Early Retirement - Financial Freedom (Investing, Tax Planning, Retirement Strategy, Personal Finance)

Ari Taublieb, CFP®, MBA
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Ari Taublieb is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ and Vice President of Root Financial Partners. Ari Taublieb, CFP®, MBA specializes in helping people navigate an early retirement. I get it...retirement sounds overwhelming (an early retirement may sound particularly overwhelming)! Does it just feel like there's so much to consider and you just want to make sure you're doing everything you can to set yourself up right? If I may ask...why do YOU want to retire early? Do you want to travel? Have you just had enough of work? Do you want to spend more time with family (or on hobbies you've been putting off)? I created this podcast to help you know when work is now optional because you have a financial strategy that tells you when you can retire. You will learn all the investing tips in this financial podcast to set up the right portfolio for your goals. You may love what you do - and if that's you, great! I'm not saying stop working. But, I am saying, wouldn't it be nice to know when you didn't HAVE to work any more? When you would only go to work because you enjoyed it (crazy concept, I know). This is the ultimate retirement podcast (specifically, early retirement!). Retiring early, also known simply as "financial freedom", is having the ability to do what you care most about, MORE!I don't want you to work unless you ENJOY it (finances aside, for just a moment)! My goal of this podcast is to give you all the tips and strategies so you can retire EARLY. Retirement planning, investing, personal finance, tax strategy, and you'll hear case studies from my clients and exactly how I've helped them navigate the transition into retirement. What are the right investment accounts to have in retirement? I want retirement planning to be simple for you so that you can retire early and maximize your retirement goals. Become a retiree and enjoy everything you've been waiting for your whole life (and start practicing retirement today)! I release new episodes every Monday with all the strategies (you'll learn that I love examples) so you can maximize your return on life (we use money to do this).

  1. 1d ago ·  Video

    9 Unsexy Money Lessons Retirees Wish They Knew Earlier

    The mistake most people make heading into retirement is not saving too little. It is saving too much, in the wrong places, and then spending retirement too cautiously to enjoy it. Ari walks through nine lessons drawn from client conversations and research, and most of them point in the same direction. The number in your account matters less than the after-tax income it can generate and whether you are actually willing to spend it. A few of the lessons challenge common assumptions directly. The 4% rule was designed for a 30-year retirement with a specific mix of assets, and treating it as a universal ceiling leads most people to underspend. Dividends feel like free money but are not, and a high dividend yield on a declining stock is not a good trade. Your home has likely created more memories than returns once you account for taxes, insurance, and maintenance. And the idea that you need a specific large number before you can retire often dissolves once Social Security and spending patterns are factored in. The lessons that tend to land hardest are the ones about tax planning and legacy. Most CPAs file accurate returns. Almost none of them are projecting your tax picture five or ten years out and helping you make decisions based on it. That forward-looking work is either being done by your financial advisor or it is not being done. And on legacy: most adult children would rather have more time with their parents now than a larger inheritance later. It is worth asking the question directly rather than assuming. The final lesson is the one Ari keeps coming back to across all of his content. The happiest retirees are not the wealthiest ones. They are the ones who got clear on what they actually wanted to spend, built a plan around that number, and gave themselves permission to enjoy it. -- Advisory services are offered through Root Financial Partners, LLC, an SEC-registered investment adviser. This content is intended for informational and educational purposes only and should not be considered personalized investment, tax, or legal advice. Viewing this content does not create an advisory relationship. We do not provide tax preparation or legal services. Always consult an investment, tax or legal professional regarding your specific situation. The strategies, case studies, and examples discussed may not be suitable for everyone. They are hypothetical and for illustrative and educational purposes only. They do not reflect actual client results and are not guarantees of future performance. All investments involve risk, including the potential loss of principal. Comments reflect the views of individual users and do not necessarily represent the views of Root Financial. They are not verified, may not be accurate, and should not be considered testimonials or endorsements Participation in the Retirement Planning Academy or Early Retirement Academy does not create an advisory relationship with Root Financial. These programs are educational in nature and are not a substitute for personalized financial advice. Advisory services are offered only under a written agreement with Root Financial. Create Your Custom Early Retirement Strategy Here Get access to the same software I use for my clients and join the Early Retirement Academy here Ari Taublieb, CFP ®, MBA  is the Chief Growth Officer of Root Financial Partners and a Fiduciary Financial Planner specializing in helping clients retire early with confidence.

  2. Oct 19 ·  Video

    7 Brutally Honest Truths Retirees Wish They Knew Sooner

    Ready for a custom strategy to retire early (yes, it's free)? Start here ⬇️ → https://learn.rootfinancial.com/c4f8d0 The most common regret Ari hears from retirees is not that they ran out of money. It is that they waited too long to start enjoying it. This video covers seven lessons drawn from client conversations, and most of them point to the same underlying problem: people build investment plans but not spending plans. Knowing how much you have is different from knowing how much you can spend, when to spend it, and how to structure your income so market swings do not make you hesitant every time you want to book a trip. A few of the lessons push back on common assumptions. Healthcare costs before Medicare are often far lower than people expect, especially for those who are thoughtful about where they pull income from. Cash feels safe until you account for inflation quietly eroding what it can actually buy. Working one more year almost never changes the retirement outcome in a meaningful way, but it does cost a year. And having the majority of savings in a pre-tax account is not a failure, it just means the after-tax number is smaller than the balance suggests, and that gap should be part of the plan. The tax lesson focuses on Roth conversions as a tool specifically for the window between retirement and Social Security, when income is low and the opportunity to convert at a lower rate is real. Whether conversions make sense depends on the full picture of someone's spending and what they expect to leave behind. They are not a default move. The final lesson is the one Ari returns to most. Retirement is often an identity problem before it is a financial one. The people who struggle are usually the ones who knew what they were leaving but had not figured out what came next. The goal is not to retire from something. It is to retire to something. -- Advisory services are offered through Root Financial Partners, LLC, an SEC-registered investment adviser. This content is intended for informational and educational purposes only and should not be considered personalized investment, tax, or legal advice. Viewing this content does not create an advisory relationship. We do not provide tax preparation or legal services. Always consult an investment, tax or legal professional regarding your specific situation. The strategies, case studies, and examples discussed may not be suitable for everyone. They are hypothetical and for illustrative and educational purposes only. They do not reflect actual client results and are not guarantees of future performance. All investments involve risk, including the potential loss of principal. Comments reflect the views of individual users and do not necessarily represent the views of Root Financial. They are not verified, may not be accurate, and should not be considered testimonials or endorsements Participation in the Retirement Planning Academy or Early Retirement Academy does not create an advisory relationship with Root Financial. These programs are educational in nature and are not a substitute for personalized financial advice. Advisory services are offered only under a written agreement with Root Financial. Create Your Custom Early Retirement Strategy Here Get access to the same software I use for my clients and join the Early Retirement Academy here Ari Taublieb, CFP ®, MBA  is the Chief Growth Officer of Root Financial Partners and a Fiduciary Financial Planner specializing in helping clients retire early with confidence.

  3. Oct 12 ·  Video

    Average 401(k) Balance By Age In 2026 — Are You On Track To Retire?

    Ready for a custom strategy to retire early (yes, it's free)? Start here ⬇️ → https://learn.rootfinancial.com/e6f2e4 Vanguard's 2026 How America Saves report covers data from over five million retirement plan participants, and the numbers reveal something more useful than whether you are ahead or behind: they show what actually drives retirement outcomes. Ari walks through the key findings and what they mean for people trying to retire early. The average 401k balances by age are lower than most people expect, particularly for those in their late 50s and early 60s. But the more instructive finding is that higher income did not reliably produce higher savings. People who earned more often spent more, while some with more modest incomes saved a greater share. The trajectory matters more than the current balance. A few takeaways stand out. The average combined savings rate across the study was around 12%, but Ari recommends starting at 15% and planning around a target monthly income rather than a lump-sum number. Deciding you need two or three million dollars before you can retire is a less useful frame than deciding how much you want to spend each month and working backward. The first approach can push retirement further out than necessary. The second gives you a target that actually connects to your life. The study also found that only 5% of participants sold during market downturns, which Ari treats as encouraging. Time in the market consistently outperforms attempts to time it, and automation, whether through 401k payroll deductions or automatic transfers to a brokerage account, removes the decision from the equation. The one variable most people underestimate is what they can actually control. Market returns are not it. Savings rate and spending are. -- Advisory services are offered through Root Financial Partners, LLC, an SEC-registered investment adviser. This content is intended for informational and educational purposes only and should not be considered personalized investment, tax, or legal advice. Viewing this content does not create an advisory relationship. We do not provide tax preparation or legal services. Always consult an investment, tax or legal professional regarding your specific situation. The strategies, case studies, and examples discussed may not be suitable for everyone. They are hypothetical and for illustrative and educational purposes only. They do not reflect actual client results and are not guarantees of future performance. All investments involve risk, including the potential loss of principal. Comments reflect the views of individual users and do not necessarily represent the views of Root Financial. They are not verified, may not be accurate, and should not be considered testimonials or endorsements Participation in the Retirement Planning Academy or Early Retirement Academy does not create an advisory relationship with Root Financial. These programs are educational in nature and are not a substitute for personalized financial advice. Advisory services are offered only under a written agreement with Root Financial. Create Your Custom Early Retirement Strategy Here Get access to the same software I use for my clients and join the Early Retirement Academy here Ari Taublieb, CFP ®, MBA  is the Chief Growth Officer of Root Financial Partners and a Fiduciary Financial Planner specializing in helping clients retire early with confidence.

  4. Oct 5 ·  Video

    4 Best States To Retire In For Tax Purposes (2026 Updated)

    Ready for a custom strategy to retire early (yes, it's free)? Start here ⬇️ → https://learn.rootfinancial.com/a60c21 Most retirement relocation conversations start and end with Florida, Arizona, or Texas. The states that actually deserve more attention tend to get skipped over because they are less obvious, not because they are less compelling. In this video, Ari covers four states that rarely appear at the top of retirement destination lists, each worth knowing about for different reasons depending on what someone actually wants their daily life to look like. Alaska is the most unusual entry. It has no state income tax, no statewide sales tax, and a Permanent Fund Dividend that sends residents a check each year from oil revenues. For people who want to be surrounded by nature rather than neighbors, it offers something genuinely different. The honest trade-offs are long dark winters, limited healthcare access outside of major areas, and higher costs for everyday goods. Delaware is what Ari calls the quiet millionaire state, and his argument is that it is consistently overlooked. Property taxes rank among the lowest in the country. There is no sales tax. And the location puts retirees within easy reach of Philadelphia, New York, Baltimore, and D.C., while still offering beaches and a quieter pace. For people who want access to cities without living in them, it is a stronger option than its reputation suggests. South Dakota is the purest tax haven on the list. No state income tax, no inheritance tax, strong asset protection laws, and a cost of living below the national average. Ari is direct that it is not the right choice for anyone who prioritizes community, but for people focused on preserving and passing on wealth, it makes the list for good reason. New Hampshire rounds out the four with fall foliage, mountains, proximity to Boston, and no general sales tax. Housing and property taxes run higher than the other states on the list, and winters are real, but the quality of life rankings consistently place it near the top. The through-line across all four is the same point Ari makes across all his retirement location content: taxes matter, but they should inform the decision, not make it. -- Advisory services are offered through Root Financial Partners, LLC, an SEC-registered investment adviser. This content is intended for informational and educational purposes only and should not be considered personalized investment, tax, or legal advice. Viewing this content does not create an advisory relationship. We do not provide tax preparation or legal services. Always consult an investment, tax or legal professional regarding your specific situation. The strategies, case studies, and examples discussed may not be suitable for everyone. They are hypothetical and for illustrative and educational purposes only. They do not reflect actual client results and are not guarantees of future performance. All investments involve risk, including the potential loss of principal. Comments reflect the views of individual users and do not necessarily represent the views of Root Financial. They are not verified, may not be accurate, and should not be considered testimonials or endorsements Participation in the Retirement Planning Academy or Early Retirement Academy does not create an advisory relationship with Root Financial. These programs are educational in nature and are not a substitute for personalized financial advice. Advisory services are offered only under a written agreement with Root Financial. Create Your Custom Early Retirement Strategy Here Get access to the same software I use for my clients and join the Early Retirement Academy here Ari Taublieb, CFP ®, MBA  is the Chief Growth Officer of Root Financial Partners and a Fiduciary Financial Planner specializing in helping clients retire early with confidence.

  5. Sep 28 ·  Video

    5 Tax-Friendly Retirement States Nobody Told You About

    Ready to retire early? Start here ⬇️ → https://learn.rootfinancial.com/64e423 The tax difference between retiring in California and retiring in a state with no income tax can add up to a significant amount over a long retirement. For some people, that gap is large enough to change when they can stop working. For others, it is real money that still does not outweigh what they would be giving up. In this video, Ari walks through five tax-friendly states worth knowing about, alongside the research that complicates the straightforward case for moving. A study he references found that more than half of retirees who relocate primarily for financial reasons end up moving back to their original state within five years. The three most common reasons: costs they did not anticipate, difficulty rebuilding community and social connection, and a gap between what they imagined life would look like and what it actually felt like. The five states he covers are Florida, Tennessee, Wyoming, Nevada, and South Dakota, each with no state income tax and meaningfully lower tax burdens overall. He also points out a few surprises: Pennsylvania does not tax retirement account distributions at all, which often goes unmentioned, while North Carolina does tax them, which catches people off guard. Florida, despite having no income tax, carries higher homeowner's insurance and property taxes than most people factor in when comparing states on paper. There is also the less obvious cost of moving away from family. Travel back and forth, however often that ends up being, is a real line item that most retirement relocation analyses do not include. Ari's position throughout is the same one he brought to the Florida versus New York comparison: start with where you actually want to live. The tax savings are worth understanding clearly, but they should inform the decision rather than make it. -- Advisory services are offered through Root Financial Partners, LLC, an SEC-registered investment adviser. This content is intended for informational and educational purposes only and should not be considered personalized investment, tax, or legal advice. Viewing this content does not create an advisory relationship. We do not provide tax preparation or legal services. Always consult an investment, tax or legal professional regarding your specific situation. The strategies, case studies, and examples discussed may not be suitable for everyone. They are hypothetical and for illustrative and educational purposes only. They do not reflect actual client results and are not guarantees of future performance. All investments involve risk, including the potential loss of principal. Comments reflect the views of individual users and do not necessarily represent the views of Root Financial. They are not verified, may not be accurate, and should not be considered testimonials or endorsements Participation in the Retirement Planning Academy or Early Retirement Academy does not create an advisory relationship with Root Financial. These programs are educational in nature and are not a substitute for personalized financial advice. Advisory services are offered only under a written agreement with Root Financial. Create Your Custom Early Retirement Strategy Here Get access to the same software I use for my clients and join the Early Retirement Academy here Ari Taublieb, CFP ®, MBA  is the Chief Growth Officer of Root Financial Partners and a Fiduciary Financial Planner specializing in helping clients retire early with confidence.

  6. Sep 21

    Why Smart Retirees Don't Delay Collecting Their Pension | Early Retirement Hotline

    Sometimes the math is the easy part. In this episode, Ari responds to a voicemail from a listener who, on paper, looks like a retirement planning success story. Strong income, a meaningful pension, a well-funded portfolio, and a clear sense of how much they want to spend. The numbers point in the right direction before anyone has done the math. But the more interesting questions are never the obvious ones. Ari starts where he always does, not with the account balance, but with the spending goal. Using what he calls the reverse engineering approach, he works backward from how much someone wants each month, subtracts the fixed income that will arrive regardless of portfolio performance, and identifies what the investments actually need to produce. For someone with a pension and eventual Social Security, that gap is often far smaller than expected. From there, the planning gets more nuanced. A large pre-tax balance that keeps compounding while fixed income covers most expenses will eventually create a forced distribution problem. The question of whether to do Roth conversions, and when, depends on the tax window between retirement and Social Security, whether a spouse is still earning income, and what spending actually looks like across a full retirement rather than just in year one. The retirement smile adds another layer. Spending tends to be higher early when health and energy are strongest, lower in the middle years, and higher again near the end. A plan that treats every year identically misses something important about how retirement actually feels to live. The goal is not to be told what to do. It is to understand the plan well enough to own it, question it, and trust it when life does not go exactly as modeled. A good plan explains itself. A great plan builds the confidence to actually follow it. -- Advisory services are offered through Root Financial Partners, LLC, an SEC-registered investment adviser. This content is intended for informational and educational purposes only and should not be considered personalized investment, tax, or legal advice. Viewing this content does not create an advisory relationship. We do not provide tax preparation or legal services. Always consult an investment, tax or legal professional regarding your specific situation. The strategies, case studies, and examples discussed may not be suitable for everyone. They are hypothetical and for illustrative and educational purposes only. They do not reflect actual client results and are not guarantees of future performance. All investments involve risk, including the potential loss of principal. Comments reflect the views of individual users and do not necessarily represent the views of Root Financial. They are not verified, may not be accurate, and should not be considered testimonials or endorsements Participation in the Retirement Planning Academy or Early Retirement Academy does not create an advisory relationship with Root Financial. These programs are educational in nature and are not a substitute for personalized financial advice. Advisory services are offered only under a written agreement with Root Financial. Create Your Custom Early Retirement Strategy Here Get access to the same software I use for my clients and join the Early Retirement Academy here Ari Taublieb, CFP ®, MBA  is the Chief Growth Officer of Root Financial Partners and a Fiduciary Financial Planner specializing in helping clients retire early with confidence.

  7. Sep 14

    Once You Have Saved This Much For Retirement, Start Spending | Early Retirement Hotline

    Sometimes the question is not whether you can retire. It is whether you are willing to be honest about what retiring early can look like. In this episode, Ari responds to a voicemail from a couple with a target retirement date, a month picked out, and a plan that looks solid on the surface. Two homes, multiple account types, a pension on the horizon, and a spending goal that seems reasonable. But the more interesting question is not whether the math works. It is whether the life they are building toward matches the one they actually want. Ari's first instinct is not to run projections. It is to ask whether they are enjoying life today. A household that is saving aggressively but skipping experiences it genuinely values is not optimizing for retirement. It is just deferring. At a certain point, the highest-value move is not saving more. It is getting clear on what the money is actually for. The spending conversation is where the plan gets real. A stated monthly budget is a starting point, not a conclusion. Most people spend more in the early years of retirement when health and energy are at their peak, and less later. Understanding that shape, how it rises, levels off, and shifts again with medical expenses and legacy decisions, changes what the portfolio actually needs to support and when. The account structure raises its own questions. Wealth spread across multiple account types, some accessible before traditional retirement age and some not, means the order of withdrawals matters as much as the total. The brokerage account becomes the bridge. Tax gain harvesting, subsidy planning, and the eventual pension and Social Security layering all depend on keeping that coordination intentional rather than accidental. Retiring at 52 with a specific month circled on the calendar is a legitimate goal. Getting there on those terms requires knowing exactly what you are willing to adjust and what you are not. That clarity is the plan. -- Advisory services are offered through Root Financial Partners, LLC, an SEC-registered investment adviser. This content is intended for informational and educational purposes only and should not be considered personalized investment, tax, or legal advice. Viewing this content does not create an advisory relationship. We do not provide tax preparation or legal services. Always consult an investment, tax or legal professional regarding your specific situation. The strategies, case studies, and examples discussed may not be suitable for everyone. They are hypothetical and for illustrative and educational purposes only. They do not reflect actual client results and are not guarantees of future performance. All investments involve risk, including the potential loss of principal. Comments reflect the views of individual users and do not necessarily represent the views of Root Financial. They are not verified, may not be accurate, and should not be considered testimonials or endorsements Participation in the Retirement Planning Academy or Early Retirement Academy does not create an advisory relationship with Root Financial. These programs are educational in nature and are not a substitute for personalized financial advice. Advisory services are offered only under a written agreement with Root Financial. Create Your Custom Early Retirement Strategy Here Get access to the same software I use for my clients and join the Early Retirement Academy here Ari Taublieb, CFP ®, MBA  is the Chief Growth Officer of Root Financial Partners and a Fiduciary Financial Planner specializing in helping clients retire early with confidence.

  8. Sep 7

    Here’s How Smart Retirees Pay For Healthcare Before Medicare (Age 65) | Early Retirement Hotline

    Healthcare is one of the biggest fears keeping people from retiring early. But for many future retirees, the actual cost is not the problem. The uncertainty is. In this episode, Ari Taublieb, CFP®, responds to a listener  hoping to retire at age 60 with approximately $1.9 million saved between retirement accounts, a brokerage account, and a Roth IRA. While the numbers appear solid, one concern continues to stand in the way: how to pay for healthcare before Medicare begins at age 65. Like many people approaching retirement, the caller worries that healthcare premiums could force them to work longer than necessary. But as Ari explains, healthcare costs are often misunderstood because they are closely tied to how retirement income is structured. The conversation shifts away from chasing a portfolio target and toward a more important question: can your assets generate the income needed to support the life you want? Using the caller's pension, spending goals, and retirement accounts as an example, Ari walks through how healthcare costs fit into a broader retirement plan. He also highlights how brokerage accounts can create flexibility, why taxes matter just as much as investment returns, and how many retirees may have more options than they realize. The deeper lesson is that retirement planning is rarely about a single expense. Too often, healthcare becomes the reason people delay retirement, even when the rest of the plan is already strong. The real challenge is understanding how all the pieces work together and determining whether the fear is based on reality or simply a lack of clarity. The takeaway is simple. Don't let uncertainty make decisions for you. A well-built retirement plan helps you understand the true cost of healthcare, the role of taxes, and whether work is still a necessity or has already become optional. -- Advisory services are offered through Root Financial Partners, LLC, an SEC-registered investment adviser. This content is intended for informational and educational purposes only and should not be considered personalized investment, tax, or legal advice. Viewing this content does not create an advisory relationship. We do not provide tax preparation or legal services. Always consult an investment, tax or legal professional regarding your specific situation. The strategies, case studies, and examples discussed may not be suitable for everyone. They are hypothetical and for illustrative and educational purposes only. They do not reflect actual client results and are not guarantees of future performance. All investments involve risk, including the potential loss of principal. Comments reflect the views of individual users and do not necessarily represent the views of Root Financial. They are not verified, may not be accurate, and should not be considered testimonials or endorsements Participation in the Retirement Planning Academy or Early Retirement Academy does not create an advisory relationship with Root Financial. These programs are educational in nature and are not a substitute for personalized financial advice. Advisory services are offered only under a written agreement with Root Financial. Create Your Custom Early Retirement Strategy Here Get access to the same software I use for my clients and join the Early Retirement Academy here Ari Taublieb, CFP ®, MBA  is the Chief Growth Officer of Root Financial Partners and a Fiduciary Financial Planner specializing in helping clients retire early with confidence.

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Ari Taublieb is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ and Vice President of Root Financial Partners. Ari Taublieb, CFP®, MBA specializes in helping people navigate an early retirement. I get it...retirement sounds overwhelming (an early retirement may sound particularly overwhelming)! Does it just feel like there's so much to consider and you just want to make sure you're doing everything you can to set yourself up right? If I may ask...why do YOU want to retire early? Do you want to travel? Have you just had enough of work? Do you want to spend more time with family (or on hobbies you've been putting off)? I created this podcast to help you know when work is now optional because you have a financial strategy that tells you when you can retire. You will learn all the investing tips in this financial podcast to set up the right portfolio for your goals. You may love what you do - and if that's you, great! I'm not saying stop working. But, I am saying, wouldn't it be nice to know when you didn't HAVE to work any more? When you would only go to work because you enjoyed it (crazy concept, I know). This is the ultimate retirement podcast (specifically, early retirement!). Retiring early, also known simply as "financial freedom", is having the ability to do what you care most about, MORE!I don't want you to work unless you ENJOY it (finances aside, for just a moment)! My goal of this podcast is to give you all the tips and strategies so you can retire EARLY. Retirement planning, investing, personal finance, tax strategy, and you'll hear case studies from my clients and exactly how I've helped them navigate the transition into retirement. What are the right investment accounts to have in retirement? I want retirement planning to be simple for you so that you can retire early and maximize your retirement goals. Become a retiree and enjoy everything you've been waiting for your whole life (and start practicing retirement today)! I release new episodes every Monday with all the strategies (you'll learn that I love examples) so you can maximize your return on life (we use money to do this).

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