As you relax on the beach during your vacation, watching boats sail in the distance and feeling the sun bake your shoulders, you might think: I’d love to do this all day, all year ’round. But to make that dream a reality, you’ve got to find a way to retire early — without compromising your ability to pay your bills and live independently for decades during your retirement.
Read More: 4 Things Your Neighbor Who Retired Early Won’t Tell You About Their Financial Plan
Check Out: The New Retirement Problem Boomers Are Facing
If early retirement is on your financial vision board, you’d be wise to consult with a trusted advisor to get an idea of the steps and sacrifices required to achieve it. Author and financial expert Suze Orman is famous for her common-sense, plain-spoken advice across a range of financial topics, including early retirement.
Naturally, Orman has strong opinions on what people should do to make early retirement possible.
One of Orman’s biggest axioms is to live below your means and be careful in your spending. Instead of getting that designer bag or splurging on an in-ground pool, she’d rather you put all the money you can into your retirement savings — especially if you hope to retire early.
Simply put, you need to make regular, sizable contributions to your 401(k) and traditional and Roth IRAs, ideally maxing them out every year. For 2025, the maximum 401(k) contribution is $23,500 for employees under 50 and $31,000 for employees over 50. If your employer offers a 401(k) match, take full advantage of it. If you’re not maxing out your contributions yet, focus on increasing your contribution. If you were contributing 6% to your plan, Orman wants you to increase it to 7% or 8%.
For traditional and Roth IRAs, the 2025 contribution limit is $7,000 for those under 50 and $8,000 for those over 50. Income limits apply for contributing to a Roth IRA, so consult a financial advisor or tax expert to understand your eligibility and tax implications. Sometimes, maxing out just isn’t possible, and that’s OK — the key is to focus on contributing more than you did the year before. If you can’t reach the full limit, could you find a way to add an extra $1,000? You likely could.
For more personalized guidance, consider meeting with a financial advisor who can sit down with you, review your accounts, and help create a tailored savings strategy.
Read Next: Dave Ramsey’s Financial Health Checklist: Are You Able to Retire Early?
Yes, you’ve paid into your Social Security and yes, it is your money. But you can get the most out of those funds if you wait to collect it until you’ve reached full retirement age (FRA), which should be between ages 66 and 67. Technically, you can collect it as early as age 62, but it comes with the significant risk of locking in a permanent reduction in your payments. To get the full 100% of your funds, you must wait until you’ve reached FRA.
