How To Retire In Only 2 Years With Rethink The Rat Race

Gina

Gina is the co-founder and co-author of The Wicked Wallet. She has a bachelor's degree in finance specializing in personal finance. Her goal is to make personal finance more accessible to the masses by sharing knowledge and insight on the topic.

February 27, 2020

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Hello, hello, hello and happy day to you! We are SO excited for you to learn more about James and Emily from Rethink The Rat Race. We have been such huge fans of them ever since we heard them on The FI Show.

They are 27 & 28 years old and retired! They managed to buy 11 properties in just two years which granted them the financial freedom they were looking for. Before we spoil too much, check out their interview below and be sure to share this information with all your FIRE friends. Enjoy! 🙂

1. Please tell us a brief summary about yourselves and how Rethink The Rat Race was created

We are James & Emily Lowery and we’ve been married for nearly 5 years. James grew up in a very financially insecure home with multiple car repossessions, water & electricity getting disconnected, and many more things. Unbelievably, he had never eaten in a sit-down restaurant until he was 16 years old.

Emily’s home was more financially stable with her parents following Dave Ramsey’s money management methods. While her family lived off a single income, their relative frugality led to a comfortable lifestyle.

About a year after we got married we found out about the FIRE movement & started aggressively saving and investing. A year later, we decided that it would be good to document our personal path to FIRE so that we could hopefully influence some friends & family to take control of their finances. This is when Rethink the Rat Race was born.

2. How did you find FIRE?

James overheard a patient at his work talking about how if she had found this site earlier, she would already be retired. After some inquiries & investigation, it turned out that she was talking about Mr. Money Mustache. This was our introduction to the idea of FIRE.

3. When did you reach FIRE and what was the biggest instrument in helping you reach FIRE?

We reached FI in early 2019 but decided to continue working until late 2019 when we finally pulled the trigger on FIRE. Our biggest instrument in reaching FIRE was frugality. Frugality helped us accumulate the savings for real estate, kept us from blowing money on useless status symbols like cars, houses, phones, & clothes, & was a guiding principle that we used in every purchase.

4. What inspired you to first start investing in real estate?

James has always had an infatuation with real estate, even before our path to FIRE. After a ton of research, we found that real estate would supercharge our path to FIRE and help us accomplish our goals much quicker.

5. What is your advice for those just starting out on their journey in real estate or FIRE?

Get started. We know people who were reading about real estate & talking about savings & 401ks before we ever considered it. They’re still researching, reading, & listening to every podcast they can on the subject but haven’t started investing. The first property is the most important one. Not because it’s the best deal, it usually never is, but because you’ve actually started making progress toward your goals.

6. What was the hardest obstacle to overcome on your way to financial freedom?

Relationship dynamics. There was peer pressure from our families to drive nicer cars, & live in nicer houses. Also, at times it was harder to spend time with our friends because our values had changed & we no longer got the same joy out of blowing money at restaurants every weekend.

7. Are there any common misconceptions about real estate investing you think should be debunked?

The 3:00 AM call for a clogged toilet. Everyone talks about this, but it never happens. If that’s what’s keeping you from investing in real estate, then get a property manager. Alternatively, if you manage your own properties & have systems in place real estate, like everything else, can become much easier & more passive. We like to say that everyone should own real estate, but not everyone should manage it.

8. If you could go back and do anything differently, what would you change and why?

We both agree that we wouldn’t go back and change anything now because all our choices have brought us to where we are now. However, with that being said, we should have skipped out on a fancy condo that we bought before we found out about FIRE. We’ve bought 6 rental units in the same city for less than we paid for this 1 bed 1 bath condo.

9. Are there any books or tools that helped you reach financial freedom quicker?

mrmoneymustache.com & the forums that he has on his site have changed our lives. Also, Retire Early with Real Estate by Chad Carson is a great resource for anyone looking to diversify into any type of real estate.

10. Since you two are trotting around the globe, what has been your favorite city so far?

Barcelona has been our favorite city so far. We were there in January and the weather was amazing, the food was great, the public transportation is spectacular, and the city itself is beautiful. We highly recommend it.

Key Takeaways

“Our biggest instrument in reaching FIRE was frugality”. There is a reason why they were able to retire so quickly. They were conscious about their spending and were able to prioritize what really mattered most to them.

2. Real estate can supercharge your path to FIRE.

3. Just get started. You will regret not starting sooner.

4. Don’t fall into societal norms. You will receive pressure from family and friends that will subject you to lifestyle inflation but in the end, you need to be putting your goals first.

5. Real estate can be passive if you build up the process to make it become that. Whether it is hiring a property manager or creating systems for all scenarios, you can make it as passive as you want.

6. Great resources that really helped James and Emily include mrmoneymustache.com & his forums and Retire Early with Real Estate by Chad Carson.

Summarization

Holy moly donut shop. James and Emily sure did do things right huh? Thank you to both of them for being so open to sharing the details behind their impressively quick journey to retirement. We have so much respect for them hustling to achieve their goals.

To learn more about James and Emily, check out their social media platforms below!

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