I love numbers, which is what you’d expect from someone who does what I do, right?
I also know that numbers only tell half the story. Ultmately, none of us do what we do for the purpose of numbers, be it income, wealth, staying healthy so we can live longer.
We do it for the things numbers can’t measure – life, love, family, friends, experiences and more.
Nonetheless, there is a power in numbers. Sometimes they can tell the real truth, tell us what it will take to achieve something and tell us how likely we are to get there.
Over the years I’ve modelled more people’s financial futures than I can recall. I can say with absolute honesty that not one future I’ve modelled has ever proven to be 100% accurate twenty years later, but that’s one reason why I revisit them year-after-year in Reviews.
There’s many ways to do it, some of them simple and inaccurate, some of the complex and intricate.
Zach was 27-Years old when he wrote this article called The Early Retirement Grid on his blog Four Pillar Freedom, but he’s part of a fast-growing global movement of younger people who are focusing on taking financial contol and making retirement something that happens in their thirties or forties, instead of sixties.
My takeout? This gem…
Cutting spending from $40k to $30k in his model brought forward Zac’s retirement from 61 to 48.
That’s a very different type of retirement and, even if it leaves you asking questions about the practicality of his numbers, certainly gives food for thought!
