Early Retirement Success Story: ‘A Purple Life’ Quit Her Job At Age 30 With Only $500,000!

An Early Retirement Success Story

A year ago, I asked A Purple Life to write a post for this blog. We brainstormed some ideas, and I asked her to write all about a subject I was dying to read more about: how exactly did she plan on retiring on $500,000? She wrote a magnificently detailed post about her plans and backup plans. The post was so widely shared across Twitter that somebody accused us of creating a bot to share the article. Of course, it wasn’t a bot. Her words resonated with so many people who wanted to escape the rat race and they wanted others to read her story. That post became the most commented post on my entire site.

Purple saved $500,000 while living in NYC and Seattle, two very high cost of living areas.

Now, people are checking in to see if she is following through with her plan. Indeed, today is her last day of work, and when she logs off, she will be completely retired at age 30! After surpassing her goal of $500,000, she gave notice at her job right on schedule. While her original plans of traveling the world after retirement have undergone some adjustments during the global pandemic, her plan to retire was a roaring success

A beacon of hope in the early retirement community, A Purple Life showed us that you don’t have to be perfect from the start. The important thing is to focus on what you value, make it a priority, and do what’s right for you. Through these lessons, Purple has inspired people across the globe. Don’t just believe me! Here are some thoughts from others who have been impacted by her candid writing:

Why we are so proud of Purple – All Options Considered

We first met Purple early in the summer of 2018. Well sort of anyway! We were out at a meetup in Seattle hosted by Julie and Gwen from the FIRE Drill Podcast. I think there were 15 of us there being socially awkward together. It was hilarious! We needed an icebreaker game to warm everyone up. So much has changed since then!

She is committed to her goal

Purple has been taking us all along with her on her journey every week and we have really appreciated how open she has been about all of her ups and downs. In 2019 when Purple announced that she had set a goal to retire in 2020, and gave so much detail about her plan to make it happen, we were impressed! It’s not about the dollar amounts, it’s about the detail in the plan. Purple is thoughtful, brave, cautious, and prepared for anything. She’s also taking things seriously and making serious decisions. She is a great planner and we love that she has a ton of backup plans.

Purple has done such an amazing job of documenting her journey. We are inspired by her, and we’ve heard from lots of other people who are starting out in their FIRE journey who are inspired by Purple as well.

Working on a plan, her way

Purple is proof that the millennial generation has MORE of a grasp on their finances than previous generations. She has not gotten caught up in FIRE competition, she’s just working her plan, her way. While also making a difference in breaking down the stigma about talking openly about money.

Our advice to Purple

Our advice for Purple in the future is to just keep being herself! Keep reaching for your dreams. Keep setting goals and making them happen. Keep adapting and changing direction as needed. You absolutely do have control over what’s happening in your life. You know how to Consider All of Your Options! We don’t doubt for one second that you will be more than fine Purple! We look forward to seeing you around the world virtually and in person! ~Ali and Alison

Huge congratulations! from Financial Pilgrimage

Congratulations to A Purple Life on reaching her milestone to save $500,000 and step away from her corporate job! While many people accumulate lots of debt through their 20s via education, weddings, new cars, and big homes, Purple took a different approach and instead saved hundreds of thousands of dollars to put her on this path.

She is a great example of how saving big early can put you on a glide path to financial success in the long run. The money that she has saved will continue to compound into millions by the time she reaches a “normal” retirement age even while she pulls some money off the top to live off of.

I will be so interested to follow her story over the years. I’ve mentioned to her that once she retires she will then go off and do big things to change the world. She insists that she’s perfectly fine laying low for the extended future. Regardless, I can’t wait to see what’s in store once she has the chance to decompress from the corporate world and plan her new life traveling the world. Congrats again! No more 8 am daily meetings and 16 hour work days.

An Ode to A Purple Life: The most down-to-earth FIRE blogger ever – Becky Blake

Retiring early, by the age of 30 no less, takes a lot of drive. Purple has not only drive but also wit and humor, and a writing style that is so unique that her voice shines through in every blog and tweet she writes.

Even if she didn’t have bright purple hair, her energy makes her stand out in a crowd. I had the pleasure of meeting Purple in real life at a crowded conference before I became familiar with her blog. At that time, she was exactly a year from retirement. I’ve been lucky to follow the last year in her journey to early retirement as both a reader and a friend.

Through her incredibly consistent Tuesday blog posts, I’ve learned the ins and outs of what it’s like to approach your early retirement goal number and date in the midst of a global pandemic and economic uncertainty. Her impressive calm throughout a period of extreme volatility has been both inspiring and instructive (like, if she’s not freaking out, I shouldn’t either!). The whole situation has been a great proving ground for her comprehensive and flexible early retirement plan.

She’s also been very open about the emotional side of retiring early, selling everything she owns, and moving from where she’s lived for the past 5 years. Reading these blog posts have helped me mentally and emotionally prepare for similar moves I have been making along this same timeline. Reading Purple’s blogs almost feels like I’m reading an email she wrote just to me – that’s how open, honest, and relatable they are, not to mention laugh-out-loud funny.

Purple is a hugely positive influence in the FIRE and personal finance (PF) communities. She explains the concepts in approachable ways, she is super realistic about what the FIRE journey is like, and she makes no apologies to people who don’t get it.

She’s also been a big supporter of so many others in the FIRE community. She’s the beloved (and sometimes feared) Accountability Beast. On the weeks we PF folk get our stuff done, we’re proud to announce it in her Twitter thread. On the weeks we don’t, we get some public accountability and support from a bunch of other bloggers on similar journeys, and of course the Purple Beast herself.

This is a Wild Purple who has 3 days to mentally prepare before she flies across the country in a COVID world😬✈️. Any tips for surviving with my sanity intact are welcome😷! In the meantime, here’s what you asked me to remind you about: pic.twitter.com/t2OmD5aErS

— A Purple Life (@APurpleLifeBlog) September 23, 2020

I am grateful to Purple for her writing, support, encouragement, and friendship. I feel lucky to have followed her journey to retirement until her very last day at work. And I am beyond excited for Purple to start her early retirement and start living the #SlugLife of her dreams!

Cheers from elsewhere around the web

A Purple Life has gained such momentum reaching her goal, but more than that, she has gained many friends. These writers also wrote their own posts all about what they have learned from Purple’s journey. Check out these links for more information on Purple and the impact she made all over the community!

Josh Overmeyer: Lessons from Purple

We Want Guac: A Purple Life Blog Review

Tread Lightly, Retire Early: Women’s Personal Finance Wednesdays Spotlight – A Purple Life

Modest Millionaires: Congrats Purple, FIRE at 30

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Chris@TTL
3 years ago

One of my favorite parts of Purple’s experience and sharing is the positivity she emmanates. It’s infectious.