Why This “Physician on FIRE” Ignored the 4% Rule & Delayed Early Retirement w/Leif Dahleen, MD

BiggerPockets Money Podcast

BiggerPockets

Investing, Education, Business

4.6 • 2.9K Ratings

🗓️ 4 October 2024

⏱️ 38 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Why do many wealthy people wait so long to retire? Despite earning a physician’s salary, living frugally, and saving what most would call “more than enough” money, today’s guest worked for another four years before pulling the trigger on early retirement. Is he on to something? Does the four-percent rule no longer work in 2024? Stay tuned to find out! Welcome back to the BiggerPockets Money podcast! Leif Dahleen, MD, the “Physician on FIRE,” was already financially independent when he discovered the FIRE movement. But rather than calling time on a successful healthcare career, he continued to beef up his nest egg. Why? Leif had determined that he needed forty-to-fifty times his annual expenses to feel comfortable walking away from his nine-to-five. Do more FI-focused folks need to follow Leif’s formula to account for the unknown? We’ve all dreamed of what a day in the life of an early retiree might look like. Leif had his own expectations, but in this episode, he shares what he discovered when his schedule was suddenly clear. You’ll also learn about the mindset high-income earners need to avoid squandering wealth, and why putting down roots in a low-cost-of-living area could be the difference between fast-tracking retirement and keeping up with the Joneses! In This Episode We Cover Why most people DON’T retire on the four-percent rule (even though it works!) Fast-tracking the path to early retirement in a low-cost-of-living area How to actually leave your W2 job once you have enough money to retire Why earning a high income doesn’t guarantee FIRE (and common pitfalls to avoid!) Choosing the right retirement withdrawal strategy for your financial situation Why Leif won’t adjust his retirement lifestyle as he continues to build wealth 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 Physician on FIRE Buy Scott’s Book “Set for Life” Find an Investor-Friendly Agent in Your Area See Mindy and Scott at BPCON2024 in Cancun! How Much Money Do I Need to Retire? (00:00) Intro (01:58) Leif’s “Unfair” Advantage (06:33) Leaving the Medical Profession (12:42) Funding His Retirement (15:09) Does the 4% Rule Work? (23:37) Adjusting Your Retirement Lifestyle (29:23) Retirement Expectations vs. Reality Check out more resources from this show on BiggerPockets.com and https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/money-569 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	Do you have a career that's hard to walk away from?
0:03.0	Whether it's because you've invested time and money into your education
0:07.0	or took the time to climb the corporate ladder to finally be at the top,
0:11.0	can you really walk away when you hit the 4% rule? And should you? We will break that down today.
0:18.4	Hello, hello, hello, and welcome to the BiggerPockets Money Podcast. My name is Mindy Jensen and with me as always is my CEO on fire
0:26.2	co-host Scott Trinch. Thanks, Minnie. Always great to be here. Doctoring up someone's financials here.
0:32.1	Looking forward to it today.
0:34.0	Bigger Pockets is a goal of creating 1 million millionaires.
0:36.0	You are in the right place if you want to get your financial house in order
0:39.0	because we truly believe financial freedom is attainable for everyone,
0:42.0	no matter when or where you're starting.
0:44.2	We are so excited to have Leaf Physician on Fire here on Bigger Pocket's Money today, and Leaf, of course,
0:51.4	for those who know him, started in a great spot to approach fire.
0:55.0	He is a doctor earning a very high income and spent very little out of the Midwest.
1:00.0	No surprises that he was able to satisfy the financial independence equation and do that between the
1:07.0	frugality and the very high-powered offense on the income front.
1:10.8	But we're also going to talk about his business success, which he started
1:14.7	Wall working full-time as an anesthesiologist, and how that's parlayed into the
1:20.3	ultimate early retirement and incredible options. We're also going to get into the mindset of
1:25.3	actually retiring and how you might really have to go well beyond the 4% rule in order to pull the trigger.
1:30.8	Before we get into Lee Story, we want to thank our sponsor.
1:34.7	This episode is brought to you by Connect Invest, Real Estate Invest,
	...

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