How an accountant retired before age 50 without a million dollars in savings

First, she wanted a reliable monthly income from her work with the makeup company, which she asked to remain nameless for legal reasons.

“I wanted to get into a financial position where I could bring $10,000 into my home with my business that wasn’t my 9-to-5,” Smith told Business Insider.

Second, she planned for her 401(k) to reach at least half of five years worth of her corporate salary. Smith said she started paying attention to her 401(k) “very early” in her career and it paid off.

Smith is a married mother of three grown children. She and her husband live in San Antonio in a home they’ve owned since 2014.

“I wanted to make sure I had the ability to pay my bill if something happened to the other people in my house,” Smith said.

So he made his 401(k) an early priority, making sure to put money into it every week. It might sound simple enough, but a third of U.S. adults plan to retire on Social Security alone, despite what financial experts say, according to an August report from personal finance firm NerdWallet.

While she’s not a millionaire, Smith credits her experience working in finance and her side hustle for helping her leave the workforce early. She wasn’t quite ready to retire when she did, but decided to take a step back to care for her aging parents.

Investing is an area Smith said he wishes he had explored sooner. She told BI that her 401(k) didn’t reach the goal she set out to, and that investing while she was still in her 20s could have made her retirement even easier.

“My advice to anyone under 30 who wants to retire before 60 is to get a financial advisor,” Smith said.

The key, she said, is to “listen to what they’re saying about how to invest your money because it’s not just a 401(k).” She advised young people to start looking for investment opportunities from the moment they are employed.

Smith’s retirement plan wasn’t perfect, but it was effective when paired with the support system she has in her family.

Ultimately, she said, it’s about doing the work to learn “how to make your money work for you.”