Sold Everything, No House, No Car - Learning Financial Freedom with The Donegans

In this episode of the Redefine Retirement podcast, host Ryan Wheless sits down with British couple Alan and Katie Donegan, founders of Rebel Finance School, who achieved financial independence in their early 40s and retired in 2019. The Donegans break down their straightforward approach to building wealth, centered around what they call the "freedom rate" - the idea of investing your money to buy freedom rather than simply saving for future spending. They walk through their personal journey of aggressively cutting lifestyle inflation, downgrading cars, living in a small flat, and channeling the gap between income and expenses into global index funds until they hit their target number of 25 times their annual spending - a concept rooted in the 4% rule. Katie opens up about the guilt she initially felt about retiring so young while peers were still working, and how discovering the FIRE movement helped shift her mindset entirely. Ryan adds his own relatable story of selling off a lake house, boat, jet skis, and airplane to escape the stress of looking wealthy on paper while having little real financial security. The conversation also covers practical tools like monthly finance meetings, automating savings into hard-to-access accounts, the importance of not locking all your money in a 401K if you want to retire early, and riding out market downturns without panic selling. The episode wraps up with the Donegans sharing that since retiring, their invested wealth has grown from £1 million to £2.5 million, and that in 2024 they were awarded the British Empire Medal for their services to financial education through their completely free online course. Subscribe to Katie and Alan’s YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@rebeldonegans Subscribe to our YouTube Channel: ⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@alliedwealth Follow Allied Wealth on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/allied_wealth/?hl=en Visit the Allied Wealth website to learn more: https://alliedwealth.com/ PRODUCE

Added 2 May 2026