I'd call it quits too. That's plenty for a nice UMC retirement. And if you don't touch it for 10 years you'll likely have double that amount.

OP. Thanks for all perspectives, guys. We are 59/53 with the 58 spouse currently unemployed. They are not actively looking for work and want to call it quits. Our HHI is about 250K which is enough to take care of our expenses and leave enough to max out my workplace savings. Kids will be done with college in about 5 years. If the last one ends up going to grad school, add another 3-4 years. I do plan on working another 7+ years.
I'm OK with my partner doing what they want but think it would help if we had more income. Their point is that we won't touch the money for another 10 years anyways so it doesn't really matter whether it's 7 or 10M. An additional concern for them is that any job they may get would be at a much lower level than they are used to and they don't want to "be reporting to children" and be miserable.

For reference, we had a NW of $7.5 end of 2021, which dropped to about $6M end of 2022 and is now back to over $7.3.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't think I'd have any lifestyle change between those two numbers. At $25M I think I'd start incorporating a few stupid-rich things, like chartering planes for travel. But at those numbers I'd be retired, relaxed, and still focusing on preservation.

Really? I'm going to reach that net worth in a few years, the way my portfolio is going, and there's no way I'd charter a plane, unless to get somewhere a commercial route can't go. I just want a normal middle class life, and preserve wealth for my descendants.

If you are close to $25 million, the words normal middle class do not describe you

Anonymous wrote:I don't think I'd have any lifestyle change between those two numbers. At $25M I think I'd start incorporating a few stupid-rich things, like chartering planes for travel. But at those numbers I'd be retired, relaxed, and still focusing on preservation.

Really? I'm going to reach that net worth in a few years, the way my portfolio is going, and there's no way I'd charter a plane, unless to get somewhere a commercial route can't go. I just want a normal middle class life, and preserve wealth for my descendants.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I retired at 53 with a 4.5 million net worth. Nine years later my net worth is 7.5 million and I’m living large. But hey you all keep telling yourselves that ain’t enough money. It’s cool - you’ll live forever I’m sure. Have fun with all your money sitting around in diapers in your 80s and 90s!

My money is not mine. It's for future generations. If you don't care about building generational wealth, then sure, spend it all, or give it away.

Yeah, if you feel that the purpose of your life is to leave money for your kids then have at it. I’d bet they rather you leave them a little less and enjoy your life a little more though. And spend more time with them while you’re at it.

I stay home, so I do! We have a great time. Actually the plan is to gift them a little money as needed throughout their lives, while teaching them that the bulk of the wealth should be transmitted whole. Dividends fund a lot of our lifestyle, which is why there is no need to touch the capital. We lack for nothing.

Sure. Ok.

I don't think I'd have any lifestyle change between those two numbers. At $25M I think I'd start incorporating a few stupid-rich things, like chartering planes for travel. But at those numbers I'd be retired, relaxed, and still focusing on preservation.

Anonymous wrote:Is there a significant lifestyle change between having a net worth of say, $7M and $10M? What would you do at $10M nw that you wouldn't with $7M?

No. But there will be if it's $10.23M!

No, either way I’m stuck in this rent control condo with my aging mother.

Anonymous wrote:Is there a significant lifestyle change between having a net worth of say, $7M and $10M? What would you do at $10M nw that you wouldn't with $7M?

Nothing changed for me, except I felt that much safer. But so much of this depends on how much you spend now, how much you want to spend in the future and how old you are. For most people, $7m is an unimaginable amount of wealth, so perspective is important. For most people I know in this NW, almost no one is “retired” completely - they all still work or have various part time roles (advisory, board seats etc), but we are still fairly young.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I retired at 53 with a 4.5 million net worth. Nine years later my net worth is 7.5 million and I’m living large. But hey you all keep telling yourselves that ain’t enough money. It’s cool - you’ll live forever I’m sure. Have fun with all your money sitting around in diapers in your 80s and 90s!

My money is not mine. It's for future generations. If you don't care about building generational wealth, then sure, spend it all, or give it away.

Yeah, if you feel that the purpose of your life is to leave money for your kids then have at it. I’d bet they rather you leave them a little less and enjoy your life a little more though. And spend more time with them while you’re at it.

I stay home, so I do! We have a great time. Actually the plan is to gift them a little money as needed throughout their lives, while teaching them that the bulk of the wealth should be transmitted whole. Dividends fund a lot of our lifestyle, which is why there is no need to touch the capital. We lack for nothing.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I retired at 53 with a 4.5 million net worth. Nine years later my net worth is 7.5 million and I’m living large. But hey you all keep telling yourselves that ain’t enough money. It’s cool - you’ll live forever I’m sure. Have fun with all your money sitting around in diapers in your 80s and 90s!

My money is not mine. It's for future generations. If you don't care about building generational wealth, then sure, spend it all, or give it away.

Yeah, if you feel that the purpose of your life is to leave money for your kids then have at it. I’d bet they rather you leave them a little less and enjoy your life a little more though. And spend more time with them while you’re at it.

Anonymous wrote:I retired at 53 with a 4.5 million net worth. Nine years later my net worth is 7.5 million and I’m living large. But hey you all keep telling yourselves that ain’t enough money. It’s cool - you’ll live forever I’m sure. Have fun with all your money sitting around in diapers in your 80s and 90s!

My money is not mine. It's for future generations. If you don't care about building generational wealth, then sure, spend it all, or give it away.

Anonymous wrote:$10m liquid sound be 350-500k in annual cash flow if invested properly

7M would be 250 -350k

And extra 10k+ a month is a huge lifestyle difference.

It’s the difference of a 2M beach house

It's generally unwise to liquidate your capital. You want to keep it invested for future generations (or a catastrophic life event) and receive the dividends. And 10M does NOT give you anywhere near that much dividends.

Anonymous wrote:$10m liquid sound be 350-500k in annual cash flow if invested properly

7M would be 250 -350k

And extra 10k+ a month is a huge lifestyle difference.

It’s the difference of a 2M beach house

350-500K cash Flow for how many years. It really depends upon your age, housing costs, number of kids to put thru college, etc. Also how long do family members typically live. Seriously my one Side of the family lives to late 90s typically, especially the women, the other side all lived until late 80s even with major health issues (obesity, diabetes, HBP, heart issues, etc), so I feel the need to assume I'm making it to 90-95 potentially and need to plan accordingly.

I wouldn't retire at $10M, but then again I'm not retiring at $30M either...waiting for all kids to be thru college, then time to travel and be done with work

Anonymous wrote:Idiots.

Most people with that kind of net worth have significant investments in equities, which tend to fluctuate in value. In any given year a person’s net worth can go from 7 to 8 to 10 or the other way around. You need to keep that in mind in your financial planning, meaning that you shouldn’t be changing your lifestyle significantly on any given day based on your net worth that day.

Very true. This year my portfolio is worth anywhere from 13M to 15M. I am not living a different lifestyle compared to 10 years ago, when it was significantly less! My lifestyle is tied to my income, and while that has increased, my expenditures have increased has well, because my teens cost money

You're not asking the right question, OP. Income and assets are two different things. Your debt and expenses will change throughout your life. There are many variables.