Life changing to me, would be an amount that allows me to retire right now and be OK for the rest of my life. $2 million would do it for me.

If $2 million sounds low, it's because I can't think of anything that I would want even if I had $100 million.

If I still have to work it isn't really life changing for me. So I guess enough to be able to retire in a few years. Or at least for me to keep working and my wife to retire.

Anonymous wrote:High 6 figure income or 5M lump sum. I’m at 300k/yr + 1M net worth.

+1

My relative played a huge lottery. They never had kids. They were in their 70s and retired in a little laid off house from blue collar jobs.

They gave away 100 percent of money to build an orphanage and set a trust to run it forever. Only stipulation their name on building since had no kids wanted someone to remember them.

All the dead beat relatives and friends told the. They “wasted” the money

OP was talking about a potential increase in salary... lump sum/lottery ($5M-10M), which wasn't the question.

My number is always 10M post tax. Once I’m there, I’m done with work.

4% gives me 400k which would allow me to volunteer and be a coach

$20 million because I have trouble feeling financially secure.

Anonymous wrote:$500k for me. I needed it one time only, not every year.
This meant I got to quit my job - absolutely life-changing.
I trade part of it and live off the difference. Most of it is in the market growing though. Some of it is also in guaranteed monthly payments that covers all housing and bills.
My job is still there waiting for me if I get bored at home.

500K can't make that happen for you. You cannot grow it in the market AND also pay bills with it, even for one individual. I have many times that amount in growth stocks and the dividends are not sufficient to pay all the household bills for a family of 4.

You would need at least 5M, which is why other posters have landed on that number. And then you need to choose your stocks wisely.

We have a comfortable life so life changing for us would be freedom from working. $10M would mean we could live off 2% a year which would last the rest of our lives (mid 40’s.) We don’t have luxury desires.

If you've ever been truly broke, you know that life-changing money is whatever pays off all your debts. Starting from zero instead of -$50K or whatever would be truly life-changing.

Anonymous wrote:As a serial lottery fantasizer, I'd need $100m after taxes for it to be life changing. That would allow me to setup trusts for my kids, nephews and nieces, buy homes for my parents and siblings who live in another country, buy a couple of homes in the US and other vacation spots, and live off generated income spending about a $1M a year.

So if you merely were able to live off $750k in passive income, you wouldn't consider it life changing?

You are an idiot.

For us, it would be enough to pay off our mortgage ($600K).

Omg some days $20

Life changing for me would be at least $5M as it would allow me to retire earlier than planned. I was thinking the other day how much my life would change if we won $1M after taxes, and I realized not much at all. I would simply invest all of it in a diversified index fund and then not sweat higher education costs for my 2 kids, but I would still have to work X number of years til I retired.

As a serial lottery fantasizer, I'd need $100m after taxes for it to be life changing. That would allow me to setup trusts for my kids, nephews and nieces, buy homes for my parents and siblings who live in another country, buy a couple of homes in the US and other vacation spots, and live off generated income spending about a $1M a year.