Few people have done more for the financial independence, retire early (FIRE) movement than Pete Adeney. But most people don't know Pete by that name. They know him as Mr. Money Mustache -- a gentleman who retired at the ripe age of 30 without a million-dollar salary.
In this video from Motley Fool Live, recorded on Feb. 23, Adeney joined Motley Fool contributor Brian Stoffel and regular guest Morgan Housel to talk about retirement and life. Adeney retired 15 years ago. Listen in to see what he would tell his 30-year-old self if he could go back in time and offer some sage advice.
Brian Stoffel: If you could go back to see 30-year old Pete, who is on the verge of starting this different chapter in life -- let's just call it -- what advice would you give yourself?
Peter Adeney: Yeah, I thought about that a lot. I do have an answer and it's just, "You don't have to worry."
I lost some sleep over that situation and then I just described and I was stressed out and there was nothing to worry about. In the very-very worse situation, I still have way better financial situation than the average person does today, even with a really good job. I was just making up this world. I think most people, especially analytical people, they just worry too much about everything.
The real thing is just think of everything as an experiment -- your entire life as a fun experiment with lots and lots of freedom in it. Then when something goes wrong, just like, "Whoa, whoa, that's interesting. I sure, learned a lot from that." Then pick it up and then just keep getting out of the house and working on things and being nice to people and making friends. There's really nothing to worry about.
