Professor Hits Lean FI by Saving 70% and Using Permanent Portfolio

A 47-year-old university professor from Spain reached "Lean FI" after moving abroad and saving roughly 70% of his income. Miguel Marquez, who teaches French, Spanish, and personal finance at a university in Shenzhen, told Business Insider his financial outlook changed when he relocated first to Brazil in 2016 and later to China in 2022.

Marquez estimates he takes home about $75,000 a year after taxes and spends between $21,000 and $22,000. That puts his savings rate near 70% – a sharp contrast from his time in Bloomington, Indiana, where he struggled to build meaningful savings while completing a PhD and teaching.

"I managed to save 10 or 12 times the amount that I was saving in the US," he said.

The core of his investment strategy is the permanent portfolio, an approach that splits assets equally among four classes: 25% stocks, 25% bonds, 25% gold, and 25% cash. He discovered the strategy while researching how Spanish investors pursued financial independence. Much of the advice he found was written for American investors with wider access to cheap index funds and retirement accounts.

The four assets are designed to respond differently to changing economic conditions. Stocks may perform well during growth periods, while bonds, gold, and cash can provide stability during downturns, deflation, or inflation.

"The idea is that no matter what the market does, at least one or two of these four types of investments are going to perform well," Marquez said.

For him, the permanent portfolio's appeal is less about beating the market and more about limiting the swings in his account. It matches his temperament and his broader definition of financial independence: having enough money to live comfortably without constantly worrying about what the market or his career might do next.