...Wasn't trying to debate. Just wondering if you've accounted for the things mentioned. It seems very difficult to have included those in the number you suggested. If you have ways of paying for those things or being certain you won't need to pay for them, it would be helpful to know about that....
As mentioned, the numbers were arbitrary in the sense of not representing an actual retirement plan. That said, it would be child's play to retire on US$250,000, if that represented my total net worth and I decided I wanted to retire right now. If this retirement were taking place right at this moment with that exact asset level, I would probably convert the assets to CAD and move back to Canada. (I am a citizen of Canada.) I would have CA$323,263 to play with.
To start, I would buy a condo for CA$150,000 (inclusive of any closing costs), leaving CA$173,263 for everything else. The condo association fee (usually referred to as "HOA fees" in the US) might be CA$250 per month, but for the sake of this post it will include some utilities such as trash, water, and sewer. Other utilities will be separately billed, including internet and mobile phone, and might add up to another CA$150 per month. For food, I would eat Kraft Dinner every day (the Canadian name for "Kraft Macaroni & Cheese"), at a cost of about CA$1 per day, or CA$30.5 per month. My transportation costs would be approximately zero because at low income, there are programs everywhere for reduced or free prices on public transit.
In some provinces of Canada, basic health insurance (covering medically necessary services) is free but more extended coverage costs money; whereas in other provinces, all insurance costs money (but usually not much by US standards). However, in all provinces there are programs to get basic and extended health care services for free at low income, and I would be low income, so we can assume the healthcare cost is zero.
Property tax and insurance will probably be less than another CA$2,000 per year. This brings my projected yearly expenses up to CA$8166, requiring roughly CA$180,000 to sustain, which is approximately covered by the CA$173,263 is non-real-estate assets. Introducing a mortgage loan would only make things safer, although as a practical matter I probably wouldn't actually be able to get a mortgage loan.
Are you accounting for ... possibly having kids one day ...?
"Having kids" would make the above plan dramatically safer and more luxurious. Children would only occur in the context of a romantic relationship, and I would only ever enter into a romantic relationship with somebody who had a similar financial philosophy and similar level of assets (which, for the purpose of this hypothetical retirement plan, is US$250,000). Therefore, entering into the relationship would add another CA$323,263 of assets to play with, representing with the 4% rule another CA$13,000 of spending per year. That would be more than enough to raise multiple children, even before considering the numerous government benefits of having children at low income.
...Maybe you are ready to retire now?
Maybe. I ask myself this question every day, but for various reasons, it probably won't happen just yet.