Have Enough to Retire (Early)? 10 Steps to Make Sure

Will you have enough to money to retire (early or otherwise)? Achieving financial independence requires many key elements to be in place and special consideration if you plan to retire early. You need a plan: what will you do? What will you spend? Where will it come from?

In this episode, Eric and Jason discuss a recent blog post by Fritz @ The Retirement Manifesto where he discusses the "10 Steps to Make Sure You Have Enough Money to Retire". We cover how we've been designing our "dream retirement", how we track current expenses and project future spend, how Jason is drawing down assets and Eric's evolving plan to use "the bucket strategy", and much more.

**H/T to Fritz's post "10 Steps to Make Sure You Have Enough Money to Retire", please see his article at The Retirement Manifesto: https://www.theretirementmanifesto.co...

Timestamps:
00:00 Intro Setup (Thanks, Fritz!)
00:33 Step 1: Put on your game face - prior planning is helpful so start early
02:24 Step 2: Design your dream retirement - what is your ideal post-FIRE life?
07:27 Step 3: Track your current spending - essential pre-work to determine your FIRE budget
09:59 Do I have to consider income taxes when thinking about my FIRE budget?
13:18 Step 4: Forecast your retirement spend - modeling your cash flow is a key step
16:35 How do you account for "lumpy spending?" Sinking funds can help
19:57 Step 5: Calculate your net worth - "what gets measured gets managed"
23:39 Step 6: Determine your Safe Withdrawal Rate - going beyond "The 4% Rule"
28:13 Eric's FI number has increased because he lowered his SWR + increased spending
30:18 Step 7: Estimate your retirement income - modeling beyond your investment assets
33:15 Are we planning on Social Security income as part of our plans?
36:51 Steps 8-9: Develop a drawdown strategy + a retirement paycheck
40:09 Wait, how much cash do I need? Digging into "the bucket strategy"
51:21 Step 10: Implement an annual review - maintaining your portfolio
56:45 How Eric + Laura use Notion to organize - and you can too

**Show notes, tools, resources + information: http://twosidesoffi.com
**Our podcast: https://twosidesoffi.com/podcast/
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**Eric’s business: 30X40 Design Workshop: https://thirtybyforty.com
**Jason's blog: https://thenextphaseisnow.com
**Eric’s YouTube Channel: https://thirtybyforty.com/youtube

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@30X40 Design Workshop ​