The Simple Math to Calculate Your "Financial Independence Number" | The 4% Rule Explained

You have your automated investment machine built and running. But what is the finish line? How much money do you actually need to accumulate to achieve true, sustainable, and permanent financial independence? The amateur has a vague, undefined number in their head. The architect of wealth requires a clear, data-driven target. This clip from "From Zero to Investor" reveals the most powerful blueprint for defining that target: **The 4% Rule of Thumb**, also known as the "safe withdrawal rate." Based on a famous academic study, this is a simple, powerful, and conservative rule for determining how much you can safely withdraw from your portfolio each year in retirement without running out of money. The rule allows us to perform a simple piece of reverse engineering to calculate our **Financial Independence (FI) Number**. The formula is simple: 1. *Calculate Your Annual Expenses:* First, determine how much money you need to live on per year (e.g., $96,000). 2. *Multiply by 25:* Take your required annual expenses and multiply that number by 25. So, $96,000 per year times 25 equals an FI Number of **$2.4 million**. This simple calculation transforms the vague dream of "retirement" into a simple, concrete, and achievable engineering project. Now you have your North Star. --- *➡️ Listen to the FULL audiobook "From Zero to Investor" FREE on YouTube:*    • From Zero to Investor (Free Full Audiobook...   *➡️ Get your own copy of the book on Amazon (affiliate link):* https://amzn.to/485vBJU --- Calculate your own FI number and start working toward your freedom. Subscribe for more on financial independence and retirement planning. #FinancialIndependence #FIREmovement #Retirement #The4PercentRule #Investing #PersonalFinance #HowToRetireEarly #Wealth #FinancialPlanning #Money