American millionaire returns to work after 2 years of early retirement

For years, Francis (California, USA) tried his best to achieve financial freedom and retire early. But in reality, a life without work is not really suitable for everyone. That is the lesson this 42-year-old millionaire learned after retiring at the age of 37.

“I think it’s a bad idea to pursue this goal,” Francis told CNBC. “I don’t think most people want to retire early. I think they prefer to take a long vacation. They get bored with their work and want to take a long vacation. Like a year or two.”

Francis also got frustrated and quit his job as an electrical engineer, which paid $120,000, plus $30,000 to $60,000 in stock and bonuses each year. But he later found that life without a job was becoming “really boring.” Then he found YouTube, where he now makes money producing videos for his 350,000 subscribers.

Francis quit his job in 2017, with $1.2 million in savings and investments. He learned about financial freedom and early retirement in 2013, and has been working hard to achieve his goal. His strategy is to spend as little money as possible.

The first step was to try to pay off his mortgage, which cost $22,000 a year. Once that was done, he started cutting back on everything he could.

“I was crazy about saving money and cutting expenses,” he recalls. He cut his TV subscription, used up everything in his refrigerator, and even lived without a mobile phone.

Life without a phone “isn’t great, but I think it’s important to be a little frugal,” he said. Eventually, Francis got his annual expenses down to less than $15,000.

His background as an electrical engineer has helped him a lot. He installed his own water heater and fixed his own garage door when the power went out. He also installed a solar system in his backyard. "I never call a plumber because I'm a plumber myself," Francis says. "All the appliances in the house are very old because they don't break. If they break, I fix them like new."

Francis is also a master at accumulating credit card points to get rewards. At times, he used more than 20 cards at once. "Of course, to do that, you have to have extremely high credit, like mine is 835," he says. "A lot of people think it's too complicated. But for me, it brings a lot of value."

But after two years of early retirement, enjoying time off work and taking advantage of travel, Francis began to struggle with boredom, a feeling he warns most people will experience if they quit their jobs at a young age.

His solution was to go back to work. In 2019, Francis invested more in his pre-existing YouTube channel, and started posting more frequently. He started his channel in 2013, posting videos about how to make fake shark fin soup and how to play the game 2048.

But this time, he focused on finances, teaching viewers about credit scores and investing. As his views grew, so did his income. Although his videos were moody, Francis had attracted more than 350,000 subscribers to his channel.

During his peak months, he earned nearly $10,000 from YouTube. He still aims to spend less than $15,000 a year. The money he earns from YouTube pays his living expenses. The rest he invests.

Francis says his current life is much more exciting than going to work, and he plans to maintain this lifestyle for many more years. "I don't call myself retired anymore because I work full-time on YouTube," Francis says. "I'm going to put in more effort to grow the channel. It's also a job."

According to VnExpress