(2026) How much money do you need to be independently wealthy?

I have seen this type of question posted in financial advice parts of the Internet and I don't think of it the same way.


If the house of one's dreams costs a minimum of $4 million then retiring early is unlikely for most people.
If a person can be satisfied living in a house that currently costs $300,000 or less, then retiring earlier becomes possible for more people.

The same can be said for other things such as

• Autos
• Grocery shopping
• Entertainment
• Eating out
• Vacations
• Clothes
• Etc

I know that you mentioned never having to work again along with living a really nice Good Life, but I don't have that as likely for most people.

So I separate it into how much is a person willing to trade down on the Good Life so they can retire early.


Not totally FIRE, but not too distant from it either.

FIRE Explained: Financial Independence, Retire Early – Rules, Types & Planning

• Financial Independence, Retire Early (FIRE) is a financial movement defined by frugality, extreme savings, and investments.
• FIRE proponents may start by calculating their FIRE number, generally 25 times their annual expenses, which is the amount of money they expect to need in order to retire comfortably.
• Typically, FIRE followers withdraw 3% to 4% of their savings annually to cover living expenses in retirement.
• Despite the FIRE movement's rising popularity, few U.S. workers actually retire early.

What Is the FIRE Movement? (Financial Independence, Retire Early)?
Financial Independence, Retire Early (FIRE) is a movement of people devoted to a program of extreme savings and investment with the goal of retiring far earlier than traditional budgets and retirement plans would permit.

The 1992 best-selling book "Your Money or Your Life" by Vicki Robin and Joe Dominguez popularized many of the concepts used by people in this movement. The origins of the term and acronym FIRE are unknown, but the term came to embody a core premise of the book: People should evaluate every expense in terms of the number of working hours it took to pay for it.

 

5- 10 Million.

You will probably spent at least half a million on a house - off top unless you already have one
[I am going to assume after taxes . .. cause taxes takes 5 million now to 2~3 million and i don't
think that is enough]

I imagine say . . 6~8% return on investments
So for every 1 000 000 you invest . .. you will grow to 60 000
After buying my house maybe a car etc
Means I can invest maybe 3 million and live off the interest/investment

Rocket River

 

Depends entirely on your lifestyle, savings for multiple disaster/life trauma event recovery and inflation. I think for most middle-class people, lower 8 figures will easily cover everything, barring hyperinflation.

Personally, I don't think I'll ever really 'retire' and will always have irons in the fire.

 

I think the better way to phrase it would be what's the minimum amount you need to be independently wealthy and/or "set for life."

I could make 1 million work, but I'd say 5 million just to be safe.

Either way, I would:

1. Finish paying off my house (I love my house, don't want to move)
2. Buy a couple of reasonable cars for me and the wife
3. Buy a couple of used cars for my boys (they'll be driving in less than 2 years...)
4. Invest the rest and live off the interest and earnings only

I'm pretty conservative so honestly, I'd probably just throw what's left into an S&P Index Fund and live off the 10% average return. Wife and I would both keep our jobs because we like them. Besides the new cars, my life wouldn't look much different than it looks now. At least not from the outside.

 

10 mil

 

5-10 million according to OPs idea of retirement.

500k-1mil in Houston, 2x that for something on the west coast. 600k in cars for another 40 years of cars (leasing).

Yearly costs:
Probably 30-40k a year in property tax/insurance.
20k-30k in vacations.

So that might be say 1.5 mil for purchases, and needing like a 100-130k/year annuity for 40-50 years. The 30k to account for future inflation, so 2.6 mil for that. So roughly 3.1 mil + whatever extra for future medical costs.

I'd say 5mil is the minimum. Could make 2.5 mil work if you live frugally (cheaper house, drive an old used car and don't vacation or eat out)

 

More than you think, less than you want

 

Prospective
A street person is already doing it.
Lifestyle matters. Even then there are variables that can’t be controlled age, health, taxes, value of currency. Then government laws and regulations which change, too. Even war. What can you tolerate there is no actual answer. What works today will not in the future. One thing will always happen—> change.

sorry about the rant… that is fear talking —> and the stress of the word “comfortably”

 

I tell my kids often : I could've bought a mansion, super car and all the bells and whistles that comes with that BUT when you graduate from college you will live miserablely paycheck to paycheck because I didn't save enough to help you, But you also need to work hard and sacrifice!


Me in the future: I didn't buy mansion nor super car or fancy vacation BUT you worked hard and you don't really need me to help you, congratulations son.

 

Even FIRE has multiple definitions so really a combination of your cost of living that needs to be adjusted constantly due to change.

Are you leanFIRE or FAT FIRE? Are you willing to relocate anywhere from around your city to completely different countries? Will laws and circumstances change your financial objectives?

It really is a constantly changing number. But to answer your question, for the average American the math says anywhere between 5 to 10 million, which at 4% can give you between 200k-400k yearly income, sufficient to cover most people's lifestyle, depending where they live in America.

 

I have a nephew who just got his first big boy job. $90K/year right out of college. I told him "pretend like you're still in college" and just save save save. Work your ass off, max out your 401K, don't go buying a brand new car, etc. Avoid all the mistakes I made in my 20's.

First thing he did was go finance a $60K brand new truck. Ugh. I tried.

He's at least maxing out his 401K though. I wish I had started doing that in my 20's instead of my 40's.

 

20 bucks.