The Time Freedom Podcast

Investing Your Way to Time Freedom (Case Study)

Episode Summary

Brian and Kirby walk through a case study for the saver and investor who has no interest in starting a business. In this episode, they discuss a time freedom plan for Izzy, a 40-year-old high earner who wants to be financially free by 50. They uncover that to be successful, you first need to be a strong saver and then--only after your portfolio grows significant--a great investor who is earning high (but not too high) returns. Brian and Kirby also share how you can stress-test your plan against a major market crash using the Time Freedom Calculator, which also lets you test other “what ifs” before they happen.

Episode Notes

➡️ Try the TIME FREEDOM CALCULATOR: https://timefreedomcalculator.com
➡️ Buy TIME FREEDOM, the book: https://timefreedom.life/book
➡️ Read the FAST FOLLOW INVESTING bonus chapter: https://timefreedom.life/fastfollow

In this episode... Izzy and her husband are a no-kids couple from Atlanta who earn a combined $250,000 a year, live on $120,000, and save the rest. They’ve been saving and investing since college and already have $1.8 million. Their goal is time freedom by 50, without starting a business and without counting on flexible income later.

Brian and Kirby run the numbers in the calculator, then crash the portfolio by 35% (hypothetically) the moment Izzy retires, to see whether the plan still holds. They connect Izzy's plan to one key spending principle from Chapter 7 of the book, “save more earlier to invest well later,” and show what happens when a better investment return lets Izzy save far less and enjoy her forties.

For a detailed walkthrough of this case study, watch the video “Saver and Investor, Not Entrepreneur (Izzy)” at https://timefreedom.life/help.

Top 5 Takeaways:

  1. You don’t have to become an entrepreneur. Flexible work opens up more options, but a good saver and investor can reach time freedom on savings alone. Izzy never starts a business and never needs income after 50.
  2. Your portfolio eventually out-earns your savings. Early on, how much you save matters most. Later, your return takes over. On Izzy’s $1.8 million, a good year earns almost twice what she saves.
  3. Stress-test the worst case. Markets drop more often than it feels like when things are going up, so plan for it. Even with a 35% crash the day Izzy retires, her money still lasts to 100.
  4. Your return is your biggest lever. A few extra percentage points can replace years of heavy saving. At a 10% return, Izzy would only need to save $15,000 a year instead of $100,000.
  5. Money you don’t have to save is money you can enjoy. You don’t have to sacrifice every year of your forties to retire early. The calculator shows which trade-offs still work: travel more now, work a little longer, or both.

Chapters: 

00:00 Introduction to the episode and guest
02:00 Exploring the concept of Alameda and local insights
05:02 Update on book writing and mailing strategies
09:06 Case study introduction: Izzy the saver and investor
13:10 Modeling market crashes and resilience
16:57 Adjusting lifestyle and savings for early retirement
22:00 The power of fast follow investing and higher returns
23:58 Scenario analysis: Market drops and long-term wealth
25:04 Upcoming deep dive into fast follow investing
25:57 Closing remarks and call to action