What is your target amount?

[10dollarsatatime]

Currently, my number is $750000 and a paid off home.  I'm on track for 13 years, which, coincidentally, is also when I hit 20 years at the job, so I'll get a pension 20 years after that. :)

Things could still change though.  Maybe I cease being single and/or add a progeny to the mix.  Or I change jobs.  Or I earn enough from my hobby jobs/freelancing to hit my target early... who knows?

[talltexan]

My wife and I were talking about long-term plans the other day, and she asked whether the house would be paid off when we retired. I pointed out that we were projecting $2.2 million invested then, versus a (now) $185,000 mortgage...one of them kinda seems like a rounding error compared to the other.

[meatface]

Depends on a couple things that happen in the next couple of years, but our FIRE number is roughly $1.5-2.0 million. We live in a HCOL area, and I doubt that will change any time in the next couple of decades.

[1962colreb]

Our target amount is fairly low, 600k. 4 percent withdrawal combined
with our pension income will more than cover our expenses.  Should be
to save more in retirement with social security then now while we work.
Losing the mortgage payment when we downsize will be the big shift.

[FrogStash]

My retirement number is 4 million accounting for inflation (I plan to retire at 55) and some increased spending. 

This is similar to me.  Glad I'm not the only one posting Bogleheads-worthy numbers.

I don't think I could find a way to spend $160,000 a year in retirement. (4% of $4 million)  My wants and needs just are not that pricey I guess.

My family of 4 is shooting for 1.2 million plus a paid off house.  NW will be roughly $1.7 million.

[arebelspy]

The person you quoted said accounting for inflation, which means it could be pretty much any number in real dollars.

Much easier to always speak in present dollars.

[Bateaux]

I've all but decided to extend FIRE to 2020 and no later than 2023.  2023 would represent my minimum retirement date from my company at 55.  The problem is healthcare and the great unknown.   I've already decided that I'd put aside 500k just for the medical unknown. Now, I'm thinking it may not be enough.   I'm thinking of reserving 1M for future medical and long term care costs and 2M for all other costs.  Based on current investments, a 7% annual gain and our current new contributions we'd reach this 3M investments goal in 2022-2023. 

[thriftyc]

Currently, my number is $750000 and a paid off home.  I'm on track for 13 years, which, coincidentally, is also when I hit 20 years at the job, so I'll get a pension 20 years after that. :)

Things could still change though.  Maybe I cease being single and/or add a progeny to the mix.  Or I change jobs.  Or I earn enough from my hobby jobs/freelancing to hit my target early... who knows?

750k plus a paid off home and no other debt is really the sweet spot for ER in my opinion.  This amount can work for anyone with a reasonably mustachian lifestyle.

[honeyfill]

Our life style is very non mustachian. We need a bout 120k. House is not paid off and we need to pay health care for 5 yrs until Medicare. No pensions, so all income must come from investment.  We hit Our target of  2.5 million on Friday but p l an to retire next May after my bonus comes in. Wd rate is high at 4.8 percent but at 65 ,  social security and Medicare kicks in so we should  be ok.

[rdaneel0]

For me and DH: $800k

[JayKay]

So, I don't measure net worth as much as passive income, so my goal was to get my basic expenses paid by that.

[Vegasgirl]

My number is pretty low.  Original goal was to have $150k in my Deferred Comp before retiring which will just be extra $$ since I'll be getting a pension and DH will still be working.  My plan is though to not touch it for 10 years while DH continues to work.  The way it's actually working out though, I should have closer to $200k in it before I retire.  I figured 4% rule if it doubled from the original $150k to $300k it would be an extra $1000/mo just for fun spending.

DH will have 401k and small pension from work - we're looking more around the $2M range for his stache and mortgage to be paid off.  And we'll both be getting SS (hopefully) in future.

[longtry]

Mine is pretty high. Around 46.5M.

Not that I have that extravagant a lifestyle, I just happen to have big projects in mind. For example, spreading a sport to people on all 5 continents will surely cost a lot if done in a non-profit way.

[MrThatsDifferent]

Mine is pretty high. Around 46.5M.

Not that I have that extravagant a lifestyle, I just happen to have big projects in mind. For example, spreading a sport to people on all 5 continents will surely cost a lot if done in a non-profit way.

But wouldn’t that be the non-profits target amount, not your personal one? I don’t think this question is about the goals of your business, but yourself, unless you plan to completely self fund this venture, which seems, um, insane.

[Lan Mandragoran]

1 Millionz! Probably don't need quite that much... but its a round number. And im like 9 years from FIRE so yeah inflation will be relevant.

[GreenEngineer3]

I keep telling my wife that my RE target is $3.2M between the 2 of us.  Not a date.... just when we hit that number, I'm done.  We could probably RE today with what we have already, but I still want to pay off the house (3 years to go, $70k left).  My DW wants to go part-time when my first child begins college in about five years... which I'm completely fine with (her retirement accts should be close to $1M at that point).  Current estimates predict we should hit our target in about 8 years.... which will put me in dilemma. (I'll be 54, but may stick it out the extra year so that I can withdrawal from company 401k without penalty)

[DreamFIRE]

My barebones number is about 1/2 a million, but I've got more than double that now, necessary for discretionary spending.

[jlcnuke]

$840k plus my pension.

[longtry]

But wouldn’t that be the non-profits target amount, not your personal one? I don’t think this question is about the goals of your business, but yourself, unless you plan to completely self fund this venture, which seems, um, insane.

Yep, you're right. If I count my personal expenses only then I can retire right away (and indeed I am). It's just that the nature of the projects is not very attractive economically. I've done some research, and the easiest source - Wikipedia - points out that when the promotion is about increasing participation among the public for their own health benefits, it is called "Grassroots Sports Marketing". As far as grassroots initiatives go, they have to get really local and oftentimes very laborious. That's why consumerism corporations stay far away from them.

About the non-profits, they themselves must get a funding from somewhere. Usually it's from wealthy individuals with a kind heart. So I have options of to go around & stretch my hands out begging, or to build my wealth during that time. I'm leaned toward the latter.
Anyway, spreading a sport is very new and unique work even in our modern society. Maybe I lack proper experience, maybe I'm ignorant of better ways to do it, or at least how to fund a project. I'm open to & appreciate all your suggestions.

[whywork]

We are a family of 4 currently in a HCOL area. My current networth is 670k. I don't have a own home so all of my assets are invested in the ETFs. The goal is to grow them aggressively and then retire, move to a low COL area and rent or buy a condo / home for low price.

I have calculated our current expenses without rent are 3K. At retirement due to lower expenses, our total expenses (incl. rent) will be 40k.

Here are my various FIRE numbers

XLeanFIRE: 30k expenses, 750k FIRE Number
LeanFIRE: 36k expenses, 900K FIRE Number
Normal FIRE: 45K expenses, 1.13M FIRE Number
Very comfortable FIRE: 60k expenses, 1.5M FIRE Number
LUXURY FIRE (Eat out + Entertainment budget of 1K per month, Vacation budget of 1.5K per month etc...): 90K expenses, 2.3M FIRE Number

[dude]

Going back to page 1 of this thread, I mentioned $800K. At the time, I had @$525k. Currently at $790k with 8 months to go.

[Roboturner]

$1MM and a paid off house (so $1.2MM). On track to meet this sometime late next year [set semi-arbitrary deadline for my age 30 bday in Oct]

Whelp we crossed the FI number ~8/1/18 so made it by my deadline!

probably a couple more years before RE though.

[jlcnuke]

Going back to page 1 of this thread, I mentioned $800K. At the time, I had @$525k. Currently at $790k with 8 months to go.

Nice :) Can ya taste it yet??

[jlcnuke]

$1MM and a paid off house (so $1.2MM). On track to meet this sometime late next year [set semi-arbitrary deadline for my age 30 bday in Oct]

Whelp we crossed the FI number ~8/1/18 so made it by my deadline!

probably a couple more years before RE though.

Any particular reason you're working for years more?

[Roboturner]

probably a couple more years before RE though.

Any particular reason you're working for years more?

Mainly peak earning years so weighing pain v. opportunity (energy/$) seems worth it for the cushion/future medical uncertainties, have some golden handcuffs that roll off around then as well - plus SO has been eyeing homes in a neighborhood a bit more expensive then our current modest jobber. But not having to work is quite liberating, feeling v. much FU.

[whywork]

Mods, should we make this a sticky (without locking it so that people can continue to contribute)? We have so much useful info and real data from people on what their numbers are.

[DreamFIRE]

My barebones number is about 1/2 a million, but I've got more than double that now, necessary for discretionary spending.

Although I've already hit my stash target, I expect it to be in the 1.3M to 1.4M range if I FIRE within the year as I'm planning.

Note - that is my target stash, meaning my investments that I'll be drawing down from for which I apply the 4% rule to, and NOT my net worth, which includes my paid off home.

[pdxmonkey]

I haven't really figured out what my target is yet. At present I am thinking about things in milestones. Somewhere around milestone 2-3 is where I'd likely consider cutting back to part time.

Milestone 0: Paid off house - all other milestones assume a paid off house.

Milestone 1: $100k in a taxable account. This will pay my property taxes. At this milestone I've got a place to live, but I can't heat it or feed myself without a massive garden and if it burns down
I'm SOL as this does not include money to pay for insurance.

Milestone 2: $325k taxable or split?. I feel like this money needs to be in a taxable account so I could use the returns now. This is not strictly true as I could just draw down the taxable account, then start drawing on the retirement account when the taxable hits 0.  I just figured out this # last night. This number includes house insurance/car insurance, utilities, a generous $250 monthly grocery allowance, $100 a month for eating out, paying someone for a haircut once a month (more often than I do now), paying someone to change the oil in my car and $99 a year for Amazon Prime, primarily so I can stream video. It also includes a couple hundred bucks of miscellaneous stuff. This doesn't really cover anything that breaks down, long term home maintenance or other fancy stuff. If my computer broke, I would have to do a side hustle or pull it out of the grocery budget to replace it... This level is probably doable long term if I did all my own maintenance and when I had to buy say a replacement furnace I was willing to survive on Ramen for a couple months to pay for it and then still install the damn thing myself. This is still a pretty crappy place to be IMO as I really don't get to travel anywhere and the gas budget for the car is for travel I do now within in the city while I work...which is to say almost zilch. I work from home.

Milestone 3: ??? split between taxable/retirement: I need to figure this one out. It's milestone 2 plus paying someone else to do the long term maintenance tasks. Ballpark it at $400k if you figure $3k in maintenance per year. I have no idea if 3k is a good #, but I could figure it out given that I've replaced the roof, furnace, water heater and A/C in this home since living here as they were beat to hell and it was a foreclosure. I have the historical price #'s for this specific house to estimate pretty well based on average life spans so I should be able to figure this out if I go through my files to find the #'s. Since I have replaced things recently some of the money for long term items could be in retirement accounts as I could most likely access those around the time stuff is expected to be replaced again. This milestone pretty much accounts for all the things I do now minus the mortgage that disappears in milestone 0, but right now I am living cheaper than I plan to live post-retirement as I find it emotionally painful to spend big $ on travel when I haven't yet bought my freedom. I do travel some, but only every couple of years right now and I would like it to be a couple times a year.

Milestone 4: $600k between taxable/retirement accounts: This would give me $2k a month. Given that I estimate milestone 3 to require about $1300-$1350 a month. Depending on if that's a good estimate or if I've lowballed milestone 3 costs this should give give me $5k to $8k per year for travel and whatever the hell else I want. Computer breaks..build/buy a new one. See an interesting book/video game, buy it. I feel like Milestone 4 is the earliest milestone at which I will consider full FIRE.

Milestone 5: You get everything in Milestone 4 plus ???. I have tried not to imagine this far out yet. I don't want to inflate my lifestyle before I even get there.

As I do better tracking and notice more annual or less than annual items and get them added
 to the list milestone 2 is looking more like 400k which now a budget for computer break downs/replacement of $200/yr or $1000 every 5 yrs. It also now includes paying out of pocket for things like dental, but still doesn't account for whatever the health insurance costs might be in the future as that situation is still pretty hazy. Major home items still not included.

Milestone 0 was the first to fall followed by milestone 1 and 2 (assuming the $400k # is correct) in fairly quick succession. After knocking out milestone zero in late 2017 and knowing 1 and 2 were also close I thought a bit more letters was in order to start figuring out what the future looks like a bit more accurately. And also to create milestones 1b,1c, etc which are being able to pay utilities and insurance using the 4% rule off a taxable account. I knocked out 1b and am working on 1c now.

I've been accurately tracking my spending to the penny this year so I should have much better numbers to work with early next year to figure out milestone 3 and more accurately update milestone 4. $600k is a number I mostly made up well before my original 2016 post and stuck with as milestone 3 is pretty squishy I just make it work. I suspect I need to revise it up a bit for inflation to be in 2018 dollars.

I'm on track to spend less than 4% of my current stash this year so far, but more than 4% of my end of 2017 stash. Starting to feel a bit FU, but still dependent on $0 health insurance and living the milestone 3 lifestyle. Contemplating letting a bit of lifestyle inflation take hold now/2019 and beginning to spend much more on travel/living the milestone 4 lifestyle while continuing to save towards being able to live it on 4%.

I suspect I'm in the milestone 3 ballpark now and will probably pass it before I accurately figure it out in early 2019 if the market continues up or at least sideways and not down.

[dude]

Going back to page 1 of this thread, I mentioned $800K. At the time, I had @$525k. Currently at $790k with 8 months to go.

Nice :) Can ya taste it yet??

Oh man, can I! Really glad I've had a lot of travel going on this past month and this coming month -- it's helping to make the time go faster. First day back in the office after being gone for 2 weeks felt like the longest day of my life! Finding it really hard to care about work stuff these days, but trying to hang in there. But god help me when I get down to just a few months . . . I can't imagine I'm going to be capable of producing anything of value at work.

[dude]

My barebones number is about 1/2 a million, but I've got more than double that now, necessary for discretionary spending.

Although I've already hit my stash target, I expect it to be in the 1.3M to 1.4M range if I FIRE within the year as I'm planning.

Note - that is my target stash, meaning my investments that I'll be drawing down from for which I apply the 4% rule to, and NOT my net worth, which includes my paid off home.

That's my situation as well -- the $800k number is investment accounts. Also that's just my number, not including the missus's numbers (and excludes a joint account that has @$60k in it). Current NW is @ $1.8m (about $1.2m of it is investment accounts), but the missus needs to work a few more years to pad her accounts before joining me in retirement (she's 7 years younger than me).

[Mesmoiselle]

My target is 82k in old people money and 350k in stocks. I want to live off 12k a year with husband providing healthcare and tenants to boost a bit.

I just turned 31 this month. I value not working way more than I value a high golden bed pan lifestyle.

[webguy]

Our FIRE number is 3.5M. That will allow us to easily cover our $90k/year budget after we pay taxes, have our 650k house paid off, and allow us to buy and maintain a nice cabin on a local lake indefinitely. That’s our “never make another cent” number, but in reality I’ll likely be earning money in retirement anyway. Family of 5 - wife and 3 young kids.

[PDXTabs]

This is a hard question for me. I surely could fire with 750K~1M, but would I? That totally depends on how old I was and what my earning potential is. That is, I'm not working a day after 62 unless my life literally depends on it, but if I'm making good money or working a job that I love I think that I might have a hard time retiring before 55.

[koshtra]

$600,000 was our target. Hit it a couple years ago.

[dude]

I don't have a target, I used to, but I've let it go.

I *expect* to land anywhere between 1.5-3M or possibly more...who knows.
I really have no actual clue how it will all play out and am not very concerned about it either. We both make good incomes, we spend relatively little, neither of us are in any rush to not work, and we both have extreme job flexibility where we can change jobs with very little notice, work PT if we want, and can take sabbaticals up to a year at a time if we wanted to. We're in Canada, so healthcare isn't a concern either.

Therefore, no target, no goal, no timeline.

Slacker.  ;-)

[dacalo]

Total NW around $3.5M is the goal, with $1M being in the house (current home in VHCOL area).

[Gin1984]

The person you quoted said accounting for inflation, which means it could be pretty much any number in real dollars.

Much easier to always speak in present dollars.

I used the rule of 72 and the average inflation rate.  After my kids leave college, I'll only need about one million in today's dollars but given I don't plan to retire in the next decade, the better number is based on expected inflation.

[NorthernBlitz]

The person you quoted said accounting for inflation, which means it could be pretty much any number in real dollars.

Much easier to always speak in present dollars.

I think that this is the right way to think about it.

But, if you're date is further out into the future there is a potential danger in this.

Let's say I think I need $1.5M in today's dollars, but that I won't get there for 15 years.

If inflation is 3% / year, that $1.5M target shifts up to  ~ $2.35M.

It's fine if I re-evaluate my target every year (so I'd see it inching up).

But, if I get stuck on the $1.5M maybe I unintentionally retire earlier and end up with a higher WR then I intend.

TLDR: I agree that thinking in today's dollars is best, but I think it's also important to remember that we're really targeting for the WR we feel comfortable with (so we need to periodically recalculate our "target amount").

[dude]

Going back to page 1 of this thread, I mentioned $800K. At the time, I had @$525k. Currently at $790k with 8 months to go.

Hmm, so not at $790k anymore!  haha! More like $770k. I'd be fine with the market undergoing a real correction between now and next May. Would actually make me feel better about my finances going into retirement. Could always either (a) work until the end of the year (not preferable), (b) just cut travel expenses for 2019 (I have more than enough to cover living expenses), or (c) ramp up side gig work post-retirement (assuming demand for my service remained steady in a downturn).

[pdxmonkey]

You got a real correction in December and the market is way up again. Did you retire in May? How's it feel?

[Bateaux]

My wife and I were talking about long-term plans the other day, and she asked whether the house would be paid off when we retired. I pointed out that we were projecting $2.2 million invested then, versus a (now) $185,000 mortgage...one of them kinda seems like a rounding error compared to the other.

We are right there, right now.  We owe 180K on our Florida retirement home and are almost at 2.2M.  We're vacationing at the Florida home for the week.  Our jobs are in Louisiana as well as our paid off home there.  Neither one of us wants to go back to Louisiana and work on Monday.  Presents quite a dilemma. 

[DadzillaGorilla]

Most of the numbers here are based on US $, are there any Brits/Europeans on here? We receive free medical care, and everyone receives state pension so be interesting to see what UK version.

I don't have a definitive number for sure, my expenses are probably £25,000 a year but I cover that with some high yielding property (10-13%) but can't rely on this alone. I also imagine picking up some gardening and carpentry work when I am retired, more for fun and a hobby than a salary generator.

I think I am going to take the plunge in 2 years - here is to accountability when I check this thread at a later date :)

[habanero]

Despite health care being free in Europe the COL might be quite high (like for me in a country with generally high prices on most stuff). Norway also has tax on wealth which complicates the picture (tax rate currently 0,85%, no tax on the first ~200k USD, equities taxed at 70% of value, primary residence at ~25% of value). This is also an unknown - depending on which direction the political wind will blow in the coming decades it might go up, down or disappear entirely. On the other side university tuition will be free for the kids and I have a base government-provided pention which generally tracks inflation so it will preserve its real value.

I don't have a target amount or date yet. If I made some changes (most notably downsizing housing / moving to an area with much lower housing prices) I could retire tomorrow and be fine, but I enjoy work and the liberty to do what I want to do will be limited and I also have a SO and kids who come into the equation. And I do enjoy my work anyway. And llife/work - balance is "somewhat" (read: a shitload) better than what I would be likely to have in say the UK or US in a similar position.

[Dicey]

In our case, it's not a number, it's a date. We are FI. I pulled the plug in 2012, but DH is still working. He has just under two years to go to qualify for a full defined benefit pension, which includes a healthcare allowance and the right to stay on the company's extremely generous insurance plan. Since medical costs are so unpredictable, this will be a huge relief.

He likes his low-stress job. He jokes he goes to work so he can relax. His office is three and a half blocks from our paid-for home. I pack his lunch every day and he walks to work. Not having a commute in the Bay Area is a huge saver of time, money and stress.

The added wrinkle is that his mom has ALZ and lives with us. We can't really travel, so he might as well continue doing work he enjoys. She has resources and some LTC insurance, but her mother lived with ALZ for over ten years, so we didn't want to turn on the firehouse of spending for memory care (What a misnomer!) too early. When he hits his date, we will activate the next level of care.

My point is that hitting your target number is not the be-all and end-all of achieving FIRE. Sometimes life has other plans. Knowing there's enough money to handle life's curveballs is a hugely empowering feeling.

We flip or BRRR houses for fun, so the fat 'stache just keeps on growing...

[Abe Froman]

This has been a great thread. Would those that posted 2-3 years ago give us an update?

[FIREstache]

My target was roughly $1.25M, but I'm at $1.4M now.  That's stash, not net worth, but I have no debt.  That's for 1 person.  LCOL area.

My required non-dicretionary expenses are close to $22K/yr, which includes long term car/home maintenance costs and a future car sinking fund, while the stash can provide $53K/yr after taxes based on the 4% rule, I would definitely say I have a buffer of about $30K/yr, or about $25K/yr at 3.5% WR, but part of that will be used for discretionary expenses, like travel, entertainment, and dining out.  They could be cut back on if needed, and I probably won't spend that much discretionary anyway if my history is any indication as I have a very high savings rate.  SS benefits will start in as early as 10 years into FIRE, so that's another buffer, where my stash WR can drop to 2.2% while still providing about $53K/yr after taxes for living.

This assumes the ACA will be in place to purchase health care with some protections in place.  So, I'm waiting to see how that plays out.

[Kazyan]

My spending seems to be under $20k per year, so, $500k in today's dollars. This could actually go down to $450k, since my student loan debts will be paid off before my tentative FIRE year of 2032 even with the minimum payments (5.5% interest, so savings go to investing instead). I may use the yields from that extra $50k for lifestyle inflation, though.

[friedmmj]

My target was roughly $1.25M, but I'm at $1.4M now.  That's stash, not net worth, but I have no debt.  That's for 1 person.  LCOL area.

My required non-dicretionary expenses are close to $22K/yr, which includes long term car/home maintenance costs and a future car sinking fund, while the stash can provide $53K/yr after taxes based on the 4% rule, I would definitely say I have a buffer of about $30K/yr, or about $25K/yr at 3.5% WR, but part of that will be used for discretionary expenses, like travel, entertainment, and dining out.  They could be cut back on if needed, and I probably won't spend that much discretionary anyway if my history is any indication as I have a very high savings rate.  SS benefits will start in as early as 10 years into FIRE, so that's another buffer, where my stash WR can drop to 2.2% while still providing about $53K/yr after taxes for living.

This assumes the ACA will be in place to purchase health care with some protections in place.  So, I'm waiting to see how that plays out.

That's a lot of hookers and blow LOL!

[Buffaloski Boris]

$10M or whatever the equivalent is by lets say 2070. Generational wealth FTW.

[never give up]

Most of the numbers here are based on US $, are there any Brits/Europeans on here? We receive free medical care, and everyone receives state pension so be interesting to see what UK version.

Here you go @DadzillaGorilla

https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/uk-tax-discussion/what's-your-uk-fire-amount/