I got into a discussion this past weekend (winnied in beauutiful Charlottesville!) with one of my buddies and we were talking about what our "magic number" is financially. We were defining it as the amount of money we'd need to have to quit our jobs and not have to work again.
I'm curious what this board's opinion is on that - what amount of $$ would you want to have access to in order to say "I'm outta here!"
The Jill on Money podcast I was just listening to also had a discussion on this, a guy who wants to stop working at 60 and was going through all his assets - Jill said he probably had enough, lucky dog!
ETA: Please don't quote, but H and I have a "magic number" of poof Our buddy schooled us on being bad mustachians with a number like that. He apparently read niq's future blog (wilted)
I would say at least 5 million, maybe even 10. I am sure we would want to upgrade our home, be able to have luxury vacations, and also donate regulaly. Plus my husband has expensive taste
I'm the opposite of a Mr. Money Moustacher, particularly now that my job is pretty awesome and cushy. My number for today is probably way higher than my number in retirement would be. To give up the rat race, I'd want to be sure that I have enough money to not have to compromise. Otherwise, I'd prefer to continue working to accrue more wealth/be able to afford more/be able to shower whenever I want.
So I'll say probably $10-$12m to retire today, $2.5-$3m or so of which would go towards buying an apartment we would hopefully be thrilled to live in forever. We'd still be stuck with relatively high living costs though because of condo fees and such, and this number would give us a much more luxurious lifestyle than we currently have.
Eta: 4% withdrawal rate assumed
This number won't happen, though, so my real life will be more modest than what the pipe dream allows
Post by mainelyfoolish on Jul 2, 2015 7:59:26 GMT -5
I have no idea, but there is a lottery game where I live where the jackpot is $1000/day for life. Even with taxes and health insurance costs, DH and I figured we could happily live off of that without working. Too bad we don't play the lottery.
I'm a bit older than a lot of y'all (early 40's), so my number may not need to be so high. Then again, we have school aged children, so there's college to consider. I would say if we came into, say $2-3M, then one of us would be able to quit forever, as long as one kept working to keep up the benefits. For both of us to stop working ... maybe $4-5M'ish?
I'm the opposite of a Mr. Money Moustacher, particularly now that my job is pretty awesome and cushy. My number for today is probably way higher than my number in retirement would be. To give up the rat race, I'd want to be sure that I have enough money to not have to compromise. Otherwise, I'd prefer to continue working to accrue more wealth/be able to afford more/be able to shower whenever I want.
So I'll say probably $10-$12m to retire today, $2.5-$3m or so of which would go towards buying an apartment we would hopefully be thrilled to live in forever. We'd still be stuck with relatively high living costs though because of condo fees and such, and this number would give us a much more luxurious lifestyle than we currently have.
This number won't happen, though, so my real life will be more modest than what the pipe dream allows
+1
I like my job, enjoy working, still have so much to learn, and I have a lot of anxiety about all of the "what-ifs" that even a large sum of money would not allow me to comfortably throw in the towel this early in the game.
I would say between $5 and $10 million would be OK. I'd feel comfortable enough to find a place to live forever, pay for maintenance/upkeep and then still be able to live life on my own terms.
$2 million would be sufficient if we were going to start our retirement today. This assumes we stay with our plan to retire to an as yet to be determined country in Central or South America with a much lower cost of living and decent healthcare.
The Jill on Money podcast I was just listening to also had a discussion on this, a guy who wants to stop working at 60 and was going through all his assets - Jill said he probably had enough, lucky dog!
$10 million. We could travel to our heart's content...not necessarily luxury travel but I've never needed that. Plus we could have a nice home or two and take care of our family.
I would be okay with $4 million. I could live a good life on that. Similar to, but probably a bit better than my current life. I would be more than okay with $6 million, and I could probably even do $2 million because I am not a big fan of working.
For our current life style, I think we would be okay on 2.5 million. However, I have zero desire to continue living in a place that's 95° plus three months of the year, so it depends where we move.
LoveTrains I may decide to share........stay tuned......watch this space!
You "may decide to share?"
I mean, we've gotten blow-by-blows of your monthly "state of the union" discussions and in-depth details of your basement renovation-- is it really that much more intrusive to share your magic retirement number?
Also @shoegal, as an early birthday gift I request that you share that article about achieving a goal or whatever that you said that you wanted to post the other day but were scared to!
I've changed my mind and want 4 million so I can pay off all debt and buy a nice house and take a few fab vacations and give some to family and THEN live a more normal lifestyle off the interest of the remainder.
The Jill on Money podcast I was just listening to also had a discussion on this, a guy who wants to stop working at 60 and was going through all his assets - Jill said he probably had enough, lucky dog!
How much did he have?
The dude on Jill on Money was in his early 50s and wanted to retire at 60. Jill freaked out a little because "ZOMG if you retire at 60 you won't get social security right away nooooo!" But she approved his retirement at 60 with just under $2M, which included $500k of real estate that they rent out.
LoveTrains I may decide to share........stay tuned......watch this space!
I don't want to start a pile on but come on, @shoegal, you know it's not cool to post a poll like this that you won't answer yourself. And it's not like you're giving away some super private info--unless you are literally retiring today you're not telling us how much you have in the bank.
Agreed!
@shoegal, I love having you on the board. You can share a number, any number, and it will be better than the little game you are playing.
My husband and I were talking about this the other day. He does have a # that would probably compel him to leave his current job (same as most people in this thread - between 5 to 10 mil) but I was surprised to hear he would still choose to work in the same industry after that. A friend of his just announced that he is starting a small hedge fund and he'd love to be able to go to work for him. The hours and travel would probably be more intensive than what he does now but I think the idea of helping to build something of lasting value appeals to him. Unfortunately, with three little kids, we need more stability and consistency than a start up company can provide. Maybe in the future though.