12 Practical Tips to Implement Right Now to Realize the Dream of Early Retirement

Written By Mindy

Refer to this anytime by downloading our 12 Practical Tips document!

As husband and wife who became financially free in our 30s, we are here to share lessons we’ve learned along the way and practical tips we wished we had known and implemented sooner! While still working our 9-to-5s, there were a lot of little things we did to build our wealth as quickly as possible. These small choices added up to a lot over time and we want to share them with you!

In addition to executing our current investment strategy, here are the tips we implemented along the way to help us realize our dream of early retirement and financial freedom with our young children.

1 - Invest Early and Often

Time is one of the most powerful tools in building wealth. The earlier you start investing, the more time your money has to grow with compounding interest. Consistent contributions—even small ones—add up over the years. For example, investing $200 per month starting at age 25 could grow to over $365,000 by age 65, assuming a modest 8% annual return. If you start at 35, that same investment would only grow to about $160,000. The difference? Time in the market. With our current investment strategy, we’ve achieved consistent returns above 8%, showing that you can potentially grow your wealth even faster.

Getting comfortable with risk is essential to investing early and often too. While market fluctuations can be intimidating, understanding that volatility is part of the process helps you stay focused on long-term growth. By setting up automatic contributions, you can avoid emotional decision-making and stay consistent, even during uncertain times.

We prioritized consistent investing even when our income was tight. By setting up automatic contributions to our brokerage accounts, we remained steadfast and avoided the temptation to spend that money elsewhere. When money flowed a bit better (or we had excess for another reason), we put every cent we could into our investments, accelerating progress toward financial freedom.

Whether you're just starting out or already building wealth, it's never too late to start, but the earlier, the better. Go ahead—open a brokerage account and set up an automatic contribution today!

2 - Know and Stick to a Budget

A budget acts as a financial blueprint - ensuring you live below your means and free up money for investments. Tracking income and expenses helps you:

  • Identify areas where you can cut back, redirecting funds toward your financial goals

  • Know how much extra you may have, so you can invest it

The key to budgeting success is setting realistic goals and sticking to them. We use a simple excel spreadsheet and set aside an hour on the 1st of the month to review things. A solid budget gives you control over your finances, allowing you to allocate resources effectively and achieve financial freedom faster.

Also without a budget, you wouldn’t know how much you even need to retire at an early age. We are constantly updating our budget and evaluating needs to ensure we’re prioritizing freedom over things.

3 - Rethink Your 401(k) Contributions

While contributing enough to get your employer match is smart, maxing out your 401(k) may not be. My husband and I did this for years, thinking we were getting ahead, but realized it simply locked our money away until we’re 59-1/2. For the last few years prior to departing from the workforce, we adjusted our approach to split our savings between our 401(k) and a brokerage account for better flexibility.

Brokerage accounts let you access your money anytime without penalties, unlike 401(k)s, which have limits and penalties for early withdrawals. You may pay taxes now on brokerage earnings, but the flexibility to have access to your money when you want it is worth it to us. Consider matching what you put into your brokerage with your 401(k) contributions for a balanced strategy.

For all the details, see our article on Why you may want to Rethink your 401(k) Contributions.

4 - Don't Spend Your Own Money: The Buy, Borrow, Die Strategy

Instead of spending your money, invest it and borrow against it with a margin loan. Here’s how it works:

Let’s say you sell a home and earn $200,000. Rather than spending $50,000 on a future home project, borrow that $50,000 using your investments as collateral. Your $200,000 keeps growing while you pay the margin loan interest (around 5-6.75%) with investment firms like M1 Finance, Robinhood and Interactive Brokers.

Example:

  • $50,000 at 3% monthly dividends* = $1,500/month

  • $50,000 margin loan at 6.75% interest = $281/month

You still earn $1,219/month while keeping your $50,000 invested!

The idea is to never repay these loans—your investments continue to grow, and your heirs will inherit the remaining wealth after you pass.

*3% monthly dividends is currently what we receive on our brokerage investment strategy

For all the details, see our article - Don’t Spend Your Own Money: The Buy, Borrow, Die Strategy.

5 - Put your Emergency Savings in a High Yield Cash Account

For the longest time, our emergency savings was held in a money market account with our bank earning 0.85% interest. 0.85% is actually not so bad for a bank - most savings are maybe earning 0.1%. BUT, there are really great options these days for accounts which earn wayyy more money for emergency savings funds or other cash balances. M1 Finance offers a 4.5% high yield cash account. Interactive Brokers offers 4.33% on the account cash balance. Robinhood Gold offers 4.5% on the account cash balance. There are likely more, but those are the ones we are familiar with. There are also US Treasury Money Funds, like SNSXX, at some brokerages that are easily liquidated and currently earn about 4.6%.

6 - Invest in Financial Education

For years, we read books, watched YouTube, and saved, but our money wasn’t growing fast enough to retire in our 30s. We finally invested in our financial education, and it changed everything!

We took The Perfect Portfolio course, and in just 8 weeks, we made our money back—and much more! Unlike other courses, this one gave us actionable steps that transformed our financial future. In addition to Buy, Borrow, Die, it introduced us to our current investment income strategies earning 3% dividends per month. Now, we’re retired in our 30s, and we get to enjoy time with our toddlers and travel full-time.

Also, invest your time into finding a financial advisor and CPA who is familiar with your strategy. Be a partner with them.

Our thoughts? Invest in learning! It’s the key to making your money work as hard as you do.

For all the details, see our article on Financial Education - Why you Must Invest in it NOW.

7 - Use Home Loans with Minimum Money Down

Using loans with low down payments can be a game changer when buying a home. Veterans, for example, can use 0% down VA loans, which allow them to buy a home with no down payment. The VA funding fee applies to some, but many exemptions exist, such as for service-related disabilities. With 0% down, the returns can be huge. Buying a $500K home and selling it for $600K in two years means earning $100K while only paying mortgage interest (a 30% annual return of more)!

Even non-veterans have options, like FHA loans with as little as 3.5% down. Leverage these loans to keep more cash in your pocket and invest it for higher returns than your mortgage rate!

Also, make sure you shop around for rates and find a clever mortgage broker! We found one recently that can give you a cash-backed offer - essentially you can go in with a cash offer! How’s that for power?!

For all the details, see our article on - Two Important Thoughts to Consider When Purchasing your Next Home.

8 - Invest Your Money Instead of Putting It Into Your Mortgage

One valuable lesson we learned is not to pour extra money into paying down the mortgage (or as additional down payment). While an extra $50K toward a $500K mortgage might lower your payment by $300/month, investing that $50K can generate much more.

For example, we earn 3% in dividends per month on our investments:

  • $50,000 x 3% dividends = $1,500/month

That’s $1,500 from investing vs. saving $300 by putting it into your mortgage. If you must take the money from the investments to assist in paying the mortgage, DO THAT - just don’t put all the cash into the mortgage.

Also, investing extra monthly money could give you a better return over time compared to the interest saved by paying off your mortgage early. Let your money grow where it has the most potential!

For all the details, see our article on - Two Important Thoughts to Consider When Purchasing your Next Home.

9 - Get Yourself an IUL

When we had kids, we realized the importance of life insurance for financial security. We chose Indexed Universal Life (IUL) insurance for several reasons:

  • Permanent life insurance

  • Long-term care benefits (and exemption from new state taxes)

  • Triple tax protected (no taxes on growth, distribution, or death)

  • Value locked in annually (no market losses)

  • Ability to borrow against it

We prefer IULs over whole life policies because premiums are known. Our IUL now forms the backbone of our financial freedom, providing security and emergency funds if needed.

Interested? As a licensed agent, I can help—just email us!

For all the details, see our article on Why Indexed Universal Life Insurance Policies Create an Anchor in Our Financial Freedom Strategy.

10 - Use Credit Card Rewards

We’re all about using credit cards to earn rewards! We put everything we can on our cards and pay the balance in full each month. This way, we earn points instead of spending our own money.

Our favorite Chase cards which we utilize based on the purchase to maximize point earnings are:

Pro tips:

  • Transfer points to Sapphire Reserve for 1.5x value in the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal.

  • Follow Chase’s 5/24 rule—don’t open more than 5 cards in 24 months.

  • Keep your oldest card active to boost your credit score.

We’re also excited about the Robinhood Gold credit card, which offers 3% cash back invested directly in your Robinhood account!

For all the details, see our article - Take Advantage of Credit Cards to Advance your Financial Independence.

11 - Buy a Real Estate Investment Property

We haven’t bought a rental property yet because we prioritized traveling with our toddlers over investing in real estate. If we’d known what we do now, we likely would have secured one before leaving our 9-to-5 jobs. Rental properties offer great tax benefits, and we’re still considering options like a DSCR (debt service coverage ratio) loan or other non-traditional financing.

Even if a property’s rent doesn’t fully cover the mortgage, it can still be a good investment choice as it diversifies your portfolio and receives a different, but still very positive, rate of return. If you're considering a rental property, we can connect you with excellent mortgage brokers and lenders who specialize in non-traditional loans!

For all the details, see our article on Why you Should Purchase at Least One Real Estate Investment Property While you are Still Working your 9-to-5.

12 - Ethically Utilize Company Relocation Packages & Incentives

We didn’t realize this until much later, but we got a big boost to our financial freedom journey from relocations with our previous employer. Many employers offer incentives like paying for closing costs, realtor fees, or even providing moving allowances if you're willing to relocate. While it can be hard, relocation has a lot of benefits both personally and professionally.

Personally, not needing to pay the fees associated with the buying and selling a home is immensely valuable. That money saved can be invested elsewhere and overall it provides better return on your home investment. Further, if you move again, you can keep that home and rent it, cash flowing even more money. Moving can also be a chance to grow, experience change, and overcome the fear of unknown.

Professionally, relocating for your job is a strategic way to grow in your career while providing immense value to your employer. By relocating, you gain a broader understanding of the company’s operations, which helps you excel in your role and makes you a more valuable asset to the organization.

Many employers offer a variety of incentive programs that can help you save money and boost your financial growth. These can include discount programs for insurance, local events, travel/car rentals, gym memberships, transportation, childcare, etc. Be informed and utilize the savings - it is there for you and the money you save monthly can be invested.

Keep in mind, this should always be done ethically. While you’re at work, it's essential to focus on your job and deliver value to your employer. These incentives are designed to benefit both you and the company though. By taking advantage of these programs, you could save thousands of dollars that you can invest elsewhere and pick up a home that can be used as investment properties moving forward.

Final Thoughts

These strategies have helped us achieve financial freedom, and we believe they can do the same for you. The earlier you start implementing these tips, the faster you’ll be on your way to early retirement. Financial freedom isn't just a dream; it's a goal that you can work towards every day with the right plan and mindset. We are happy to discuss these topics one-on-one. Please email us to discuss ANY of this further.

Please provide any comments or questions below! Do you have any additional tips we can implement?

FINANCIAL DISCLAIMER

Do your own research! We are not providing nor are we intending to provide any sort of financial, tax or legal advice. This article simply includes practical tips that we’ve compiled based on our independent analysis, implementation, and realization of the results - which changed our lives. Everything is of course, subject to market fluctuation. Please always be informed and consult your professionals prior to making changes.

AFFILIATE DISCLOSURE

This website contains some affiliate links to other websites including the Amazon Associate program. If you use the links provided and make a qualifying purchase, we get a small commission at no extra cost to you. We only recommend products we truly love, have made a difference in our lives, actually use during our adventures, and think you can benefit from too!

Mindy
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