. hi, everyone welcome to "on the money." i'm becky quick. how to retire early. the millennial movement that preaches frugality and living on less but there's a catch words of wisdom from warren buffett. how he says most people should grow their wealth. if you've got a nasty surprise when you did your taxes this year, you're not alone. why and what you can do about it the company that will buy your house and let you stay. a solution if you need cash but is it right for everyone and the most and least reliable cars according to "consumer reports. some names may surprise you. some may not "on the money" starts right now.

>> this is "on the money," your money, your life, your future. now, becky quick >> we begin with retiring early. very early not in your 50s or your 60s. a growing group of millennials are quitting work decades earlier. it's a movement called fire. that stands for financial independence retire early. take this job is this week's cover story. >> it's a little bit surreal just in terms of thinking, so this is the next big step. this is the rest of my life. >> for justin mccurry, that giant step was quitting his engineering job in 2013 and retiring at age 33 >> i really focused on how can i change my lifestyle for the better so that i can have more free time for me >> he's not alone. the desire to quit working decades early is the focus of a growing movement, mostly among millennials called fire, which stands for financial independence, retire early how did he do it

>> saving a large percentage of my income was a big part of it # we saved about half of our incomes and that increased as we made more money. >> living and working in raleigh, north carolina, mccurry and his wife never made more than $150,000 a year combined. after ten years of saving and maxing out their 401(k)s, their investments mostly in stock inde funds, grew to $1.3 million. will that be enough for him, his wife and three kids? >> you always have those doubts. am i doing the right thing is this what i should be doing >> six years later, they live on just $40,000 a year, taken from his investments and a blog he writes on the fire movement called root of good. tonya is part of the fire movement and was a communications consultant until she quit working at the age of 38 her husband retired at the same time at the age of 41. she writes about it in her new book called "work optional,

retire early the nonpenny pinching way." tanya, thank you for joining us. >> thank you for having me. >> why did you get into this movement why did you want to quit working while you were in your 30s >> my husband and i had jobs we loved, actually. i think there's a common misconception those of us pursuing early retirement is we hate wor or we shouldn't have to. that couldn't be further from the truth. we felt the toll the work was taking and we knew we couldn't sustain that pace until age 65 we were both working in consulting careers that demanded long hours and a lot of travel and they just really took a toll at the same time, i also knew that i might have a genetic disability in my future and not have an endless timeline to kind of do the things i love to do, which are very active and outdoorsy. for us, it was a pretty easy decision once we realized early retirement was possible, but that's going to look a little bit different for everyone. >> we call it early retirement, but you're writing a book. we just heard from another gentleman who's still doing things too

he's writing a blog. is it retirement or stepping down from an incredibly hard paced job into one that maybe you can take your time with a little more? >> it's a great question and that's the reason why i named the book "work optional" and not "how to retire early" or something like that. i think it's easy to get caught up in the traditional retirement definition, thinking it means you have to work or you don't. i think there's so much more gray area and that each of us really can define for ourselves how much of a role we want work to play in our lives and the book really helps people make that decision in a really intentional way, whether that's full early retirement or in something in which you work some or like i do, i do a lot of stuff that looks like work but it's all projects that i feel passionate about that i do only for me and not for anyone else. >> do you think the heart is really about being frugal, cutting your spending, not acquiring stuff, or more living off stocks and investments after you have a saved a big nest egg? >> i think it looks different

for everyone, you know, like any group of people, you've got a wide range of folks in the fire movement mark and i are much less frugal and that's why non-penny pinching is in the title of the book we're not naturally frugal and i wanted to show folks even if you don't love counting every cent you spend on your groceries, you can still pursue early retirement or some form of it. >> i know i'm going to sound like an ol fuddy-duddy but what might happen down the road, whether it's a divorce, whether it's an accident, whether it's an illness that comes up and big medical costs associated with that that's the thing that always panics me, from the thought of doing something like this. how do you tackle that and what do you advise people >> i think, sometimes, working gives us a false sense of security and tells us we can spend all of our money when, in fact, we should be saving a lot of it. knowing that your career is only going to go for a decade, two decades, three decades, something shorter than the norm, i do think motivates you to save more and to make some different decisions that do help insulate you against those things

you might get divorced and maybe a couple saved an amount good as a couple, but it's no longer enough if you have to split it in half. or health care costs are rising every year. that's something we need to account for. there's things you can be clear about, but it's a matter of acknowledging those risks and not assuming, adapt as they come. >> let me ask one more issue do you think there's any coincidence this movement has come at the same time we've seen a ten year incredible rally in the stock market i mean if something happened, like the great recession, from just over ten years ago, if we still had markets collapse again, would these people still be in a decent place to survive a market downturn with the plans they've laid out >> you know, obviously, historically long bull market has helped a lot of people reach early retirement faster. i think that's just indisputable but i don't think it's a phenomenon that exists only because of that. i think you see a lot of different movements of people right now questioning the norms that we've been taught,

questioning the consumerist things we've been taught as a society. you have the minimalism movement, the tiny house movement, all of these different ways people are saying, you know what the story i've been told, maybe i don't want to follow that. so i think that early retirement, to me, is more lumped in with that. people finding alternative narratives for their life and saying, you know, just because my parents or grandparents did it this way, doesn't mean i have to >> tanya, i want to thank you for your time again. the book is called "work optional, retire early the non-penny pinching way." thank you. >> thank you for having me. every year, one of the world's richest men, warren buffet, writes a letter to the shareholders of his company, berkshire hathaway outlining the company, stock market and the united states we sat down recently in his hometown of omaha, nebraska, where he answered questions from viewers why he believes in america and talks about the very first shares of stock he purchased nearly eight decades ago. >> on this march 11 in a couple of weeks, it will be 77 years

since i bought my first stock and i paid $114.75 for three shares of city service preferred, but if you had bought, if you had a pension fund and put a million dollars into the s&p 500 at that time and reinvested it, during my investing lifetime, that million would have turned into $5.3 billion. you would have gotten for every dollar you put in, gotten over $5,000 without ever reading a headline, an annual report, didn't know accounting, just had to believe in america. you didn't had to pick the right stock, you just picked america i go back and point ou there were two 77 year periods before that and that takes us back to george washington and getting inaugurated and wasn't anything here then and now you have $108 trillion of household wealth in the united states. you know, we've got something

that works and that framework wasn't that we were working harder, wasn't that we were smarter but we had a framework that unleashed human potential and just think of that three 77 year periods, one of which i experienced and you couldn't help but, all you had to do was believe in america. >> that worked the last 77 years but there's a question that came in t-29 from scott baker with so many people in the s&p index funds, is it still market neutral and the best investment vehicle for most people? >> yeah, i think it's the best investment because most people don't know how to pick stocks and most of the time i don't know how to pick stocks. it's not an easy game, and by definition, people are going to do average i mean, i think everybody in aggregate and half of them pay big fees and jumping around, the other half have to do better. >> he's definitely glass is half full type of guy my thanks to warren buffett. up next, we're on the money. the company that wants to buy

your home but doesn't want you to move out. and later, tax filing season is here and a lot of people are getting some unpleasant surprises. we'll tell you the steps you can take to lower that bill. right now take a look at how the stock market end the week.

♪ today's homeowners are sitting on a record amount of equity but a lot can't get to it because they don't have a credit score to finance their loan or get a line of credit

one new company is trying to find a way to tap that ek be questionty without moving a muscle. our diana olick has more on this >> reporter: chris driscoll needed cash to invest in his real estate business and while he had plenty of equity in his gainesville, georgia, home, he couldn't access it. >> if my credit score was a few more points or, you know, made the banker happy that day, or whatever, i could probably have done it for a little less money. but that's not how the world works. >> reporter: enter easy knock, a barely two-year-old company that will buy your home from you but let you stay on as a renter. at any time during the lease, you can buy your home back >> this is a company that's allowing people to access equity in their home that have been shut out by the traditional lending markets. >> reporter: easy knock makes money through monthly rent and extra fees at the end of the lease, which can be up to five years, the tenant has the right to choose between buying the home back or selling it to someone else easy knock does not want to keep

it >> we are not in the business of continuing to own homes. >> reporter: so far the company has bought about 100 homes in five southern states with an infusion of $100 million from investors, kessler said he expects to expand to 36 states and 2,000 homes this year alone. for chris driscoll, the financial process was pretty easy but he admits there is an emotional downside especially if he's unable to buy it back at the end of his lease. >> the house has sentimental value to me. my parents grew up -- my parents lived on the property, i grew up here so yeah, it would sting a little bit. >> reporter: but there are benefits as a renter too like not paying property taxes, homeowners insurance or any of the maintenance on the home. for now, easy knock is contracting out its rental management business but as it expands, expect to bring that in house as well. becky? >> diana, what's the catch here? if you get to buy it back in five years, do they set the price now?

is it some unknown factor five years down the road? >> five years down the road, it's the exact market value of the house. the person who sold it/renting back could actually make money on the sale if home prices are much higher. easy knock does not get the benefit of that home price increasing it goes to the owner or the original owner of the house. >> diana, thank you very much. diana olick. up next, we're on the money. if you owe uncle sam this year, there are steps you can take to lower your tax bill. >> later, looking for a new car, "consumer reports" rates the best brands and there was a surprise at the top of the list. so with xfinity mobile

i can customize each line for each family member? yup. and since it comes with your internet, you can switch wireless carriers and save hundreds of dollars a year. are you pullin' my leg? nope. you sure you're not pullin' my leg? i think it's your dog. oh it's him. good call. get the data options you need and still save hundreds of dollars. do you guys sell, other dogs? now that's simple, easy, awesome. customize each line by paying for data by the gig or get unlimited. get $250 back when you pre-order

a new samsung galaxy. click, call, or visit a store today. millions of americans are filing their taxes for the first time under the new laws and the outcome may not be what they expected we caught up with a few filers to find out how they're faring. >> i'm expecting less in the return. >> there was a slight variation. i got a little less, but i was expecting it already. >> i believe i'm going to owe money. >> a little nerve-wracking to know whether you were going to get it or not, but at the end of the day, everything went through just fine. >> a lot of people may be in for a big surprise when they actually get a smaller refund than they planned or no refund at all joining us right now with more is senior personal finance correspondent sharon epperson. >> so a little something because we are going out tonight. >> 63-year-old joe carley and his wife cheryl always happy to break even on tax returns. they rarely got a refund, but

also never had to write a big check. after the major tax law overhaul, joe sought the help of his financial adviser. >> this is the section that's changing the most. >> who delivered bad news. >> we are going to owe more this year than prior years. >> nearly $4,000 more. his reaction >> a little dismayed, to say the least. >> the tax foundation estimates 80% of filers actually paid less in taxes in 2018 because of the tax cuts and jobs act. only 5% saw their taxes go up. still, many people are surprised when they do their taxes finding out they're getting smaller refunds or they owe. one reason that's happening under the new tax code, withholding tables changed companies lowered the amount of federal taxes taken out of the employee's paycheck, giving them more take home pay, maybe too much more. >> unless you went the extra step and said, what are the other changes going to do to me as a taxpayer, what deductions am i going to lose, what is my tax situation going to look like

maybe that decrease in withholding shouldn't have occurred. >> last year, the irs urged taxpayers to check withholding amounts on their paychecks, yet one study found only 16% did, meaning many weren't paying enough in federal taxes all yearlong, which is now impacting the amount of their refund the new tax law capped the deduction for state and local taxes, that's had a big impact on residents in high tax states including many clients of new jersey financial planner michael gibney. >> that entire section now is limited to $10,000 whereas in the past that could have been 20, 30, 40, $50,000 for some people >> with other tax breaks limited or eliminated, many taxpayers find themselves in an unfamiliar situation, taking the standard deduction instead of itemizing which may raise their tax bills. it did for the carleys so now they're planning thou manage their 2019 taxes.

>> one thing we have done is try to put a little more into a 401(k) to have a positive tax impact >> making more retirement plan contributions may reduce their tax bill income and lower their next tax bill. for "on the money" i'm sharon epperson, new jersey >> sharon epperson up next, "on the money," a look at the news for the week ahead and consumer reports is out with its report card for the automakers which brand came out on top and which one took a tumble?

here are the stories coming up that may impact your money. on monday the construction spending report for december will be released on tuesday, we've got another report on housing. we're going to be seeing how many new homes were sold in the last month of the year and get your party hats on, everybody. mardi gras celebrations will be under way. fat tuesday. then comes ash wednesday and the federal reserve will be releasing its beige book a report on regional economic conditions on friday how many jobs were gained or lost for february and a reminder for all of us to step away from our phones friday is called the national day of unplugging. good luck all your iphone addicts. consumer reports is out with its annual survey of the most and least reliable cars based in part on the reviews of thousands of vehicle owners, this is one of the benchmark reports in the

industry and this year there's a new number one and a notable fall for one automaker phil lebeau has more >> reporter: it's the main question on the mind of every car buyer. will i be happy with this model? consumer reports auto team which tests scores of new vehicles and compiles reviews from thousands of owners to rank the best and worst every year says subaru is the best brand in the industry, jumping ahead of last year's number one genesis and porsche subaru may not have the sexiest models, but their quality is consistently high. >> with subaru they really do almost everything really well, make an enjoyable car to drive and really reliable too. >> reporter: reliability complaints is one reason why consumer reports is no longer recommending the tesla model 3 over the last year, tesla has pushed hard to expand model 3 production, even adding an assembly line under a permanent tent outside its factory in california elon musk called it production

hell now some model 3 owners say their cars have problems. >> a lot of the issues are electronics. so there's some issues in terms of replacing the screens, for instance but we see other issues in terms of the trim breaking with the tesla model 3 we've heard issues with the glass actually. >> reporter: tesla says the vast majority of these issues have already been corrected through design and manufacturing improvements we are already seeing a significant improvement in our field data consumer reports says despite quality complaints model 3 owners are the most satisfied with their car that's not surprising. jeep sales are soaring even though it's once again rated among the worst brands by consumer reports this year the three lowest rated brands are fiat behind jaguar and land rover a spokeswoman for fiat says the

brand's limited number of models and limited sales in the united states skews the results within this test. we with should point out, becky, we continually see the same brands or most of the same brands near the bottom of this list as well as other dependability and reliability surveys that are done every year and there are three or four important ones and this is one of them. >> i wasn't surprised to see those three at the bottom of the list maybe in whatever order, but those would be the ones you feel you hear again and again that have problems with it your package touched on the idea that people will buy a jeep or tesla even though they have low reliability scores is there a general correlation between how a brand or model is viewed by consumer reports and what happens to the sales for the brand or vehicle after the list comes out >> not really, becky, because we have seen brands do very well in terms of sales for a particular year maybe because they have new models coming out or in the case of jeep because the styling is spot-on, the marketing is really hitting the mark in terms of how

americans view the jeep model right now and suvs are hot and yet it's near the bottom of the list in terms of dependability, reliability. other times we have seen vehicles and brands near the top that have not done that well in terms of sales so there's not a direct correlation there. >> phil, thank you very much phil lebeau. great to see you. >> folks that is the show for today. i'm becky quick. thank you so much for joining us next week, don't call it dog food it's freshly made human-grade pet food worth the extra money we're not talking about table scraps here. this is a whole different industry each week keep it right here we're "on the money. have great one and we will see you next weekend.

hey there, we're live at the nasdaq in times square the guys are getting ready for the show behind me here's what's coming up next >> it's looking just downright bad for tesla shareholders the stock falling into a bear market if you think this trade is going to get even uglier, mike khouw will tell you how to profit from the wild ride. plus, there's one semi conductor stock that's surging this year, and dan nathan says if history is any indication, this stock is about to go parabolic. he'll tell you how to get in on the run for less. >> and -- ♪ it's party time excellent