How much money would you need to quit work forever?

[Beezknees]

Musing over this as I am on the way to work 😂

Everyone has different circumstances. I would need quite a lot to be able to never have to work again, I'm 33 and don't own a house or have many savings, and only have a small private pension. I think I'd need about £30million to feel comfortable quitting work permanently at this stage of my life.

I just need 10k - am retiring in June but counting the minutes!

Not everyone has the same goal.

We're child-free, and my calculation can allow for erosion of the capital and is based on the premise of meeting the threshold to be able to give up work - not necessarily live out our fantasies.

Someone else might have 8 kids and want to calculate for passing on the living-without-working lifestyle with full-on fantasy-fulfillment for several generations.

I've about 20 years' work left in me, at my current income, a million would cover that. Hoping I'd live 20-30 years after retirement, another million to cover that (assuming leaving work now would mean I wouldn't get a decent pension). That would leave me comfortable with our current lifestyle. A bit more would be nice to pay off the mortgage and set the kids up for uni and beyond.

£1m I think would be doable for us and taking our pensions as soon as available. I'm 37 dh 39 and have 2 young kids. We are mortgage free and live in a 4 bed house so no need to move. £2m would give me £50K a year in my hand for the next 40yrs, that would be very comfortable for us.

If you really only need as little as a million to invest and live comfortably then why the hell are there billionaires in the world? What's with all the money hoarding?

Surely only what you would ha e early anyway ? Would you earn 30 million don't be stupid

Well what is your goal?

Having a nice life while not needing to work, or aiming to win a global 'who's yacht, space ship and bank balance is the biggest' competition?

Around 8 million I think so I can keep up with inflation
I would want my life at least as comfortable as it is now and all the way until I die because I don't want to have no money when I'm old etc
Want to have money to get things fixed privately instead of using the nhs

500k to each kid towards a house too

Yes about 8 million maybe 10

But I don't work and haven't since I was 23 I am 30 now

1m would be enough for me. Pay off the mortgage would be 100k, 50k making the house top notch, then 30k to live on. I'd invest 400k with advice.

£1million to quit work for both of us and maintain our lifestyle. We’re mid 40s.

£30mill sounds excessive!

Your question was about giving up work. If I had a million then I would give up work because I likely won't earn more than a million before I retire in 30 years so I'd have the same amount of money but wouldn't have to work for 30 years. My lifestyle wouldn't change other than I would have more time. And more opportunity to invest with a lump sum.

Billionaires tend to live ridiculous lifestyles. I just want a house, my bills paid, and be able to go on holiday and eat out occasionally.

£30m??
Basic maths......if you work from the age of 22 to 67 (assuming you went to uni) and earned an average of £40k per year, that's £1.8m earnings over the course of your career. But you'd need more unless you paid some of that into a private pension scheme.
So you're either earning a heck of a lot of money (in which case why do you not have savings or property) or have seriously over estimated your requirements!

Similar position to you - early 30s, don’t own home and have little savings, I think I could do it on about 3.5/4 million.

The standard FIRE thinking is to assume that your annual income is 4% of the total pot. So if you need £40k/ year then £1 million should last you if invested wisely.

I think £1.5 million to be on the safe side

DogInATent Goal might have been the wrong word to use or at least I am using it differently from you. Of course people have different eventual aims (lifestyle goals). I meant that the strategy that you use with your money should allow for growth espeically if your aim is to have a sum that will pay your living expenses ofor a long period. People are talking about how much they would need for decades and assuming in essence that they would need to have the spending money for all of those years in the bank before they quit. That's likely to end up with a far higher target figger (monetary goal) than if you invest and account for growth. Of course the higher the goal the less likely you are to achieve it so it matters if you are aiming to quit.

E.g. a person saying I need 40K for 50 years so that's £2M is likely to be overestimating what they need. The 4% rule would say that £1M could be invested to allow £40k a year to be drawndown and for that to increase with inflation. Some might be more conservative and suggest 3% or even 2.5% but even that would be £1.6M, still a way below £2M.

Some people genuinely believe that he who dies with the most toys wins.

But a lot of it is about insecurity. Take a look at any of the 'reality' shows that feature people with lots of money (or the illusion of lots of money). It's all shallow bling attempting to fill the void.

300k and a cyanide tablet.

£30 million is over a thousand years' salary!!!!

I reckon £5 million tops. £50k a year would cover everything and be far more than I've ever earned, plus some really good holidays, a nice (but not too fancy) house, set the kids up properly, never have to worry about money again.

Dreams....

If I got £1mil I'd never need to work again and I'm 32.
We are mortgage free and only need £500 per month to pay all the bills including food.
I would invest the money and live off the interest.
It wouldn't be a lavish life, but it would be doable.
DP is a lot older than me, so he would get his pension sooner than me - which would be more than enough to cover living costs having worked in the NHS for decades.

I'd probably work it out based on my max earning potential, minus a little bit.

I don't make this now, but I think I could be on £120,000 in the future.

So I'd just multiply that to retirement age. So about 4 million ish would be enough. Though not 100% I'd want to as I enjoy working.

I'd pay off house, invest some, buy a few treats, put money aside for children. Then set myself maybe £50,000 a year to live off which is loads if no childcare and mortgage etc.

How much is your council tax? Electric and gas? Dental? Insurance? Internet and phone? £500pcm doesn't sound realistic for two people

I think I could do it on half a million. I would prefer a bigger buffer though and do have school fees etc. Do a million would do it. That way it would be grand if I got pregnant again or something like that.

Never again work then nearer 1 million. Frugally possibly 500k

£30m?? I know you said you’re not financially savvy op but you could buy a house for £1m, put £1m aside for your child, take £50k out a year (more than double your before tax wage) and you wouldn’t run out for FIvE HUNDRED YEARS!
and that’s assuming your money doesn’t grow !

£3million.
£1million to buy, refurbish, decorate and furnish a house.
£3,000 a month for bills and 'fun' money for 52 years.
That would be JUST enough for my family of 2 adults, 3 kids and 2 dogs. To never ever have to think about money again, I'd say £6million though.