Quitting the job at the age of 40 and being able to enjoy life is a dream for many people. This is exactly what Lars Hattwig from Berlin has fulfilled – thanks to frugalism.
Most people adjust to this and are more or less fine with working up to the usual retirement age of around 65 – if employers and health permit – and only then suddenly not knowing what to do with their free time. But it is likely that many would retire earlier if they had the money to do so, some of them preferring to do their probationary period in their first job.
At least Lars Hattwig from Berlin managed to get so well taken care of in his mid-40s that he could quit his permanent position and no longer have to look for a new one. His concept of savings: frugalism.
Current waiver for future financial freedom
Frugalism means living as frugally as possible and saving as much money as possible or investing in investment models. Lars Hattwig, for example, refrained from traveling for years and never went to restaurants or pubs with his friends, reports "Stern.de". There was only one light bulb burning in his apartment and those who visited him had to be careful not to flush the toilet for a long time.
In this way, the Berliner saved up to 70 percent of his monthly salary as a meteorologist for the weather service, which he invested mostly in stocks and investment funds. Within around ten years, he accumulated such high reserves that he was able to quit his job in 2015, in his early / mid-40s – because he has been financially independent since then.
From wasteful to frugalist …
Before he decided to save frugally for his financial freedom, Hattwig lived the almost opposite lifestyle: wasteful and extremely careless in dealing with money. In 2003 it even went so far that despite his well-paying job, he suddenly couldn't withdraw any more money – because he was totally broke. "My salary wasn't bad, but I just spent everything," Stern.de quotes the Berliner. "I knew I had to change something."
At first, Hattwig did not save quite as radically by simply transferring a certain part of his salary to a separate account each month. He invested this money in stocks and funds. Within five years, his fortune grew to 50,000 euros. Only after he had lost all of his savings in the financial crisis of 2008 did the Berliner finally begin to live as a frugalist. He put back even more than before, was able to invest even more – and the value of his previously lubricated systems increased enormously again.
… and from frugalist to freelancer
Even if Hattwig has given up his secure job and says he doesn't have to work anymore, he still works as a freelance financial advisor. He still lives frugally, but occasionally indulges in luxuries such as vacation and dining out. For him, frugalism was a means to an end, a temporary renunciation of his personal freedom, but not a permanent way of life. "At some point you get to the point where you can no longer tighten your belt," says Stern.de, for example. But the Berliner apparently did not have to exceed this point in order to achieve his goal.
Sources used: DPA / Stern.de