The 4% Rule Naysayers Are Wrong (We Retired at 47 Using It!)

BiggerPockets Money Podcast

BiggerPockets

Investing, Education, Business

4.6 • 2.9K Ratings

🗓️ 7 February 2025

⏱️ 47 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Does the four-percent rule actually work? On paper, yes. So why don’t more people put it to the test? Today’s guest retired at forty-seven years old and is living proof that the math really does check out. Stay tuned to find out how! Welcome back to the BiggerPockets Money podcast! Bobby Beck has done what so many in the FIRE community are seemingly unable to do—he actually retired on the four-percent rule! What’s more? He did it while living in the Bay Area, one of the most expensive markets in the US. What gave him the confidence to leave his job and never look back? While “One More Year Syndrome” keeps many people from retiring early, Bobby’s mantra of “take a year” compelled him to take a leap of faith. Even though his retirement portfolio took a sixteen-percent hit right before he retired, he weathered the storm, and sure enough, the market rebounded! Now, Bobby lives the life people dream of when they discover FIRE. He has a comfy lifestyle, travels multiple times a year, and only checks his portfolio once a month. If you need the motivation to call time on your career and put your retirement date on the calendar, you don’t want to miss this episode! In This Episode We Cover How Bobby and his wife retired on the four-percent rule (at age 47!) Why the FIRE community overestimates how much they’ll owe in taxes How to beat “One More Year Syndrome” and actually retire early Growing your brokerage accounts and cash to avoid the middle-class trap The portfolio allocation that will give you the confidence to retire And So Much More! Links from the Show Mindy on BiggerPockets Scott on BiggerPockets Listen to All Your Favorite BiggerPockets Podcasts in One Place Join BiggerPockets for FREE Email Mindy: [email protected] Email Scott: [email protected] BiggerPockets Money Facebook Group Follow BiggerPockets Money on Instagram “Like” BiggerPockets Money on Facebook Sign Up for BiggerPockets Momentum 2025 to Reach FIRE Faster Maximize Your Real Estate Investing with a Self-Directed IRA from Equity Trust Learn How to Retire Early with Scott’s Book “Set for Life” Find an Investor-Friendly Agent in Your Area How Much Do You Need for Early Retirement? (How to Calculate Your FI Number) (00:00) Intro (01:03) Retired at 47! (05:49) Bobby’s Portfolio (08:35) Real Estate Investments (17:05) Withdrawals & Tax Strategies (26:45) 100% Stock Portfolio (34:36) What Does Your Life Cost? (39:47) The 4% Rule Works! Check out more resources from this show on BiggerPockets.com and https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/money-605 Interested in learning more about today’s sponsors or becoming a BiggerPockets partner yourself? Email [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	A question Scott and I often ask ourselves is, do people really retire using the 4% rule?
0:07.7	Is it actually possible?
0:10.1	Today, we're joined by Bobby Beck, who retired at age 47 and is doing just that.
0:16.1	So how has he done it?
0:17.8	Let's find out.
0:19.0	Hello, hello, hello, and welcome to the Bigger Pockets Money
0:21.2	podcast. My name is Mindy Jensen and with me as always is my booming co-host, Scott Trench.
0:26.3	Well, a good conversation is looming today with Bobby Beck, who is a true 4% rule early retiree.
0:33.1	Couldn't be more excited to have him on the show today. Bigger Pockets has a goal of creating
0:36.3	one million millionaires. You are in the right place if you want to get your financial house in order
0:40.7	because we truly believe financial freedom is attainable for everyone no matter when or where
0:45.0	you're starting and we really hope that you are zooming towards that goal. All right, enough of
0:50.4	the terrible, I don't even know if those are count as puns. Let's not even give it that much credit. Bobby, welcome to the Bigger Pockets Money podcast. We are so excited to have you on today. Thanks for joining us. And thank you for reaching out with that wonderful email. put out that call to action about the skepticism about you existing and what prompted you to reach
1:12.6	out and then we'd love to hear about your portfolio sure yeah for me i wanted to reach out because
1:18.4	it's kind of the promise of the financial independence movement in a lot of ways that we can save up
1:24.7	an investable portfolio that's 25x, 25 times our annual expenses and live on
1:29.5	4% for 30 years with a 95% success rate.
1:33.5	That is kind of the promise a little bit that, you know, the simple path to wealth, that a lot of,
1:39.5	we base our financial independence journey around.
1:43.9	And I'm not the only one there's a that's I
1:46.0	want to be clear so I just wanted to reach out to let other people know that that
1:51.5	that works I mean it's working for us of course I don't think financial
	...

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