Let's talk about MMM

[ronb]

I've been reading his blog posts for a few years now. Here are my thoughts:

-It appears he's running out of these to write about. He keeps ranting about people who drive. It's getting old.

-His audience (I know I'm part of it) have this 'holier-than-thou' attitude that makes it hard to have enjoyable conversations with other mustachians I've found.

-A huge part of how he saves money is by doing his own home renovation. I know people can accomplish great things when they put their mind to it - but not everyone is cut out to build homes. He needs to stop pressing upon people that it's easy. Guess what? For most people - it's not!

-His blog is now worth millions so yeah, it's pretty easy for him to say that early retirement is a walk in the park. Without the blog, I'm sure his confidence would be quite a bit lower.

What are your thoughts about him/his blog? I don't mean for this to be personal attacks. I just HATE how he moderates anything like this out of his comments section. Heaven forbid his blog contains differing viewpoints. Reminds me of Rush Limbaugh.

[disneysteve]

I've been reading his blog posts for a few years now. Here are my thoughts:

-It appears he's running out of these to write about.

I've never heard of him or read any of his stuff so I can't comment but I will say something about this piece of it.

Personal finance isn't rocket science. There are a relatively few basic principles and once you've covered them a few times, you're pretty much out of material. If you scroll through this site, it is largely us answering the same questions over and over and over again.

I'm reminded of Amy Dacyczyn, author of The Tightwad Gazette. She published the newsletter for several years. When she reached a point where she felt she had covered everything she had to say, she stopped doing it. Her newsletters were put out in book form but she stopped putting out any new content. There just wasn't any more to write about. I think a lot of personal finance gurus could take a lesson from her.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

His blog worth millions of dollars? I doubt it. He has not said that, has he? I just looked on alexa.com and his site is today ranked 13,649 globally and 3,951 in the US. Probably not a huge money maker. I think he honestly has retired on his previous earnings and savings.

I find plenty of bloggers run out of stuff to say. Don't know if MMM is tapped out, but I still enjoy his forums. If his site encourages more people to live a good life, I'm glad.

The people who comment on the blog and in the forums seem to be above average income. No doubt that makes it easier to retire early. It's good that MMM has helped them to see the possibility.

[FLA]

I had heard about him over the years, just joined the forum. When you sign up, you are supposed to read mounds of stuff first. That turned me off and have yet to do it, haven't even read blogs. I didn't know he moderates comments out, why? Unless it's obscene nonsense or spam, why would you do that? And the DIY stuff bugs me because not everyone has a partner to help and some readers may actually have some sort of disability. I haven't read the don't drive stuff, but if his solution is walk everywhere, I am going to leave. I can walk into my MD office, small part of a grocery store on a good day, and fall daily. I'll have to read more before I decide but one solution (i.e.: DIY everything) does not fit every situation. If he's running out of stuff to say, maybe he can broaden his horizons to include frugal, aspirational people who don't or can't fit his mold.

Again, I preface this by saying I have not done my due diligence there, I could be totally wrong.

[ronb]

His blog worth millions of dollars? I doubt it. He has not said that, has he? I just looked on alexa.com and his site is today ranked 13,649 globally and 3,951 in the US. Probably not a huge money maker. I think he honestly has retired on his previous earnings and savings.

I find plenty of bloggers run out of stuff to say. Don't know if MMM is tapped out, but I still enjoy his forums. If his site encourages more people to live a good life, I'm glad.

The people who comment on the blog and in the forums seem to be above average income. No doubt that makes it easier to retire early. It's good that MMM has helped them to see the possibility.

Dig deeper.

[ExcuseMyIgnorance]

MMM should hurry up and either sell his blog and/or write his book before more people start losing interest in him. I agree - his stuff has been bad for more than a year now.

[autoxer]

-His audience (I know I'm part of it) have this 'holier-than-thou' attitude that makes it hard to have enjoyable conversations with other mustachians I've found.

That bugs me too. Too many people criticize others without understanding that their values might be different.

-His blog is now worth millions so yeah, it's pretty easy for him to say that early retirement is a walk in the park. Without the blog, I'm sure his confidence would be quite a bit lower.

He never says it's easy, just that it is simple. And the basic idea is very simple, that you can live an awesome life while consuming less. I'm sure he would be just fine without the blog, he has taken many of the activities he enjoys and monetized them, so it wouldn't be hard for him to bounce back from anything that happens to him.

What are your thoughts about him/his blog? I don't mean for this to be personal attacks. I just HATE how he moderates anything like this out of his comments section. Heaven forbid his blog contains differing viewpoints. Reminds me of Rush Limbaugh.

I also didn't like how he moderates the comments section of the blog, so I stopped reading them. I still like the forums, but I'm not getting as much out of it as when I started reading it. Overall I'm glad I discovered his site a couple years ago, because I have used it to realign my values, but I'm not going to the mustachian extremes that some people do.

If it's getting old, then you should stop reading it.

[FLA]

I did spend some more time on there, FAQs. I like that they promote Vanguard funds, if they are index funds, this may be a good site for me. I need to re-evaluate my entire retirement plan now that I became disabled. I did it quickly in a panic months ago when I finally listened to the docs who said, "you are not going back to work". Stupidly, I would not believe this for almost 9 months, so I am now 9 months behind the 8 ball in attempting to get SSDI. I got the numbers of what I can take out now, without any penalty, and never touch the principle. But I really do need to contact the planners and get this nailed down since I finally believe it is real. I'm pretty sure I should roll my 403B (filled with Vanguard Index Funds) into a Vanguard IRA and save my employer's management fees. But someone told me this isn't always the right move.

when I get my numbers figured out, I like the style of advice given here. I don't want to post there and be criticized for smart moves I failed to make (i.e.: waiting to apply for SSDI, always thinking I could not afford private long term disability insurance, etc.). I know I've made mistakes but I think I did fairly well retirement wise as a single mother nurse. I want to know what mistakes I made, I just don't want it done cruelly, if that makes sense. Like that Face Punch business, I really don't need another face punch, tyvm, lol.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

Dig deeper.

Why? What do you want me to discover?