Finance Influencer Marc Russell: 7 Steps If You Want To Retire Before Age 60
Written by
Adam Palasciano
Edited by
Amber Barkley
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Retirement should be defined by leisure, enjoyment and relaxation. This is the period of your life where working should be optional, not necessary. Hopefully, you’ve saved and invested enough money over the course of your career, and now your money is going to work for you.
Today, more Americans are retiring than ever before. According to the Alliance for Lifetime Income (ALI), 2024 marks the start of the “Peak 65 Zone”: the largest surge of retirement-age Americans turning 65 in U.S. history. Over 4.1 million Americans will turn 65 each year through 2027.
However, you may want to retire even earlier, perhaps before the age of 60. According to an Instagram post by finance influencer Marc Russell, there are seven important steps you may want to take now if you want to retire before the age of 60.
Calculate Your Monthly Expenses
If you’re planning to call it quits at your 9-to-5 earlier than most, it’s crucial to carefully calculate your monthly expenses beforehand. Stopping work at an earlier age can mean you’ll need to be more careful about your spending to ensure you don’t outlive your savings.
Multiply Your Monthly Expenses by 12
As a rule of thumb, start by multiplying your monthly expenses by 12 to see how much money you’ll spend annually. This will help you estimate how much money you need for essentials and how much money will be left over for discretionary spending.
Multiply Your Annual Expenses by 25
After you’ve calculated your monthly expenses, multiply your annual expenses by 25.
Here’s an example: If you’ve determined that your annual expenses are about $80,000, multiply that by 25, and you’ll get $2 million. You’ll want to be sure you have at least that much saved up for yourself before considering an early retirement.
Open a Brokerage Account
If you haven’t already, open a brokerage account and start investing as soon as possible. Many financial institutions offer a variety of brokerage accounts, and it’s usually easy to open an account online pretty quickly.
Start Contributing Money
This should go without saying, but you’ll want to start contributing money quickly. Investments need time to grow — if you’re going to stop work earlier in life, you’ll have less time for investment growth before you’ll need to tap into your funds.
Invest Early and Often for Maximum Returns
If you start investing in your early 20s, the chances of achieving a comfortable retirement before age 60 may be much greater than someone who doesn’t start investing until their 30s or later. Additionally, if you start investing in your early 20s, you won’t need to save as much money every month to grow a substantial retirement fund thanks to the power of compounding. The more time your money has to grow, the better.
Make Sure the Cash Is Invested
Once you transfer money into your brokerage account, ensure that the cash is invested. If you simply transfer money but leave it uninvested, it likely won’t benefit from as much long-term growth and compounding.
Consider investing in low-cost mutual funds and ETFs, which have a long history of reliable returns — especially if you’re nearing retirement.
Plan To Withdrawal 4% Annually
Generally speaking, it’s best practice to withdraw no more than 4% of your funds annually. Following this advice can help ensure that you don’t outlive your funds, while the rest of your funds have more time to grow as you age.
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