Can You Retire at 55 With $800K? My 3-Step Checklist

Can you retire at 55 with $800,000? Most people brace for a no. But the balance was never the real question. In this video I walk through the exact three-step checklist I use with clients to answer it honestly, and the trap that sinks most early retirements. We follow one saver, David, 54 and single with about $800,000, and build the plan the way I'd build it across the table: get the number honest, build the bridge from 55 to Medicare, and protect the downside most people never see coming. Same $800,000, two completely different retirements, depending on how it's put together. What we cover: *Why your $800,000 isn't $800,000, and the account mix that decides it *The "lowest acceptable spend" number that answers "is it enough" *The Rule of 55, and the rollover that quietly kills it *Why mutual funds in a taxable account cost you control (and what to hold instead) *The ACA income cliff that sizes every other move from 55 to 65 *How your HSA becomes the most tax-efficient dollar in the bridge *Sequence-of-returns risk, and the bond bucket that rides out a bad market *Where annuities help, where they hide the ball, and the short fixed annuity as a paycheck slice *The RMD trap at 73, and using the low-income years for Roth conversions Run your own numbers with the free Financial Fitness Score: https://app.sherpaswealth.com/tim-gar... Want the checklist I use for the bridge years? Grab the free 2026 Retirement Bridge Strategy: https://chatham-wealth-management.kit... If any of this hit close to home, that's exactly what we do for clients. We're taking on new clients. Come say hello: https://calendar.app.google/GMCccqVzr...