I Want To Retire (Or Just Work Less). Will I Still Be On Track For A Comfortable Retirement?

Some choose to grind a few more years in a high-paying job they dislike, aiming for an early, full stop at retirement. Others step into more fulfilling work that pays less, but adds purpose to their days—and often still results in more wealth than expected.

Take John and Jennifer. Both start at age 50 with $1M saved and $150K salaries. John works five more years at a job he doesn’t enjoy, retiring at 55 with $1.62M. Jennifer switches to work she loves at $100K for 10 years, retiring at 60 with $2.1M. The math is surprising—Jennifer ends up with more assets and more joy along the way.

The concept? Recreational employment—working because you want to, not because you have to. Even modest income in “retirement” years can keep your portfolio compounding instead of depleting, lowering risk and increasing freedom.

Your retirement strategy shouldn’t just hit arbitrary financial targets—it should serve your life goals. Explore the scenarios and see which path fits you best at earlyretirementpodcast.com.

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Advisory services are offered through Root Financial Partners, LLC, an SEC-registered investment adviser. This content is intended for informational and educational purposes only and should not be considered personalized investment, tax, or legal advice. Viewing this content does not create an advisory relationship. We do not provide tax preparation or legal services. Always consult an investment, tax or legal professional regarding your specific situation.

The strategies, case studies, and examples discussed may not be suitable for everyone. They are hypothetical and for illustrative and educational purposes only. They do not reflect actual client results and are not guarantees of future performance. All investments involve risk, including the potential loss of principal.

Comments reflect the views of individual users and do not necessarily represent the views of Root Financial. They are not verified, may not be accurate, and should not be considered testimonials or endorsements

Participation in the Retirement Planning Academy or Early Retirement Academy does not create an advisory relationship with Root Financial. These programs are educational in nature and are not a substitute for personalized financial advice. Advisory services are offered only under a written agreement with Root Financial.

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Ari Taublieb, CFP ®, MBA is the Chief Growth Officer of Root Financial Partners and a Fiduciary Financial Planner specializing in helping clients retire early with confidence.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 0 (00:00):
I'm going to give you two scenarios, two different
people, and I want you to askyourself which person resonates
more with you.
I promise this is going to helpyou determine what your ideal
retirement should look like.
So here's person one.
Now, these two people they areboth clients of Root, and I'm
just changing their names forsecurity purposes.
So here's person one John.

(00:22):
John is 50 years old.
John doesn't love what he does.
He would really love to be donesooner than later.
He has a million dollars.
Once again, age 50, he wants tobe done.
He, though, recognizes he wantsto make sure he can at least
spend what would make himexcited in retirement, which he
has identified as $80,000 peryear.

(00:44):
That's after taxes adjusted forinflation.
Now, john, he doesn't want to dopart-time work.
He would rather grind it outand then just be done.
So John has decided.
He's 50.
He's got a million dollars.
His salary is $150,000 per year.
So John has decided he's goingto grind it out for five more

(01:06):
years.
Doesn't love what he does, buthe goes.
Hey, this is what I'd rather dothan have to work any longer.
So, at 55, he wants to be doneentirely with work for the rest
of his life, and he has nochildren and he has no partner.
So he wants to spend $80,000per year working from 50 to 55.

(01:26):
If he does that and he saves$50,000 per year from his
150,000 salary, that for fiveyears would mean he's saving a
$250,000 total amount, but healready has a million dollars.
I'm assuming a superconservative growth rate of 6%,
which would put him at about$1.62 million at age 55, when he

(01:52):
would be retired.
Assuming a 5% withdrawal rate,he's at about $80,000 per year.
So that's scenario number one.
That's a John.
Nothing wrong with that.
Just that's the logic.
That's the math right there.
Now I'm going to go throughexample number two, but if you
don't already know, my name isAri Taublieb.
I'm a certified financialplanner.

(02:12):
I'm the host of the EarlyRetirement Podcast.
This podcast, and of course allmy content, is on YouTube as
well.
Now here's person number two.
Person number two we're goingto call her Jennifer.
Here's person number two.
Person number two we're goingto call her Jennifer.
Jennifer has the exact samesituation where she's 50 with $1
million.
She makes $150,000 per year.

(02:34):
Today.
She doesn't love what she doeseither, but she doesn't want to
just stop at age 55.
She wants to find somethingelse that's more fulfilling and
she's looking at maybe just acomplete career switch.
Maybe it's doing what she'sdoing now, but at a different
company, she's not sure yet.
Now she has identified that shewants to keep that same growth

(02:56):
rate of just 6%.
But she has already shared shedoesn't want to just stop and do
nothing.
John is ready to retire at 55and go travel, and that's what
he wants to do.
Jennifer is not at that stageof life yet.
So Jennifer says you know,rather than me working from 50
to 55 at my current stressfuljob, I would rather work from 50
to 60, maybe even later.

(03:17):
If it meant I actually enjoyedit more, then I do want to be
done entirely at one point.
So Jennifer has decided to golook for another job.
And Jennifer found one, andthat other job pays $100,000 per
year, not 150,000, like hercurrent role, but 100,000.
And she's not able to save$50,000 per year like she was

(03:39):
before.
Now she could try, but shewould be living off top ramen
and eggs, maybe like the collegedays, which she does not want
to do.
So now Jennifer has decided shecan only save $25,000 per year
if she wants to maintain herquality of life, which you know
I'm a big fan, if you've heardthe podcast before.
I don't want you to just try tomax everything 401k, roth, hsa

(04:00):
and now you have no money tospend on what you actually care
about most, which is today andtraveling and all these other
fun things.
But I also don't want you tojust not save at all, so in the
future you can't do those things.
Of course, there's a balancethere, but a lot of you are good
savers and good investors, soyou will skew towards the.
Let me max out my 401k and Ijust don't want you to delay too

(04:23):
much in exchange for today.
So, with that being said, backto the example.
Jennifer is 50 million bucks,she's decided she's going to
work this job and make 100,000,not 150,000 per year, and she's
going to save 25,000 per year.
Now she's decided she found theperfect role and she's going to
do it for 10 years, not five,so she's saving the exact same

(04:45):
amount.
It's also 25,000 a year times10 years, or 250,000 of total
net new savings, as opposed toJohn, who saved 50,000 a year
for five years also 250,000.
I'm a CFP, so you guys just sawthat math in real time right
there.
No, I'm just joking, butthere's a lot of CFPs, certified
financial planners like me, whoI spoke to in my class when I

(05:09):
was getting that certification,who I would not give a dime of
my money to.
So I will tell people all thetime when you're interviewing an
advisor, if they're like I'm aCFP, I'll say how many doctors
would you never let touch yourbody?
Like, just because they're anMD, don't hire them.
Bringing me back to the pointhere so Jennifer has decided I'm
going to work from 50 to 60 andenjoy it more.

(05:29):
So here's the question how muchdo you think Jennifer has at
age 60 and how much does shewant to spend?
I'm assuming here which is thetruth Jennifer has no children
and no partner.
So both single people just goin different directions.
Jennifer's working 10 moreyears.
John's working five more years.
Jennifer, if she does this for10 years, from 50 to 60, million

(05:50):
bucks, 6% growth rate, saving25,000 a year, she will have
approximately $2.1 million atage 60.
Not 1.6, but 2.1, which meansshe could spend a bit above
$100,000 per year every year,assuming she's doing all the
right things and the guardrailsand the withdrawal approach that
I talk about in my videos andpodcasts, but, assuming she does

(06:11):
, that, that is what she will beable to spend Now.
That's a significant amount ofmoney and it's what's going to
bring her happiness.
But it's not ultimately thereason she's doing it.
She's doing it because shestill wants purpose and
fulfillment in her life, it'snot at her current role.
So what's the big takeaway here?
The big takeaway when I'mtalking to clients about this is
it's not right or wrong, butthe big takeaway to me is

(06:35):
Jennifer is not just able tospend more money, it's the fact
that Jennifer didn't have towithdraw from her account five
years earlier, which lets herprimary account balance continue
to grow.
So when people come to me and go, oh, part-time income, it's
just not gonna make a big deal,I go don't do it if you don't
wanna do it.
But if you're sayingfinancially it doesn't really

(06:56):
help, you're totally off.
Because if you have $2 millionand you're like well, I make
300,000 a year and now I onlymake 50,000 a year and you're
gonna quit because 50 feels sosmall, 50,000 a year is a big
deal.
That's 50 less I need to sendyou from your 2 million, which
lets your 2 million keep growing, and if your 2 million gets 10%

(07:16):
growth, that's $200,000.
That's a big deal.
You want to make sure you'relooking at the math here.
So for some of you you're likeI know me, I'm more of a John
person.
I'm going to grind it out two,three more years, then I'm just
done.
Other people are like Jenniferhey, I'd rather do something I
enjoy more.
Maybe I would do it even longerif it's really fulfilling.

(07:37):
So I do all of these differentstories and examples that you
can try to ask yourself whatwould make me happy in
retirement.
Hopefully this episoderesonated with you.
These are two clients that Ihave in my brain right now that
I'm thinking of, and they'reboth happy.
So it's not like you're goingto be wrong with either of these
.
So I want to make sure you arelooking at it correctly.

(07:58):
Now.
I went over a million otherthings today.
Tax planning didn't talk aboutthat.
Estate planning didn't talkabout that.
Insurance didn't talk aboutthat.
Estate planning didn't talkabout that.
Insurance didn't talk aboutthat.
Legacy healthcare there's somuch.
I didn't go over A very simpleexample, a simple analysis, but
for many of you it should helpgive you the thought of hey, I
just didn't know.
Working a job, maybe if it paidless than 100,000, 50,000 a year

(08:21):
, but I did it for longer.
Wow, I'd still be in a prettygood spot and I would have way
less stress.
So what I often encourageclients who are stressful at
their current position is if youwere to go to your boss and say
I'm going to start taking offFridays, is that okay?
If they were to say no, youhopefully would know that you're
in a good position, that youcould retire anyways.
I call that recreationalemployment.

(08:43):
Are you working because youwant to or because you have to?
Once you know that, that givesyou the freedom to go have those
conversations.
So pretend you're now, I don'tknow let's say 55.
You've got one and a halfmillion and you know that's
enough for you to walk away andlive a happy retirement.
You might go to your boss andsay, hey, I would love to take
off Fridays and Mondays, andthey might go.

(09:03):
You're really valuable and Idon't know how much you know
this, but whatever you want,mondays, fridays, we'll get you
massages, we'll bring lunch infor you, whatever you want.
Now, I've never had someone saythat, but pretend they did.
Okay, well, kudos to you.
If they do that, you might go.
Wow, so now I'm working threedays a week, kind of practice
retirement a little bit.
This is cool.
Maybe they're like well, to behonest, you're great, but we

(09:25):
have to have a policy foreveryone.
So it's been nice knowing you.
Hopefully they don't say itlike that, but that could occur
and you have to know that is therisk.
And it's really hard to askthose questions unless you know
you're in that recreationalemployment state.
So I encourage all of you, ifyou've not already, go play
around with the tool in mysoftware, the Early Retirement
Academy, because you can go mathit up.

(09:46):
You can make sure the math isworking for your ideal
retirement, see how much youwant to spend.
You can really go have a blastin there and run what-if
scenarios If you want to makesure that everything's happening
properly the tax, the estate,the withdrawal, the healthcare.
This is what we do for ourclients and we love doing it.
I know today was a little bitmore of a math heavy episode,

(10:06):
but I needed to go through thisexample and I hope it resonated.
If it did, please like this.
If you're on YouTube, pleasecomment below what resonated.
If you're listening on thepodcast app, shoot me a note.
I love getting to hear from youguys.
It makes my job way more fun.
So when I record these, I getextra excited, and that's it for
this episode.
Please be smart about this.
None of this should beconstrued as financial advice.

(10:53):
This is for fun, educational,informational purposes only.
Once again, just quickdisclaimer here.
Guys, please be smart aboutthis.
Appreciate you listening, asalways, and you can, of course,
submit a question on my website,earlyretirementpodcastcom.
If you, of course, want me toaddress a specific case study or
topic.
I will not promise I can get toit, but I respond to every

(11:19):
single person and if I find itwill be helpful for a lot of
people, I will absolutely makean episode on it, at the very
least give you some insight.
That's it, thanks, guys.