The above two houses are very similar. Both are around 1200 sq ft. Both have central air and were updated in the last 10 years. However there are two key differences; the price and the location.
One house is in rural Oklahoma in a small city of 20k people and the other is in Nashville where housing prices have boomed in the last decade.. Unsurprising to many people, the Oklahoma house costs much less but how much less may be shocking. The Oklahoma house is $80k while the house in Nashville is an astonishing $389k. The old adage rings true “location, location, location,”
However, what many people don’t truly realize is that by choosing Nashville over rural Oklahoma you are enslaving yourself to decades and decades of work. By picking rural Oklahoma you could retire early.
In 2020, I chose to live in rural Oklahoma and retired late last year at the age of 38. Though possible for many but not all, I found a position paying 90% of what I would have made in a large city. I bought a cheap house like the one above, and I saved and invested exclusively into index funds until I could retire. I did this on a public servant income where I never made above $85k.
Millionaire Librarian 