How much money would you need to never work again?

[Bunnahabhain]

I'm sure this is a game we all play with ourselves on a pretty regular basis. The Oprah purse thread made me play another round of this with myself this morning. What's your number and the conditions, i.e. house paid?

[aikoaiko]

1. 6 - 7 million

[canoeist52]

2. I would always want to be doing something useful.

Define work. No amount of money would make me just be idle.

[hobbit709]

3. If I had $50K a year coming in, it would let me do whatever I wanted.

But then I don't need a fancy house or car.

[leftstreet]

4. What do you mean by 'work?'

[quinnox]

5. Never working again can lead to a quick death

Ever notice how some people retire and then die soon afterwards. Maybe it is good to always be working on something.

[leftstreet]

16. That usually means they weren't laboring at home

Not always, but generally the case

There's a TON of daily laboring and responsibilities that happen outside 8 hr 5 day workweeks.

[Nay]

38. Well, exactly. People who die from 'not working' generally never lifted a finger at home

after their paid job. Nothing to do? No work at home? That's a joke. There are plenty of retired women who wish they had less to do at home. But you never get to retire from that.

[wandy]

23. +1 You got that right! nt

[MineralMan]

6. What would I do if I didn't work?

So, no. I'd probably shift to doing what I do on a pro bono basis for non-profits I support, though.

[closeupready]

7. I think I could probably just make it from now to grave on $500,000.

[liberal N proud]

8. I go nuts on the weekends if I don't have anything to do

Retirement would kill me.

[Igel]

9. Yup.

Father retired. Gained 40 lbs in 6 months.

Went back to work.

When his wife finally complained too much and too unreasonably, he quit his job. And promptly started to volunteer 20 hours a week or more. Kept it up until he was 81 or so.

[hollysmom]

15. I do volunteer work

just because you are retired, doesn't mean you have to sit around the house.

[HughBeaumont]

10. 1.25 - 1.5 million.

Even with a shite rate of return, you'd be making enough interest income per year to live handily without making a dent in that amount.

[BlueToTheBone]

25. But when you're dead

you won't need any of that money. So what would you really need to live for the rest of your life.

[PowerToThePeople]

11. 30k/year 50 years 1.5 mil. Less if it earns interest. n/t

[lpbk2713]

12. Moot question to me.

Not bragging or complaining but I dropped out of the rat race thirteen years ago at age 56 conceding defeat to the rats. No beach homes or European vacations on the horizon but I'm doing OK.

[hollysmom]

13. Well, when I was laid off in my late 50's, I was offered a few not great jobs by friends,

But I was seriously burnt out and could see that I was not nearly as bright as I used to be, and as people remembered me to be (after having to be resuscitated 3 times after an accident.)

If I sold my paid off house, my main asset, I would probably have had over a million. The house is worth a lot less now and the town is in financial trouble, so it will probably get worse.

I lived on savings until I could go for early retirement at 62. I now live on social security, small retirement plan from a 5 year job and savings still with occasional dip into 401K for major expenses like house repairs. I think this is good enough.

I think you need assets of at least a million to not work again if you are older. The younger you are, the more you need.

[Igel]

14. Unanswerable.

Fine, give me $10 million. What do I do with it?

Possibly lose most of it in bad investments. But I'd have a nifty plucked-string instrument collection before that.

Many were retired and all they needed to never work again. In 1929. Or 2008. They changed their minds.

Then again, my SIL said that she resented being part-time at work, she really needed more. Then she went on disability and found she could get by on less.

[TlalocW]

17. Give me 20 bucks right now

And I'll think it over.

TlalocW

[quinnox]

19. heh, yup

[closeupready]

28. LOL, there we go.

[Fuddnik]

18. How much you got?

I'll take it!

[TBF]

20. We are sort of doing that in my household -

husband is working and I am home with the kids. In order to "never work" I'd need to hire a nanny, so an additional 40K or whatever a year (and a slightly larger house if the nanny were live-in) ...


The only issue with our plan is that we still do have outstanding student loans and I may go back to work outside of the home to earn income at some point to pay those off quicker. Other than that we're good.

Lump sum I have no idea ... here in TX if you have a professional income (6-figure) you can do it w/one adult working depending upon how much you like new cars, how many kids you have etc ...

I think your responses are going to vary a lot depending upon where folks live and what they consider a comfortable living. I'm good w/driving older cars etc ... other folks have different preferences.

[Dash87]

21. 75,000 /year x 75 years = ~ $5.5 million

I would live a modest life style. $4.5 million is the bare minimum, imo, and iffy, based on future inflation.

[HERVEPA]

22. Will retire in a little over a year at 65 1/2

with maybe 420k and 30k/year social security. Should be fine. Only need enough for the time between now and when the dementia sets in.

[laundry_queen]

24. I think I worked it out to be 5 million

but that was to live comfortably, buying whatever I want - within reason I mean. 5 million would mean that even if I just shoved it in a savings account (after paying off my mortgage), at 1% I could live comfortably and still meet my family obligations.

[bitchkitty]

26. I don't work now.

But an extra few hundred a month would do a lot for my peace of mind.

[1-Old-Man]

27. I can tell you how I did it ...

First off I saved as much as I could while still providing for my family in a comfortable fashion. By saved I mean I put the money into various investment instruments. I then set my rule. The rule was this, I would keep on working and saving without reguard to retirement until the month the income from my investments (twelve month moving total) exceeded my then current annual income. At that point I would continue working and saving for one more year and then retire. I was able to retire at age 57 and have never charged anyone for a days work since.

[duffyduff]

41. So what if it works for you? For most people it doesn't, and don't think you have any control

over your fate. It is largely the luck of the draw that you didn't have major health problems or layoffs which left you destitute.

Most people are NOT you.

And you probably had a working spouse to cushion the blow. That is a HUGE deal compared to somebody who has to do it on his or her own and is kicked to the curb.

[hunter]

45. Luck so far, until random shit falls out of the sky.

My wife and I ran out our COBRAs and then we were uninsurable except through our state's high risk program which had a long waiting list. My wife was accepted, I was not, so I went without, insuring our kids separately.

We were a fairly healthy couple when we met, and if we'd had any sense we'd have emigrated to a true first world nation. If my kids decide to emigrate I'll give them my blessings and say GO! That's how my ancestors came to the U.S.A.. Their homelands were getting ugly.

These boots were made for walking. It's the history of humanity in a nutshell.

Currently my wife is carrying our medical insurance through her work. It's not excellent insurance, but things could be worse.

Our health care costs and insurance have exceeded our home mortgage for many, many years now.

[Bunnahabhain]

29. Work is mandatory and = what you have to do in order to survive.

If you can survive without showing up at a job it's not work but rather something you have decided to occupy your time with.

For those kicking in Social Security I would remind you the maximum benefit this year is for someone that does not start collecting until they are 70, and has hit the SS cap contribution every year for many years, and it's 3.35k or 40.2k per year. Few people wait until 70 and few people have earned the cap the required number of years. http://ssa-custhelp.ssa.gov/app/answers/detail/a_id/5/~/maximum-retirement-benefit

Most financial planners will tell you 4-5% "spend rate" is safe. It will allow you to weather the ups and downs and grow your nest egg to allow for inflation. So $5 million gets you a "safe" income of 250k per year, in 2013 dollars. Also keep in mind your taxes will change. They will go to being more Mitt Romney style as you're looking at capital gains and divided income not wage income.

[HereSince1628]

30. The key isn't money, it's ownership

of something of value that staves off starvation and disease.

A terrible consequence of the now failed industrialization of America, is that with industry's departure many workers own nothing that has such value.

Work should bring ownership in the enterprise, in the development and expansion made possible by the value added to a product through the laying on of working hands.

We failed as a nation, in our experiment with capitalism, when we failed to require that corporations share ownership with the workers who are as responsible for making profits as any financial investor.

[Bunnahabhain]

33. Money buys ownership if you want it to.

[HereSince1628]

34. Yes, IF you have it.

If the capitalists have cheated you out of your fair share, then you haven't as much of it as you should have to be able to gain ownership in the things that stave off hunger and disease.

[lumberjack_jeff]

31. Depends. How long am I going to live? Seriously, I love my work.

Last edited Mon Aug 12, 2013, 02:54 PM - Edit history (1)

It'd take a lot to get me to walk away from it.

[NuclearDem]

32. A lot. Only 24, and I know things are only going to get more expensive.

But since I drive a fairly fuel efficient car and would be more than happy with just a studio apartment, probably less than anticipated.

[cantbeserious]

35. 1 Million Minimum

eom

[Fix The Stupid]

37. Actually not much at all....

I just want my family farm back...

We lost it in the '80s...my parents had to get an operating loan at 23% interest...

It all went downhill after that. They drove the farm into the ground.

My dad was on suicide watch - yes it was that bad. I came home one day from school to see a few hundred people bidding on everything but the clothes on our backs - no exaggeration.

Sad thing is, I have to drive by this farm almost every day. Current owners have let it go to *@(. Do not cut the grass, outbuildings falling down, looks like a mess.

I just want it back to make my dad happy (He passed in 2010, but it was his dream to get 'our' farm back) and to be able to make a living on my own while helping as many people as I can. I would grow tonnes of extra food and give it away.

Yes, that's my dream. And a dream is all it will ever be

[hunter]

39. Nothing. I've got some experience as a feral human.

That strange guy with the shaggy beard and worn out clothes you see sitting at a computer in the public library posting on DU? It could be me someday! Paper towel bath in the public restroom. I don't stink. I'm affable too.

The nice thing about myself is that entirely off my meds I never know how bad my life sucks.

Living in a broken car in a church parking lot? Not so bad. Living in a backyard shack watching my feet rot? Not so bad. Police picking me up and taking me home for crawling around studying insects in a public place? Not so bad.

It's only the in-between places that terrify me. Functional is preferable, but entirely dysfunctional I'm oblivious. It's only when I know I could be doing better that it hurts.

[duffyduff]

40. 50k a year, for life n/t

[Duer 157099]

42. Money would allow me to work more

I would be able to contribute much more to this world if I had the resources. I'm doing the best that I can under the circumstances, but with more money, I could change the world for the better.

So, money wouldn't stop me from working at all. It would enable me to continue and to be more productive.

[Bunnahabhain]

43. I imagine many of us think this.

If we just had more money we would be able to get more done. The question is, "How do I get more money?" For me it's always been to work both harder and smarter. Guess it's a Catch 22.

[woodsprite]

44. Yeah, but you're working FOR someone and their beliefs/vision

Where if you HAD money, you could work for what you believe in, to further your vision of what the world should be. Look at the Koch's -- that's what they're doing -- they're just gazing at a wrong myopic vision.

They're willing to do ANYTHING to get money. Once they finally get *enough*, they can't put it to good use because they have forgotten (or never known) what it is to be one of us. They can't stop hoarding money/stuff because that IS their vision of the world. Where with our side, most of us wouldn't even consider selling ourselves out and going against our beliefs/vision just to get rich. They see their role as to make it so we can't get the big money unless we corrupt ourselves -- and they'd like it to be that we couldn't get ANY money. They say "Money corrupts". I don't think it would with all people. Maybe the saying should be "Money corrupts weak people and turns them into bullies."

Added: To answer the question, $8,000,000 should keep our immediate family as we are now for the next 50 years (which would put us at 100yo). That figure does not take inflation into consideration.