What if the thing keeping you from Financial Independence (FI) isn't your income, your portfolio, or your math. It's probably the quiet belief that you still need "one more year" when you actually don't. Our guest on this episode is Aubrey Williams, a former particle physicist, radar-tech leader, debt-slayer, and now advice-only financial planner. In this conversation, he flips some of the FI community's favorite assumptions on their head. This is the first of a 2-part episode with Aubrey so be sure to follow the podcast to be notified of the second part of this fascinating conversation.

This episode covers:

How Aubrey rebuilt after divorce and $90,000 of debt
Why savings rate is nonlinear and more powerful than most people realize
How a higher savings rate can erase working years faster than expected
Why our brains are wired for survival, not modern investing and retirement decisions
How to build evidence that you can safely spend instead of just hoard
Why living smaller can sometimes create more freedom and more joy
How Aubrey reached FI in high-cost Santa Barbara without leaving California
Why the FI community itself often knows more than the average advisor
The difference between fee-based, fee-only, flat-fee, and hourly advice
Why Aubrey believes many FI people are still working too long

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RESOURCES MENTIONED ON THE SHOW

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Aubrey's EconoMe Talk (2026): Coming soon!

⏰ Related Episodes

Founder of 'Catching Up to FI' Just Hit Financial Independence, Now What? | Bill Yount | 196

Enoughness: Your Life or Your Money | Vicki Robin | 95

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