Everyone says that rentals are the key to retirement. But with today's high prices and stubborn interest rates, does the math actually still work? Or are you buying a second job that doesn't actually pay? I'm Chad Carson. You can also call me Coach Carson. I've used this exact math to reach financial freedom in my 30s so that my family and I can live in Ecuador and Spain for years at a time. And I've also written the books retire early with real estate and the small and mighty real estate investor to show that you don't need hundreds of properties to be free.

Today I'm getting on my whiteboard to run the numbers for today's market, accounting for

rising expenses and the realities of high cost areas. By the end, you'll know the exact number

of rentals you need for your specific retirement lifestyle or just to have more options and

freedom in your life.

One of the biggest mistakes I see in real estate investing is new investors shooting for

these really big goals, like having hundreds or thousands of units in order to eventually achieve financial freedom and be happy. But in reality, they create this really big goals like having hundreds or thousands of units in order to eventually achieve financial

freedom and be happy. When in reality, they create this really big headache and this treadmill that

they stay on. So the first step to figure out how many rentals you need and to be a small and mighty

style investor is actually to look at your goal of what do you actually want to accomplish financially.

And in the financial independence community,

people call that your financial independence number or your FI number for short. I'm going to tell you what that means and also give you three different levels of financial independence that could change

how many rentals you actually need. And it might be a lot less than you think. So your fine number

is simply the point where your investment income is greater

than your personal expenses. And if you think about it, think about your lifestyle. What you really

want is your rental properties or whether investments you have to produce enough income to pay for

your bills, the things you have to spend in your life, so that you don't have to go to a job

to pay for those bills.

So investment income is greater than your expenses.

So this really comes down to your personal situation about how many expenses you think you need in your life.

So I found this concept of dividing that financial independence number into different stages or levels.

It's been really helpful for me. It's kind of fun to think about it. And step one as your lean financial independence number,

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