On green envy to other's financial success...

It's only recently that I came across a relatively old news (2016) about a young couple in Toronto (Canada) who became self-professed millionnaire, with their worst sin being their preaching about their methods, resulting in online hate comments. 

While I'm never a fan of self-promoters, I don't generally take too kindly to green envy either.

Being frugal alone is not enough.

For a start, why would this couple even opens themselves up for public scrutiny (thereby, ridicule) that way? Call me old-schooled, but I simply find that distasteful. Not too many folks, age notwithstanding, have the blessing in life to find well-paying jobs right after college. No doubt that they consider themselves smart and wise in being frugal, or to disregard elders' conventional wisdom to toll for a mortgage in an overpriced property market. Those alone are not the major factor in their ability to amass their first $500k to seed their stock/bond portfolio. 

Where's the revenue source?

More importantly, the main reason they have the ability to save, is because both their jobs (in the IT field) still pay relatively well. And because they have the good fortune to have co-op jobs during college already, they are not burdened with students debts. Put it another way, if they were both in minimum-wage jobs, would they have been able to frugal their way to their $1m goal, simply by bootstrapping? I don't think so.

The arguments for/against a pricey mortgage.

According to this couple, one of their "wisdom" is to not bog themselves down by a pricey mortgage in an overpriced property market. The argument sounds almost intuitive, except that it's not. In retrospect, if they have bought a house property back in 2010, what would the property value and capital gains have been like in 2016 or 2018? A lot, I'd say. In the crazy market in Toronto, if it has been in one of the hottest spots, they could easily have doubled the value. In fact, I would even argue that they could probably have made far more than the $500k, had they bought their own piece of roof. In the end, it could all be just a wash.

That said, they did do one thing right, which is that they do not stretch their finance beyond their means to go for a mortgage that they couldn't afford. God forbids, if they lose their jobs (and they both work in the same field), they could instantly lose their ability to pay for the mortgage. Then again, the same is true even if they are renters. All of which goes back to the earlier point about the more important factor of having the revenue source. 

How far can $1m last?

And then there is this assertion that when one gets to the $1m mark, it's safe enough for one to consider (early) retirement. As conventional wisdom goes, all they have to do, is to care-take the portfolio to ensure the yield exceeds their expenses. But, would that always be possible? I highly doubt that.

Bear in mind too that this couple is still young. They are in early 30s, and don't even have kids yet. Should they consider starting a family and having kids, that changes the equation completely. Kids need good schooling (private school is pricey, and moving into nice neighborhood for good public schools by either buying or renting isn't cheap either). God help them, they'd better pray for good health and healthy genes. Maybe that's not a big worry in Canada, but if they were in US and have no healthcare coverage, one medical emergency could be more than sufficient to blow their $500k portfolio out of the window.

Living large, or just being lazy?

I have decided long time ago that I cannot quite foresee myself to truly retire. I like work, I like the daily rhythm and being productive. Certain level of stress (and the adrenaline that comes with it) can actually be fun. Traveling is great, but that's not a vocation to me. Let's say, in 10 years' time when this couple trod around the world a few times over, what would they be doing then? Going back into their field (IT) after checking-out for years would likely not be an option, and even if they do, would they be willing to toll a developer job when all of their peers have moved up the ladder while they go back to competing with other 20-somethings? It's highly doubtful. To me, retirement cannot be simply about the leisure pursuit. 

What of the green envy?

Surely this couple loves the attention, their 15-minute of fame, being self-promoters as they are (even if they deny it), but do they warrant such hateful vitriol? Perhaps they are more clueless than they refuse to see themselves to be. By fashioning themselves as self-help guru and promoting the "We can do it; you can do it too (you've GOT to be!)" motto, it has the unspoken undertone of rubbing it in, adding salt to injury to those who could never be able to make it, however frugal they might be. The question of get-a-mortgage-or-rent is not even on the table since a lot of people simply cannot afford the option to buy (even if they want it). To hear them saying, we can buy but we won't because it's smarter to rent, and see how smart we are and how much money we've made as a result! To me, it's just bad form, hence I can fully understand why they are thrashed online, even if it's not called for. Ultimately if you put yourself out there, with all good intentions, you are inviting others to pass judgment on you, and oft for very good reasons.

To each, his own.

I would never profess to tell others what the best or smartest way is to live one's life. I would not even try to make it sound like how smart I might be than the next guy. Everyone's circumstances are different. While each of us has agency, a lot of things in life are still at the mercy of chance. There are plenty of people who are sensible, do all the right things in life, and still can't make ends meet. This couple's message to those people is simply that, if they can't make it, they must be losers, or doing something wrong. And that is uncalled for. 

Some things in life should stay private, and finances is one of those. Just because it's easier these days to self-publish and cheaper to do self-promotion on channels like youtube, it doesn't mean we should. I can only hope that self-promoters like this couple, and all those preaching FIRE, would just shut he hell up. If they need public ridicule to get that message (to shut their trap), it might as well.