Millionaire Librarian

A Middle Class Path to Early Retirement

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  • Who Shouldn’t Move to Ecuador.

    I often discuss the benefits of moving to Cuenca—of which there are many—but it’s not for everyone. Here are a few reasons why you might think twice about making the move.

    The first is a reluctance to learn Spanish. Unlike some expat hubs in Southeast Asia, Cuencanos generally expect you to speak the local language. I enjoy learning Spanish because it shares many roots with English (though English is Germanic, its heavy Latin influence makes Spanish feel familiar), whereas the languages I encountered in Asia felt much more foreign. That said, I have met a few Americans who have lived here for years with very limited Spanish and still love it.

    Another factor is the high cost of imported goods, particularly cars and electronics. If you need a brand-new car—or even a reliable used one—you will likely spend much more here than in the U.S. due to high tariffs. Furthermore, driving in Ecuador is an “experience” in itself; I personally prefer the affordable taxis over braving the roads myself.

    Electronics are also pricey. If you’re the type of person who needs the latest iPhone every year, be prepared to pay a significant premium.

    It’s also important to remember that Ecuador is a developing country. While the country is stunningly beautiful, poverty is visible. At the market I frequent, there is a man in very worn clothing; I often see locals invite him to their tables for a meal, which reflects the community’s kindness but also highlights the economic reality.

    Another group who might have a hard time in any foreign country is single people. With the language and culture barriers, foreign countries can be socially isolating. Ecuador is a strongly familial society, so if you are arriving alone, it may be difficult to make friends. Offsetting this are the weekly gringo meetups and the warmth of the Cuencanos. However, I will say the biggest smiles and warmest comments I get are from my “tienda lady” when I talk about my family, especially my daughter, or when her daughter calls me “Vecino,” or neighbor. Although these moments are powerful, they are fleeting and would not suffice for the stronger social support system you might have in your home country.

    Ecuador is a loud country. Churches and individuals celebrate with fireworks regularly. Many people bring their dogs here, but the animals often struggle to adapt and bark constantly. Most residents live in close proximity to their neighbors, and on weekends and holidays, you can often hear music playing. Additionally, motorbikes are quite loud on the streets. Although we chose to live in a quieter part of the city, Ecuador remains a very noisy place. Keep this in mind if you or any pets you are bringing are sensitive to sound.

    Finally, if your goal is to explore every corner of the country, Ecuador might not be for you right now. While Cuenca remains extremely safe, other areas—particularly along the coast—are currently facing severe issues with drug trafficking. President Noboa is taking a tough stance, but for the time being, spending considerable time in certain coastal regions can be risky.

  • Limiting Spontaneity with the “$10 a day rule.”

    I read about an interesting spending rule the other day that helps limit how much you spend on spontaneous purchases.

    You could call it the “$10 a day rule.” It is fairly simple but quite powerful. The rule states that when making a purchase, you must wait $10 worth of days toward that purchase until you have saved enough to buy it.

    For example, if you want to buy a widget for $100, you must wait 10 days, thereby delaying gratification and potentially postponing the purchase further—or deciding it’s not worth the money at all.

    If you find yourself overspending on unneeded items, decreasing your spontaneity will likely help.

    Also, there’s flexibility with the rule. You could increase it to $20 a day or lower it to $5 a day depending on your budget. When deciding on a number, pick one that you could spend every day without destroying your budget.

  • Selling Our US Household Goods and Restocking Our House in Ecuador

    When moving to Ecuador, you have a decision to make. You can either keep a storage unit in the States, ship all your household goods to Ecuador, or sell, donate, and eventually throw them away to buy everything again once you arrive.

    Should you store your belongings? I am almost entirely against storage units. They are expensive, and each monthly payment cuts into any net value you hope to keep. Furthermore, what happens if you never move back? Eventually, you will still have to deal with moving everything out of storage.

    The next option is to ship your goods to Ecuador. First, you cannot ship cars unless you are a citizen, so that option is off the table for most. Additionally, because of tariffs, used cars can be twice as expensive in Ecuador. Luckily, it is very affordable to take taxis or the bus, or even hire a pickup truck and driver.

    For your household goods, you can rent a shipping container. We received a quote for this, and it was going to cost around $8,000–$10,000. There is also major bureaucracy involved in importing a container; it requires a specific visa and can take months to clear customs. Furthermore, our furniture was durable but had been used for years—sometimes decades. However, we had some items we simply didn’t want to part with, such as heirlooms, medals, awards, and degrees. Luckily, we had family members willing to store these temporarily until we could retrieve them later.

    The last option was to sell all our items, including our cars, and rebuy most of them in Ecuador. This is what we did. We approached selling everything we owned in a few different ways. First, we sold big-ticket items on Marketplace, including a rowing machine, chairs, tables, a television, and beds right before we moved out. Next, we held two garage sales with very limited success. Then, we packed the suitcases we were taking to Ecuador and donated our extra clothes to a local shelter while giving other items to friends. Finally, we ordered a dumpster to dispose of things no one else wanted.

    Was all of this work worth it financially? Selling items paid for our last few months of expenses, including rent, and I hate to waste anything. For some people, this would have been extremely hard, but our belongings weren’t exceptionally nice; they were used, and most of their value came from their sturdiness and utility. After all, we understood this was the price we paid for starting over.

    With our house empty and our rental cleaned, we packed the cars with the last of our belongings and spent a month staying with family before leaving for Ecuador. While there, we sold our cars to private buyers and prepared for a new life in a foreign land.

    When we arrived with only suitcases, we took a tiered approach to restocking. First, we stayed in an Airbnb for two weeks. While there, we found a small furnished apartment for $440 in a neighborhood we liked that sufficed for a few months. During that time, we made contacts to help us navigate this new world and familiarized ourselves with furniture stores and supermarkets. We learned more about the city and the neighborhoods we wanted to live in. We bought only one piece of furniture: a locally made rocking chair for a comfortable place to sit and rest.

    After a few months, we found an unfurnished house for $450. We decided that Ecuador would be our home for years to come. This house offered more room to stretch out without being “on top of each other” in a quieter, more residential area. We calculated that within our first year, we would be better off furnishing our own house than paying the premium for a furnished rental.

    For about a month, we paid rent on two places while we furnished the new house with three beds, a large kitchen table, a reclining loveseat, handmade sheets, a refrigerator, an oven, a stove, dishes, and a clothes washer. Clothes dryers are much rarer here, so we use drying racks like most locals. All of this cost around $4,000—about half of what the shipping container would have cost.

    Overall, the quality of the furniture we bought was above average, though it might not meet some American standards. We love our kitchen table; it seats eight and is beautiful, but it is made of pine and the seats are hard, so we need to buy cushions. Our clothes washer is an Electrolux and has been great, though it was expensive. Our fridge, oven, and stove are a local brand called Indurama. They have performed well, though they are a little smaller than what Americans are used to. Our beds are less sturdy than the ones we owned in the States but were still a good value. If you absolutely require American sturdiness and quality, it might be best to bring your own and face customs, or try to buy items secondhand from departing expats.

    If I had to do it again, I would do everything the same way. We received a little less than I would have liked for the cars, but we sold them in Florida, which has a cheaper used car market than I expected.

    You might be wondering what we brought in our suitcases. We brought clothes, medicine, and electronics (which are more expensive here due to tariffs). We also brought a couple of nice watches, books (we are still librarians and English books are hard to find here), and kitchen spices for Thai curry and Korean jjamppong. When we visit the States, I plan to buy shoes and certain clothing items that have worn out and are hard to find in my size locally. We do have Amazon, but imported items are tariffed; for $100 worth of goods, you can expect to pay another $20 in fees. As librarians, we also brought Kindles equipped with Libby to access free books from our local libraries. I also recommend checking if your library offers Mango or other free language-learning software. I also use Spotify to listen to audiobooks.

  • The Money Snowball.

    There are several mental models of money that help us understand concepts that might not be immediately apparent.

    One popular and particularly insightful model is the “money snowball.” When you first build a snowball, you pack the snow with your hands. It is cold, uncomfortable, and you are doing the majority of the work. However, after some time, the snowball gains enough heft that each rotation picks up more snow than the ball initially contained. Eventually, you reach the top of a metaphorical hill where gravity takes control, pulling the massive snowball down and gathering more and more snow on its own.

    In this model, the snow represents your money, and the “invisible power” grabbing increasingly more snow with each turn represents your investment returns. At a certain point, there is little benefit to manually packing more snow or making individual contributions; you simply let gravity do the work. While small sacrifices matter significantly at the beginning, they become much less impactful later on.

    This concept illustrates why starting early is so critical. If each turn of the snowball represents one year, a person starting ten years late is at a severe disadvantage. They aren’t just linearly smaller; they are exponentially smaller, as each additional turn picks up a volume of snow proportional to the snowball’s existing size.

    To maximize this effect, you must keep all your “snow”—or investments—working for you as long as possible. Scraping off snow or failing to reinvest your returns will hinder the ultimate size of your wealth, especially in the early stages.

    This is often explained by the 8-4-3 rule of investing:

    • The first 8 years are slow; you are adding the majority of the snow yourself.
    • The next 4 years, the momentum becomes noticeable as returns from your earlier gains start to contribute significantly to total growth.
    • In the final 3 years, the “snowball effect” takes full control. The gains in these last three years can rival or even exceed the total growth of the previous 12 years combined.

  • Retiring Early with a Federal Career.

    Personal finance is simple: it is income minus expenses, then investing the difference. You can either grow your income or minimize your expenses; honestly, it is best to do a little of both. The librarian profession isn’t the highest-paying career. We generally earn a similar amount to, or a little less than, teachers—despite requiring a master’s degree. However, I chose federal librarianship, a path that pays slightly more, and I opted to live in areas where my income was disproportionately high for the location. This was my primary secret to retiring early.

    Federal incomes scale up or down slightly based on an area’s cost of living. In my opinion, the high end of that scale was not enough to afford certain locations. In Washington, D.C., I would perhaps make $10,000 more a year, but housing would be much more expensive and the commute much longer. However, if you pick the right “cheap” location, you can put considerable distance between your income and your expenses.

    One of my first well-paying federal positions was as a library director in Korea. Though this position paid a little more than my previous one, the best benefit was free housing and utilities. In a little more than a year, I was able to save enough for a down payment on a house and still have a large amount of money left over.

    The next area where I lived was near Montgomery, Alabama. I bought a great house for $120,000 and aggressively started paying it off. Though it would have been optimal to invest that money, paying off the house wasn’t a bad option. It was in Alabama that my investments really gained momentum.

    Next, I worked and lived in Oklahoma, which did wonders for my finances. I was well past my first $100,000, and my investments were truly compounding. I bought a 1950s two-bedroom, one-bathroom house there for $60,000 that needed a little work. I bought this house knowing it would make a great rental one day, with its wood floors, brick exterior, and low-maintenance yard. This house eventually became a “workhorse” rental.

    Almost immediately, I was able to max out my retirement accounts. On a 15-year mortgage, my payment was lower than $500 a month after insurance and taxes. The money I had made in previous years was compounding in the background. The plan was working, and the slower pace of the country meant it was sustainable and enjoyable. I was shoveling thousands of dollars into investments each month thanks to my cheap house and non-existent car loan. Small expenses matter, but big expenses—like housing and transportation—matter much more.

    Federal positions are a great way to earn a good income in an affordable area. On the military base where I worked, there were plumbers, electricians, aircraft maintenance technicians, and hundreds of white-collar middle management positions, all earning good incomes. Many people inflated their lifestyles with big houses and luxury cars that ate up most of that income. However, the opportunity was there to live on much less than they earned and retire very early.

  • Please Retire. Kids aren’t that Expensive.

    I recently came across a scenario on social media that shocked me because of the sheer amount of bad information being shared regarding retirement and children.

    The individual in question had $1.5 million in invested assets and annual expenses between $50,000 and $60,000. They owned a $350,000 home with a $300,000 mortgage, but they were house-hacking to the point of living rent-free. Using the 4% rule, their $1.5 million portfolio yields $60,000 a year—a perfect match for their budget.

    Currently, this person is single and childless, but they mentioned the possibility of having kids in the distant future. That one comment opened a massive can of worms. Suddenly, the thread was flooded with people complaining about how expensive children are. I get it; kids are an expense. But truthfully, they don’t have to be that expensive.

    First, if you are FIREd (Financial Independence, Retire Early), you don’t need paid childcare. That alone saves roughly $1,500 a month during the early years. Beyond the savings, it means getting to spend invaluable time building a solid relationship with your children.

    Second, while college is a major milestone, a little planning goes a long way. Investing $20,000 into a 529 plan at birth—assuming a 10% return—grows to approximately $111,000 by the time they hit age 18. While $20,000 is a Chunk of change, it is a drop in the bucket for someone with a $1.5 million net worth.

    Most other “mandatory” expenses people cited—food, sports, dance lessons, instruments, and cars—usually total less than $10,000 a year. If that $1.5 million portfolio returns an average of 10%, it generates $150,000 in gains annually. Of course, because of sequence of return risk, you shouldn’t base your entire lifestyle on those peak returns, but an extra $10,000 a year for a child isn’t going to blow up a retirement plan.

    Lastly, this individual was open to returning to work if they hit a “bad draw” in the market. That level of flexibility is everything. Returning to a part-time role for a few years would ensure the plan doesn’t just survive, but thrives.

    In her book Parent Like a Millionaire, Kristy Shen calculated that her additional expenses for her child totaled only $4,000 a year—a stark contrast to the federal government’s estimate of $18,000.

    The lesson here is more about the parents than the kids: if you have an inflated lifestyle, your kids will likely have one, too. So, to that random person on social media: Please, retire. Kids don’t have to be a financial burden. The overwhelming probability is that you’ll have twice as much money in ten years as you do today.

  • Living on Your Portfolio in a Uncertain World.

    I invested roughly 50% of my income for about 15 years, and during that time, I actually welcomed recessions. Working a stable government job provided a sense of security; when the stock market fell, I saw it as an opportunity to buy stocks “on sale.” I vividly remember the sharp COVID-19 downturn, during which I increased my 401(k) contributions and worked toward maxing out all my tax-advantaged accounts. 

    Being retired has felt different. There was a brief downturn around April 2025 triggered by new tariffs. I remember feeling more worried than usual and discussing those concerns with my wife and neighbor. Despite the anxiety, I stayed invested, and the market eventually rebounded. To prepare for such moments, I had already set aside a couple of years’ worth of expenses in bonds to help smooth out the ride during a downturn. 

    When you retire—whether early or at a traditional age—you have to contend with “sequence of returns risk.” This is the danger of the market facing a sustained decline early in your retirement. If a retirement plan fails, this risk is almost always the culprit. In April 2025, that was exactly what I feared.

    I use Projection Lab, which can run hundreds of scenarios using Monte Carlo simulations. It provides a percentage indicating how many of those scenarios your portfolio “survives.” We had a 97% success rate, which accounted for extreme scenarios like depressions and stagflation. In hindsight, I shouldn’t have been worrying at all. 

    I believe your first major recession as an investor tests your psychology and knowledge. It is not unusual to lose more money in a short period than you managed to save the entire year. However, your first recession while retired is an even greater test because you no longer have the safety net of a steady income. You are forced to rely entirely on probabilities, numbers, and established guidelines.

    Roughly a week ago, the U.S. and Israel launched military strikes on Iran. Now, everyone is concerned about oil prices and global trade. I have spoken with people who believe “this time is different”—a famous, yet often shortsighted, phrase in the investment world. While this situation feels more serious than the tariff issues that worried me previously, I feel far better prepared for this potential downturn because I have been down this path financially before.

    I don’t think there is a way to simulate how you will react in circumstances like these. You can practice a thought exercise, but its not the same. Mike Tyson has a famous quote, “Everyone has a plan until you get punched in the face.” I think the stock market is similar, only there’s no punching back at the collective conscious of the world.

  • Worn out from the Galapagos.

    We just returned from 10 days in the Galapagos and a full 20 days with my in-laws, who first visited us in Cuenca and then went with us to the islands. Traveling was fun but exhausting. We had to spend two days traveling to and from the Galapagos; we had to fly from Guayaquil, and the flights and car rides didn’t line up in a way that allowed us to do it realistically in one day.

    This was our first time leaving Cuenca since we arrived seven months ago. One thing we came away thinking was how lucky we are to live in Cuenca. We loved the tortoises, sea lions, and marine iguanas. It was a nature lover’s paradise, but it was so hot. I think we have gotten used to the constant 50–70 degree weather in Cuenca. Our small hotels didn’t have central A/C, and going out for a coffee or a meal meant facing the heat, often without a localized A/C unit. After a few days, the heat—which we weren’t used to—fatigued us for much of the day.

    The Galapagos was also much more expensive. Almuerzos, which are $3.50 in Cuenca, were $6 in the Galapagos. Often, dinner entrees were similar to those in the U.S. at around $15–$20 each. Large beers at tiendas were about half the size and twice as expensive at $5 each.

    Cuenca also has much better infrastructure than either Guayaquil or the Galapagos. Buildings and roads look better. I also prefer looking at mountains than the ocean.

    Though I am complaining, it was an amazing experience and probably one that will only get harder the older we get, so I am glad we did it now and have some great memories like being chased off a bench by a sea lion and watching as two giant tortoises argue over territory.

  • Family of Three Cuenca, Ecuador Budget

    Family makeup: Two near 40 year olds with a three year old toddler.

    We moved to Ecuador around 6 months ago. We recently moved into a new house. This covers our day to day living. Larger one time expenses have been removed like purchasing beds and other large household goods.

    Expenses:

    Food and Many Household Goods 630

    Rent 450

    Transport 45

    Preschool 265

    Health 195

    Apparel 160

    Other 141.50

    Alcohol 132

    Restaurant 107

    Utilities and Phone 92

    Social Life 85

    Culture 50

    Gift 48.10

    Beauty 10

    Total:2410.60

    There are other expenses that must be paid less frequently than once a month, such as medication, which can be quite expensive. I discovered that one of my medications, which costs around $20 for a three-month supply in the States, costs about $150 for three months here. If you are concerned about these unexpected costs, you can use local pharmacies to check the price of individual pills. Here is a pharmacy we found to be slightly cheaper than the others: 

    https://www.farmaciassinai.com/

    If you can’t find the exact medication you are looking for, check to see if it goes by a different name in Ecuador. Your favorite AI might be able to help you find the local names for your prescriptions.

    I should note that I am planning for our future expenses to be around $2,500–$3,000. Aside from the furniture we purchased, I think we had an unusually lean month because we were tightening our belts in other areas to compensate for the additional spending.

    Updated January Budget (Furniture expenses removed): $2,974.40

  • An Argument Against Conservative Portfolios

    Something common among older generations is that they take little risk with their portfolios. Many people prefer the safety of CDs because they have worked hard for their money and do not want to risk it on investments that can drop dramatically.

    The problem with “safe” investments is that they lose money annually to inflation, as their returns often barely match inflation rates. Inflation destroys the purchasing power of your money over time; at 3% inflation, approximately half of your money’s value is lost after 24 years. To achieve growth, one must invest in assets that provide a sizable return, such as stocks.

    Over the last 15 years, the S&P 500 has returned 13.8%. To achieve this higher return, you must withstand the volatility of the stock market, which can experience sharp declines but has always returned to all-time highs. However, many economists argue that past returns are not indicative of future results.

    Whether you want to be more conservative or more aggressive with your portfolio, you manage this through asset allocation. This means adding more bonds to reduce risk or more stocks to increase growth potential. Regardless, I would be wary of holding less than 60% in stocks, as you would lose the growth engine that propels a portfolio forward.

    The problem with aggressive portfolios is that people sell when there portfolio falls. In a stock market pull back, something usually is causing the pullback. You think that this time is different and more dangerous than previously. Look at this scary thing happening! Say the market has dropped 20%, I guarantee if you decide you have had enough and sell then soon enough the market will redirect course and drive upwards relentlessly past all previous market highs.

    Like JL Collins says you must tie yourself to the mast and withstand the storm. You must view pullbacks as buying opportunities. If you can’t tie yourself to the mast then our advice will leave you bloody and in the ditch.