Anonymous
Post 05/12/2026 07:49     Subject: People with $5M+ NW, why do you still choose to work?
Currently in late 60s with $15M and retired. When we were in our 50s, our NW was much lower. DH made a career change and basically started over in another industry and at the time, our NW was probably around $1.5M. His career really took off as he climbed the corporate ladder and when in his 60s his compensation was so high that we couldn't justify his retiring. He stayed until age 70 and now we have a nice nest egg that we could actually live long and still leave a nice inheritance for our kids. That job and the compensation is what made all the difference for us. No inheritance or generational wealth to propel us. Our kids will have a different financial outlook/experience than we did.
Anonymous
Post 05/12/2026 07:46     Subject: People with $5M+ NW, why do you still choose to work?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Retired people generally are:
- Relatively old
- Have similar aged retired people to hang out with
- Have kids that are grown up and moved out
- Feel content in what they've accomplished in life

Unless those things are true it's pretty unpleasant to retire.

We're late 30s with way more than $5M, but what would we do with our time if we retired? We're relatively young, our kids are still in school for 10+ more years, and our friends all still work. We also feel like we can do interesting things in our jobs and get paid a lot of money for it. So we both continue to work.

Also fwiw $5M is not very much to stop working at an early age. The Trinity study wasn't looking at 50 years of retirement, and a family of 4 living on $150k is not much when you consider that most people who reach $5M before retirement age probably made a lot more than that.


$150,000 after tax guaranteed with a paid off house is not tough to live on comfortably, even in a HCOL area, unless you've got 2+ kids in 60k/yr private schools.


No. I want to keep my high tech stocks that have served me so well for decades and build generational wealth to hand off to my children.

You're that troll who keeps posting year after year thinking 5M can be drawn down like this, and who thinks everyone wants to just spend their own money and to hell with the next generation.

It tells me you're not anywhere close to 5M.



Not a troll. And not saying anything about generational wealth. All I said is that 150k a year is plenty.

In any case, at a 3% withdrawal rate, you’ll likely die with significantly more than $5 million.
Anonymous
Post 05/12/2026 07:43     Subject: Re:People with $5M+ NW, why do you still choose to work?
Anonymous wrote:We have $15M ish and are in our early 50s. I would love to retire. I mean today. I am done with fulfillment at work. But, like a PP said, I want to be able to pay for nice vacations for extended family and leave my kids a nest egg. So I will work for a few more years until mid-50s and still be younger than most when I retire. Every day is a slog to keep working even though my job is interesting.


We have more than 5 but less than 15. We're pretty much right in the middle of the two, actually. And we retired in our mid 50s as you plan to do, and have been retired for a while now.

When posters talk about "paying for nice vacations for extended family," do you mean giving money to extended family members while you are alive so they can do things like take vacations without you? I ask this because as a practical matter and based on our experience taking the "extended family" on a nice vacation is far more easily said than done. It's extremely difficult for everyone's schedules to align for this.


Anonymous
Post 05/12/2026 07:42     Subject: People with $5M+ NW, why do you still choose to work?
Anonymous wrote:We're at roughly 4m + pension. I now work part time because I appreciate keeping my brain engaged and being a productive member of society. I stayed at home when the kids were younger and it was fine for the first couple years but then the novelty wore off and I got bored so I went back. A little extra spending money never hurt either.


+1. This is us but the knowledge I could quit at any time is quite liberating. And my spouse continues to work full time and will for at least twenty more years. He loves to work. I will stop my part time if it no longer works for us as a family and at times it feels hard with two kids still in elementary school.
Anonymous
Post 05/12/2026 07:32     Subject: People with $5M+ NW, why do you still choose to work?
I'm a PP, not the OP. But if I were the OP, I'd ask something along the lines of "if you have $5 million plus and you're over 50, why aren't you retiring?"

Posters in their 30s or 40s--especially those raking in the money and all the prestige and accolades and "things" that come along with it--just don't have the time or mindset to contemplate the reality that, like all of us, their days are numbered. But one day they will. Then the question will become relevant to them. But right now, and quite understandably, it isn't.
Anonymous
Post 05/12/2026 07:32     Subject: Re:People with $5M+ NW, why do you still choose to work?
We have $15M ish and are in our early 50s. I would love to retire. I mean today. I am done with fulfillment at work. But, like a PP said, I want to be able to pay for nice vacations for extended family and leave my kids a nest egg. So I will work for a few more years until mid-50s and still be younger than most when I retire. Every day is a slog to keep working even though my job is interesting.
Anonymous
Post 05/12/2026 07:23     Subject: People with $5M+ NW, why do you still choose to work?
We’re at $6.5M in our mid-40s. We could live on that if needed, but we’d have to cut our lifestyle and we don’t want to do that. We’re planning to work until 52 or so. We should be up to $8M plus by then and kids will be in college.
Anonymous
Post 05/12/2026 07:18     Subject: Re:People with $5M+ NW, why do you still choose to work?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Because we want $10m to retire.


Why? Give us an outline of your retirement plans and why you need that much to achieve them, then explain why those plans are so important and desirable that they're worth giving up more of your prime years working to achieve them. I'm genuinely curious. After all, time is limited--for all of us.


Not PP you replied to, but you're very stupid and just created this thread to "bash the rich". I'm not going to explain it to you. You can't continue to fester.


I'm not the OP. I did not create this thread. I asked a genuine question. I also have more than $5 million.
Anonymous
Post 05/12/2026 07:16     Subject: People with $5M+ NW, why do you still choose to work?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Retired people generally are:
- Relatively old
- Have similar aged retired people to hang out with
- Have kids that are grown up and moved out
- Feel content in what they've accomplished in life

Unless those things are true it's pretty unpleasant to retire.

We're late 30s with way more than $5M, but what would we do with our time if we retired? We're relatively young, our kids are still in school for 10+ more years, and our friends all still work. We also feel like we can do interesting things in our jobs and get paid a lot of money for it. So we both continue to work.

Also fwiw $5M is not very much to stop working at an early age. The Trinity study wasn't looking at 50 years of retirement, and a family of 4 living on $150k is not much when you consider that most people who reach $5M before retirement age probably made a lot more than that.


You're only in your 30s still. Your kids are still in school for many years. You're in high paying jobs and clearly love making money. It's still a driver for you. You have no context and no mindset for assessing the circumstances under which it's "unpleasant" to retire. It's a wholly foreign concept for you.



I'm 46 with 25M and I'm not stopping here. I agree with everything the younger poster said.


You can "agree" all you want and it's your life. But what you can't do is speak for others.
Anonymous
Post 05/12/2026 07:14     Subject: Re:People with $5M+ NW, why do you still choose to work?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Because we want $10m to retire.


Why? Give us an outline of your retirement plans and why you need that much to achieve them, then explain why those plans are so important and desirable that they're worth giving up more of your prime years working to achieve them. I'm genuinely curious. After all, time is limited--for all of us.


Not PP you replied to, but you're very stupid and just created this thread to "bash the rich". I'm not going to explain it to you. You can't continue to fester.
Anonymous
Post 05/12/2026 07:13     Subject: People with $5M+ NW, why do you still choose to work?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Retired people generally are:
- Relatively old
- Have similar aged retired people to hang out with
- Have kids that are grown up and moved out
- Feel content in what they've accomplished in life

Unless those things are true it's pretty unpleasant to retire.

We're late 30s with way more than $5M, but what would we do with our time if we retired? We're relatively young, our kids are still in school for 10+ more years, and our friends all still work. We also feel like we can do interesting things in our jobs and get paid a lot of money for it. So we both continue to work.

Also fwiw $5M is not very much to stop working at an early age. The Trinity study wasn't looking at 50 years of retirement, and a family of 4 living on $150k is not much when you consider that most people who reach $5M before retirement age probably made a lot more than that.


You're only in your 30s still. Your kids are still in school for many years. You're in high paying jobs and clearly love making money. It's still a driver for you. You have no context and no mindset for assessing the circumstances under which it's "unpleasant" to retire. It's a wholly foreign concept for you.



I'm 46 with 25M and I'm not stopping here. I agree with everything the younger poster said.
Anonymous
Post 05/12/2026 07:12     Subject: People with $5M+ NW, why do you still choose to work?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Retired people generally are:
- Relatively old
- Have similar aged retired people to hang out with
- Have kids that are grown up and moved out
- Feel content in what they've accomplished in life

Unless those things are true it's pretty unpleasant to retire.

We're late 30s with way more than $5M, but what would we do with our time if we retired? We're relatively young, our kids are still in school for 10+ more years, and our friends all still work. We also feel like we can do interesting things in our jobs and get paid a lot of money for it. So we both continue to work.

Also fwiw $5M is not very much to stop working at an early age. The Trinity study wasn't looking at 50 years of retirement, and a family of 4 living on $150k is not much when you consider that most people who reach $5M before retirement age probably made a lot more than that.


$150,000 after tax guaranteed with a paid off house is not tough to live on comfortably, even in a HCOL area, unless you've got 2+ kids in 60k/yr private schools.


No. I want to keep my high tech stocks that have served me so well for decades and build generational wealth to hand off to my children.

You're that troll who keeps posting year after year thinking 5M can be drawn down like this, and who thinks everyone wants to just spend their own money and to hell with the next generation.

It tells me you're not anywhere close to 5M.

Anonymous
Post 05/12/2026 07:01     Subject: People with $5M+ NW, why do you still choose to work?
Anonymous wrote:Retired people generally are:
- Relatively old
- Have similar aged retired people to hang out with
- Have kids that are grown up and moved out
- Feel content in what they've accomplished in life

Unless those things are true it's pretty unpleasant to retire.

We're late 30s with way more than $5M, but what would we do with our time if we retired? We're relatively young, our kids are still in school for 10+ more years, and our friends all still work. We also feel like we can do interesting things in our jobs and get paid a lot of money for it. So we both continue to work.

Also fwiw $5M is not very much to stop working at an early age. The Trinity study wasn't looking at 50 years of retirement, and a family of 4 living on $150k is not much when you consider that most people who reach $5M before retirement age probably made a lot more than that.


You're only in your 30s still. Your kids are still in school for many years. You're in high paying jobs and clearly love making money. It's still a driver for you. You have no context and no mindset for assessing the circumstances under which it's "unpleasant" to retire. It's a wholly foreign concept for you.

Anonymous
Post 05/12/2026 06:55     Subject: Re:People with $5M+ NW, why do you still choose to work?
Anonymous wrote:Because we want $10m to retire.


Why? Give us an outline of your retirement plans and why you need that much to achieve them, then explain why those plans are so important and desirable that they're worth giving up more of your prime years working to achieve them. I'm genuinely curious. After all, time is limited--for all of us.
Anonymous
Post 05/12/2026 06:49     Subject: Re:People with $5M+ NW, why do you still choose to work?
Anonymous wrote:We have $6.5M not including the house, and work for health care benefits. Paying out of pocket for 10-15 years for the two of us plus kids before reaching Medicare eligibility seems like such a waste of funds. Since one works for health care benefits, it is only fair that the other works, too.


You sound greedy. If one works for healthcare, why the other?