How I retired at age 25

http://www.petermichaud.com/essays/how-i-retired-at-age-25/

by pmichaud • 16 years ago

82 46 16 years ago

petermichaud.com

shafqat• 16 years ago

After reading all of that, I still don't know what he/you actually did.

jcl• 16 years ago

Presumably it's: start several blogs, and make money via advertisements, referrals, and e-books.

The two sites linked in the article prominently advertise self-made books:

http://www.reactivehypoglycemia.info/

http://www.statisticshowto.com/

SamAtt• 16 years ago

I think the lesson he's shooting at is the basic "don't be afraid to chase your dream because when I did everything turned out roses". I'm not opposed to that message but it seems self evident. Everyone has a dream, everyone knows some people chase their dream and succeed. What holds people back (as he says in the post) is fear that they won't succeed and I don't see how one anecdotal story is going to alleviate that.

nkh2• 16 years ago

Without numbers this isn't very useful.

This reminds me of when I was at WestPoint (US Military Academy). Everyone would talk about how once you graduated you were "set for life" (after your five year commitment). They would leave it at that, and not mention any numbers to back up the statement. I still remember I asked an officer what "big money" was. And he replied, "Oh, big money!! Like 65,000" Which is less than every single one of my friends and I made after quitting westpoint and getting jobs out of school.

weaksauce2• 16 years ago

Is that just a one time amount or yearly? I know of people that have been in the marines for 20 years and then have a retirement that pays him yearly and also has a job that pays well.

antidaily• 16 years ago

the niche disease site and ebook made 40k in its 12th month??

blang• 16 years ago

I was wondering that as well. I am pretty confused about the time frame, he said the book was released last summer and in it's first month made $10 and in it's 12th month make 40k. How can he know what the 12th month is if it hasn't been twelve months since the book was released? Am I missing something?

ruslan• 16 years ago

I think he's just projecting his current income growth for the next 12 months, which sounds a little bit naive. :-)

swombat• 16 years ago

How lucky for him that his wife had a strange disease! We can't all be this lucky though.

ryandvm• 16 years ago

I'm glad I can appreciate the recursiveness of reading a minimally informative blog about getting rich, all the while knowing that the punchline is going to be "write lean content that strings people along".

Willie_Dynamite2• 16 years ago

How lame. I'm 35 and I haven't even started working.

davidw• 16 years ago

I'm 35 too and wondering what I'll do when I grow up;-)

qjz• 16 years ago

Maybe you and Willie_Dynamite can start a blog about how you retired at Day One.

TheSOB88• 16 years ago

Where do you get your money, Willie?

Willie_Dynamite2• 16 years ago

The ATM.

potatolicious• 16 years ago

How? In school?

jamesbressi3• 16 years ago

It feels suspicious to me that this article is now up to 18 points?

The suspicion? Some users up-vote a headline before reading the article.

teye• 16 years ago

I upvoted it (after reading) because I like periodic reminders that sexy web apps aren't the only way.

tsally• 16 years ago

I guess I always thought retired meant that if all your sources of income disappeared tomorrow, you could live off of your savings for the rest of your life. Don't get me wrong, I find owning a business where you can pay your own salary impressive as well, but retiring seems a bit misleading (unless there is some detail I'm missing).

nihilocrat• 16 years ago

I had the same reaction. Honestly, I don't think you are missing anything, this is like an oil baron saying he's set for life because his oil rig is pumping out enough money today so that he doesn't have to work. For some reason he forgets that the oil might run out 2, 5, or 10 years from now.

apowell• 16 years ago

"I tinker around the edges of the business, but I don’t have to. It’s on autopilot, and if I don’t do anything to it at all, it’ll keep earning. It’s as secure as any investment vehicle, and if I want to, I can make it grow at any time."

We have different definitions of "retire". It sounds like you're still running your business.

Also, the idea that it's "as secure as any investment vehicle" is misguided. I'd trade my content site, which has been generating consistent income since 1999, for T-bills generating the same income any day of the week.

Jim724• 16 years ago

Well looking at your profile picture, I would say you got rich by pillaging and plundering on the modern high seas: the internet.

Jim724• 16 years ago

What is wrong with people here? They lack any sense of humor. Besides, this guy is making money selling ads. I'm surprised there wasn't a solicitation for a book. Oh wait.

dmoney• 16 years ago

Humor is the gateway drug. If people start upvoting jokes, then HN will turn into Reddit. Then into Digg. Before you know it, you might as well call it HNchan.

nfnaaron• 16 years ago

Thank you for writing this, it's great food for thought, especially as you're under no obligation to either write it or to write to a particular level of detail.

Reading this was time well spent in the ongoing adjustment of my brain.

nickpp• 16 years ago

I keep noticing lately this kind of blogs: "I made millions without hard work from this simple passive-income scheme with just a small e-book..." etc.

I wonder who's making the REAL money. And what is he selling. These blogs are probably fabricated, but what's their point? Lots of people doing blogs and e-books about lots of niches? Only Google gains from that.

Or maybe lots of unhappy "entrepreneurs" looking for SEO tips? That's more like it...

GiraffeNecktie• 16 years ago

I'm waiting for the sequel "How I sucked in a whole bunch of HN readers by submitting a corny, too-good-to-be-true headline"

chubbard• 16 years ago

Pictures or it didn't happen.

araneae• 16 years ago

"Work for someone who produces actual content and then happen to be married to them so you can claim all that money is yours."

fargdarg• 16 years ago

Total bullshit.

How I retired at age 25

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