How We Retired Early With $540K At 40 In Colorado

In 2012, Debbie Emick received a series of troubling diagnoses, forcing her to retire from teaching two years later. She and her husband, Chris, then set out on a path of achieving FIRE — financial independence, retire early. An initial investment of $60,000 grew and they bought 17 rental properties from 2016 to 2019. That income stream allowed Chris to retire from his IT job in November 2019 after they accumulated $540,000 in savings and retirement accounts and $1.1 million in real estate.

Produced by: Lauren Shamo
Senior Managing Producer: Sam Rega
Camera: Jackson House Films
Animation: Gene Kim
Reporter: Ryan Ermey

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How We Retired Early With $540K At 40 In Colorado

[Susanhartman.]

People who are able to retire early are lucky . I have 15 months till 65 and need to look at calling it quits, my only fear is running out of funds much later, thus keen on investing. What could be the safest possible ways to invest for cashflow, in order to afford lifestyle after retirement?

[datamusic]

Just to be clear, they're not retired. They're doing amazing, but they are working. Managing 19 properties and other bits of works, is still work, but its not a 40 hour work week in an office, and if this makes them happy this is great.

[LucasBenjamin-hvsk]

Retirees who struggle to meet their basic needs are the ones who could not accumulate enough money during their active years to meet their needs. Retirement choices determine a lot of things. My parents both spent same number of years in the civil service, but my mom was investing through a wealth manager, and my dad through the 401k.

[barttfisher]

I am currently in my 40s and This is no time to taper retirement savings. I want to max out my retirement contributions and I also have another $200k in a savings account that i want to invest in a non-retirement account. Where should I invest it now?

[CrystalJoy-]

This doesn't really surprise me. The situation has evolved. In my life, the idea of mini-retirement was revolutionary. I'm not waiting to be 65 and retire to some idyllic place. Knowing how to pay for the lifestyle is helpful. Earning money while enjoying a piña colada by the beach is, you know, helpful. If not, I could not have completed it.

[Eric_moore]

I am 58 years old and planning to retire next year, yet the prospect of retirement fills me with unease. I extend my apologies to all those who have retired and are now reliant on social security, especially during this challenging period. After dedicating years of hard work, facing unexpected hardships is truly disheartening. It's particularly tough for retirees who lack savings or a support system to rely on.

[EmilyVancamp-zljt]

I'm 48, sad to say I made terrible money decisions growing up which I'm presently paying for, been dedicating every waking hours towards my retirement and I'd really love to retire to Portugal with at least $3million by, the market up and down is not helping at all.

[mulattodavid]

The dollar is literally being destroyed / debased / devalued. The best performing asset in the history of the world is BITCOIN. It is by far the best store of value. 10 years from now you’ll be thankful for every dollar you put into it.. My two cents.

[bobbymainz]

Protecting your capital is much more important than making money. Basically because if you lose your capital, making money is much harder. ''Missing the train'' vs. ''losing your money''. There are a lot of trains, but if your money is gone, it's over.

[danieltaylor--]

As someone passionate about investments, I often contemplate the strategies and paths that enable top-tier investors to amass wealth in the millions. While I possess a substantial initial capital, I am uncertain about the specific tactics or avenues that would facilitate achieving gains exceeding $400k, similar to those achieved by several others this season.

[hippusmaximus]

This is not true FIRE. It is only half - the financial independence part. This couple did *NOT* retire early! They just changed careers.

[shellylofgren]

I’m closing in on my retirement and I’d like to move from Minnesota to a warmer climate, but the prices on homes are stupidly ridiculous and Mortgage prices has been skyrocketing on a roll(currently over 7%) do I just invest my spare cash into stock and wait for a housing crash or should I go ahead to buy a home anyways

[albacusBC]

I have always believed the stock market is the faster way to growing wealth than traditional retirement funds. But I'm not confident about picking stocks anymore due to personal losses, but I have still have about $89k to invest in the market. Are there really no other options for me to gain from the stock market?

[SophiaChristian-soof]

Planning retirement has never been this confusing! First SVB, then Signature bank and now First republic, these are all the signs of yet another 2008 market crash and recession 2.0, so my question is do I still save in the United States dollar, or could this be a good time to buy stocks? So I’m left wondering what 2023 has in store for us investors, I’ve been sitting on over $745K equity from a home sale and I’m not sure where to go from here,

[joedessenberger]

My dad worked 7 days a week for his entire adult life saving for the dream of living his retirement years in a patio home on a golf course. He got cancer at age 62 and died 3 months later. I learned watching him not to wait for your dreams. I semi-retire next year at 56 and can do what I want after that. The key was to shed consumer debt and live off less than I made while consistently investing from my early 20s on regardless of market cycles. Our schools need to do a better job of teaching personal finance in middle and high schools. Once we realize that all advertising is designed to trick the mind into needing the latest and greatest, it is easy to avoid those tricks and live responsibly below our means.

[tomjason]

Fortunately, I had a college economics teacher that taught me a lesson at 18. That lesson was: for every purchase you make, you can't buy something else. Varied sources of income is wise and especially living within your means. Think about taxes and how you get your income. I made $72k combined net last year and paid no Federal taxes.

[spector]

Sounds like they became independent, NOT retired

[Raymondjohn]

More and more people might face a tough time in retirement. Low-paying jobs, inflation, and high rents make it hard to save. Now, middle-class Americans find it tough to own a home too, leaving them without a place to retire.

[ihsancolak]

You are not retired, you have a new line of business. 18 units has a lot of work. You may not go to work daily 9 to 5 but you have a lot of things to take care of.

[madisonhruschka]

Not really a fan of calling this "retirement". They are technically working in real estate. It's important to not call rentals "passive income" as managing the properties, when done appropriately is in fact work. Keeping up with landscaping, maintenance, repairs, and even vetting and evicting tenants are all time intensive. Even when outsourced, they still have to be managed. Really great to see that they put the time in to fix them up before putting them on the market.