Title says it all, what’s your number to walk away from it all? If you’ve been doing it for a while what was your first number? After you’ve done it for a while has it stayed the same or has it dropped? From those who aren’t on the street yet to the ones who’ve been doing it for years what’s your number?
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If I were to walk away from it all and stay in Chicago, my number is likely $4 million to retire and never have to work again. To maintain the same quality of life in NYC, LA or SF, I would likely need at least $76 million to retire. So yeah, whenever I hit $4 mil I will just move to chicago and should be able to live off that easily.
Why stay in Chicago? What’s retirement look like for you with that amount?
Why is the difference between Chicago and NYC so large for you? Even if you have a house & car in Chicago, this doesn’t add up
Heard this take somewhere else so not my own but to me money and numbers are nothing more than a quantitative "scorecard" on how well you're doing. Just like I wouldn't walk away after scoring 3 TD's in a football game, I find the concept of "walking away" strange. Maybe it's the equivalent of sitting out in the 4th quarter lolol
To some this may be true, but to many, money is just a means to an end. Money allows me to do the things that I enjoy and once I have enough of it, I can stop acquiring it (working) and focus on the things I enjoy. My plan, which has been working so far, is to build up a large enough principal amount where I am able to invest it and live what I consider to be a comfortable life off the income from that investment without touching the principal amount.
$63 million
Very specific. What would retirement look like and where would you live?
Once you have a paid off house in a decent location you´re basically set for life, in my opinion.
Well said , respect good sir.
Yeah then how you gonna pay to live your life?
$10MM to consider myself permanently retired. Why 10? The compounding nature of capital growth through investments starts to make a small percentage in growth return very large absolute numbers. For example, modeling out long-term equity returns at 10% investing in SPX would result in $20MM in ~7 years. Remember, 10% annual is a smoothed long-term return inclusive of bear markets. If the markets remain constructive for the next few years you'd be able to grow your $10MM to $15MM+ in just a couple of years, and you continue compounding away off of ever-larger numbers.
Well yes, I’m glad we are able to understand compound interest on the finance forum
You could also retire before a bear market and see your $10MM turn into $5MM. What happens then? Do you go find another job? It took years for the market to recover from the GFC and dot com bubble.
$1 mil in liquid net cash and I walk away today.
Obviously doesn’t mean I never work again. I’ll just do gig jobs here and there to stay busy while I trade my $1mil PA. Definitely wouldn’t do another 9-5, maybe 9-noon at a non profit
It’s all relevant to the lifestyle you’d like to have given inflation.
But I just want to add this philosophical take on it all, I saw mentioned above that at some point money just becomes a scorecard. That’s very true. But isn’t that why we play? That’s what a career is to the driven person, especially in high finance.
Now, sometimes the commas on the scorecard are what makes the person tick, sometimes it’s the broader picture of impact, sometimes it’s the freedom and peace of mind that comes with seeing 7 + figures, whatever.
Whatever it is, I think that it’s important to understand “why” we do what we do. Capitalism is not just a system to organize economically but it’s also a system that organizes people from within. As Friedman often wrote and preached, capitalism is a system that allows the most freedom for the individual. This freedom and your career pursuit is really just an expansion of character.
And sooner or later, with enough capital, your character will play out in the world through the work you have done, investments you have made, and how those have affected society.
$10M
Whatever the number is today, it'll move once you get there
$8,675,309
That is one of the best cloaked references ever Mr. Tutone.
haha if you know, you know.
.
Damn bro, looking at these numbers makes you realize how crazy it is that some people regard these numbers (10M ~) as absolute peanuts. Ackman, Icahn, Buffett, Griffin, Schwarzman ... these numbers are nothing to them lol. Insane
The thing is… those guys’ lifestyle isn’t materially different than that of someone with $5-10M in the bank. Sure, the Bill Ackmans of this world may have a Manhattan penthouse apartment by Central Park instead of a nice place in Brooklyn or upstate; or an extra house in the Hamptons. But is it materially different? No.
The incremental difference between a $10M, $100M, and $1B net worth isn’t lifestyle; it is power and influence.
Yea and the power and influence makes all the difference. And the growing number in the account. Also the flex to regular millionaires that comes with it - I would flex all day
1, 2, 3 and to the 4
Alright Dre. You were good back in the day, just ride that out. You didn't get hungover the balcony like Vanny Ice did by Suge Knight. Or run over and then backed up over on, again by Suge. Take the wins. You have Da Chronic and Da Chronic 2001. Both all time classics where one of them gave the rise to Eminem.
tbh I'm still sad that Detox was never released. It would have been sick if that was released first with an album cover of his face made out of weed leaves, Eminem's Relapse after, and the $0.50 coming out with some kind of album where it would be his face made out of 9mm ammo rounds to have a Dre trifecta.
sorry I have a boyfriend
I'd probably be more than happy with a $200k income in a low CoL area. Giving myself a 4% withdrawal rate, that means I'll need $5M in savings to be able to retire early and do whatever I want. However, everything depends on how fun I find the work at that time. If I think the work is fun, I'll stay on for longer, but if I start to get tired of it, I might quit / pivot earlier.
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