# Someone for the love of god tell me $2Million is enough



## robfordlives (Sep 18, 2014)

I am about done with the nonsense at my job and am looking for an exit ASAP. No doubt I will take a paycut but even still I should be able to ride out another 5 years somewhere and settle around $2Million in investments with paid off home in mid cost of living city. People are so vague in discussing their actual retirement figure amounts. Set me straight, is $2Million going to be enough? Please for the love of god tell me it is. My required number seems to keep getting bigger, I need to put an end to this.

We hope to slow travel 2 times per year. Oodles of spots in southern US for $2500 a month during winter months. Have property in Europe(not included in my $2Million figure) that I can use as base to explore that area as well. Asia is dirt cheap I hear and I will wait for flight deals. I'm the kind of guy who keeps cars 15 years as I did my last one. NO super expensive hobbies, I am totally happy with a muni pass at city golf course

Much younger wife enjoys her self employed career so I could always be a kempt man as a fall back option too


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## Just a Guy (Mar 27, 2012)

There is no magic number as it all depends on you and your lifestyle. 

Where $2M May work for you, it may not work for others. Many people retire in debt and somehow manage to survive. 

What you need to do is figure out your age, how long you think you’ll live, how much you want to spend per year and do the math...only you can actually answer the question. Don’t forget to add unexpected events to the cost calculations.


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## AltaRed (Jun 8, 2009)

If your annual cost of living (including taxes) is expected to be $80k or less, then yes... at least until you take CPP and OAS when you will be able to spend more.

You don't say at what age you will pull the plug, but look at VPW tables https://www.finiki.org/wiki/Variabl...able-percentage_withdrawals_during_retirement to see what will work. Note that for these tables to work, you need to use your investment account total at the beginning of each year. When equity markets are down, the actual amount you can take out will also be less, but that is the beauty of being able to use higher percentages than the constant %SWR formula....which is a dud as far as I am concerned.


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## twa2w (Mar 5, 2016)

Well, 2,000,000 invested in dividends stocks should give you about an average 4% in dividends. 80,000 a year in dividends between you and your wife would be almost tax free and no encroachment on capital. With OAS and CPP for future additional income.
And hopefully your dividends would grow as well as some growth in capital.

Of course this depends on your mix of rsps tfsa non reg.

Another way is divide the 2 mill by say 40 years = 50,000 a year with no return. Plus of course OAS and CPP.


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## Eder (Feb 16, 2011)

You'll be hard pressed to gas that amount before you croak...go for it!


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## lonewolf :) (Sep 13, 2016)

You should be ok just follow the golden money rule spend less then your investments make. Your probably already doing it or else you would not have money.

Would use some money to generate income to live. The rest in safe keeping different currencies held different countries along with gold & silver case the system blows up.


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## Beaver101 (Nov 14, 2011)

Eder said:


> You'll be hard pressed to gas that amount before you croak...go for it!


 ...+1


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## jargey3000 (Jan 25, 2011)

personally speaking...I CERTAINLY HOPE SO......


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## john.cray (Dec 7, 2016)

How old will you be when you retire?


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## Plugging Along (Jan 3, 2011)

People are vague because everyone’s spending is different. What do you expect you spending is? If under $80k then retire.


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## marina628 (Dec 14, 2010)

In 4 years I spent 1 million dollars of my cash paying off debts , buying new cars ,renovation 2nd homes and helping family members ,nobody here can tell you how much you need lol.


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## pwm (Jan 19, 2012)

If you hate your job, then quit. Nothing is worse than dragging yourself into a toxic environment every day just to save more money. It's not worth it. I've been there and done that. I quit at 55 and never regretted it. $2M and a paid for house with your lifestyle is more than enough. You should feel no shame in being a kept man for a while.


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## marina628 (Dec 14, 2010)

As long as you cook , having a man at home is not a bad thing lol.


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## ian (Jun 18, 2016)

Only you can determine this.

I could not imagine working at a job that I hated. There is no point in rushing into retierment or changing employers simply because you hate your current position. Better to rush into something that you want, for the reasons that you want. Whether it be a new job or retirement. I did have some jobs that I disliked. But each time I moved I was moving to a position that I wanted, not away from a position that I disliked.


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## Beaver101 (Nov 14, 2011)

^


> But each time I moved I was moving to a position that I wanted, not away from a position that I disliked.


 ... I don't think it's a case of the "position or job or tasks" itself that's giving robfordlives grief but the "nonsense" that comes with the job. And I'm guessing it's the politics = BS he had enough of.


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## AltaRed (Jun 8, 2009)

All of which is saying.... robfordlives needs to first establish cash flow needs/wants. It is really as simple as that.


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## agent99 (Sep 11, 2013)

How much cash flow will be generated depends on where the money is. If it is in registered accounts, then the government owns a good part of it and will deduct that from withdrawals. If it is spread among taxable, TFSA and RRSPs, then once CPP/OAS kicks in for a couple an after tax income in $80k range is possible. Requires investments in dividend stocks in taxable accounts and any fixed income retained as buffer in RRSP/RRIF. 

Don't blow your bundle travelling too much. Most places can be visited on Internet  Florida etc may be $2500/month. But you can spend less elsewhere in places that are out of season, but a lot warmer than Canada! Carolinas, Georgia, Northern Florida etc.


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## robfordlives (Sep 18, 2014)

Eder said:


> You'll be hard pressed to gas that amount before you croak...go for it!


I"m 63% of the way there....well that was before the recent drop


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## robfordlives (Sep 18, 2014)

john.cray said:


> How old will you be when you retire?


Fifty


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## jargey3000 (Jan 25, 2011)

you'll have a lotta years ahead if you quit....i'd put up with the bs at work as long as i vould....try to tune it out...i fid that for years...


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## AltaRed (Jun 8, 2009)

robfordlives said:


> Fifty


If you do that, you had better use a VPW withdrawal strategy to avoid pre-mature depletion. Typical retirement withdrawal plan methodologies used by the financial industry start at age 60, or most often age 65.

Determine your cash flow needs/desires and use the VPW table https://www.finiki.org/wiki/Variable_percentage_withdrawal to figure out the size of the nest egg required. At age 50, the withdrawal rate varies from 3.4-4.9% depending on your stock/bond allocation. A safety factor might be prudent in case one year the equity market is down 30%, i.e. 3.4% of X is different than 3.4% of (X-30%). It also implies cost efficient market based investing.


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## OnlyMyOpinion (Sep 1, 2013)

OP should also run w/d scenarios to optimize use of RRSP, non-registered, and TFSA accs. 
Opinion differs on whether to melt down RRSP assets before 65 versus keeping the RRSP intact until RRIF conversion at 71. Melt down seems preferred by those depending on OAS after 65/71 and depending on the total of other income sources at those times, including spousal income. At the extremes, income may be small enough that there is no OAS clawback, or large enough that having OAS income is moot. Since every circumstance is different, it is difficult to generalize and say if melt down makes sense.

Oops, what I had initially intended to mention was that the VPW table is very close in values to the prescribed RRIF minimums.


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## Eder (Feb 16, 2011)

robfordlives said:


> Fifty


I pulled the pin at 53 with less than you hope to retire on but am going strong traveling year round. Unless theres a 58' Nordhaven on your horizon you'll be fine and never want for anything.


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## peterk (May 16, 2010)

Well, the vast majority are going to retire with less than half of what you will... And still precisely none of them are going to die because of it, and hardly any are even going to have to experience moderate discomfort from a lack of money.

I think you'll be fine.


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## Koogie (Dec 15, 2014)

I'm already semi retired and plan on fully retiring at the same age as you and with the same coin. I've modeled it six ways from Sunday and am pretty confident that it'll work out. Mind you, I still only typically model a 30 or 35 year retirement. Genetics and family history tell me that I ain't likely to see the other side of 80 nor is DW.


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## kcowan (Jul 1, 2010)

I retired at 49 on a reduced pension. Then I worked for 10 years on contract. 3 years into the 10, I divorced my wife and gave her half of everything. It was tight for a few years but everything is fine now after 15 more years. Don't look for others blessings. Just do what you and your wife want to do. Did you say you owned a place in Europe? I think you are ready.


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## 1980z28 (Mar 4, 2010)

I retired at 56 May 2017 on less than 2 million,living of appox 54k in dividends
I plan for retirement in 2009 i purchased 126 acres of land and built a new house and large 2 story garage,last year before retirement i got a backhoe,2 vehicles,atv`s,tandem trailer,tools,furniture for house etc,so in retirement i have no debt,, years of cash on hand,reinvest dividends,,also will start to draw down RRSP,,,will not take CPP until 71 ,i also have no pension

This may not apply to you as we all have different needs and wants

If you have investment income that will cover cost of living ,,,life is easy if no debt
IMHO you will be fine


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## Pluto (Sep 12, 2013)

Quit the job that's making you miserable. After some months, you'll see the future more clearly. Considering your assets, and your ability to spend reasonably, you'll be ok. If need be, at some point, you can work again at a job that doesn't make you unhappy, and just let your investments do your saving for you. You need to get out of that job.


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