How old are you and how much would your net worth have to be to make you retire tomorrow?

Question

I'm between 30 and 40. I used to think if i were worth 400,000 pounds, I would retire. But now with house prices, it doesn't seem such a good idea. All theoretical any how. How about you?

Answer 1

Here's my rule of thumb (I call it "FTI", which stands for "Forget This Index" -- when it reaches 1000, you can tell your boss to "Forget This!" and retire. Feel free to substitute any other word beginning with F). :-)

FTI = Age * Net Worth / Yearly Expenses

Net Worth is all your investments, including the equity in your home.

Yearly Expenses is your take home pay minus whatever you invest each year. Whatever is left must be your yearly expenses.

When you reach 1000, you can probably support yourself until death. I'm 35 and live on about 40k US$ per year, so I need about $1.15M -- but if I'm 40 when I reach $1.15M, then perhaps my expenses have gone up to $50k and I'll need $1.25M. I'm getting there. :-)

Doug

Answer 2

Something as important as retirement etc. cannot and should not be advised by those who know nothing besides the very little you told us.So much depends on many other factors ie.what u would like to do with your retirement years,your present expenses,your health and what plans do u have for the next 10 or 20 years etc.why dont u talk to a financial advisor,your own bank provides one at no cost at some.good luck.

Answer 3

50, retiring in 108 days (not that I'm counting), pension will be $28,500, net worth excluding house $1.7 million, house owned free and clear worth $267,000 (I sold it yesterday!), new house currently under construction will cost $260,000. (Nicer house in cheaper area.) I started thinking about retiring at age 45, but I wasn't eligible for the pension yet and my NW was a bit lower so I hung on for a while.

At age 30 my net worth was zero. I've been able to do it on a government agency salary by living below my means. Be fanatic about getting out of debt and good things can happen.

Answer 4

It depends how old you are and when you want to retire...generally if you want to retire on a good pension you need about £1,500,000 invested in a pension fund....if you mean how much cash do you need in the bank to live for say 40 years for £20,000 a year then you need £800,000 obviously this is very simplistic and does not take into account interest and inflation, and whether you need to buy a house etc etc.
Sorry to tell you I retired at 45 years and have been retired for some time now, thanks

Answer 5

I'm over 40 and have a net worth of well over $500M, but I'm nowhere near retirement - in fact, I feel like I'm barely getting by. I figure I'd need a net worth of about $3 million to retire.

Here's how I figure it: I live in San Diego, California, and my home is worth about $600M - it's barely over 1,500 sf, nice enough but far from luxurious. If I could afford it, I'd want a home that's currently worth about $1,000M (believe me, in San Diego, this is not extravagant). To create a sufficient income stream of let's say $100M per year, I'd need about another $2,000M in the bank if interest rates were only 5%. Realistically, I'd expect to be invested in higher returning investments to get there, but I'm talking about an ultimate scenario that is totally liquid and provides a risk-free retirement.

Assuming I had a $1,000M home all paid for and I had $2,000M in the bank, I would have all expenses covered without needing to take on any risk. I believe a $3,000M net worth equates to about 1,500M pounds, or almost four times your 400M benchmark.

Answer 6

To tell you the truth,I'm probably worth 100pounds.So I don't think I'll be retiring anytime soon.Seriously I'd want to have atleast a cool couple of million.A diva has to be really comfortable!

Answer 7

Net worth is not the criterion for retirement.How much of the asset is liquid?Do the income from your asset is commensurate to maintain your current standard of life?Think it over and then decide.

Answer 8

I am 63, live in USA, am very happy and content. My net worth at this moment is $4000.00 and monthly income of $1,210.00. I retired October 2006 and have never been happier.

Answer 9

your 400 is 800 U.S. housing is way cheaper,, along with most other items. (especially petrol) You'd have to learn to drive on the wrong side of the road,, and get used to the difference in language, but should be able to retire

Answer 10

i'm 23 and for me to retire tomorrow my networth would have to be@ least 600,000 not including a house and a car that i own.i live in the US