How Should We Invest If We Want to Retire Early?

Summary

Podcast Summary: "How Should We Invest If We Want to Retire Early?"

Podcast: Ramsey Everyday Millionaires
Date: October 6, 2025
Hosts: Dave Ramsey, Chris Hogan (Ramsey Network)
Caller: Jay from Alabama

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Episode Overview

This episode focuses on a caller’s journey toward early retirement and explores strategies for achieving financial freedom before traditional retirement age. Jay, a successful professional in medicine, seeks advice on retiring in his mid-50s while maintaining financial security, flexibility, and purpose. The conversation centers on debt-free living, investment planning, and the importance of purposeful activity post-retirement.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Jay’s Financial Situation and Goals

• Assets and Income:
  • Household income: $475,000/year
    • Jay: $125,000; Wife: $350,000, both in medicine ([01:06–01:18])
  • Net worth: $1.1 million
    • $800,000 in retirement accounts
    • $120,000 in a brokerage account
    • Remaining in home equity ([00:59–01:46])
  • Ages: Jay (45), Wife (43) ([01:59])
• Goals: Retire early (mid-50s), pay off the house, live part-time in Southeast Asia, downsize home, and possibly work part-time or remotely ([00:54–03:40]).

2. Early Retirement Strategy

• Pay Off the Mortgage

  • Owe $600,000; actively paying it down ([02:09–02:16])
  • “I would get the house paid off and I would build some money and bridge.” – Dave Ramsey ([04:04])

• Bridge (Non-Retirement) Funds

  • Importance of having liquid, non-retirement investments (mutual funds/brokerage) to access before 59½ ([02:16–02:33])
  • Home equity as a resource when downsizing ([03:13–03:40])

• Potential to Work Part-Time

  • Leverage high earning capacity for flexible, less stressful work, even abroad
    • “You have the ability to produce an incredible income and you could probably do that with, with 10% of the strain you have now.” – Dave Ramsey ([03:35–03:56])
    • Jay’s current job is remote ([03:28])

• Growth Projections

  • 1.1 million, left to grow for 10 years, could become nearly $3 million ([04:12–04:23])
  • “The 1.1 will be almost $3 million by then if you leave it alone.” – Dave Ramsey ([04:19])

3. Lifestyle and Relationship Decisions

• Frugality and Debt Avoidance

  • Jay and wife avoided student loans and prioritized financial responsibility from the start
    • Memorable first date story about checking for student loans ([04:51–05:23])
    • “I need to know how much student loans you got. And she said no. And I said, all right, there'll be a second date.” – Jay ([04:51–05:04])

• Plan to Downsize and International Living

  • Sell current house, buy smaller home, spend half the year in Southeast Asia where costs are lower and lifestyle suits them ([02:40–03:40])

4. Purpose After Retirement

• Importance of Purposeful Work
  • Data shows that stopping work entirely can lead to abrupt declines in well-being ([06:07–06:10])
    • “When a person completely stops work altogether, there's got to be some purpose beyond just retiring from a job.” – Chris Hogan ([05:31])
    • Suggests options like remote work, volunteering, or medical work abroad ([06:10–06:21])
    • “This idea that I'm going fishing for the next 45 years is probably not a plan.” – Dave Ramsey ([06:22])

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Financial Discipline:
  • “You have kicked butt. You're doing really well. The main place you've kicked butt though, is your income.” – Dave Ramsey ([04:39])
• On Marriage & Money:
  • “On our very first date, I asked her, I said, I need to know how much student loans you got. And she said no. And I said, all right, there'll be a second date.” – Jay ([04:51])
  • “You're a real romantic, buddy. I'm just saying.” – Dave Ramsey ([05:15])
• On Planning for a Fulfilling Retirement:
  • “When a person completely stops work altogether, there's got to be some purpose beyond just retiring from a job.” – Chris Hogan ([05:31])
  • “Medical doctors in Southeast Asia would be at a premium.” – Dave Ramsey ([06:16–06:21])
• On Early Retirement Math:
  • “The 1.1 will be almost $3 million by then if you leave it alone.” – Dave Ramsey ([04:19])

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Important Timestamps

• 00:22: Caller Jay introduces his early retirement goal
• 00:59–01:46: Breaks down assets and investments
• 02:09–02:16: Mortgage amount and payoff plan
• 02:16–02:33: Discussion of bridge funds
• 03:13–03:40: International living and downsizing plans
• 04:12–04:23: Projection of investment growth
• 04:51–05:23: First date story, debt avoidance
• 05:31–06:22: Discussion on purposeful retirement activity

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Summary Takeaways

• Early retirement is realistic with high income, disciplined investing, and debt avoidance.
• Building a "bridge fund" in non-retirement accounts is key for accessing money before age 59½.
• Pay off the mortgage before full retirement; downsizing can free up additional equity.
• Consider part-time, remote, or purpose-driven work post-retirement for both financial and emotional well-being.
• Shared financial values significantly strengthen long-term plans and relationships.
• Retirement should not be a withdrawal from life but a transition to new purposes and adventures.

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Transcript

[Caller (Jay)]

Foreign this episode is brought to you by SmartVestor.

[Dave Ramsey]

Connect with an investing pro near you at RamseySolutions.com SmartVestor Jay's in Alabama. Hi, Jay, how are you?

[Caller (Jay)]

I'm better than I deserve, Dave. How are you, sir?

[Dave Ramsey]

Just the same. How can we help?

[Caller (Jay)]

All right, I got a lot to unpack. It's a rather happy story. My wife and I have royally kicked butt. I think we've done good, but I feel like we need to tweak it a little bit because we both, we do, we both have great jobs. We love them, but we don't think we're going to be able to do this till we retire in our late 60s or 70s. And we're trying to, trying to figure out how to expedite speeding up so we can retire maybe in our mid-50s.

[Dave Ramsey]

Right.

[Caller (Jay)]

So I don't, I don't know if that involves.

[Dave Ramsey]

How much have you got? How much have you got an investments?

[Caller (Jay)]

1.1 million.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay, good lick. Good for you. And what's your household income today?

[Caller (Jay)]

475,000 a year.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yo, and how much of that you. How much of that's her?

[Caller (Jay)]

She is about 350 and I'm the rest.

[Dave Ramsey]

So you're 175. Okay.

[Caller (Jay)]

Yes, sir.

[Dave Ramsey]

All right. And what does she do for a living?

[Caller (Jay)]

We both work in medicine, I was gonna guess.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay, cool. Good for y'.

[Caller (Jay)]

All. But she didn't get Dr. Itis.

[Dave Ramsey]

Well done. Yeah, apparently you got a good net worth and a great, great income. How much of the 1.1 is in retirement accounts?

[Caller (Jay)]

About 800.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay, what's the other 300 in?

[Caller (Jay)]

I got about 120 in the brokerage account that I invest in and then the rest is home equity.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay, and, and what's your ages?

[Caller (Jay)]

I'm, I'm 45, she's 43.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay. All right, so what you would do is to. Is your home paid off?

[Caller (Jay)]

No, sir, we are paying extra on it to knock it down.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah. What do you owe on it?

[Caller (Jay)]

We owe about 600 on it.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay. If you got a paid for home and you built some money in some non retirement mutual funds, that's what people in the financial world call a bridge fund. It bridges from where the, from the time you want to quit to 59 and a half.

[Caller (Jay)]

Exactly. That's what, that's what I'm looking for.

[Dave Ramsey]

Well, listen, you don't need as much if the house is paid for.

[Caller (Jay)]

Yes, well, our, our long term. We might have a kind of a strange long term plan, but we we both have, are very well traveled and we're, we want to, once we get to that age, we're gonna, we'd like to sell the house, take the equity we get from selling the house, buy a smaller house with very, you know, place that we ain't got to cut the grass and stuff like that. And we actually want to spend about half the year in Southeast Asia because we've, we've been there many times and love the vibe. So it's much cheaper to rent a place there.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah. Let me ask this. It occurs to me that you fairly easily could sleepwalk into half of this income working part time, even if you were doing some of it in Southeast Asia.

[Caller (Jay)]

My job currently is remote, but to be honest, I mean, I'm just being honest with you. We have no problem adjusting our lifestyle.

[Dave Ramsey]

No, no, no, that's not what I'm saying. I'm just saying you have the ability to produce an incredible income and you could probably do that with, with 10% of the strain you have now. You could probably, between the two of you, pull in a couple of hundred.

[Caller (Jay)]

It's possible. Oh, I think it is, you know.

[Dave Ramsey]

Reimagine what you do. But yeah, right.

[Caller (Jay)]

We're just both getting, we see the writing on the wall and we just want to, we want to do the right thing. Pay out, pay off our house or at least knock it down a lot.

[Dave Ramsey]

I would get the house paid off and I would build some money and bridge.

[Chris Hogan]

Is this 10 years that I hear?

[Dave Ramsey]

55.

[Chris Hogan]

You guys want to be checked out?

[Caller (Jay)]

55, 56. We're looking at, you know, say 20, 36, you know, well, the 1.1 will.

[Dave Ramsey]

Be almost 3 million by then if you leave it alone.

[Caller (Jay)]

Okay.

[Dave Ramsey]

And you would have bridge on top of that and you'd have the paid for house and you've got the potential to do something, not nothing, the rest of your life and probably generate a couple of bills doing that.

[Caller (Jay)]

Right.

[Dave Ramsey]

There's a lot of different ways to roll into that 54, 55 year old point. And you're gonna be in really, really good shape. You're right, you have kicked butt. You're doing really well. The main place you've kicked butt though, is your income.

[Caller (Jay)]

Well, also, we laugh. But on our very first date, I asked her, I said, I need to know how much student loans you got. And she said no. And I said, all right, there'll be a second date.

[Chris Hogan]

Now hearing that story, we all knew you out kicked your coverage when you told us about your wife, but now this is a woman with poor judgment. Good for you, sir. You did well.

[Dave Ramsey]

You know, you're a real romantic, buddy. I'm just saying.

[Chris Hogan]

Yeah, you're a sweat. I don't know how to sweep a.

[Dave Ramsey]

Girl sweeper right off her feet. You got any student loans, baby?

[Chris Hogan]

And then he declares there will be a second date.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay, we'll go out again. You get the pleasure of my company one more time.

[Chris Hogan]

I. I love the advice you gave there, Dave. And I think there's a bigger lesson for our audience. We know from all kinds of data. You can go research this yourself. That when a person completely stops work altogether, there's got to be some purpose beyond just retiring from a job. And in this case, I love what you recommend here, which they can travel the globe, do whatever they want, stay involved a little bit, Just enough to maybe cash flow all this and not eat into that retirement. And I just think that's something to think about. This idea of. I'm going to stop cold turkey and just do nothing but hang out. That's not what he was saying.

[Dave Ramsey]

But the data is really scary about. How many are dead in six months?

[Chris Hogan]

It is. And so finding some purposeful work, even if it's volunteering or doctors without orders.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah, Yeah. I mean, you could go, you know, let's go. Medical doctors in Southeast Asia would be at a premium.

[Chris Hogan]

That's exactly right.

[Dave Ramsey]

So great, Great point. I mean, that's what I was just thinking. You could do a lot of stuff you can do there. Yeah. Yeah. This idea that I'm going fishing for the next 45 years is probably not a plan.