Early Access: Retirement

How to complete Early Access: Retirement

This is reaching the point where investment income can cover your living costs before the conventional retirement age, freeing you to stop working decades early if you choose. It's less about a number and more about engineering a savings rate and lifestyle that buy back your time sooner.

1. Calculate your number, roughly annual expenses times 25, and track your real spending to know it accurately
2. Push your savings rate as high as you can stand; 40-60% of income is what makes 'early' possible
3. Invest the surplus in low-cost, diversified index funds and let compounding do the heavy lifting
4. Build tax-efficient access to your money before standard retirement age (Roth ladders, taxable brokerage, etc.)
5. Recheck the math yearly and pull the trigger once your portfolio reliably covers expenses with margin

Tips

• Lifestyle inflation is the silent killer, raises should grow savings, not spending
• Plan healthcare coverage explicitly; it's the biggest gap before official retirement age
• A small flexible income stream can de-risk an early exit dramatically

What counts as done

Your investments cover your annual expenses with a safe margin and you've reached financial independence before the standard retirement age.