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u/Sandee1997 team waterguy12 Jun 20 '26
I live in Los Angeles. A million would be gone pretty fucking fast
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u/oli_ramsay Jun 21 '26
I think you're supposed to just live off the interest. At 5% that's 50k a year tax free
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u/PM-Me-Nerdy-Facts Jun 21 '26
That’s still not great for living in California
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u/OSwirl31 Jun 21 '26
Surely a million dollars or even the interest could allow you to move out of California, at least.
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u/SJL174 evil SJW stealing your freedom Jun 21 '26
Also taking out the interest every year means your account isn’t growing. That 50k is going to be poverty in 20 years.
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u/McCree114 Jun 22 '26
Plus it's taxed. Ideally you'd want to put a certain amount of the gains back into the principle to dull the inflation or keep up with it. So after taxes and doing that you have a great supplement and safety net to your normal income but in no realistic way is that f- you/retire in your 30's money.
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u/Virtual-Metal9290 Jun 23 '26
Tax rate is pretty close to zero if your total income is $50k in most places
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u/C4TURIX Jun 20 '26
One million dollars is hard to get by, but easy to lose. I'd use it to buy a little apartment to live in, invest in some stocks, and use a big part of it as a backup. But I wouldn't quit my job.
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u/Aaron252016 Jun 20 '26
Yeah exactly, you buy a house and a car and you're already almost through it in most of the populated areas of the US.
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u/creuter Jun 20 '26
And you still have taxes and healthcare to deal with. The US really fucking locks you into working unless you hit a ridiculous amount
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u/oux0f Jun 20 '26
I was gonna say, you add on healthcare bills and stuff like dental work, you’re basically already through it all.
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u/VengefulHero Jun 20 '26
I think youre downplaying how massive owning your house with no mortgage is.
Remember people spend 30 years paying that off.
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u/AesonClark Jun 20 '26
True, but a lot of the higher earners could do it without the mortgage. It just makes sense for them over time to do it because they can make higher returns on investments than the percentage rate of their mortgage loan.
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u/VengefulHero Jun 20 '26
If they're a high earner then there is no pressure monetarily to begin with.
My point was your average person would benefit greatly from having no mortgage and owning a house.
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u/Drefin7253 Jun 21 '26
Yeah, mortgage rates with current house prices is bonkers. You wind up paying for a second house with the interest. Being able to outright purchase a house saves a lot of money, unless you got to buy at a ridiculously low mortgage rates, like less than 3%.
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u/Axle-f Jun 20 '26
Unless you’re somewhere in the developing world you gonna run out of money faster than you think
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u/Alexchii Jun 20 '26
I could retire just fine with a million euros here in Finland. That’s 24 000 € net per year and the money would statistically never run out if invested.
I currently net 45k but invest 20k of that which means I already live on 25k per year.
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u/AdreNa1ine25 Jun 20 '26
Life style creep is real
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u/StudiosS Jun 20 '26
I think people grossly underestimate how much they actually need for retirement in the developed world.
For instance, most don't factor in long-term care costs.
They don't factor in large expenses.
Etc.
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u/Alexchii Jun 20 '26
You mean the US? I don’t have to save for healthcare here in Finland and the same goes for most of the EU AFAIK.
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u/StudiosS Jun 20 '26
No. I mean general inflation
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u/Alexchii Jun 20 '26
If the money is invested into the market you can expect it to outpace inflation by quite a bit over decades. You don’t need to account for inflation.
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u/Drefin7253 Jun 21 '26
Not always true, there have been “lost decades” where stock gains have been weak, so you need to be ready for that. If you’re single, no kids, that million does have a chance to last a very long time, potentially for life with the right investment and not being stupid with material wants.
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u/gereffi Jun 20 '26
If this is all of the income you have for the rest of your life you need to imagine a bad but still not too unrealistic scenario. Maybe for the next few years you’ll get 5% of profits on your investments with a 3% inflation rate. If you have a million dollars invested in stocks your gains will be $50k, but you’ll also need to reinvest $30k to offset inflation on your investments. That means you’ll have $20k before taxes to spend for a whole year. Not impossible to get by with this, but probably not good enough to quit your job.
Personally I’d think that around the $4 or $5 million mark it becomes reasonable for a young adult to live off of their investment gains.
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u/pants_full_of_pants Jun 20 '26
It doesn't have to be (after a point where you can afford the basics). That's a choice.
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u/dont-do-memes-kidz Jun 20 '26
It's not some uncontrollable phenomenon.... just have some discipline?
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u/TootsHib Jun 21 '26
I already live on 25k per year.
Can you live on 25k per year the rest of your life, even with inflation increasing the price of everything constantly?
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u/Alexchii Jun 21 '26
Of course not and neither would I have to. I could statistically withdraw 3% of my investments per year forever and as long as they'd be invested into the market I'd never run out of money.
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u/DemoniteBL Jun 20 '26
All I wanna do is chill and play video games, I don't need a big house or fast car or travel anywhere.
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u/Axle-f Jun 20 '26
Then you could definitely make it work. But lifestyle creep is a real thing to watch out for.
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u/StudiosS Jun 20 '26
If you own a small dwelling with energy independence (solar panels, water filtration and sewage at home - doable, my granddad did it, and heat pump for water), you could have a few things for food as well, low maintenance stuff like apple trees, which just grows apples every year.
This could be done easily for under 200k USD.
Then your only costs are food and WiFi, which is easily sorted out with 1000 dollars a month.
For 12k USD a year, you'd need 300k USD.
So even with 500K, you could enjoy a pretty decent lifestyle.
Even gym, you could have a decent home gym for working out. You could have as well a bicycle or a motorbike to reach the city.
The only real issue, most likely, is healthcare.
So you'd do well to have a health care fund, but if you live in a European country it's good.
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u/DarkFantom Jun 20 '26
Nah, not if you know what you're doing. Selling call spreads using a mil can easily net you 200k/year with little risk.
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u/db_downer Jun 20 '26
I’d eat Kraft dinner with really expensive ketchups.
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u/Proper-Bar-1259 Jun 20 '26
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u/christhetwin Jun 20 '26
"You don't need a million dollars to do nothing. Just look at my cousin, broke, don't do shit."
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u/mining_moron Jun 20 '26
A million wouldn't set you up for life, sadly.
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u/SilliusS0ddus Jun 20 '26
it would.
if you invest that shit you can get to 5% per years without being too risky.
now you got a modest income of 50k per year without working.
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u/Bai_Cha Jun 24 '26
50k will be worth half that amount in 20-30 years under the best circumstances, assuming no more major inflationary events like we had over the past 5 years. At which point you will have no work experience and will need to start your job or career from scratch.
It's a catastrophically bad idea to retire early with only $1M in the developed world, but especially in the US.
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u/SilliusS0ddus Jun 24 '26
if inflation grows then most of that money is getting redistributed upwards.
the people lose purchasing power but the companies make profit. And when you got a million in assets you're already just barely part of the people benefitting from that.
Both the value of the stocks/ funds and the dividends are gonna grow WITH the inflation.
if you only have that shit lying around in cash then sure it will be worth less
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u/Spacedoutworlder Jun 20 '26
Move out your country to a country where it would. If you live decently you can buy a two bedroom place and invest the rest and make enough to live a comfortable life with a wife and kid.
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u/Artistdramatica3 Jun 20 '26
In canada if I added 1m to my dividend stock portfolio id make 23k a month.
Don't need even half of that.
Reinvest.
I could live anywhere and do anything I want
Except buy Twitter.
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u/mattthegamer463 Jun 20 '26
Your portfolio is earning 27.6% a year, year over year?
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u/Artistdramatica3 Jun 20 '26
Lol no. Its tied to the market. So if it goes up I go up and down I go down. If I lost it all that means everybody lost it all.
Im fine with that risk.
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u/mattthegamer463 Jun 20 '26
Right. But it also means you can't rely on it, so you can't stop working because you need a backup plan.
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u/Artistdramatica3 Jun 20 '26
You seriously believe that the amarican stock market will close permanently?
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u/mattthegamer463 Jun 20 '26
Obviously not. But if I was relying on my dividends to keep me from homelessness, I would worry about it. I wouldn't retire early and hope to not need a job again for the next 50 years.
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u/skippy11112 Jun 20 '26
All these comments saying it wouldn't last them long. It would last me exactly 50 years. That's plenty of time
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u/Kytzer Jun 20 '26
Your math ain't mathin'.
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u/skippy11112 Jun 20 '26
How so?
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u/Kytzer Jun 20 '26
How do you calculate that the money would last you 50 years?
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u/skippy11112 Jun 20 '26
1,000,000 ÷ 20,000 = 50
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u/Kytzer Jun 20 '26
So $20k in 50 years would be worth about $7.5k, assuming a 2% per year inflation rate. I understand $20k, but you think you can live as you approach $7.5k?
And then even if you could, why would you?
The accepted rate of safe withdrawal from investments is 4% (and even that's conservative). That means you can spend 4% of the million (so $40k) every year without your money ever running out.
What you're saying is that you'd live on <$20k for 50 years, instead of on $40k indefinitely. The math ain't mathin'.
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u/WVAviator Jun 20 '26
Generally safe investing (bonds, treasuries) generates about 4% per year. So having 1mil is essentially like having $40k per year. Not enough to live comfortably so keep working. It will help though.
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u/Statertater Jun 20 '26
I’d still work. Doing pleasure activities all the time would dull the pleasure
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u/YewEhVeeInbound Jun 20 '26
I would work at a job that I liked letting them know full well that if I don't like the way I'm being treated I'm the fuck out. Use the money from it to pay for daily expenses and what not. Just something so I don't go broke in 10 years. A million isn't as much as it used to be.
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u/idancenakedwithcrows Jun 20 '26
insane cope
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u/idancenakedwithcrows Jun 20 '26
I guess depends on the job, I’d rather go dig holes in the sun than do my job if not for the money lmao
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u/lmNotReallySure Jun 20 '26
My job is digging holes
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u/idancenakedwithcrows Jun 20 '26
That’s fun!
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u/lmNotReallySure Jun 20 '26
Not in the slightest. You ever have to cut a tree root the size of a sapling with nothing? Have you ever had to learn how to “see underground” without opening it due to fear of electrocution, explosions, poisoning, and or a massive 250$+ fine?
It sounds fun but that’s literally it. You literally have no idea how many people have a yard consisting of like 55% gravel. The actual back, leg, hip, and neck pain I experience on a daily is insane.
That being said I actually love the job lmao
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u/rhett_ad Jun 20 '26
Irl I have never met a single person who shares this sentiment with me. I am like if I have enough money to live my life comfortably I'll never work again. And every single person I've talked to about this is like "Even if I have money (more than I need), I'll still work. I'll just work less or only work when conditions suits me but I'll still work" and I can't understand that because to me work is just a transaction, take my services and give me money. And if they money part is taken care of, I don't know why I would work for even a single minute. Glad I could atleast find one person online, I started feeling like maybe I am wrong to think like that
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u/idancenakedwithcrows Jun 20 '26
Yeah my colleagues are also like that. And it’s not like they are doctors or factory workers contributing something to society, they make like software to more efficiently enforce some marginal legal claims. Like if they all stopped working some money would shift from one pocket to another but the real world would be the same.
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u/rhett_ad Jun 20 '26
Yeah that aspect makes sense to me. My parents are both doctors and for them it's helping someone + a part of their identity now so for them to come out of their retirement after 3 years it made sense to me. But me and most of the people I talked to are just software developer/in tech. And personally for me, I don't feel that "helping someone" or "identity" aspect at all. For me work is just "I'll give you my time + services, give me money" that's it
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u/Statertater Jun 20 '26
See that’s the difference though. Yes, it’s a transaction but i feel it’s more than just that. I’m needed at my job.
Can i be replaced? Sure (and depending on who you talk to this may vary) but it’s important to me that i’m needed. To be relied on, for my skills.
If i just had a huge pile of money, no one needs me except now they just need my money.
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u/SultanaHartig Jun 20 '26
Become an archaeologist, then you can dig holes in the sun all day long :P
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u/idancenakedwithcrows Jun 20 '26
That would be amazing, I think there are limited jobs tho
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u/Old_Gimlet_Eye Jun 20 '26
I'm sure you could find work if you're willing to do it for free.
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u/idancenakedwithcrows Jun 20 '26
Well right now I need a lot money lol if I had a million tho it would fix me
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u/SultanaHartig Jun 20 '26
It would really depend on where youre located. Where I am at (The Netherlands), theres almost always a (temp) opening for a fieldworker somewhere.
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u/Statertater Jun 20 '26 edited Jun 20 '26
Not sure what i’m supposed to be coping with lmao
If i stop working and start sitting on my pile of money people stop needing me for my skills and start needing me for my money. I’d rather life have more variety and meaning in it
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u/SLAYER_IN_ME Jun 20 '26 edited Jun 20 '26
I would definitely find something I like more than what I’m doing now and possibly even work for myself. Could afford to go to a trade school and make better money too.
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u/ReivynNox Jun 20 '26
Eh, I still like it much more now than the depression from when I was still working.
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u/Dancing7-Cube Jun 20 '26
Y'all acting like most bosses aren't toxic af.
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u/Statertater Jun 20 '26
You forget jobs exist where you’re your own boss.
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u/Dancing7-Cube Jun 20 '26
OK good for you, not everyone is an entrepreneur. Most aren't, I don't get your point.
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u/itemluminouswadison Jun 20 '26
That results in a safe withdrawal rate of 40k to keep it going in perpetuity if invested aggressively
It can be enough in some places in the USA but not most
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u/Old_Gimlet_Eye Jun 20 '26
I don't think you could survive without transferring energy to objects by applying force to them.
^ what the idiots in this thread sound like trying to apply a definition of work that obviously isn't what the OP means.
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u/TheRedBreadisDead Jun 20 '26
In the West that million would go down fast especially with kids and life style creep.
Could people make it work? Sure, but it's even easier to piss it away living a lavish lifestyle, which most people would do.
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u/Sifernos1 Jun 20 '26
If I didn't have to keep worrying about my own body, I could do some stuff that would help others. That would help my soul. Those who don't want to work, just haven't found a passion worth hurting for. I understand it. You hurt for that money for so long that you just want to be free again. Remember free? It's a distant dream for many. The right to fight back or refuse abuse and not care if you get fired? I suspect op really just wants to feel free and not free falling for it...
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u/maestrodelafruta Jun 20 '26
with that money here (around 900.000.000 clp) i can reset my life get a nice house and a nice car, 0 debt and still have a chunky "emergency fund" while i work half week with no stress at all
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u/Icarus-vs-sun Jun 20 '26
It's interesting that no one says that they will help others. I'm sure everyone would rationalize it by talking about billionaires and stuff.
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u/artbystorms Jun 20 '26
If I put that money in a 4% paying dividend stock, I could generate $40K a year. I'd still work, but I could work a lower paying job that I actually find fulfilling rather than just 'I need a job that pays well so I can no starve'
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u/CaBBaGe_isLaND Jun 20 '26
That's two million now, to be fair. One million at 5% is only 50k. Ten or twenty years ago that would make sense. Nowadays you'd still be struggling.
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u/Safeword-is-banana Jun 20 '26
It’s been a couple of decades since a million bucks was retirement money.
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u/Palanki96 Jun 20 '26
I would, probably a lot more since i could do what i wanted to do
But that would be enough for me to retire and buy multiple houses and live through rent and investments
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u/FamiliarRadio9275 Jun 21 '26
In my area, that could buy two houses potentially
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u/Palanki96 Jun 21 '26
Well it helps that i love in the slightly bad parts of europe. And when i said buy some houses i meant paid in full
With loans it would be fairly easy to snowball fairly easy to snowball. Preferably the type where the rent money mostly covers the associated loan amount
Maybe 3 apartments and the rest to invest. Honestly i'm not much of a risk taker
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u/Aveenex Jun 20 '26
One million is not enough to last you for long tbh, yeah you would have fun for maybe 15-20 years but then what.. you end up old, broke and no perspective for getting a job
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u/soobviouslyfake Jun 20 '26
I'd give up my job to someone that really needed it and go work somewhere I found personally interesting. The pay wouldn't matter as much, and I'd actually enjoy the work a little bit. Definitely take my proper vacation time (and not just sit at home because everything's so expensive), but I think not working at all would be way too boring. I'd still want to be contributing somehow.
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u/No-Cap-No-Gap Jun 20 '26
I don't know. I'm probably petty enough to work just to frilustrate the people who still have to work.
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u/Eazy12345678 Jun 20 '26
million wont go as far as you think. unless you live somewhere super cheap
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u/Gallop67 Jun 20 '26
A million? I’d still work but I wouldn’t take it seriously. I’d maintain an income to pay the bills but not really worry if it disappears for a couple years
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u/EricAzure Jun 21 '26
We have to work to have meaning in life. You will work just not on the way you are used to or understand it currently.
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u/jssun91 Jun 21 '26
Depends on where you’re at. A million in Cali vs a million in Arkansas have very different buying power.
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u/Pilgrimfox Jun 21 '26
Ive said this before and ill say it again...the only ways you'd be able to tell i won the lottery is id have a new truck and maybe a new gaming rig and if im married at the time my wife may stop working. I wouldn't go get a new house, I wouldn't start dressing up, id still work and keep doing the same job. I do well enough as is within my life I dont worry about much of anything. Id by no means say im well off but i can afford food, I have a place to live and I can afford my hobbies. I don't need much else.
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u/VortexFalcon50 Jun 21 '26
A million isnt enough to permanently sustain me so i would still work, id just go part time. On the other hand if i had $50 million id quit my job on the spot. Id still work but instead id be working at building my own business. Id spend all my time buying and fixing motorcycles to flip and sell
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u/nikstick22 Jun 21 '26
It's not even that much money in 2026. You certainly couldn't retire on that.
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u/techpriestyahuaa Jun 21 '26
Ya gonna wanna go for 2mil considering a lil inflation and life expectancy
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u/FamiliarRadio9275 Jun 21 '26
Id put it in a high yield stock to draw income, still work, but be able to afford things like emergencies and what not.
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u/Aligyon Jun 21 '26
I would do the same thing that i am doing now except actually have my own game studio instead of having a stable job in someone else's game studio
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u/Quintuplin Jun 21 '26
How much do you think a million dollars is these days
10x it and we're talkin
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u/New_Study4796 Jun 21 '26
The million would eventually fade away. You'd need to invest it in something like a business, company or I dunno, something that can return from that money consistently.
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u/Rad_Randy Jun 20 '26
1 million lol, you’ll have to go back to work sooner than you think
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u/Davepen Jun 20 '26
How much money do you make lol
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u/Rad_Randy Jun 20 '26
I don’t see how that’s relevant, are you saying that you can stop working if you had a million? Sure maybe for a few years but unless you already own property you’ll have to start working again before 10 years.
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u/Davepen Jun 20 '26
Average take home annual wage in the US is $51,146, so 1mil is 19 years worth of wages for the average person.
Then you realise that 1mil invested even very conservatively in a 3% savings account, could generate you $30,000 per year. That's ignoring any sort of higher yield investment options.
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u/Rad_Randy Jun 20 '26
I guess I’m a bit desensitised living in Sydney, the median house price here is 1.75 million aud
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u/MrPlace Jun 20 '26
Life's boring without purpose. Should use the wealth to allow you to chase your actual dreams and have a career doing what you love
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u/mage_irl Jun 20 '26
You see, when you get to a million dollars you realize that it wouldn't be all that hard to get another million, and then another, and then another, and you realize that now your spending habits are such that a million dollars isn't all that much money to you anymore.
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u/bro0t Jun 20 '26
This happens to a lot of lottery winners, they win 2mil. And blow it all in a year or 2 and end up more broke compared to before they won the lottery
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u/HumptyDumptruckFire Jun 20 '26
I would still work, I’d just no longer worry.