I don't plan to retire. I had a nice half year break after selling my company. It's not that great. Productive engineer = happy engineer.<p>I'd like to be a kind of tech monk. Someone who goes around on the bare minimum needed to survive, be away from the distractions of society, and polish my skills day after day.<p>Every now and then I'd leave my monastery to rescue a half billion dollar project somewhere or to take down an evil tech giant with open source. Then I use my loot to continue another few years of peace and solitude.
For me, I think the answer is very different depending on whether you've got a job with set hours and location (which we should all get away from) or whether you're more flexible and maybe running your own business.<p>I've run my own businesses since leaving school and although I expect to slow down as I get older, I don't ever want to retire. I just want my role to evolve and spend more of my work time doing the (work related) things I enjoy most. I've always thought that business owners who look forward to retirement need a new business.
5.6MM<p><pre><code> based on spending 18,668/mo = 224K/yr
25 x 224k = 5.6MM
assumptions:
- withdraw 4% per yr
- earn avg 7%+ per yr
- inflation 3%
</code></pre>
Money will last forever and I will die with bigger balance than day I retire.<p><a href="http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2012/01/13/the-shockingly-simple-math-behind-early-retirement/" rel="nofollow">http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2012/01/13/the-shockingly-sim...</a><p>ps. I will hit this number in 47 months. Here's how I know:
<a href="https://lab.madfientist.com/" rel="nofollow">https://lab.madfientist.com/</a>
When I have saved and invested around 500k in euros, this will generate about 20k euros per year. My mortgage will be paid as well, so it will be enough to live on. I'll be 55 by then.
Just work on your passive income generation, few hundred thousands per year would be enough for most people....<p>Once you have your FY money, you'll see that retirement is overrated... and I have a lot of hobbies + plans to travel with my wife when the kids are out of the house (hopefully in the next few years), but besides all that, every year I am postponing my retirement, because I just cannot leave the team I am managing... so maybe next year :-)