infinity ag said:

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Scotts Tot said:

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I have a hard time understanding how people need so much money to live at a pretty high standard. I live in a decent house in a nice neighborhood in a large city with a wife and 2 kids, take nice trips, eat out, etc, and we spend about $120k/yr. I could easily envision spending $150k or more, but anything over $200k feels pretty splurgy.

Anyone who is unsure if they're able to retire with $15M is either trolling or has issues.

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I am looking for a goal to shoot for. $15M seems very safe to me. $10M seems just about right. $5M seems like I am on the edge. I am just curious if the 40+ folks here have a number in mind before they retire.

My friend just moved to Dallas and will retire there in 3 months. He is 57. I didn't ask but he seems comfortable. They just sold their $600k house in my sub-div. Kids settled, one in med school, other working.

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Shooting for $4MM at 50. Then I retire when I want sometime between then and 55. At least at 50 I can peace out anytime and either do want I want or nothing at all.

Wife can retire at 52, so that seems likelier.

Onceaggie2.0 said:

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most americans dont sniff six figure income..OP lying

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You sound like you suck at Capitalism.

Something that has been on my mind as of late. Got a super late start on life and feeling the pressure. I know its not really smart to chase a specific number but a ball park but either way, I haven't been building up like I should have and realistically won't be able to until probably around 40.

I just worry what the financial landscape will look like in 30 years. I don't have high hopes tbh. This type of thinking is really starting to weigh in when it comes to my career choice. (Current student)

Just commenting to watchlist. May be able to clean a few nuggets of info even here on the GB.

I've spent some time reading the fatFIRE subreddit. Basically a community of people who all want to retire as early as they can with enough money to live the rest of their lives with a high standard of living. Of course it's different for everyone, but the $4-6M range is a common benchmark for many on there.

infinity ag said:

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Scotts Tot said:

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I have a hard time understanding how people need so much money to live at a pretty high standard. I live in a decent house in a nice neighborhood in a large city with a wife and 2 kids, take nice trips, eat out, etc, and we spend about $120k/yr. I could easily envision spending $150k or more, but anything over $200k feels pretty splurgy.

Anyone who is unsure if they're able to retire with $15M is either trolling or has issues.

---

I am looking for a goal to shoot for. $15M seems very safe to me. $10M seems just about right. $5M seems like I am on the edge. I am just curious if the 40+ folks here have a number in mind before they retire.

My friend just moved to Dallas and will retire there in 3 months. He is 57. I didn't ask but he seems comfortable. They just sold their $600k house in my sub-div. Kids settled, one in med school, other working.

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Of course $15M feels safe, because that's an incredibly high number. As others here have said, for many people $5M would feel safe (depending on age). Is the $15M number based on any kind of analysis, or just a number that feels good?

$4-5MM is a good number for anyone who is an adult now. Babies may need more than that by the time they retire.

Bluecat_Aggie94 said:

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$4.5 million in retirement would give me $180K annually in income just from retirement. I'll have $4000 per month between my wife and I from Social Security on top of that.

With no house payment, no kids in the house... dude, that's easy. We'll be just fine. So would you.

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Yup. Same for SSN plus about 5k per month in wife's retirement. More than enough cash to do pretty much what you want. I can't imagine how far that money will go without kids to suck it dry.

15M at 65-70 yrs old - probably okay

15M and retire at 30 with a penchant for hookers and blow- probably not, but maybe if you OD young

Ol_Ag_02 said:

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Bluecat_Aggie94 said:

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$4.5 million in retirement would give me $180K annually in income just from retirement. I'll have $4000 per month between my wife and I from Social Security on top of that.

With no house payment, no kids in the house... dude, that's easy. We'll be just fine. So would you.

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Yup. Same for SSN plus about 5k per month in wife's retirement. More than enough cash to do pretty much what you want. I can't imagine how far that money will go without kids to suck it dry.

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Yall are assuming there will still be SS around when yall retire. I fully expect big brother to screw us all over and we will never see the money they stole from us for SS

15 million and i'd be eating snow cones at the golf course all day.


I have sold some rental properties in past two years so my rental income is down to just less than 3k/month since 2013. I used proceeds to build a personal home and buy more land for spec rental homes.

If/when I build my land out my rental income will be around 10-12k in todays dollars. At that income my focus at work will go away at 3 million....at that income my laugh on the way out the door will happen around 5-7 million.

Cocaine business alone would be a fortune100 company.

histag10 said:

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Yall are assuming there will still be SS around when yall retire. I fully expect big brother to screw us all over and we will never see the money they stole from us for SS

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I've been hearing this since the 1980s.

Eliminatus said:

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Something that has been on my mind as of late. Got a super late start on life and feeling the pressure. I know its not really smart to chase a specific number but a ball park but either way, I haven't been building up like I should have and realistically won't be able to until probably around 40.

I just worry what the financial landscape will look like in 30 years. I don't have high hopes tbh. This type of thinking is really starting to weigh in when it comes to my career choice. (Current student)

Just commenting to watchlist. May be able to clean a few nuggets of info even here on the GB.

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Anyone can get wealthy. Be disciplined enough to live below your means, whatever they may be, and get the excess cash invested in something profitable. Stocks, commodities, real estate, etc. Or alternatively you can use your own work to build a business for yourself and get yourself capital that way. It's that simple.

It's called CAPITALism for a reason. No tricks. The answer is right there in the name. The owners of capital win the game, but it's 100% up to you to buy it or build it for yourself. If you wait for your paycheck to make you rich, you're probably going to spend your whole life living paycheck to paycheck.

Even starting at 40 will give you 2 solid decades to work with. Start siphoning off a chunk (20%+ if you can swing it) of your income to investments as soon as you start earning and stick with it, and I give it a 99% chance you'll be in the top 5-10% of Americans in terms of net worth by 60.

Onceaggie2.0 said:

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most americans dont sniff six figure income..OP lying

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Americans with Engg and MBAs do.

Eliminatus said:

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Something that has been on my mind as of late. Got a super late start on life and feeling the pressure. I know its not really smart to chase a specific number but a ball park but either way, I haven't been building up like I should have and realistically won't be able to until probably around 40.

I just worry what the financial landscape will look like in 30 years. I don't have high hopes tbh. This type of thinking is really starting to weigh in when it comes to my career choice. (Current student)

Just commenting to watchlist. May be able to clean a few nuggets of info even here on the GB.

---

It's good that you realized. It's not too late.

1. Figure out your net worth. Use tools like mint.com
2. Work to eliminate/reduce debt.
3. Save some money every month and put it in a Vanguard Index Fund like VINIX which tracks the S&P 500.
4. Profit!

Of course I have simplified it a lot, but in general this is what I have done and I think I am well placed in my mid 40s.

Once you know your networth, you can start to project where you will be year after year.

Scotts Tot said:

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infinity ag said:

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Scotts Tot said:

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I have a hard time understanding how people need so much money to live at a pretty high standard. I live in a decent house in a nice neighborhood in a large city with a wife and 2 kids, take nice trips, eat out, etc, and we spend about $120k/yr. I could easily envision spending $150k or more, but anything over $200k feels pretty splurgy.

Anyone who is unsure if they're able to retire with $15M is either trolling or has issues.

---

I am looking for a goal to shoot for. $15M seems very safe to me. $10M seems just about right. $5M seems like I am on the edge. I am just curious if the 40+ folks here have a number in mind before they retire.

My friend just moved to Dallas and will retire there in 3 months. He is 57. I didn't ask but he seems comfortable. They just sold their $600k house in my sub-div. Kids settled, one in med school, other working.

---

Of course $15M feels safe, because that's an incredibly high number. As others here have said, for many people $5M would feel safe (depending on age). Is the $15M number based on any kind of analysis, or just a number that feels good?

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It's a number based on where I am now and where I think I can get as a "reach" before I retire assuming nothing catastrophic happens. I am still working on improving my projections and I do it in Google Sheets so I don't lose it. When I discussed the number with some friends who are in the same age/salary range as myself, they said $10M is a better goal to aim for. One friend said "My only goal is to pay off my house". That does me no good as I reached that goal in 2018 and he has the same model house as I have.

You are right though, $15M may be hard to achieve.

John Francis Donaghy said:

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Eliminatus said:

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Something that has been on my mind as of late. Got a super late start on life and feeling the pressure. I know its not really smart to chase a specific number but a ball park but either way, I haven't been building up like I should have and realistically won't be able to until probably around 40.

I just worry what the financial landscape will look like in 30 years. I don't have high hopes tbh. This type of thinking is really starting to weigh in when it comes to my career choice. (Current student)

Just commenting to watchlist. May be able to clean a few nuggets of info even here on the GB.

---

Anyone can get wealthy. Be disciplined enough to live below your means, whatever they may be, and get the excess cash invested in something profitable. Stocks, commodities, real estate, etc. Or alternatively you can use your own work to build a business for yourself and get yourself capital that way. It's that simple.

It's called CAPITALism for a reason. No tricks. The answer is right there in the name. The owners of capital win the game, but it's 100% up to you to buy it or build it for yourself. If you wait for your paycheck to make you rich, you're probably going to spend your whole life living paycheck to paycheck.

Even starting at 40 will give you 2 solid decades to work with. Start siphoning off a chunk (20%+ if you can swing it) of your income to investments as soon as you start earning and stick with it, and I give it a 99% chance you'll be in the top 5-10% of Americans in terms of net worth by 60.

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You got it.
I realized 10 years ago that the only way I can be well off is if I invested in the market. I don't think I want to start a business. I got laid off a few times and that used to weigh on my mind a lot. Now it does not financially.

TexAg2001 said:

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Leeman said:

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Using the 4% rule, $15M would give you $600k a year to live off of.

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Either my sarcasm meter is way off, or you people live very lavish lifestyles and/or don't know how to properly budget.

If I look at my family's current spend on budget items I would expect to still have in retirement, I'm averaging about $95k/year. That is for a family of 5 and includes travel, healthcare, food, entertainment, a car payment, property taxes, etc. That number would obviously be less with just 2 people. That $ doesn't include items I would not expect to have in retirement like mortgage, education, $ going into savings accounts, extracurriculars, etc.

The 4% rule means I would need about $2.4M in retirement to draw $95k / year, but I feel like we'd be very comfortable with less than that. We are on path to have substantially more than $2.4M, which is making me re-consider retirement age.

I honestly can't fathom how someone could spend $600k / year in retirement...

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I have a paid off house and that adds to my NW but I cannot live off that unless I downgrade. 2 kids going to college soon and I have big dreams of a top school so $250k - 300k for each kid is my estimate.

Outside of that, you are right, most of us don't need $600k. I would say maybe $120k a year which includes travel and insurance.

Thanks to my phat government retirement checks, paid off mortgage, and careful savings, your 15M is chump change.

infinity ag said:

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My friends and I were discussing what the target should be before we chuck our jobs.

For now, I think $15M affords a good life to pay for healthcare, any debt, travel, housing etc.
Thoughts?

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Try the BIZ board and not GB and see what you get for answers.

AliasMan02 said:

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If I had no debt and a liquid $3 million I'd walk away right now.

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I often find it puzzling that we're related.

infinity ag said:

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Eliminatus said:

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Something that has been on my mind as of late. Got a super late start on life and feeling the pressure. I know its not really smart to chase a specific number but a ball park but either way, I haven't been building up like I should have and realistically won't be able to until probably around 40.

I just worry what the financial landscape will look like in 30 years. I don't have high hopes tbh. This type of thinking is really starting to weigh in when it comes to my career choice. (Current student)

Just commenting to watchlist. May be able to clean a few nuggets of info even here on the GB.

---

It's good that you realized. It's not too late.

1. Figure out your net worth. Use tools like mint.com
2. Work to eliminate/reduce debt.
3. Save some money every month and put it in a Vanguard Index Fund like VINIX which tracks the S&P 500.
4. Profit!

Of course I have simplified it a lot, but in general this is what I have done and I think I am well placed in my mid 40s.

Once you know your networth, you can start to project where you will be year after year.

---

Projecting year over year is the fun part.

Classic e-p**** thread by op.

bagger05 said:

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AliasMan02 said:

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If I had no debt and a liquid $3 million I'd walk away right now.

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I often find it puzzling that we're related.

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As I'm sure we've discussed many times, I'd still generate income of some sort, but could do so under whatever conditions I desired. Teach. Write. Work on casual status or consult. Etc.

No mortgage and making a couple thousand a week conservatively just in interest? No brainer.

If you have 1 million in cash and investments and 401k.

And you only make 5% per year. Assume you and your wife get social security. That's 100k per year, forever...

Also assuming zero debt and your house is paid for which it should be! I get you high rollers are laughing, but no work and a 100k paycheck at 62.

I will do just fine!

How does one get to 15 mil retirement?

Asking for my boss.

infinity ag said:

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Scotts Tot said:

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infinity ag said:

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Scotts Tot said:

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I have a hard time understanding how people need so much money to live at a pretty high standard. I live in a decent house in a nice neighborhood in a large city with a wife and 2 kids, take nice trips, eat out, etc, and we spend about $120k/yr. I could easily envision spending $150k or more, but anything over $200k feels pretty splurgy.

Anyone who is unsure if they're able to retire with $15M is either trolling or has issues.

---

I am looking for a goal to shoot for. $15M seems very safe to me. $10M seems just about right. $5M seems like I am on the edge. I am just curious if the 40+ folks here have a number in mind before they retire.

My friend just moved to Dallas and will retire there in 3 months. He is 57. I didn't ask but he seems comfortable. They just sold their $600k house in my sub-div. Kids settled, one in med school, other working.

---

Of course $15M feels safe, because that's an incredibly high number. As others here have said, for many people $5M would feel safe (depending on age). Is the $15M number based on any kind of analysis, or just a number that feels good?

---

It's a number based on where I am now and where I think I can get as a "reach" before I retire assuming nothing catastrophic happens. I am still working on improving my projections and I do it in Google Sheets so I don't lose it. When I discussed the number with some friends who are in the same age/salary range as myself, they said $10M is a better goal to aim for. One friend said "My only goal is to pay off my house". That does me no good as I reached that goal in 2018 and he has the same model house as I have.

You are right though, $15M may be hard to achieve.

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Once you get to $10mm I have to think the next $5mm comes relatively easily as long as you don't do anything dumb. That $10 will turn into $15 in 10-12 years on dividend reinvestment or modest stock market returns even if you don't contribute additional earnings.

I'm not there yet, but I am entering my prime earning years with passive income starting to contribute in a meaningful way and a couple irons in the fire that could pay off big.

I've got a number where I'll downshift in my career. Easier job, fewer hours, insurance, something to get me out of the house, ability to take and enjoy my vacation. At that number (waaay under $15mm), my passive income is more than paying for my lifestyle. Ideally, within a few years I will have developed my hobbies to the point that I can walk away from employment altogether.

Once I hit 2 mil and my mortgages are paid off, I'm going to move to consulting work only. 10 more years at the grind stone. I don't know where the hell y'all are spending all that money.