A couple who retired in their 40s says there are 3 types of spenders, and the key to building real wealth depends on which one you are

Business Insider

09-05-2025

There's tons of advice online about building wealth and retiring early, but it's hard to know which approach works best for your specific circumstances.
Kiersten and Julien Saunders, a couple who retired in their 40s and host the popular podcast rich & REGULAR, suggest finding out what kind of spender you are before creating your wealth-building plan.
In their book, "Cashing Out: Win the Wealth Game by Walking Away," the couple explains that there are three different types of spenders.
Are you financially insecure, a fast spender, or somewhere in the middle?
The financially insecure: These are people who have experienced financial hardship in the past, who now live paycheck to paycheck. The Saunderses write, "They've grown accustomed to this way of life, and their goal is simple: to have enough."
The fast spenders: Fast spenders tend to be high earners who spend money extravagantly and quickly. "They get an all-encompassing, full-spirited rush from spending money, and the desire to do it over and over sets the tone for their lives," they write.
The middle: "Life for the middle isn't as painful as that for the financially insecure nor as sexy as the life of fast spenders," the Saunderses write. In fact, the middle uses the experience of the other two groups as a cautionary tale to shape their conservative spending and saving habits.
In the book, the Saunderses say that understanding the true motivations fueling your current spending habits can help you choose a wealth-building plan that actually works for you.
For the financially insecure: Invest your money
The Saunderses point out that the financially insecure typically have difficult circumstances to navigate that make it harder for them to actually save and invest any money. "Because of this, they adopt a worldview based on the grim realities of life they experience every single day," the couple writes.
The financially insecure are more likely to equate their self-worth with their ability to perform well at work. They are always striving for higher-paying jobs, living paycheck to paycheck, and struggling to feel like they have enough.
To counteract the impulse to keep grinding hard at a 9-to-5 job, the Saunderses remind their readers that a salary is never going to outperform investing in the stock market.
The couple writes, "You must believe your income can work harder than you can. Instead of working for your money, you must adjust to managing your money so that it can multiply over time to serve your future wants and needs."
If you're not sure where to start investing, explore one of the best investing apps for beginners, or consider whether you could use the help of an online financial advisor.
For the fast spenders: Track your income
Of fast spenders, the couple writes, "Money both comes in and goes out at such a fast pace there's no time to build an emotional attachment to it and little incentive to try tracking it."
The couple writes about a friend of theirs who would rather go out for expensive drinks and indulge in luxury vacations instead of funding his retirement. "Plus, he believes that if he wanted to, he could start saving money tomorrow. The problem is, tomorrow never comes."
The book contains "richuals," simple guidelines that help readers change their relationship with money. A good "richual" for fast spenders is to track your income and how you feel when you earn that money. The couple writes, "A dollar earned doing something you enjoy is always better than a dollar earned doing something you don't."
Tracking your income and spending doesn't have to mean elaborate spreadsheets or an ever-present notebook. The best budgeting apps connect to your bank and report on exactly how much comes in and goes out.
For the middle: Redefine your money's purpose
The Saunderses say that the financially insecure and the fast spenders are less common than the group they've named "the middle." They write, "People in the middle often have enough income and are even saving for retirement, but they have no idea what they're saving for, how close or how far they are to achieving that goal, or why they're even doing it."
While their book speaks primarily to those in the middle, they recommend that all spending types create a distinct purpose for their income. The couple writes that income should first be used to gain security. Next comes flexibility to spend and save in alignment with your values. Then independence — meaning, earning money is completely optional.
After achieving the first three purposes of money — security, flexibility, and independence — you can then use your income to achieve financial freedom.
For the financially insecure, financial freedom might be getting a better job or becoming free from a financial obligation. For the fast spender, it can be a state of emotional acceptance around your money, or selling a company that you built from the ground up.
For the middle, however, it can be hard to define what financial freedom actually looks like. This is why it's important to envision why you're trying to build wealth in the first place, and how you're going to assign purpose to your income to achieve those goals. "Financial freedom isn't a number," they write. "It's a feeling."