[Eli‏]

I don’t know about the rest of you, and honestly I respect everyone’s retirement goals. For me, financial freedom just means peace to escape the prison of employment.

Im working toward a happy and non-hedonistic life.

I want to garden, read, dine with friends and create. That being said, isn’t no debt (including mortgage) and $1M enough?

This page stresses me out that it won’t be.

Anyone else?

[Stacey]

If you are motivated enough I think u can make anything work. I could totally live on less than half of my monthly expenses if I needed to (and if I could convince my husband

[Cameron]

This is exactly my version of FI! And for my wife and I, $1M is exactly all that’s needed here in Iowa

[Kristina]

It’s doable, depending on your lifestyle. My older sister lives on less than $1500/month.

She rents in a LCOL area, doesn’t travel, doesn’t eat out very often, shops secondhand, etc.

She has funds from our mom’s estate for car maintenance & replacement at some point.

Not sure what her plans are for medical in the long run though.

[Brad]

YOU control what is enough! That’s the beauty of FI. Don’t listen to anyone fearmongering that you need a certain amount.

They can’t possibly know what your life costs and that is what drives how much you need.

[Lisa]

Guess that depends in how old you are when you retire and how much you’ll spend a year. You’ll have to do the math.

I personally wouldn’t feel comfortable with $1m when I retire at 60.

We will have no debt but do want to travel and not nickel and dime ourselves with every purchase for groceries, personal purchases, gifts, travel.

So, my husband and I are settling in $4m…but that’s 2 people, so if I were single I’d want at least $2.5m.

[Amanda]

At some point you will get some SS.
My concern is the cost of a new vehicle can be 40k, one year of expenses.

And what will they be 10,20,30 yrs from now.

I know you don’t need it to be new, but used can still be 15-20k.

I would almost want a separate account for future big purchases. We’ve actually done that- funnel more money to a separate “car” account.

[Carolyn]

Remember your mortgage free house gives you options: get a boarder, air bnb a room, downsize, rent it out and live in a tiny house on wheels…

[Crystal]

1M is my personal goal and seems enough. Listening to the podcast and all the resources mentioned (books ect.) has taught me that I live in one of the most expensive places in the world and how much our money is truly worth.

So grateful for this knowledge and perspective.

I felt like I got to wake up one day and realize I’m fantasticly wealthy e.g access to whatever food I want to eat, comfort and safety, I can travel.

Diverting as much as I can to savings/investing and only spending on what I feel is truly important so I can buy my freedom

[Ryan]

It’s because Americans in general are obsessed with consumerism. If you can’t make $40K a year work to some degree then you’re just simply another victim to consumerism.

Every few years there’s some wild event that makes people think they’ll need even more money yet I’m constantly seeing people retire on a million or less.

Sure some cities like Los Angeles or New York City you’ll need $2+ million to get by but if you’re passively making $40K a year it opens up more options than most realize.

You can get by in the vast majority of the country with that income and this isn’t factoring in social security or other income.

[Melissa]

FIREd at age 51 with very little money. Lived in Turkiye that year. Rent for fully furnished one bedroom condo and utils and unlimited fast wifi was about 200 USD per month.

Now 57 and been living in Thailand for 2 years. Next year I change cities because I found a 4 story narrow building for rent for 300 usd per month.

Even though I retired with very little money, my net worth is still about the same.

I will start social security at age 62 and it will easily cover my expenses and my savings can start to grow.

Only thing of concern is cost of medical insurance.

Really wish I was born in a country with universal health care since medical insurance cost is my biggest line item each month.

[张扬]

Followers of the voluntary simplicity movement (which has early ties with the FI movement) can absolutely get by on $1M or $40k/year.

And plenty of retirees are forced to live on that amount or less.

But only you know if you can be happy with a lifestyle that kind of money supports.

I grew up poor and know I can, as does most of the world outside of the US.

[Lori]

It will be for me. I live frugally and will have enough assets to live well.

[Ruby]

It will be more than enough for me, cause once my kids are on their own, I’m outta here!

[Ankur]

It all depends on your concept of Enough. I have a goal of 1 million and will always do a small hustle on the side like pet/house sitting.

Between SS and a 5% withdrawal from investments, I will be more than ok.

I plan on using up all my money before I depart this world. As for long term care if I have a terminal disease…I live in a state where the compassionate injection is available.

I have also been semi retired since I was 35 yrs old…will be 51 this November.

[Melanie]

Depends on your expenses. For us we feel we need more. We want to have enough to travel, enjoy entertainment and generously give to our kids and charity.

[Nalani]

Totally depends on your annual living expenses. If you live a modest life in an affordable area, that could be enough.

[Sofia]

I have a pension, paid medical and debt, both house/car and cc (most debt is at 0% or paid off monthly). I also have a $1M+ 401k that I withdraw from regularly.

If your budget is reasonable you can still live the good life even with debt.

I retired at 58 and since my pension doesnt cover it all, with the 401k I am more than good.

[Kyle]

If you want the real answer, you should take some time and let us know your exact expenses or dream life and then let you know if it’s realistic.

This is a very vague question otherwise and you won’t get an answer that fully satisfies you. Where do you want to live?

Condo or house? Kids? What car you going to drive?

How often will you get a new (used)car? How much did you budget for gas and car repairs? What’s your property tax? House and car insurance? How often and where do you want to travel?

How much you spend on food? How often you go out and where? How will you handle medical expenses, premiums and deductibles? HOA? Dental insurance and out of pocket costs?

Cell phone? Personal grooming? Hobbies? Want to go see a show ever?

You don’t want to retire too soon and then just worry about money all day for the rest of your life.

Is it possible on a million? Sure, but really depends on the above and understanding that a million today is not what it used to be.

I know that is frustrating but inflation, housing costs, food costs, insurance, etc has only gone up.

For many it might not be the end of the world to coastFI and work 20 hours a week at target or Starbucks and get insurance covered and take the strain off your portfolio.

So, what are your actually expenses or dream retirement you are thinking of. Help us help you.

[Steve]

Man, it is so exhausting reminding people of this and they don’t completely think this through.

If you worked in your life (which obviously you did to be able to save this much) then you do have some level of SS coming.

For whatever reason, people don’t factor that income in along with a spouse SS if that’s the case.

That amount means, you need less out of your portfolio withdrawals!!!

Say each SS benefit is 2k a month or 4k combined, that’s 48k annual.

Now if you want live on say 72k annual income that means portfolio needs to provide the additional 24k annual and that’s more than doable with lots less than 1 million.

[Author]

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