A note from Marcus — Denver
Are we okay? A first-call brief.
Five numbers in. Your wealth path out — the same first read I'd usually do on the whiteboard.
This is not a verdict. It's the first read we use to decide what to talk about.
Run the five numbers and I'll plot your wealth path here — the curve against the goal, the freedom age, and the levers that bring it closer.
The Wealth Compass
The Path to Okay.
Toggle a lever — the curve animates upward toward the goal.
The Career Extension
“What if you worked until 67 instead of 65? Two more years of compounding.”
The $250 Monthly Bump
“What if you added $250 to your monthly savings — same retirement age?”
The Compromise
“What if your retirement spending was 70% of your current income, not 80%?”
The Opportunity Panel.
What's beyond the math.
Early exit
—
Your Freedom Age
The Lifestyle Upgrade
—
Sustainable annual spending
The Legacy Move
—
Surplus at retirement
Target
—
Where you may land
—
Gap
—
If this were our first call, I'd say…
For our meeting
How I'm calculating this
I'm not trying to predict your whole financial life here. I'm using a simple first-pass rule so we can have a real conversation instead of a math one.
The rule of thumb is the 25× rule: most people need about twenty-five times their annual expenses saved up to walk away from a paycheck. That's the gold goal line on the chart.
To estimate your expenses in retirement, I assume you'll live on roughly 80% of what you earn now. The Compromise lever drops that to 70% — a slightly leaner life, lower target.
For growth, I assume your investments earn about 7% a year on average. Some years are better, some are worse. Over thirty years it averages out close enough for a first read.
Your Freedom Age is the year your wealth path crosses the 25× line — the first year you could, mathematically, walk away.
That's it. No taxes, no Social Security, no inflation toggle. This is a napkin sketch. Once we talk, we'll go deeper than this in a hurry.
Directional, not financial advice.