AskDong

Many of the financial blogs out there state the net worth of their owner and what their goal is.  Some goals are modest, others not so much.   I do neither.    I don’t quite feel comfortable stating my net worth in a public forum especially when my name (at least first name) is embedded in my blog, nor do I state an end goal.   This is not to say I don’t have a goal - I do.   I even have a vague number associated with it, but that goal is a moving target given when I reach it.  That’s where I differ from other folk, I don’t have a firm deadline for reaching it.    The current number I have is $1.7 million net of tax liabilities if I wanted to reach it next year (The specific before tax number would depend on the actual mix of 401K, Roth, and Taxable account holdings).   This is the amount of money I would need to feel secure enough that I wouldn’t have to have a job, and live to a ripe old age of 85.  Embedded in it are assumptions about the rate of return, and how much I would need to live off.   I won’t go through the gory details of the calculations here, but I basically think I need about 55k a year after taxes to live comfortably and do most of the things I want.  

I turn the question to you. So how much is enough?