What amount would you need to be "done" with a regular job

$5 million free and clear, meaning no debts, no mortgages, etc.

Place the $5 mil in a 4% interest bearing account will yield $200,000 per year to spend. After taxes that will be more like $100,000, or about $8,000 a month.

That doesn't include any other additional sources of possible income, like income properties, pensions, annuities, etc.

We're looking at pulling the plug in 3-4 years with $800k in investments (401k, IRA, taxable). On top of that we'll have $30k in "cash" (CD's, savings accounts), and anywhere between $50-80k from our house equity since we'll move as soon as we quit.

Going for a 5% SWR, which is slightly aggressive, but we're also retiring around 40 and if we have a bad sequence of returns in the first decade we can always make some income.

ACA coverage is the only wildcard. We really have no idea what healthcare will look like in the next 5-10 years. If premiums stop going up 100% every year and something similar to ACA is still in place, we should be okay. If something crazy happens and we can't get healthcare, early retirement may be off the table altogether. In that case, we'll probably cut down to the minimum amount of work to maintain health insurance.

Also, on that note, we're hoping to go down to 3 days by the end of 2019 (Tues/Wed/Thurs). Not sure if it'll happen. If it does, that's 1 more full time year of work, and 3 part time (finishing sometime before 2022). If we get denied, we just work 3 more years full time and we're out.

Half a million and I wouldn't need a real job. Buy a house/property for 150-200k, rent out a room or two and spend the rest of my time bike touring. Work the winters and enjoy the summers.

I actually got pretty close to this a few years back when I had a serious GF that we were gonna build a house on some property we were gonna buy off her aunt.

BrutulTM said:

For those of you thinking of retirement, and especially early retirement, what do you imagine doing afterward?

Click to expand...

Also a good question. I'm going to keep doing what I love doing until I have something better to do.

Edit: I would like to spend a lot more time doing wood working. I think I could do that as a side job and sell the things I make.

a_skeleton_03 said:

I am just not interested in retiring early. I will need something to keep me busy during the week and some kind of job is always going to be there.

Click to expand...

Get that veteran owned IT consulting company going and employ us cleared professionals from the board.

At my current burn rate, in NYC, at least $10mm. If I had to move back to where my family is from, I could probably never work another day in my life at my current ~800k of investments/401k/IRA.

Void said:

I will never achieve this status, so I really have no idea, but how much would you have to pay per month towards the end of your life just in medical insurance? .

Click to expand...

If I were to quit working, I'd have to pay 145€ a month medical insurance until I die. That's quite a lot of money without an income, so that's around 80k in cash in whatever sum I would have to subtract right away for this fancy idea.

The most important thing however is not having to pay for a roof over your head anymore, so that's at least half a million with enough backup money for repairs and stuff that will come up in the next 50 years.

BrutulTM said:

For those of you thinking of retirement, and especially early retirement, what do you imagine doing afterward?

Click to expand...

The same shit I do at work now: Browse this forum

I was having this conversation with the wife the other day, and I said something similar. I may like the idea of early retirement more than I would like the reality. However, if for some reason money wasn't an issue, I could easily find a part-time job, say 2-3 days per week, doing something I enjoyed, just to pass the time and not become a hermit. Like someone else mentioned earlier, I reckon I could gain that pleasure from a wood shop, and just go and make shit a few mornings per week. Build myself a car, there's a 12 month project at a couple of mornings per week. Hmm, maybe I would like early retirement