Many people dream of quitting their 9 to 5 jobs and retiring early to pursue all sorts of activities like traveling, exploring their hobbies and passions, volunteering and so on. But there’s more to early retirement than meets the eye and not everyone has the financial freedom and means to do it.

To help you make your early retirement dreams come true, we’ve rounded up a list of tips from people who’ve succeeded in retiring before age 65- well before that, in fact. Here’s what they recommend to other people who want to live their golden years long before their hair turns grey.

Track your income and expenses

You don’t know if something needs to be rectified unless you pay attention and keep track. We’re talking abut finances, of course. If you want to retire early, you’ve got to start setting your finances straight as early as possible, tracking your income and expenses included.

See Kristy Shen, for example. She worked in computer engineering in Canada, together with her husband. They managed to save $1 million and she decided to retire at 31 to travel the world with her spouse. “I think tracking is absolutely paramount,” Shen admitted to Farnoosh Torabi, host of the So Money podcast. How did she do it? She projected their month-end expected net worth and at the end of the month, she recorded the real net worth. That way, she and her spouse could focus on their goals without going off track with their expenses.