The Lifestyle Portfolio Mini Course
A proven method to leave your 9-5, without needing $1,000,000.
Find out exactly how much money you need invested in the stock market, so you're not stuck at your 9-5 until you're 65.
The Dream
You dream of slow days
but you have no way to go part-time, reinvent your career, or have more white space on your calendar without worrying about paying your bills.
So you end up staying at your 9-5 for years longer than you need to.
THE LIFESTYLE PORTFOLIO METHOD 02 / 27You don't need a $1,000,000+ to leave your 9-5.
You need a Lifestyle Portfolio.
The Definition
What's a Lifestyle Portfolio?
A Lifestyle Portfolio is the amount of money you need invested across all of your investment accounts to cover all or part of your life expenses (needs + wants).
Your LaborYour Capital
CurrentlyWith a Lifestyle Portfolio
Housing
Groceries
Utilities
Transport
Other Life Expenses
Three Ways
The 3 Lifestyle Portfolios
People think they need to reach Portfolio 1, but Portfolio 2 and Portfolio 3 unlock lifestyle options much earlier.
Work becomes optional. You work because you want to, not because you have to.
Your labor
Optional. Not needed.
Your portfolio
Can cover 100%
You work for whatever your portfolio doesn't cover.
Your labor
Covers what's left
Your portfolio
Can cover some expenses
Investing becomes optional. You still need to work for your life expenses until your portfolio compounds to an amount where it can fund all of your life expenses.
Your labor
Covers life expenses
Your portfolio
Large enough to grow on its own
Knowledge Check
Which portfolio allows you to leave your 9-5 and pursue something else?
Tap each card to find out.
Covers all your expenses
Work becomes optionalYes.
Work becomes fully optional, so you can walk away from your 9-5 entirely.
Covers some of your expenses
Partial work still requiredYes.
Your portfolio already covers part of your expenses, so whatever you choose to do next only has to cover what's left.
Will cover your expenses in the future
Investing becomes optionalYes.
Investing becomes optional, so your income only needs to cover life expenses since retirement is taken care of, which opens the door for lighter, lower-pressure work, temporarily or permanently.
Goal Setting · Step 1
What's your lifestyle goal?
Step 1 · Pick your lifestyle goal
Journal Prompt #1
Why haven't you been able to do this yet?
If you're trying or have tried to reach this goal, what hasn't worked?
THE LIFESTYLE PORTFOLIO METHOD 08 / 27Goal Setting · Step 2
Which portfolio will unlock your lifestyle goal?
Step 2 · Select which portfolio enables that best
Can't decide?
Let me help.
THE LIFESTYLE PORTFOLIO METHOD 09 / 27Goal Setting · Step 3
Your Lifestyle Portfolio Size
How much money you need invested to unlock your lifestyle goal.
This is a this-year number. Wait a year, and it goes up by about 7%, since there's one less year left to compound.
This calculator defaults to a 4% withdrawal rate, a figure commonly used as a starting point for long, 30–50 year retirements, and, for Portfolio 3, a 10% average annual investment growth rate (nominal) with 3% assumed inflation, combined into a real return for the compounding math. All four are adjustable under Advanced assumptions above. Actual safe withdrawal and growth rates depend on your asset allocation, market performance, and other factors specific to your situation.
THE LIFESTYLE PORTFOLIO METHOD 10 / 27Journal Prompt #2
What comes to mind when you see your lifestyle portfolio size?
Play around with the different portfolio options and compare.
THE LIFESTYLE PORTFOLIO METHOD 11 / 27Goal Setting · Step 4
How close are you to a Lifestyle Portfolio?
Enter what you've already got invested across all of your investment accounts.
portfolio
portfolio
Bengen's original research used a simple stock/bond portfolio; a longer horizon calls for a lower rate. His updated research diversifies across more asset classes, raising both rates.
William Bengen, A Richer Retirement: Supercharging the 4% Rule to Spend More and Enjoy More, 2025
This is for educational purposes only and isn't personalized investing advice. Talk to a licensed fiduciary financial professional before making investment decisions.
THE LIFESTYLE PORTFOLIO METHOD 12 / 27Journal Prompt #3
What has it taken to get here?
Whatever your number looks like right now, take a moment to appreciate the effort and choices that got you to this exact point.
Let's close the gap from a place of gratitude.
THE LIFESTYLE PORTFOLIO METHOD 13 / 27Goal Setting · Step 5
How much do you need to invest each month to close the gap?
Pick a timeline, and see the monthly number that closes your gap, assuming your investments grow at 6.8% a year (10% nominal, after 3% inflation).
This assumes a 10% average annual return (nominal) with 3% assumed inflation, combined into a real return for the compounding math, matching the calculator. Actual returns vary, and this isn't personalized investing advice.
THE LIFESTYLE PORTFOLIO METHOD 14 / 27Journal Prompt #4
What would need to be true to afford this monthly investment?
Think about what adjustments will need to be made.
💡 Mindset: Just like a kindle starts a blazing fire, so too will a realistic monthly contribution amount unlock your lifestyle goal.
The Full Method
The Lifestyle Portfolio Method
How to make your lifestyle goal inevitable while building a beautiful life.
Goal Setting
Know the distance between you and your goal.
Life Design
Define who you are and the life you want now.
Cash Flow
Decrease your expenses and increase your income in an aligned way.
Investing
Set up your automated investments.
Ritual
Maintain your plan with minimal effort.
The Full Method
Point A to Point B.
You've set your goal. Here's the distance between where you are and where you're going.
02 · Life Design
4D Vision System
Define who you are and the life you want now.
Your values
Your story
Your alternate life
Your muse
Pull all four clauses into one sentence.
I value . I have always been someone who . The path that pulls at me most is . I know this is possible because has already built a version of it.
03 · Cash Flow, Part 1
Aligned Cash Flow System - Part 1
Decrease your expenses and increase your income in an aligned way.
Expenses
Avg. Joy Score
Potential Savings
Non-Negotiable Cost
Income
Avg. Alignment Score
Potential Earnings
Experiment
03 · Cash Flow, Part 2
Aligned Cash Flow System - Part 2
Create an annual and monthly cash flow plan (for next month) with as-is income and expenses, and define an experiment to decrease expenses and/or increase income based on your tune up and thesis.
Year Plan
This Month
This Month's Experiment
Based on your cash flow tune-up, commit to one or two moves in each:
Income
Expenses
04 · Investing
The Calm Investor System.
Set up your automated investments.
Funding Priority · Bogleheads order
Automation Status
SPIVA U.S. Scorecard, S&P Dow Jones Indices · W.F. Sharpe, "The Arithmetic of Active Management," 1991
05 · Ritual
Lifestyle Portfolio Rituals
Maintain your plan with minimal effort.
- Open your accounts
- Automate credit card payments
- Automate sinking fund deposits
- Set up amounts and categories on tracking app
- Track expenses: app, paper, or spreadsheet
- Choose a method that doesn't overwhelm you
- Check on expenses: on track with plan?
- Catch unexpected charges
- Confirm CC payments & sinking fund transfers
- Fill in your actuals
- Reflect on the experiment
- Set the next one
Everything you just previewed
The Lifestyle Portfolio Method
The complete system for making your lifestyle goal inevitable.
Goal Setting
Know the distance between you and your goal.
Life Design
Define who you are and the life you want now.
Cash Flow
Decrease your expenses and increase your income in an aligned way.
Investing
Set up your automated investments.
Ritual
Maintain your plan with minimal effort.
My Story
This isn't theory for me.
My lifestyle portfolio changed my life before $1M.
Prioritized early retirement
Low Runway · Low ValidationQuit my 9-5, switched to part-time + passion project
High Runway · Low ValidationEnrolled in a master of education program
High Runway · Low ValidationStarted my own online education business
High Runway · Low ValidationWhen I started pursuing financial independence, I was after a big goal: early retirement. I wanted slow days, agency, and to feel connected to my best self. I thought I needed over a million dollars before I could leave the full-time 9-5 career, though. I was earning around $70k/year and unwilling to work in big tech, so at that rate, it was going to take a few decades to reach my goal.
For some reason, I stayed hopeful, because the vision of a life where my investments would cover my bills was viscerally irresistible.
Then, two years after learning about early retirement, everything changed. I was 30 years old, and I had $150k invested and $50k cash. I ran the math, and realized I was at a milestone called Coast FI, which meant that my $150k would grow to $1.6M (inflation adjusted) in 35 years even if I stopped investing, and just let my portfolio compound.
I didn't need over a million dollars sitting in an account before I was allowed to change anything. That's when I quit my software engineering job and reinvented my career.
I moved into part-time work in higher education, and when I reached $550k at 34, I went all in to do what lights me up without worrying about paying bills.
Why I Believe This
Three things the financial industry doesn't want you to know
Investing on your own doesn't require a degree in finance or a high income (it's actually super simple; if you can book a flight, investing will be a piece of cake).
You can reach your money goal while living a beautiful life. The act of simply trying to reach your goal for 12 months will increase your overall quality of life.
Taking a (calculated) risk on yourself is a better use of your time than taking a risk on outsmarting the stock market. Trying to outsmart the market will hurt your long-term performance*, but taking a risk on yourself will get you closer to the life you actually want.
* Barber & Odean (2000), Journal of Finance. Individual investors who traded most frequently earned 11.4% a year, while the market itself returned 17.9%.
THE LIFESTYLE PORTFOLIO METHOD 25 / 27Journal Prompt #5
Are you ready to unlock your lifestyle goal?
Take a moment to acknowledge what obstacle might get in your way as you close your investing gap and what you will do to overcome it.
THE LIFESTYLE PORTFOLIO METHOD 26 / 27Start The 6 Week Reset Today
Leave your 9-5 without $1M with the Lifestyle Portfolio Method
Join the Radical Intention Reset, a 6 week challenge where you will create a custom tailored plan, step by step, and have access to a community to stay accountable for 1 year as you execute your plan month by month.
THE LIFESTYLE PORTFOLIO METHOD 27 / 27