How much $ is needed to never have to work again?

[Ludanto]

This is my first post in this forum. I hope I have chosen the right one for this topic. Also I have practically no knowledge about the art of accumulating money effectively.

Main Question: How much money would you need to never have to work again?

My assumptions:

1. "to never have to work again":
a) means NOT to never do anything again which is solely serving the purpoe of accumulating money (for example sealing a profitable deal per phone while relaxing at home is not "work")
b) means to never have to do something which is serving the purpose of accumulating money AND is raising your heart rate noticably above your normal heart rate. (for example almost any 9/5 job will raise your heart rate noticably at some point no matter if it is more physical or more mental work)
c) means that the things you do to accumulate money take up less than 5 hours/week no matter how slow and relaxed you are going about those things (the numbers are based on nothing; just made up to have a base for possible calculations; think of money accumulation as a recreational thing here)

2. You are living by yourself and need 2000$ every month to:
- have a place to live at
- have something to eat
- have a car
- pay any other expenses that there are in life (insurances etc.)

3. You want your money to gradually increase (even with taking 2000$ out every month) no matter how small the increase is.


Imagine Santa would knock on your door and tell you he'd give you as much money as is needed to satisfy all 3 assumptions. (Santa will know if you request more than you minimally need [to the best of your knowledge] and will not give you the money if you ask for too much.)

Q1: How much would you ask Santa for?
Q2: Which branches of investment (and to what extent each) would you choose to satisfy all 3 assumptions?

[mo42nyy]

how old are you

[scott1]

too many assumptions

[Perplexity]

LOL @ $2k/month.

But setting that aside, back of the envelope calculation:

Inflation-indexed government bonds yield something like 2%. To have $24k/year after taxes, you probably need like $35k/yr income or something. If you want money to gradually increase (in real terms, after expenses/taxes), you need like $40k/yr. At 2%, that means you need $2 million.

[Ludanto]

I am not sure if this is a hint at my childish approach here [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

If it is thought to be a relevant assumption then you are 40 years old. Again if it is relevant it would be nice to know which differences there would be for a 20 year old and a 60 year old.

If the question is indeed a way to say that I made a poor post please elaborate. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[Ludanto]

I knew 2k would make people smile, lol.

2 million is a lot more than I would have guessed. But (as mentioned at the beginning of my OP) I have no clue. One also has to see that inflation-indexed government bonds sounds like a bullet proof thing.

I wonder what people with a good knowledge about the stockmarket, poker, sportsbetting (from the sportsbetting forum it looks like one can live of that) or other trades would say they would need.

In some post (was in NVG though I think) someone wrote in the past that 100k would be enough to make him never "really work" again. Even with my extremely limited knowledge about finances I think this is low though. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[mattnxtc]

huge difference between being 40 and being 60 and not working again...if you cant figure out the differences then you need to think about it some more

[scott1]

someone wrote in the past that 100k would be enough to make him never "really work" again.

This probably assumes online poker is not work. Even then, it's a terrible assumption.

+++++

I had a friend a few years back whose company stock options ballooned to the point that he asked his father (a VP of finance at a major company) how much he would need to retire at 25 and live the same lifestyle his parents did. I'd describe the lifestyle as the upper end of middle class. Nice 4 BR house in the 'burbs (no McMansion), new Lexus every 4-5 years, travel and dining out at a reasonable rate. Assume married and children at some point. His father's answer was "5 million".

This was without all of your assumptions, though.

[Ludanto]

Do you mean money more that needs to be spent for things health related the older you are? Or do you mean expenses that have to do with social life? (we can pretend I join a monastry ...which let's me pay for my room and my living expenses [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img] )

A hint would be nice.

[scott1]

inflation