The Hack To Retire at 55

Added: 2026-04-29

[00:00:00]The average Australian retires at 67 with $400,000 in super. That's barely enough to last 10 years, let alone fund the life you actually want. But there's a small group of Australians who do retire at 55. Not just comfortably, but with income-producing assets that continue to pay them every single month.

[00:00:19]My name's Lloyd J. Ross, a seven-figure investor and entrepreneur, and I've helped thousands of everyday Aussies get out of debt and build real wealth. And in this video, I'm going to show you exactly what those assets are, how to build them, and the one thing you need to do right now to retire 12 years before everybody else.

[00:00:37]Before we do that, let's look at the problem with superannuation. I'll be blunt. Superannuation definitely is the most tax advantage wealth building vehicle most Australians will have access to, for sure, right? The contributions are taxed at 15%, meaning you get a tax deduction when you add money to it to a certain amount, roughly about 25k a year.

[00:00:55]And then the actual investment earnings are taxed at a lower amount, in fact half of the typical amount any income.

[00:01:01]And then for tax the capital gains are tax-free, right? So the government's handed everyone a compounding machine with a massive tax discount. That's effectively what superannuation is.

[00:01:12]If you want to learn more about super, go back and watch one of the episodes I did specifically on superannuation. But here's the problem.

[00:01:18]Super is not a retirement vehicle for a person who wants to retire at 55 because the preservation age for anyone born after July 1964 is 60, which means you cannot touch it before then without severe penalties and there's hardship conditions you've got to meet, etc. So super is slow and it's locked up and controlled, right? By government rules. So if your entire strategy is built around your super balance, you're going to mathematically guarantee that you'll be working till after 60, right? So if you want to retire before 55, you need a completely different strategy.

[00:01:53]So here are the three assets that you need to build to be able to retire at 55, okay? Now if you're younger and you're watching this, kudos, that's amazing. You have a huge advantage of time, all right?

[00:02:07]But bear with me as I go through these strategies because it uh does apply to everyone and anyone. And then I'm going to explain to you an example and then go to give you an bit of an indication of how I treat retirement.

[00:02:18]So three assets you need to build.

[00:02:20]So to execute this strategy, you need to focus on three specific types of assets outside the super. Super When you retire and you get say 400,000 in super or or whatever it might be, that's great and and you may be more than that and that that's a lump sum of of asset that needs to be invested accordingly as well. So it is part of it. But to execute the strategy, you do want to focus outside super as well. And [clears throat] what you'd want to be doing is you want to be building a share portfolio in a taxable account, okay? In some sort of index fund or you know, you can buy individual shares, you have to be to know what you're doing. But you want to buy it in some sort of index fund. And you want to start as early as you can. And and even if you started at, you know, mid-30s for 20 years, you can compound up to like a a million bucks.

[00:03:02]You can.

[00:03:03]Especially if you're starting with a reasonable lump sum instead of buying other things. Um it's totally possible to do.

[00:03:08]But most people just don't take the step because they wait too long. So for example, they'll like at 35 or whatever it might be, they go, "Oh, I've got ages. I'll wait till I'm 50 to start worrying about my retirement." And that's that's the real problem. You can't wait till you're 55 to want to retire at 55. But I do see it a lot like, "I'm 55.

[00:03:26]I want to retire now, what do I do?" I'm like, uh that was a conversation you should have with yourself at 35.

[00:03:30]The simplest thing to do is in your 30s or if like it just doesn't just do it. It doesn't matter what age. Just means go and start is to build a share portfolio in a taxable account outside super. So you've got kind of two running together, right?

[00:03:46]The next one, this is a very important one to amplify your ability to make income. And I would say that almost all of the people I know who have retired at 55 in some form or another have had a business, right? A business with real cash flow. Not a not just a little side hustle where you're selling macaroons at the local market. It's like something that can really generate cash flow, yeah? Uh whether it's a traditional type of business or whether it's an online business it a well-run business can return 20, 30, or 40% on invested capital, right? It can produce substantial returns. But most importantly, it gives you a lot of flexibility. Flexibility to amplify your income, flexibility to step out of jobs you don't like, flexibility to to skill up, flexibility to add income streams, um and to deploy that cash how you feel fit, right? And and potentially work from home, drop some costs, like what I do.

[00:04:34]So a business is a a wealth building machine in in the sense that it it really amplifies your income.

[00:04:42]And if you look at the wealthiest people in the world and those that did retire at 55 and have, it's business that generates that without a doubt. Like it's such an integral part of the wealth building process. And I think when I say business, people get a bit scared because we have we have been conditioned by whoever, banks, to limit exposure and risk, whatever it is, to think that all business purely is risky. Because you know, someone like Tony Robbins goes, "Well, you know that 80% of businesses fail in the first 5 years." It it's not that they failed. For most businesses, if you really work hard in them, you're not going to fail in them. Like you you'll be shocked and surprised at how many flipping half kind of like semi-retarded people make money in businesses. You can do it. It it's not overly risky. It just carries a bit more risk. But so does employment, by the way. Who's to say you can't get chopped at your work? Like that's risky, but they never talk about that risk, do they? Because it doesn't serve the narrative. If I think about my grandparents, give you an example here.

[00:05:43]Now they didn't retire at 55, but I do believe they retired at early 60s.

[00:05:48]Um and so it's not too far off the mark.

[00:05:50]But here's an example.

[00:05:53]Didn't come from any money, poor poor, you know, going in and out of bankruptcy a couple times. Uh once, certainly, but they in their 40s, they bought their first country pub, okay?

[00:06:05]And you know, the person they wanted to buy it off said they didn't have the capacity to run it and blah blah blah, but my grandfather said, "I'm going to do it anyway." And so they ended up buying a pub. And actually first 6 months of my life I spent in this pub.

[00:06:16]>> [laughter] >> And um it's actually in a place called Ettamogah, New South Wales, the Ettamogah Pub. I lived my first 6 months of my life in there cuz my dad was building another house and we just stayed there.

[00:06:26]And then they bought another one and another one. Anyway, they went back into some farming. They had some challenging seasons sheep farming. And they sold that sheep farm and they went back and thought, "You know what? Let's stick to our knitting and we'll go back into a pub." Now, at the in their 50s, just to give you the indication, my grandmother, she's 91.

[00:06:42]She told me this story the other day when I was at visiting her.

[00:06:44]She said, "You know, when we were in our early 50s, we took a $400,000 loan."

[00:06:49]This is in like 1991 or 1990. Think about that. A $400,000 loan in 1990?

[00:06:54]That's like equivalent to probably like 1 and 1/2 million or 2 million like it's a lot.

[00:07:00]In their early 50s, and they bought a country pub in Baraba, New South Wales for that price. And they did it up and they ran it and they built up the equity and it generated income, they paid off the debt, and they ended up selling that and buying two additional pubs with free cash flow that funded their retirement.

[00:07:15]And both of them retired in their 60s until what God, my mom my grandmother's now is 91. What's that? 30 years? Or certainly 20, good 25 years. And so they swung at a business. It like you can see like even though they did it with debt, it it's the business that can generate income, right?

[00:07:34]So of course you're going to have super.

[00:07:35]Of course you're going to have some shares in a taxable account, definitely.

[00:07:38]But don't turn your nose up at a business, okay? Just quickly, if you're ready to take control of your finances but feel stuck on where to start, I have a solution. My book Money Buys Happiness simplifies investing and wealth building with practical steps to help you achieve financial peace. Get your copy via the link in the show notes and let's get your money working for you. Now back to the episode. And the third one is is of course and people have done it a lot is of course a property investment, yeah?

[00:08:02]Particularly over the last God, 20 and 30 years, we've had the greatest bull run in property ever in Australia and many other Western markets, right?

[00:08:11]It cuz it produces cash flow.

[00:08:13]Uh so long as you don't fall in the trap of accumulating so many of them that you just you're not carrying any equity, you're carrying just debt. So when you turn 55, you're like, "I've got 10 properties." But you're not producing any cash flow cuz all the money's going to debt repayment. And you've got maybe, I don't know, 25% of that as equity. Then you've got to sell them all like but do it within reason. The ones that I've seen that effectively over time paid off a mortgage cuz they bought in the 80s and 90s when it was three times annual income. They stayed in it. They then used some equity and paid off a property at a time. But they did it in a way that generated free cash flow, okay? And I think if you look at property investing of yore and year, it was better when it was free cash flow. And Sharon Lechter, who's the co-author of Rich Dad Poor Dad, the greatest personal finance book in history, her and Robert Kiyosaki wrote that book in the early 90s. And she she came on the podcast. So go back and listen to the show with myself and Sharon. And she told me that Robert Kiyosaki built the cash flow board game because he found out a way in the late 80s, early 90s to buy enough property to generate 100 grand a year in free cash flow and income. That's why he built the game Cashflow. That's why it's heavily into property.

[00:09:21]And they wrote the book Rich Dad Poor Dad be to as a brochure to sell the board game if you didn't know.

[00:09:27]And what's interesting about that is that worked back then because you could enter very free cash flowing property. But you can't do that now. You can do it in some respects, but not not as easy because it's like three times more expensive against incomes. So this type of strategy must change. And that's why, you know, it's probably more astute to go business and shares than it is property because it is cumbersome on capital to to acquire property right now. So I think of these three options, the first two are the most effective to retire at 55. Here's the reality.

[00:10:03]People want to retire at 55 and they have this vision in their mind that oh, I can see myself at 55 and I'm sitting on a beach. I'm going to I'm on a beach somewhere. Fine.

[00:10:12]You're not working cuz you don't want to really be in that shitty job you don't like. I get like you don't want to be there. I totally get that.

[00:10:17]Um so you have this video I want to retire. But here's what happens. They haven't done any of the groundwork. They haven't They haven't educated themselves in shares. They haven't uh They haven't put money away. They haven't even started a business. They have no courage to start a business.

[00:10:33]They haven't They haven't bothered to delve into it. They don't like work.

[00:10:35]They've just There's just been no groundwork for that. So it's where the expectations are here, but the reality of what you're doing to meet that expectation is down here. So there's a huge gap. And I really do think people are moving towards a mirage. It just doesn't It's just not real. Like you can say that all you want to retire at 55, but the truth of the matter is you're taking no steps to get there.

[00:10:58]So you really just It's just like a mental masturbation. It's like It's like it's a fantasy.

[00:11:06]And I see it a lot. You know, there's so many people who are coming into this age. Their super's not going to save them and they're just like oh, now can I retire? I'm like well, you know, the numbers are to retire I would say comfortably and do things you want to do. You want You probably want to be making at least 150k year income.

[00:11:25]But let's call it 200 cuz inflation.

[00:11:27]So let's say 200. Really to have a really good one, right? Now again, you may argue against that, but if it's 200 divided by 0.05, it's $10 at a 5% dividend rate or or or interest rate on that to give you passive income that doesn't affect the capital.

[00:11:43]$10 Do you have 10 million? Do you have half a million?

[00:11:49]Do you have a million?

[00:11:50]There's a disconnect. There's a disconnect.

[00:11:53]And you've You'll be You might be thinking Lloyd like Lloyd, like I'm watching this and I'm 50 and you're telling me I can retire at 55. And yes, I can see the disconnect now. Thanks very much. Like that sucks. What do I do? Here's the answer.

[00:12:04]Here's the answer.

[00:12:06]Forget about retiring. Like people retirement is this is this narrative that banks create to sell mortgages and old people's homes and like I There's this whole like It's almost like a senior right of passage to have retired. It I I don't know if it's a good thing. And I think when people say they want to retire, what they're really saying is I don't like my job. I don't like the people I work with. I don't like the commute.

[00:12:33]So they they're running away from the pain. I get that. But that doesn't mean you've got to retire because I have also seen people do that, leave those things with enough money by the way to do it, and then die a few years later because they have no purpose. They have no structure. What's interesting about this too, my mom's retired. She has a house paid off. She has about 1.5 mil she has.

[00:12:53]She does okay, but it's the type of retirement you want to create for yourself. Okay? So I would say the gauge rod between someone who just wants to retire and never work would be the minimum would be house paid off and 1 to 2 million dollars in a portfolio that produces passive income and keep the costs low.

[00:13:13]Right?

[00:13:14]So it's not like European cruises every 5 minutes. That's a real scenario.

[00:13:18]That is achievable for most people if you lay the groundwork. But if you're kind of aging, you have not laid the groundwork, then I think this part is really important for you to understand. If you can delete that word retirement from your vocabulary, I think you'll just live a better life because you'll go okay, well, if I can't retire, what can I do for the next 20 years of my life where I will work, but I can do it in a way to work in the area I want to work with, work with people I admire and want to work with, and in a way that doesn't burn me out my health. So what's a what's a system I And generally speaking, you'll find a business that enables you to do that because not all businesses are about doing 60-hour weeks. They're not. It Some businesses can just let you find rhythm and and work with yourself in without like you can. But you're not going to do it if you if you've got this notion in your head you must retire at 55 or 65. You're just not You're better off to say I'm not If I was not going to retire today, what would I have to do to be able to work for the next 20 years with some joy?

[00:14:13]And that's a better question to ask and a better conversation. And while you're doing that, one of the other things that will happen to you may meet if you're someone who's single, you may meet a partner who can join that mission. And all of a sudden you got two forces are greater than one and you can come together, right? But I think you're doing yourself a disservice if you haven't laid the groundwork for retiring at 55 or 60, right?

[00:14:36]Expecting to and then putting in your own mind that you must.

[00:14:40]That's just It's just going to wreck you mentally. You're going to So I I would say cancel the word retirement from your vocab and find a way you can continue to work and build wealth sensibly over time to do that.

[00:14:53]And you know, by the time you get to 75 and then you will probably be in a position where you can. And so I would say don't delay.

[00:15:01]Start doing what you do now if you had to work for the rest of your life.

[00:15:04]You won't want to retire.

[00:15:05]I don't think my dad will ever retire.

[00:15:07]I don't think I'll ever retire.

[00:15:09]And do what? What am I going to do?

[00:15:13]Go on a cruise for 2 weeks, sit on the beach. You'll find that's not the answer either, right?

[00:15:16]So each to the each to one's own, but I hope you understand now that there's a foundation must be laid for 55 and now the options on the table, and there must be then a solution created in your mind as to what you're going to do if you haven't laid the foundations. Both work.

[00:15:31]You choose which one you're going to adopt. And I'd love to know in the comments what did you take away the most from this episode. Hit the subscribe button. Send this to to a friend or someone who needs to hear it. There are two options to go with here. You choose yours, but we have to be we have to cast them in reality. And that's what I'm all about is the reality of financial education and realness when it comes to numbers and what's going to be real and achievable for you. See you in the next episode. Thanks for listening to Money Grows on Trees. If you enjoyed the episode, leave a five-star review on Apple Podcasts and Spotify and subscribe to us on YouTube so you never miss an episode. And if you're serious about building wealth, make sure to check out the links in the show notes and follow me on all social media platforms at Lloyd James Ross for more. See you in the next episode.