Many people wish they could have more free time in their latter years. Perhaps you aspire to tour the globe. Maybe you’ve always wanted to start your own company. You might also feel compelled to volunteer. Regardless of the cause, the issue remains: What would it take for me to retire at 55? Or even 50 or 45 years old?

The answer is dependent on your financial condition, however, if you’re serious about learning how to retire early, consider the following:

Step 1: Decide on the type of retirement lifestyle you want.

You need to decide what you want to do in retirement before you start crunching figures on how to retire early. Your budget will be determined by your dream.

Do you desire to visit the globe? Then you’ll require a substantial sum of money. Do you want to visit your grandchildren? Starting a business? Do you participate in volunteer work? Why not take the whole family on a big vacation? Each of these fantasies has its own price tag.

Step 2: Make a hypothetical retirement budget.

Here’s a helpful hint: You should be explicit about how much money you estimate you’ll need to live on in retirement. Making a simulated monthly retirement budget is the greatest approach to do so. To keep things simple, consider the following question: What would my budget look like if I retired today?

Your budget will change as you progress through life, such as when you eliminate life insurance and purchase long-term care insurance. You may choose to travel extensively at first (at a higher expense) and then stay closer to home as you get older. Medical costs will fluctuate during a long retirement as well—we’ll get into that later.

Oh, and there’s one more thing! Remember that because commodities like gas and groceries tend to rise in price over time (due to inflation), the amount you’ll need to spend to maintain your current lifestyle will change from what you’ll need to budget in 10, 15, or 20 years.

Step 3: Assess your present financial circumstances.

It’s a bit like planning a long road trip when it comes to early retirement. It’s not enough to know where you’re going; you also need to know where you’re starting from and how far you have to travel to get there.

Step 4: Close the Gap

You have a lot of options for closing the gap between where you are and where you want to be. Here are a few things to consider:

Pay off your mortgage as soon as possible. According to The National Study of Millionaires, millionaires took an average of 10.2 years to pay off their mortgages. That’s because there’s a reason for it! Consider how much faster you could achieve your goals if you didn’t have to worry about a house payment and instead invested the money.

Reduce your retirement spending. That is, you have decided to live on a monthly budget that is lower than your original budget. You might have to cut back on some of your pricey hobbies or take fewer visits to Maui.

Take on a part-time job. Let’s imagine you find a part-time job that pays $1,000 extra per month. Month after month, year after year, putting that additional money into solid growth stock mutual funds might add hundreds of thousands of dollars to your retirement nest egg. Now that’s what I call progress!

Lastly, meet with a financial advisor on a regular basis. Yes, you must keep a close eye on your finances. You should inquire about concepts and words that don’t make sense to you. Maintain an interest in your financial portfolio, but don’t make any decisions until you’ve discussed them with a professional who understands what they’re talking about and has the patience to explain it to you.

There’s a lot to consider and remember. That’s why, if you’re attempting to figure out how to retire early, working with a financial advisor is critical.