How Much Do You Need to Stop Working? (Run This Number)

🔥 MY FREE CLASS IS THIS THURSDAY, AUGUST 20 AT 12 PM ET How to Make More Money in Real Estate Without Buying Another Property. I am walking through three income streams you can build with what you already have and already know, what each one realistically pays, and which one fits where you actually are right now. Two of the three do not require you to own anything. It is free and it is live. Save your seat 👉🏽 https://owningitandlivingit.com/makemoremoney/ Everybody asks how many doors. Almost nobody asks the only question that actually decides it. A few weeks ago I told y'all that me and Lawrence stopped buying rentals. We own 38 doors, we have been at this for 10 years, and we are still a couple of years out from being fully financially free. The question that came back, more than once, was some version of: okay, so how are you planning to retire? Fair question. So I sat down and answered it, along with four more that keep landing in my inbox. Here is the thing nobody made you do. There is a monthly number sitting out there that decides when you get your life back, and most people have never once calculated it. They are running on a feeling instead. More property, more freedom, and someday the two will meet. Someday is usually a whole lot further out than they think. In this episode I walk you through the five questions I use with my clients to find that number. What your household actually spends. What falls away when you stop working. What one door really nets you after you pay all the people. Where your gap is. How many years you are giving yourself to close it. I do not give you my number, because my number is a function of 10 years, a partner, and a pile of mistakes you do not have to repeat. It would not help you. I would rather you pause this and go run yours. I also break down the portfolio review that changed everything for us, why we started selling off properties that were not performing to pay off the ones that were, and the reserves mistake I have watched send people right back to a job they already quit. If you are starting from zero, this one is for you more than anybody. If buying one property at a time is too slow for a household that already owns a pile of them, it is really too slow when you are starting from nothing. CHAPTERS 0:00 Why More Doors Is the Wrong Goal 0:40 The 5 Questions That Give You Your Number 2:15 What Your Household Actually Spends 3:20 What Falls Away When You Stop Working 4:30 What One Door Really Nets You 5:40 Find Your Gap and Divide It by Your Timeline 7:00 So How Am I Retiring Without Buying More? 8:30 The Portfolio Review We Did Last Year 10:00 Selling the Losers to Pay Off the Winners 11:30 The Reserves Mistake That Sends People Back to Work 13:00 Growth, Stabilization, and the Phase Most People Never Reach 14:30 What We Are Actually Doing Instead 15:45 The Client Who Went From Credit Repair to 3 Years Out 17:15 What I Do When I Finally Stop 18:15 What's Your Number? WHAT WE GET INTO Why the goal was never a lot of doors. The goal is a lot of money with the least amount of work. The five questions that turn "I want to retire early" into an actual monthly number. How we ran a full portfolio review and figured out which properties were quietly costing us money. Why we sell underperforming properties to pay off the ones that print. The reserves number nobody talks about, and why hitting your cash flow number is not enough to quit. The three phases of investing, and the one where most people get stuck forever. What I am building instead of buying: flips, the businesses, and paying down debt. ✨ Not sure what your next step is? Take the quiz and I will point you to it 👉🏽 https://owningitandlivingit.com/next-step/ WORK WITH ME AND STAY CONNECTED ✨ Join the newsletter for weekly real estate wealth building tips: https://erikab.kit.com/f2f4df9a56 ✨ The final year of The Owning It and Living It Experience. November 13 to 15, 2026 in Atlanta. This is the last one. https://experience.owningitandlivingit.com ✨ Follow along: https://instagram.com/erikabrowninvestor/ ✨ Join the community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/oilicommunity/ This episode is made possible by Baselane, the platform I use to automate my rental cash flow so I am not chasing rent or rebuilding my books every January. https://www.baselane.com/erikabrown What's your number? Tell me in the comments. #RealEstateInvesting #WealthWithinReach #CashFlow #FinancialFreedom #GenerationalWealth #PassiveIncome #RentalProperties #BuildingWealth #RetireEarly Subscribe so you don't miss the next one.