So I was curious though, because obviously I

hadn't experienced like a 2008 or anything. So I was curious in March, would this be the moment where it's too much? And I actually do react and I was shocked that I didn't. It was really weird. Like I, on that day where we dropped 10% and I was like, meh. It was so weird. Like I was, I was prepared. I was like, I'm going to freak out. So I need like ice cream on like on standby. Nope. I was like, Oh, it's just another day. Wow. That's interesting. I like this exposure therapy idea. I think, and I think that makes a lot of sense. I mean, even when you think about it in other terms, like, um, you know, tracking your spending, which is, you know, sometimes such a hard thing for people who

are starting to budget do it's like, I don't want to look at my spending, which is, you know, sometimes such a hard thing for people who are starting to budget do. It's like, I don't want to look at my spending. I don't want to. It's painful. But if you do it on a regular basis, then it doesn't become so crazy. You're like, whatever, I'm looking at my spending. And it's, yeah, you kind of get a bit numb, but it's that exposure that's kind of helpful. So doing that with your net worth and your investments is a great idea.

Good for you for not reacting. I certainly reacted. I didn't sell anything, but I did press pause on my contributions for my RRSP for like two weeks. I'm like, you know what? I'm just like freaking out. So I didn't like stop it. Like, yeah. So just like hit pause. And then I'm like, Jessica, get back on the train. And then I, you know, started. So that was like my little reaction. But after that, when I restarted my contributions, then I actually changed my portfolio because it was 80-20 equities fixed income. Then I changed it to 90-10 because I'm like, you know what? Actually, I think we've learned something about

ourselves and I think we can take on more risk. We just need to do it. And I'm glad I did. And now I'm even in the process of thinking of kind of do... Well, right now I kind of do a lot of different things. I need to kind of consolidate because I am thinking of kind of do well right now, I kind of do a lot of different things. I need to kind of consolidate because I'm using a lot of different platforms. I need to consolidate and do some new things. But it's for me, it's been a good experience actually this whole year of seeing these really volatile ups and downs because you really do learn about yourself and your kind of risk tolerance.

This is a great way to really figure out what your risk tolerance is. But also like, huh, okay, I think I'm stronger than I think. And I think I can actually do something a little bit different. So yeah, it's awesome. It's a great learning experience for people. Good or bad. Like even if you make a mistake, even if you're one of the people who freaked out and, and sold a bunch of stuff, that's still a lesson that you learned, right? So hopefully you won't make the mistake again. So I want to, because I was on your blog and on your website, you stated that in 2015, that's when you decided to pursue FAR and you planned on retiring originally in 2025 at the age of 35, but you were able to do it way early. Can you explain how were you able to

change your plans so drastically and retire five years earlier than you expected? So I'm a pretty practical person, if you can't tell. And my original numbers and calculations were based on my salary and spending at the time. And so I was making, I think it was 68K living in Manhattan and spending 35K because of rent. Those are the numbers I was using. And based on inputting all of that, it was going to take 10 years. However, one of the first things my partner and I decided for both financial and emotional reasons

was that we needed to get out of New York. And we'd been there, was it four or five years at that point? So we made a spreadsheet, of course, of places we should move. And one factor on the spreadsheet was cost of living. Another was marketing salaries in the area and availability of jobs. And after all that research and discussion, we decided to move to Seattle. And when I moved to Seattle, I got a new job and that job paid 85K. And our costs started decreasing, even though we didn't change anything about our lifestyle. We actually got a nicer apartment, but it cost half because it was in Seattle instead of Manhattan. And then we just

kept going like that. And I was looking to see, oh, are these costs like artificially low or what am I doing something different? Like, nope,, somehow now I spend 18K and I have an even better life. And then my job hopped again and the next job paid 103. And before I left, I was making, I think, 113. So the fact that I was increasing my income, that amount, and also decreasing my costs at the same time, that's how I cut my time in half. That sounds like simple math. That's kind of the advice I get for her. It's like, well, if you want to achieve anything, it's cutting costs and earning more money. So that's how that works. I want to kind of circle back to one, because I know I gave you a ton of questions. So about specifically your investing plan, a lot of the

FIRE people that I talked to are passive investors, believe in indexing. Was that kind of your philosophy? Did you do something different? How did you decide to invest your money? What were you investing in? Completely decided Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund, BTSAX, because it seems to have, it's counterintuitive, but it seems to have better returns than actively doing anything or stocks or picking industries. And then also, I'm a lazy person. So for those reasons that it gets better results, and I don't have to do anything, I was like, I'm in. Okay, that sounds easy. Also, and I love that answer. Because that's, it's one of those things where it's like, I've talked to

so many people on the show and just in my personal life who have reached financial independence. And sometimes you're just like, okay, what are you doing differently? And almost everyone has similar answers to you. It's like, no, I'm just invested in index funds. You're like, oh, that's it? And then you talk to enough people. And I feel like if you've been listening to the show for a long time, you're like, we've heard this from enough people maybe this there's something to this yeah i know sometimes it really is and that's kind of like the the most annoying thing about personal finance is when you learn the things that you're like oh i just don't understand or it just seems like so mysterious and you actually actually learn the truth or some facts about it. You're like, it's so simple. It's

actually kind of annoying how simple it is. It doesn't have to be. I mean, you can make it as complicated as you want, but it doesn't have to be complicated. Shockingly, it doesn't have to be. No. So before I let you go, I love your blog. I think it's such a great resource, so I'm definitely going to point people there because it has, again, a lot of the things that we talked about a little bit more in depth because you have so many great blog posts to talk specifically about lots of the questions I've asked you. But I think part of the reason you probably have a blog is because you want to educate

people about your journey and inspire other people to do the same as you. What are some kind of things that you learned that inspire other people to do the same as you. What are some kind of things that you learned that you want people to know? What are some lessons you learned along the way? You're like, oh, if I knew this earlier, I'd be so much better off. I think that it's good to have a backup plan. So obviously, I mentioned my dream job, and I got it and I wasn't as happy as I thought. I think even for the wonderful rare few that do find a dream job that completely fulfills them, nothing lasts forever. So for example, even though I found that dream job, that was around the same time we decided to move to Seattle. So if I had not decided

to pursue fire and move, I would have stayed there and be like, well, this is fulfilling enough. It's going to be fine. And then of course, right after I quit, I was building like a mini agency with one other woman, which is one of the reasons I loved it. I was like creating something new. She was chosen to become the president of our entire ad agency. So our little mini agency was basically dissolved, no longer existed, the job that I loved, the situation I loved. So even if I had been fulfilled by it, it would not have lasted. So have a backup plan, whether it is just a normal side hustle backup plan, or if you're quietly saving on the side the whole time so that if something changes, you have the freedom to change with it. Yeah, I think that's so, so important. I mean,

not that I achieved FIRE exactly, but I was able to quit my job so I can work for myself. That was never the original plan. I think I was instinctively hoarding money so I could leave. It was an unconscious thing I was doing. But I've had people on the show to talk about having an FU fund where it's like having that financial freedom that if something happens, like your dream job disappears and no longer exists. And maybe they'll put you in some other position in the company, but it's not going to make you as happy. It's like you have the flexibility to be like, okay, well, I'm going to leave and then either, you know, pursue a totally different career path or just find another job. And I think, I mean, especially I think in 2020, I've talked about emergency funds for so long, but having like an emergency fund, but also maybe an FU fund or something like that on the side, in case you're like, you know what, I really hate my

job, but it's not, you know, a smart idea to just quit with no plan. Have a backup plan. Have some reserves so you can take some time to find that job. Because I mean, similar to you, it's like I've never lasted a job more than three years. Three years is my most. And so what's crazy is like, so I've been working myself for almost four years. I'm like, this is the longest job I've ever held. I'm usually bored within a year and a half to two years. And then I'm out of there. And so I think that's probably maybe a millennial thing too. I'm usually bored within a year and a half to two years. And then I'm out of there. And so I think that's probably maybe a millennial thing too. I don't know. But it's always good just

to have some backup plan, some money just in the background so you can, if things kind of change, because yeah, you may have the dream job, it may not last that long. Or for me, almost every job, I love this job. And within a year, I'm like, I'm not loving this job. So before I let you go, where can people find more information about you? I mentioned you've got Twitter, you've got Instagram, your blog. Where can people find you? Sure. Just head over to my site at purplelife.com. It's got all my social media handles on there. You can just drop me a line. Let me know what's up. Ooh, awesome. Awesome. Well, thank you so much for taking the time to chat with me, share your story. I'm going to continue to follow you and your journey of what you're up to this year. I'm excited to see what happens next.

Me too. Hopefully some good things in 2020. 2020 is a wash. 2021, let's hope for some good things hopefully some travel for you fingers crossed and that was episode 249 with a purple life on the moment podcast i feel like i forgot to mention the episode number at the beginning but then i recorded the intro and i'm like i liked the intro i'm not gonna go back and redo it so episode 249 if you want to check out the show notes for this episode just go to jessicamorehouse.com slash 249 If you want to check out the show notes for this episode, just go to jessicamorehouse.com slash 249. If you want to find out show notes for any episode ever, just go to jessicamorehouse.com slash whatever the number of that episode is. And you can find out links about the guests, more info about the episode, et cetera, et cetera. But of course, make sure to check out A Purple

Life since she's awesome and has so much interesting information about her journey. You can find her at APurpleLife.com. On Twitter, her handle is at A Purple Life blog, and on Instagram at A Purple Life. She also has a Facebook page, Facebook.com slash A Purple Life, and Pinterest. Why not? Pinterest.com slash A Purple Life blog. So I have so many, so many things to share with you. So I want you to hang tight. I really do. So please hang tight. I just have a few words I'm going to share about this episode sponsor and then I have some things to share with you. This episode of the momenty podcast is sponsored by PC financial. If you've been listening to the podcast for a while, then you already know that one of my biggest pet peeves in the banking industry is monthly bank fees. I can't

stand them, especially when there are so many great alternatives to choose from nowadays, like the new PC Money account from PC Financial that launched this September. Yes, that's right. PC Financial is back and it's going to give its competitors a run for their money. You see, not only are there no monthly bank fees, but you earn PC optimum points on every dollar you spend anywhere you shop. That's right. No matter if you're buying groceries, paying bills, or buying one of the many personal finance books I talk about on this show, you earn points, 10 points per dollar to be exact. Not only that, you can earn additional points for paying bills online, linking an external bank account, and setting up and using direct deposit with your PC Money account, too.

You can also earn 25 points for each dollar you spend when shopping at Shoppers Drug Mart. So my question for you is this. What kind of perks are you getting with your bank account? And is it time to make a change? To learn more and to stop paying monthly bank fees but start earning points, visit pcfinancial.ca. Once again, that's pcfinancial.ca. Okay, so first of all, the most exciting thing, obviously, and you may already know this if you follow me on social media, and if you do not follow me on social media, why not? Why don't you want to be friends with me? I'm very nice. I promise. I'm just plugging myself, really. Follow me on Twitter

at J-E-S-S-I underscore Morehouse, or just Google Jessica Morehouse. I think I'm the only verified Jessica Morehouse on Twitter, so follow me. Also, Instagram, get on my gram. I feel so old when I talk like that. I don't know why I try. You can find me at Jessica I. Morehouse. You can also follow the show at Mo Money Podcast, either on Twitter or Instagram. I always just share the episodes, basically. So if you're just like, I don't care about you, girl. I just want to know your episodes. Well, you can follow my podcast specifically on Twitter and Instagram and just get that content as well. But anyways, what am I talking about? So last week I mentioned, and for the past several weeks I've been talking about, hey, I'm doing the Canadian securities course, send me good vibes, because there's two huge exams that I needed to pass. And I really, that first exam, I'm like,

I'm not going to pass this. There's no freaking way. Like this is crazy hard. Passed. And that was a big surprise to me. Last week, last Wednesday, as I released last week's episode with Dan Price, make sure to check that out. That was a great episode. I had the final exam, the second exam. And also I went into it with a better mindset. I really did. I'm like, you know what? I actually really enjoyed the content of volume two way more than volume one. I feel pretty good about this. I think there's a really good chance I'll pass, but still you don't want to be too confident because then you do and then you fail and then your expectations aren't met and then you're very

sad and didn't want to experience that. So I put it out there again though to keep myself a candle. So I studied up until like the last moment, asked you for some good vibes. And clearly you gave me some good vibes because I passed. Still in shock. I'll be 100% real with you. Still very in shock. Did I pass with flying colors? Absolutely not. But with things like this, with really tough exams like this, the point isn't to ace the test. The point is to pass the test. And I'm pretty stoked that not only was I able to pass both exams the first time, because you get actually three attempts because a lot of people fail, but also I did it in, I feel like, record time. From start to finish, from starting to crack open those books and start to study to taking the last exam three months. Would I recommend that? Absolutely not.

Don't do that. That's dumb. That is straight dumb. Don't do that. It is not enough time to really take the time you need to study and not go into a panic or just feel super anxious the whole time. So don't do that. I had to because my course license was set to expire by the end of October. So didn't really have much of a choice. But don't do that. Give yourself a little bit more time. Also, don't book both exams. I'm going to actually make a blog post and a video about my experience and some of my thoughts, but just in case you've ever thought about doing it. Also, just focus on the first volume and then book the first exam and then move on to the second one. I kind of, you know, put the pressure on me

because I booked both exams and so I had no choice. Like I was kind of freaking out. I'm like, if I fail the first exam, I don't think I can even move forward with the second exam. Like maybe, but then I'd still do the first exam and then my license would expire. It's no good. I've been getting a lot of questions though about, okay, so what's next for you? Or why the hell did you even do that? So I did the course mainly just because a lot of other people in the industry, other like journalists I know, a lot of other money experts have done the course. It's kind of like a thing. It's not that I was shamed to do it, but basically the reason I'm like, well, I should probably do it is so many people are like, oh, you haven't done it? And then I'm like, oh, I'm going to do it.

That's basically why I did it. Is that peer pressure? I think that is. That's probably why I did it. But so that's done. But the reason a lot of people do it is to work in banking, is to become an investment advisor or a portfolio manager eventually. That is certainly not, if you know me, that's not what my goal is. Absolutely not. Love what I do as a content creator and a financial literacy advocate and also as a

financial counselor. And I just really want to improve my own financial literacy, my own knowledge and see how far I can go. But finishing the Canadian Securities course made me realize that, oh, okay, so that goal is done. Now what? I always need something. I need something after because I don't know about you, and I was telling people about this recently because this happens to me all the time. When you set a really big goal and you achieve it, it's fun for a couple hours after. I was pretty on cloud nine. And then it felt like, huh, okay, now what? The goal is done. And you kind of slum it to a little bit of a depression. It was only for a few days, but I was kind of sad and low and gloomy for a few days. And I'm like, why?

I did something good. Why don't I feel good about it? I did a little research on it. Apparently, it's actually pretty normal to feel like that because sometimes you actually get that really amazing feeling leading up to achieving that goal. But once you actually achieve it, it's like the feeling's over. The way to combat that is to set another goal, which is what I've been setting some goals. I've been setting a bunch of goals because I'm like,

I need something to work towards. And so next on my study list is there's a course called Financial Planning 1. And then there's a bunch of other courses I need to take. Basically, the new goal, the new crazy insane goal is I'm going to try to become a CFP. Because why not? Which is funny because I've had several guests on the show who are CFPs and talking to them in depth, especially with my friend Matthew. And I'm going to check out what episode he was on. Oh yeah, Matthew, and I'm going to get his last name. He's a friend of mine. His last name is not the easiest to remember how to pronounce. It's Siweak? Maybe it's S-I-W-I-E-C. So sorry, Matthew, if you listened to this and I butchered your name. I'm a terrible person. But he was on episode 205,

and the episode was Who Can You Trust? Financial Designations Explained. He had just finished the CFP and basically explained how arduous it was and hard. And it just did not sound fun. And I remember recording that episode with him and like, there's no way in hell I'm doing that. That's just not for me. Cut to literally a year later, that was September 2019. Look at me now. What is going on with the world? What am I doing? Anyway, so that is the new goal. And the goal mainly is, again, I'm not planning to become a CFP to open up my own financial planning firm. I mean, who knows? I'm not discounting. That's not the plan. I just

really want to continue to grow my knowledge and just feel more confident about finances. It's funny probably saying that because I've had a lot of conversations recently with people being like, oh, you sound like you really know your stuff or you're so confident with that. Isn't that correct? That's nice that you think that, but I'm always on a journey trying to educate myself and build my own financial confidence. I know we talk about financial confidence a lot on the show. Realize it's not just you. For me, I also have financial confidence issues.

I mean, that's probably why I'm still in this field of personal finance is because I'm always trying to, I mean, build my confidence and my knowledge and all that kind of stuff. So anyway, so just wanted to share that with you. Thank you so much for sending me such good vibes and support online for me taking the Canadian Securities course, because it was hard. And I know, you know, lots of people in the industry are like, oh, yeah, that's just like a beginner course. Well, it's a foundational course, I would say. I wouldn't say it's like a big beginner course, because a beginner course kind of makes it sound like it's easy. But for me, it was like a big kind of milestone to complete

because I'd had it on my to-do list for honestly like two years. And the fact that I actually did it, I'm like, wow. So I also just want to give that, because I'm talking about myself a lot, give that as an example or hopefully some kind of motivation to you that if there's something that you've been meaning to do, but there's been some sort of roadblock, and maybe it's a mental roadblock, or you just like feel like, no, there's no way I can pass. Take this as your kind of, you know, piece of evidence or what have you that you can't do it. You can kind of do anything. You just got to try and be okay with the possibility of failing because failing doesn't mean that, well, you can't do that.

Sorry. It just means you maybe have to try again or try doing it, trying to accomplish that goal in a different way. Failure should be something that we embrace because you learn a lot from failure. And also fear of failure can actually be a great motivator for you to study. So yeah, so that is what's going on with the Canadian Securities course. Besides that, I've also been kind of thinking, okay, what's next for me and my brand, the Jessica Morehouse Mo Money Podcast brand? It's been a, this year, I haven't really thought too much about it, you know, because we've been, again, in a weird pandemic where I feel like a lot of us were in survival mode or just like trying to maintain

my mental health. That is like the number one key. And so I've definitely got some exciting things in the works. I've actually signed up for a program that is kind of like, you know, not to get too much into entrepreneurship, but it is kind of focused more on business, coaching and whatnot. And I've never done anything like that. So we're going to give it a go and see what happens. But yeah, I kind of want to just grow my brand because I want to reach more people. It's awesome that I've been getting so many more messages lately. I guess more people are online being like, oh, I just discovered your show or just discovered you on YouTube. And that makes me happy because it's not just like, oh, I just discovered your show or just discovered you on YouTube. And that makes me happy because

it's not just like, oh, cool, someone knows about me. It's more like, oh, cool, hopefully the information that I provided that's fun and digestible and helpful is going to help you. And I want to help. The whole point of me doing all of this is to help people and I want to reach more people so I can help more people. So that is kind of the goal. And that's me revising some of my online courses. So there's going to be some big changes. So I would highly recommend if you kind of want to do the courses that I have, my Fix Your Finances Masterclass or my Investing Foundations for Canadians courses, or course, to sign up now. I'm probably going to be raising the prices in the new year because I'm going to

be making some big changes. I also, of course, have my shop page, jessicamorehouse.com. So if you're looking for a budget spreadsheet, I've got a few free ones, a few paid ones. I'm probably going to be raising the prices on those as well. So make sure to check those out. But otherwise, I'm going to definitely focus a lot more on YouTube. Obviously, I'm always going to do the podcast because I love the podcast, but focus more on doing more YouTubes consistently because I actually really do like making videos. And I think it'd be a really cool thing to do. Anyways, I'm very early stages in this situation. So that's why I'm just kind of rambling, but it got me excited for the

possibilities of what's next for me. Because I felt like for a little while, I've been kind of in a slump this year. I mean, most of us have and that's normal, but I think I'm kind of excited for the future. Even though we're in this very weird world of uncertain times and whatnot, I'm still like, I've got something to look forward to. And man, is that important? Is that ever important? Okay, so that's kind of what I wanted to share with you. Yeah, feeling kind of hopeful. And hopefully, I've made you feel hopeful about your finances, you know, reaching financial independence, whatever the case is on your personal finance journey, just want you to know that we're all on our own journeys. And I think sometimes, especially for people who just discovered this podcast and me and may not even know my story,

it's like I've been doing it. And I've been on a couple other podcasts recently sharing my story. So it's kind of fresh in my mind. I think a lot of people are always so focused on people's end result and people see me like, oh wow, she's like pretty far ahead. She really knows her stuff, yada, yada, yada. Okay, well cut to me 10 years ago and I was not this gal. I was broke. I was living with two roommates. Not only was this a crappy basement apartment with the biggest spiders you've ever seen. As big as your hand. Wolf spiders. No joke. No joke. I was broke. I didn't have any student debt, but I had no money. I was working two jobs and was trying to figure out what this adult life meant. And it was

terrifying. I was not having a good time. And then slowly I started reading blog posts. I started reading books. Podcasts weren't really a thing. Otherwise, I'd listen to some podcasts. YouTube, I don't think personal finance content was on YouTube 10 years ago. Man, I'm aging myself. I feel old. So I slowly started to educate myself while doing my life and figuring out who I was as an adult and working my jobs and all that stuff and living super frugally, trying to save as much money as I possibly could so I didn't freak out and basically feel like I was always living paycheck to paycheck. And then I made a budget and I just made kind of a clear plan on how much money I can

spend every paycheck. And slowly I started seeing some progress. And over time, I got jobs that paid me more. My side hustle, which is now my full-time job, started kind of earning a little bit more money that helped me save for lots of my different savings goals like travel, my wedding, moving from Vancouver to Toronto, and being unemployed for several months after we moved here. Going back to school several times so I can retrain because I've changed full-on careers a couple times already. It's a process. It's a journey. And I've been doing this as my full-time job for almost four years now. And I think sometimes, yeah, people just see me and see like, oh, wow, look at that. But I'm like, it wasn't always like this. This was a journey and you really

just have to be persistent and consistent and never give up on yourself. That's the key. It's not just about giving up on, like, don't give up on your goals, but don't give up on yourself. Believe in yourself and you're going to have ups and downs, which is why I highly recommend if you need a little help, nothing wrong seeing a counselor or therapist. I do myself. It's almost everyone I know in my, you know, circle does. And it's so, so helpful to, you know, to get the tools you need to, you know, fix your life basically. So yeah, I just kind of want just to share, just being a little real with you

that it's not just about the destination. It's about the journey and to be kind to yourself, be patient with yourself. And just sometimes you won't see those results for a little bit and you just have to stay strong and keep on doing it. But having a budget, tracking your spending, your net worth, creating that financial plan for yourself, continuing to educate yourself, put that work in now and see where you'll be in a few years. I guarantee you, you will be in a way better position if you do put the energy, the effort, the work in. So that is my little thing. That's all I wanted to share. Thanks so much for listening. I will be back, of course, next week with another fresh episode for you. Yeah. So you have a good rest of your week.

Thanks for listening again. And yeah, I'll see you soon. this podcast is distributed by the women in media podcast network find out more at women in media.network