How Kathleen is safeguarding her $5m early retirement strategy

When investment markets experienced a wobble in February, the last thing early retiree Kathleen McDowell, 57, and her husband, who retired in December last year aged 59, wanted to do was sell any of their investments.

McDowell, who retired at 55, says the couple had prepared for such a market downturn by keeping enough money to cover 2½ years of living expenses – about $350,000 – quarantined in cash and out of reach of market volatility.

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