Author Topic: How big of stash do you need if planning on a part-time gig?  (Read 8417 times)

Dances With Fire

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How big of stash do you need if planning on a part-time gig?
« on: August 23, 2017, 07:56:54 AM »
This topic came up on the Boglehead forum recently. Thought it was worth posting here for some extra feedback.

If one plans on continuing to *work* part-time, how much of a stash are you comfortable with to leave the full-time corporate world? Of coarse everyone's situation is different and some may not be able to physically continue with the work they are in currently, however always appreciate comments from the MMM community.

The DW and I feel that approximately 750k = 30,000 USD per year would be "enough" for our basic needs and then 20k +/- from part-time work for extra travel, vehicle replacement, etc.


Gimesalot

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Re: How big of stash do you need if planning on a part-time gig?
« Reply #1 on: August 23, 2017, 08:05:11 AM »
The answer really depends on what you plan on doing for part-time work.  If both of you plan on working, that's $10k a year each, about $850 a month, $200 a week. 

Do you and your husband have the skills to earn this much money? 

One thing that you may not have considered is that your ability and willingness to work will probably decrease very quickly.  Would you be able to maintain your happiness at the $30k a year without working?

TartanTallulah

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Re: How big of stash do you need if planning on a part-time gig?
« Reply #2 on: August 23, 2017, 08:06:02 AM »
At every level, I think the answer is, "It depends."

I thought about this, and for me the sum is the same for retiring with plans for a part time gig as it is for retiring with no intention of ever working at all. I think there's a fair chance that I'll end up trading time for money in a small way post-FIRE, but I want to have the option of not working at all and it's worth hanging on in my current job, which pays well, for long enough to avoid the need to do lower-paid work in future if I take to a life of leisure.

If someone has an established plan for part time work that they really want to do, it's different. My answer would be, "Enough of a stash to make up the difference between your aspirational income and the minimum income you might expect from your part time gig, with a little extra as a contingency." But there isn't one absolute figure, you need your own numbers.

OurTown

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Re: How big of stash do you need if planning on a part-time gig?
« Reply #3 on: August 23, 2017, 08:42:17 AM »
This is exactly what I plan to do.  I already have the part time gig where I make about 18k for about 5 hrs per week of work.  I'm going to keep it after I FIRE until such time as I take SS.  Let's assume for the purpose of argument that we are going to need 5,000 per month pre tax, because we are fancy pants super spenders.  That's 60 per year, less the 18, we will need 42k from investments, or a stache of $1,050,000.  Obviously, you can play with the variables all day, and ymmv.

Dances With Fire

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Re: How big of stash do you need if planning on a part-time gig?
« Reply #4 on: August 24, 2017, 06:25:34 AM »
Thanks for the replies! This is the kind of information that I was looking for, if someone has the need, willingness, or the ability to work part-time. The idea of having the CHOICE to walk away completely is great advice.

Khanjar, thanks for the livingafi link! I have read many of Doom's blogs, however must have missed that one. Some very good information on his site.

meatface

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Re: How big of stash do you need if planning on a part-time gig?
« Reply #5 on: August 24, 2017, 06:42:57 AM »
This topic came up on the Boglehead forum recently. Thought it was worth posting here for some extra feedback.

If one plans on continuing to *work* part-time, how much of a stash are you comfortable with to leave the full-time corporate world? Of coarse everyone's situation is different and some may not be able to physically continue with the work they are in currently, however always appreciate comments from the MMM community.

The DW and I feel that approximately 750k = 30,000 USD per year would be "enough" for our basic needs and then 20k +/- from part-time work for extra travel, vehicle replacement, etc.

I might be in this situation soon.

I don't think there is a right answer. We are roughly halfway to FI. My changing-of-careers (with accompanying MUCH lower income) will certainly slow down our time to FI, but I (and we) will be much happier overall. I would certainly feel less comfortable doing this if we were, say, only 10% to FI. But halfway is pretty substantial.

CheapScholar

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Re: How big of stash do you need if planning on a part-time gig?
« Reply #6 on: August 24, 2017, 10:41:15 AM »
I feel every week there is a "how much" or "how little" question asked.  And then everyone responds with a bunch of "depends" responses - usually about geography, family size, etc.

I seem to remember a blog of a guy who lives off 100K in investments and lives in a van.  Not sure if he purchased health insurance with his $4,000 in annual withdrawals.

I've been watching the new series on the UNABOMBER.  In one scene, the brother turning in the UNABOMBER tells the FBI that the UNABOMBER lives off $400 per year.  Of course, UNABOMBER owned his land in Montana and his small cabin.

So, adjusting for inflation and being conservative, can we all agree moving forward that the "minimum" to retire is your own land and a shitty cabin in the woods and a $20,000 stash that spins off $800 per year?

Orvell

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Re: How big of stash do you need if planning on a part-time gig?
« Reply #7 on: August 24, 2017, 10:57:17 AM »
I'm in the process of hashing this out for myself, but what I'm aiming for is more semi-FIRE. I want more time now to work on art, so I'm going to shove my Stash to the side and let it do its thing and pick up enough p/t work to just cover my living expenses. I won't save, but I won't touch my Stash either. Goal is to make 22-24K from a p/t gig, which will keep me in my current life style give or take.
There's options. :)

CheapScholar

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Re: How big of stash do you need if planning on a part-time gig?
« Reply #8 on: August 24, 2017, 12:44:42 PM »
I feel every week there is a "how much" or "how little" question asked.  And then everyone responds with a bunch of "depends" responses - usually about geography, family size, etc.

...

So, adjusting for inflation and being conservative, can we all agree moving forward that the "minimum" to retire is your own land and a shitty cabin in the woods and a $20,000 stash that spins off $800 per year?

It depends...

Do you have the right skills/are able enough to live off of the land? Will your family be OK with the shift in lifestyle? What if real estate taxes go up? What if you want a platinum  plated outhouse next to your shack? What if you move to the 3rd world where both land and taxes are cheaper and only need $10K instead of $20K?

:)

Well done...  I tip my cap to you.

ministashy

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Re: How big of stash do you need if planning on a part-time gig?
« Reply #9 on: August 25, 2017, 11:22:19 AM »
I'm in the process of hashing this out for myself, but what I'm aiming for is more semi-FIRE. I want more time now to work on art, so I'm going to shove my Stash to the side and let it do its thing and pick up enough p/t work to just cover my living expenses. I won't save, but I won't touch my Stash either. Goal is to make 22-24K from a p/t gig, which will keep me in my current life style give or take.
There's options. :)

You stole my plan!  Great minds must think alike ...  :)

lifeanon269

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Re: How big of stash do you need if planning on a part-time gig?
« Reply #10 on: August 25, 2017, 01:29:50 PM »
Thanks for the post. This has raised some interesting ideas that I hadn't thought of.

My plan personally was to work full-time until I had enough to retire permanently without really much need for part-time/supplemental work.

I was just looking at what some of the numbers might look like for myself in a couple different scenarios.

For example, if I was planning to work full-time and then retire with spending annually at $35,000, then I was planning to work full-time until I had saved $1,000,000. That was my comfort level for a safe withdrawal rate in retirement. This plan would require me to work another 10 years from this point in time.

But, the numbers change slightly if I was looking to instead switch to part-time work earlier on in my career.

Since I only need about $35,000 to maintain my current standard of living in retirement, then that means I could probably work a couple days of week if I found a part-time job and earn $35,000/yr. Currently I earn a $100,000 salary.

So instead of working full time for 10 more years to reach permanent retirement, I could instead technically work full time until I save $400,000. That would only take me another 4 years, at which point I could switch to part-time work and just let that $400,000 grow and not touch it but also not pull from it. Then after working part-time until the age of ~55, I could then retire completely and my nest egg would likely have grown to about $1,000,000.

That seems like a doable option as well, but there are definitely some pros and cons to it.

Some pros would be that it seems like it would be a lot more of a flexible plan with regard to weather any economic uncertainties. Since my I'd be living off of income for a greater period of time, then my investments would be allowed to grow/decline with the economy without me having to withdraw from it for a longer period of time. It would also likely be easier to management my nest egg in retirement without having to worry about performing Roth IRA Ladders and such to minimize my tax burden in early retirement and would also likely give me a larger social security benefit once I reach that age.

Cons would be the fact that I'd be working part-time for about 17 years which might mean less job security. I feel like part-time jobs are more difficult to find, especially during economic downturns (I could be wrong about that). That might mean that if I am let go from one part-time job, it might be difficult to find another. Also, while there is more flexibility with regard to my investments weathering economic uncertainties, there would be less flexibility with regard to my income. By that I mean, it might be difficult to go from being part-time to switching back to full-time (I could be wrong there too). So I'd need to be very sure that the decision to switch to part-time is the right decision for myself.

Does any of this make sense or am I completely missing something?

Imma

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Re: How big of stash do you need if planning on a part-time gig?
« Reply #11 on: August 26, 2017, 01:50:28 AM »
I plan to FIRE with a stash of about €300.000.  The income that would generate is €12000 that we wouldn't have to pay income tax over  in this country, but we would pay about €3000 in wealth tax. As I currently live off €14000 including a mortgage payment that will be paid off when I FIRE, it seems do-able but it won't be a life of luxury and leisure. My s/o is a musician and I don't ever see him FIRE, so he'll always bring in some income. I think when I'm FIRE'd my expenses will probably be lower because I'll have time to grow more of my own food, bake my own bread, etc and also develop side hustles. I hate my corporate job enough to want to quit that at €300.000 but I do plan on growing my stash after I quit my job. For me, a spartan life is preferable over going into the office every day.

Cassie

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Re: How big of stash do you need if planning on a part-time gig?
« Reply #12 on: August 26, 2017, 01:49:36 PM »
We have pensions that  equal  40k and I have a  p.t gig that brings  in 22k/year. DH sometimes  works  and  the  income  varies. This  works  well for  us.

MaaS

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Re: How big of stash do you need if planning on a part-time gig?
« Reply #13 on: August 27, 2017, 09:43:57 PM »
I feel every week there is a "how much" or "how little" question asked.  And then everyone responds with a bunch of "depends" responses - usually about geography, family size, etc.

...

So, adjusting for inflation and being conservative, can we all agree moving forward that the "minimum" to retire is your own land and a shitty cabin in the woods and a $20,000 stash that spins off $800 per year?

It depends...

Do you have the right skills/are able enough to live off of the land? Will your family be OK with the shift in lifestyle? What if real estate taxes go up? What if you want a platinum  plated outhouse next to your shack? What if you move to the 3rd world where both land and taxes are cheaper and only need $10K instead of $20K?

:)

Well done...  I tip my cap to you.

+1

A couple of the best post I've seen in awhile.. well played indeed.

Dicey

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Re: How big of stash do you need if planning on a part-time gig?
« Reply #14 on: August 28, 2017, 05:49:17 AM »
Big enough that i'd never have to worry about needing a part-time job.

happy

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Re: How big of stash do you need if planning on a part-time gig?
« Reply #15 on: August 28, 2017, 06:01:17 AM »
Depends, I've been working part-time for 22 years and only actively started building my stash 5 years ago....


Sorry OP, you need to do your own math for your own situation

aGracefulStomp

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How big of stash do you need if planning on a part-time gig?
« Reply #16 on: September 09, 2017, 05:27:48 PM »
My plan is to go part time when my stash is enough to basic FIRE (ie income to cover my current expenses) - this should be in about 10 years. Then I'll work part-time and let my stash do its thing until I can fatter-FIRE (ie income to cover a "comfortable" retirement lifestyle according to retirement guides).

Doing it this way means my FIRE journey is 20 years instead of 14 years, but it's worth it I think - especially as I plan on my part time work to be in areas that I want to pursue post-FIRE (ie work that I want to do rather than have to do).

Living with low expenses is so freeing, i just don't need a high paying job to pay for my lifestyle it opens up so many opportunities!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
« Last Edit: September 09, 2017, 05:31:15 PM by aGracefulStomp »

Goldielocks

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Re: How big of stash do you need if planning on a part-time gig?
« Reply #17 on: September 10, 2017, 07:44:00 PM »
How about a mathematical based answer?

1)  Determine age of "Full Retirement" planned for.  (assume 60 y.o.)
2)  Determine how much you will spend per year after 60.  (in today's dollars)
3)  Figure out how much SS, pension, etc you will have after 65.
4)  Figure out how much lump sum you need from 60-65, then 65+ given income from point 3, 20-25% tax rate, and 4% SWR.
5)  Determine how many years until 60.
6) Determine what lump sum you need now to generate that amout at age 60 if you don't touch it.  Assume 5% returns, average, net of inflation (or go to 4% if you want a more conservative answer).
7)  Add in 1 year "buffer" of expenses.

Then only live on what you make part time until you are 60.  If you want something fancier to spend on, or earlier full retirement? then work more.  Bare bones with lots of time off?  Work less.

life_travel

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Re: How big of stash do you need if planning on a part-time gig?
« Reply #18 on: September 11, 2017, 05:40:04 AM »
^^ That's pretty much our plan. Bare bones FI with part time , seasonal work ... Then " full " retirement when DH is 60 and can access the retirement account.  Being older we ll be taking 5% SWR.
Now we have to work and save hard for next 3 years to make it all happen :)

RyanAtTanagra

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Re: How big of stash do you need if planning on a part-time gig?
« Reply #19 on: September 11, 2017, 02:20:16 PM »
Second, rather than save up a huge amount to FI/RE, we'll probably save an emergency fund as much as 2 years' expenses, maybe even 3 years', before we move forward.  Why?  With that, we eliminate sequence of returns risk (if the market tanks, we can use the emergency funds).

This is a big and common misunderstanding.  Having a cash buffer INCREASES your risk of portfolio failure, it doesn't decrease it.  Yes it can help when the market goes down, but because most of the time the market goes up, cash is an opportunity cost.  If you want a big cash buffer to sleep well at night, that's fine, but understand you're increasing the sequence of returns risk.

Roothy

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Re: How big of stash do you need if planning on a part-time gig?
« Reply #20 on: September 11, 2017, 02:47:43 PM »

I've been watching the new series on the UNABOMBER.  In one scene, the brother turning in the UNABOMBER tells the FBI that the UNABOMBER lives off $400 per year.  Of course, UNABOMBER owned his land in Montana and his small cabin.


Impressive--that had to cover postage!

OurTown

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Re: How big of stash do you need if planning on a part-time gig?
« Reply #21 on: September 11, 2017, 03:16:04 PM »
I think the sequence of returns risk increases with a heavy stock allocation.  It is inflation that poses a risk to a cash heavy allocation, and to a lesser extent to a bond heavy allocation.  So the real bitch would be a bear market early in retirement in a high inflation environment.  That's why they came up with TIPS. 

SpareChange

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Re: How big of stash do you need if planning on a part-time gig?
« Reply #22 on: September 14, 2017, 12:48:25 AM »
My tentative plan is to hit 300k, and then drop to 16 hours/wk. That's the minimum I can work and still be eligible for bennies. I should also have my pto bank at about 55-60 days by that time. I can meet all my bills on 16 hours too, and add extra shifts on occasion if needed.

Lan Mandragoran

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Re: How big of stash do you need if planning on a part-time gig?
« Reply #23 on: September 14, 2017, 02:10:30 PM »
Part time gig kinda seems like the way to go to me. I think I only need about 20k a year once my house + rental are paid off. 

So my worst case scenario plan (barring nukes or the ai apocalypse or something) is essentially wait until they are both paid off (15 year loans, which I may against better judgement throw some extra money at) then quit no matter what. If I'm not FI or very close I'm still quitting my full time w2 job at that point.

I'm confident whatever money we've built up in the intervening years will be plenty to handle holding us over until we can make 20k a year well our stache continues to grow :) (hopefully we can just do it instantly, 20k is nothing for 2 skilled peeps).


des999

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Re: How big of stash do you need if planning on a part-time gig?
« Reply #24 on: September 14, 2017, 03:58:39 PM »
My tentative plan is to hit 300k, and then drop to 16 hours/wk. That's the minimum I can work and still be eligible for bennies. I should also have my pto bank at about 55-60 days by that time. I can meet all my bills on 16 hours too, and add extra shifts on occasion if needed.

what job is this, just curious?

I think finding a part time job is the real challenge, I don't want to work at some shxtty retail store for 10/hr.  I think most people think I make 100k/year now, so I'll cut my hours in half and make 50k part time.  I'm in IT, and I thought that would be easy, but I'm finding it's not so easy to find.

It might be easier to do contract work, and when I wrap up a project (say 9 months or so) take a long break, rather than trying to find a company that will let me work 18-20 hrs / week.

We shall see, I'll be looking a lot more at this in the next year or two, as we area getting close to that 'number' where I can let the stash ride and stop contributing. 

SpareChange

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Re: How big of stash do you need if planning on a part-time gig?
« Reply #25 on: September 14, 2017, 05:51:16 PM »
My tentative plan is to hit 300k, and then drop to 16 hours/wk. That's the minimum I can work and still be eligible for bennies. I should also have my pto bank at about 55-60 days by that time. I can meet all my bills on 16 hours too, and add extra shifts on occasion if needed.

what job is this, just curious?

I think finding a part time job is the real challenge, I don't want to work at some shxtty retail store for 10/hr.  I think most people think I make 100k/year now, so I'll cut my hours in half and make 50k part time.  I'm in IT, and I thought that would be easy, but I'm finding it's not so easy to find.

It might be easier to do contract work, and when I wrap up a project (say 9 months or so) take a long break, rather than trying to find a company that will let me work 18-20 hrs / week.

We shall see, I'll be looking a lot more at this in the next year or two, as we area getting close to that 'number' where I can let the stash ride and stop contributing.

Hospital-based x-ray tech. We're shift-based, and there's a lot of flexibility in how much or how little one can work.

Valhalla

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Re: How big of stash do you need if planning on a part-time gig?
« Reply #26 on: September 14, 2017, 09:43:38 PM »
Great topic.  I'm at the point of being ready to go part time.  I only want insurance (and 401k) benefits if I can get it as a part-time gig, which might be a bit of a challenge.

StockBeard

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Re: How big of stash do you need if planning on a part-time gig?
« Reply #27 on: September 14, 2017, 10:27:29 PM »
This is exactly what I plan to do.  I already have the part time gig where I make about 18k for about 5 hrs per week of work.  I'm going to keep it after I FIRE until such time as I take SS.  Let's assume for the purpose of argument that we are going to need 5,000 per month pre tax, because we are fancy pants super spenders.  That's 60 per year, less the 18, we will need 42k from investments, or a stache of $1,050,000.  Obviously, you can play with the variables all day, and ymmv.
The problem when you think about it this way is that you have to maintain your side gig until your last breath (or, in your case, until it gets replaced with SS?). And it also needs to bring income that increases with inflation. Otherwise, (if you run those numbers in CFireSim), the risk of failure of your FI plan increases.

In practice, your side gig needs to bring enough to pay for the difference + save enough that at some point in the future you become fully FI

RyanAtTanagra

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Re: How big of stash do you need if planning on a part-time gig?
« Reply #28 on: September 15, 2017, 09:02:29 AM »
It might be easier to do contract work, and when I wrap up a project (say 9 months or so) take a long break, rather than trying to find a company that will let me work 18-20 hrs / week.

I'm in IT and this is my plan.  There are a lot of 3-12month contract jobs out there, and recruiters are always pushing them, I assume because they're hard to fill.  So once I hit my bare bones FI number I want to switch to working as-needed for fun/vacation money and to beef up the stash if I want.  Working 6 months over winter then taking the best half of the year off sounds ok to me, especially if my basic expenses are covered so if I just don't feel like working this winter, then I don't have to :-)

Lmoot

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Re: How big of stash do you need if planning on a part-time gig?
« Reply #29 on: September 18, 2017, 11:43:19 PM »
At the minimum, $250k. I am still fairly young and can invest longer. Most likely I would use some of it to buy rental property which would provide both an asset and passive income. This is actually my plan. I never wanted extremely early financial freedom…or rather, what it would take to get there by the time I would want to be there.

My goal has always been to work full-time until I can afford to work part time, or seasonally; to be able to quit my full time job by 39....though I am really hoping to get there at 37 (4 more years). Rental property is a big part of my plan. I would be ok with most of my assets being tied up in real estate, if I am getting a good cashflow. My expenses are low in preparation for this transition. My current networth is about $110k, but I earned less than $50k most years.

YogiKitti

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Re: How big of stash do you need if planning on a part-time gig?
« Reply #30 on: September 19, 2017, 01:47:27 PM »
This is something I'm interested in, but it seems much more unusual than full ER, so I imagine it will be hard to bite the bullet when the time comes.

I'm just starting my career, but it's always been a dream to be a professor, which I think would be perfect for this. So right now my goal is to get my professional certification and then pick up a class in my spare time. Then I can transition to more classes easily since I'll already have my foot in the door.

I'm already set to retire at the normal time, so I guess I could decide to do this sooner than I thought.

ardrum

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Re: How big of stash do you need if planning on a part-time gig?
« Reply #31 on: September 20, 2017, 01:20:02 PM »
I have thought about the part-time gig, most likely in the form of prn or contract jobs with long breaks.  I would probably be uncomfortable making the leap until I had saved at least 20x my bare bones annual living expenditure though, which is probably about 6-7 years away.  Until then, it's the full time grind to save more...

MrThatsDifferent

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Re: How big of stash do you need if planning on a part-time gig?
« Reply #32 on: September 23, 2017, 10:19:10 AM »
For some reason, this has become my favorite question of the forums. It has really got me thinking, because I don’t see myself as retiring as much as downshifting and working less than 10hrs a week for myself. I don’t want anyone to be my boss again after I formally retire. This thinking makes me feel more secure and comfortable retiring with less.  Here’s my plan:
1. Work and save until I’m 50yrs old
2. Put $250k in my retirement account, let it grow until 65
3. Plan on annual spend of $30k/yr until 65–$15k from savings, $15k from PT work (only $288/week in income needed)
4. From 50-65, live in LCOL places around the world
5. So, I only need $225k saved to fund until retirement account kicks in
6. Everything extra is gravy or eliminates any years of PT work if I’m not feeling it. $30k/yr is quite generous too.

The minimum then seems to be: $475k for me (although I’ll have more than this)

spokey doke

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Re: How big of stash do you need if planning on a part-time gig?
« Reply #33 on: September 25, 2017, 09:23:36 AM »
cfiresim allows you to put in all sorts of additional income (as well as expenditures) during your planned retirement...so go model the possibilities.

I've been doing this for about a year...quit the academic job, now working for myself.  So far it is mostly great...but I have found I naturally fall into the trap of trying to do more and more, and have yet to achieve anything resembling even semi-retirement, aside from making little money...