(Written by Demos Kyprianou, posted by Sebastien Aguilar)
The Bogleheads® UAE Chapter Dubai Meetup 15 was presented by John Van Zuylen at Abu Dhabi University at the Dubai Campus on Sat September 9th, 2017.
This was a fantastic presentation on how one can make significant changes in how much they spend and earn, and therefore retire earlier than expected!
Various ideas were shared across several spending categories from how to shop for groceries to thinking about whether you need a TV package to websites. Ideas on increasing your income were also presented such what websites one can register on to offer hourly advice as a consultant. John described his experiences in using online websites for buying groceries, checking his bills for errors and recouping some of his money, signing up for all 3 airline alliances due to his heavy travel load when employed, and aggressively asking for discounts on all purchases.
John then showed how shaving expenses and earning an income on the side can make a powerful difference to how long one would need to reach financial independence. He ran several scenarios on his spreadsheet to show how the earlier one starts to make changes, the more time one has to invest and retire faster!