You might see an article that says you need a million dollars to retire, and you might see another article two hours later saying that a million dollars is nowhere near enough. They're both wrong, and here's why. I have clients that have $500,000 and they are retiring and they're spending north of $15,000 a month, but they also have a pension that covers the majority of their needs. Other clients that have $3 million are nowhere close to retiring if they want to spend 20, 25, $30,000 a month. So to me, it has nothing to do with the portfolio amount in everything to deal with what you actually want to spend in retirement. And if that's sustainable, if you have a portfolio that's actually reflective of that, meaning you might want to spend 5, 10, 15,000 a month, but maybe you're only spending 10,000 a month the first two or three years when you're retiring early, when you have your energy and your health and you're traveling and you're paying for health insurance and Medicare hasn't kicked in. Then maybe a mortgage goes away, so even less is required for your portfolio. And then at that point, maybe medical expenses shoot up. So maybe you do need more again. So don't marry that expense number. Too many people make that mistake. What I'm going to walk through today is specifically how you can know if you are in a position to retire. Now, you might listen to this episode and go, oh my gosh, this really made me think differently. I think I am in a spot to retire, but I love what I do.

Great. Don't stop working. People often think when I talk about early retirement, it's me saying,

here's when you should stop working. That's not what I'm talking about at all. In fact, I talk about

what the RE stands for. So if you're not familiar with the fire movement, it stands for financial

independence, retire early. I don't like that definition. I prefer financial independence recreational employment. Most people don't want to do nothing. They just want to know they're going to work because they want to, not because they have to. So one of the first things I'll show a client when they become a new client is, hey, here's your RE. Here's when you'll know you're actually working because you want to, not because have to and then they go oh that's good to know but i'm going to keep working because i like it or you know what no i'm going to take this job that pays a whole lot less and yeah i'm going to enjoy it more so that works great i want to make sure you're not leaving anything unnecessarily on the table but that you also don't retire too early so i often say I'm the meanest early retirement advisor because I never want you to have to go back to work. So today I'm going to walk you through a way to think about if you know you're in a position to retire and some common myths that are probably creating head trash. So head trash is what a mentor of mine once coined the term for when someone's like, I think I'm on a good spot to retire, but I don't know. And if markets don't perform well, maybe then I'm not. Or do I have to hope, you know, taxes are going to be a big expense? How do I even think through that for retirement? So what I'm going to walk through today is my framework. So you can understand if you're in a good spot. And once again, some of those myths. Now, I do like to start with client stories, give you a financial example, and then, of course,

hit you with the logic behind all of it.

So I am going to go ahead and start with a recent review.

And this one comes from Lewis 3249, who says really enjoying listening to Ari's show, find it extremely informative.

I find it's the only content that specifically is earmarked for an early retirement,

especially like the idea that he talks about renting in retirement and how you shouldn't

die with the most amount of money. You don't get any extra points in the grave.

So absolutely true. I tell everyone, you know, some people come to me that they really

want to travel. And they just want to be a homeowner. At the same time, they're like, hey, I want to have a home base, but should I consider renting? And so I'll do a whole rental analysis. So that's what that specific listener is alluding to if you're not familiar. Now, we're going to start with my client story, which is there was a client that came to me. I said, Ari, I don't know if I have enough to

retire because... familiar. Now, we're going to start with my client story, which is there was a client that came to me.

They said, Ari, I don't know if I have enough to retire because I just feel weird. I'm like, you feel weird. That's why you don't think you have enough to retire? What do you mean? They go, well, I'm 53 years old and my coworkers seem nowhere close to retiring. So how on earth could I retire? I go, well, what cars do your, you know, co-workers drive? They say, well,

most of them drive outies and Mercedes. retiring. So how on earth could I retire? I go, well, what cars do your, you know, co-workers

drive? They say, well, most of them drive Audi's and Mercedes-Benz. And I go, nothing wrong with that. Those are nice cars. What do you drive? And they go, well, I, to be honest, drive a Toyota Corolla, is that embarrassing? I go, no, it just shows where your values are. It's not good or bad. I have clients that love boats and clients that just never want to have a boat a day in their life.

So it's not good or bad. I have clients that love boats and clients that just never want to have a

boat a day in their life. So it's not good or bad. So we started talking more about their situation.

They go, well, I do think I want to spend a whole lot less than my coworkers. So should that change my

retirement? And I'm like, absolutely. The idea that because you are maybe 52 or 53 or 54, and you're

listening to this and maybe your

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