“I was the fun guy to be around,” White told Annuity.org. “I was the guy who’d go out with a group of six people and go ‘Yeah, yeah I got dinner tonight.’ And I didn’t have any money! I was working at a convenience store.”
For White, the realization of exactly how serious the situation had become didn’t fully register until he started working at an IT company where he was making $12 an hour.
During the time of Y2K, the company was sending out new software to computers and White found himself firing up a Quicken personal finance tool that was part of the new programs being rolled out.
That was when he realized he was just out of college and already at about $30,000 in credit card debt.
“That was kind of scary,” White said. “At that point, I put the brakes on.”
It’s not always easy to quickly alter a lifestyle that you’re used to, but that’s exactly what White did. He stopped his spending and began working tirelessly to get out of debt as quickly as he could.
The answer was cutting back wherever possible. He was lucky to still be living with his parents for a bit longer after school and used that time to begin getting into a very frugal routine.
He saved up money, cut where he could and followed a debt reduction planner to stay on track.
“I would stare at the Quicken screen. It had to be hours every day,” White said.
His hard work paid off, and even faster than he had hoped. Within two to three years, he cleared all of his debt.
White didn’t know it at the time, but the lessons learned from having to pay off so much debt quickly at a young age would eventually be the key to him exiting the workforce years early. And he found that his new, frugal style of living was manageable and sustainable even after the debt was gone.
“We just kept our frugal lifestyle,” he said. “It was around the time I met my wife, and she did not get to partake in the fun guy that was buying everything. She got to meet the frugal guy.”
Happily Retired Without Ever Getting Rich
Years after paying off his debt, White was happily engaged in family life with a wife and a daughter. He eventually worked up from his $12 per hour salary at the IT company to $120,000 a year. Meanwhile, his wife was bringing in $35,000 to $40,000 working at a nonprofit.
It was a secure and comfortable life, but certainly not one that would provide the means to retire early. At least that’s what White thought.
“I always dreamed of being rich at some point because I thought you needed to be rich to be retired,” he said. “Little did I know that you don’t need to be rich. You just need to understand money.”
The clear picture of early retirement first took shape in 2014 when White came across a blog about retiring at 40. He realized that his family was already set up to make this a reality thanks to their frugal lifestyle, and he began working intentionally towards the goal of early retirement.
Just a few years later, at the age of 43, White was able to make his dream a reality.
“We’re not the wealthiest people by any means, but we have enough that we can maintain our lifestyle without having to work,” he said.
To make it happen, White and his family implemented a modified version of the four percent rule which proposes limiting retirement portfolio withdrawals to up to 4% a year to avoid running out of money over the next 30 years. The family lives on about $50,000 a year, making their early retirement achievable and sustainable.
Today, about five years into retirement, White has never looked back. His family’s financial freedom has allowed for many amazing experiences, including spending a few years living in Panama.
“The three of us moved to Panama just for an adventure,” he said. “It was amazing. We homeschooled our daughter, and she’s gotten to see things most kids — and most adults — will never see.”
The family eventually made their way back to the U.S. and recently let their apartment lease lapse, bought an RV and are preparing for their next adventure: a nine-month road trip around the country.
It may sound ironic that White achieved his dream lifestyle thanks to lessons learned from a tough credit card debt situation. But that adversity ultimately set him on the path to financial wellness he needed to take to make the dream a reality for his family.
“I think if you put those things together and if you lay things out the right way, you’ve got a formula for success and financial independence.”
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