How to Retire Early in Six Steps

Here is the secret sauce for how to retire early. Just be sure it's what you really want.

A fit, attractive middle-aged man poses while backpacking in the mountains.
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Editor’s note: This is part one of an ongoing series throughout this year focused on how to retire early and the FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) movement. Part two is How to Retire Early by 40. Part three is How to Retire Early by 50. Part four is Retire Early for Adventure: Go Travel and Volunteer. Part five is Will Retiring Early Make You Happier? It's Complicated. Our latest article is Early Retirement Withdrawal Strategies for the Long Haul.

It's not always the patient plodders who grasp how to retire early. Good things often come to those who wait, yet sometimes, better things come to those who act — like mustering the nerve to pursue a soulmate or secure an early retirement.

Subscribe to Kiplinger’s Personal Finance

Be a smarter, better informed investor.

Save up to 74%
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/hwgJ7osrMtUWhk5koeVme7-200-80.png

Sign up for Kiplinger’s Free E-Newsletters

Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and more - straight to your e-mail.

Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice - straight to your e-mail.

Sign up

To continue reading this article
please register for free

This is different from signing in to your print subscription


Why am I seeing this? Find out more here

Jacob Schroeder
Contributor

Jacob Schroeder is a financial writer covering topics related to personal finance and retirement. Over the course of a decade in the financial services industry, he has written materials to educate people on saving, investing and life in retirement. With the love of telling a good story, his work has appeared in publications including Yahoo Finance, Wealth Management magazine, The Detroit News and, as a short-story writer, various literary journals. He is also the creator of the finance newsletter The Root of All (https://rootofall.substack.com/), exploring how money shapes the world around us. Drawing from research and personal experiences, he relates lessons that readers can apply to make more informed financial decisions and live happier lives.