Originally Posted by
rickair7777
$1M can't be anywhere near enough to retire early. Maybe enough if you're old enough for SS and medicare. Unless your idea of retiring is contemplating your navel in a tiny house or rural area.
Also... money in the bank has no real value, especially as time passes. If too many people rack up a big nest egg and retire, there will be nobody left to do the work. Inflation and wages will rise, your lawn guy would then charge $100K to mow your lawn, and your employed neighbor who's now making $2M/month could afford it.
Our current system depends on X number of workers supporting Y number of retirees. Change that equation much and something has to give.
Absent some fundamental shift in workforce automation, the economic system will adapt and evolve as needed so that the people doing the work get compensated in real terms.
IMO a more realistic plan would be to work hard to build enough wealth to retire comfortably later in life, while developing a skillset suitable for part-time, consulting/gig economy work. Once you've set yourself up to retire well, then you can work as much or as little as needed to meet your current financial desires and QOL. This is flexible over time, and keeps you from running out of money after 20 years out of your profession and the workforce.
Definitely worth sacrificing to accumulate diverse wealth while young, then you have options (emphasis on DIVERSE).
First keep in mind the $40k for starters will be indexed to inflation and increased at 3% per year. My annual spending with mortgage is right at $40k and without would be around $28k.
For health insurance most qualify for large ACA subsidies since their earned income is so low, only a couple hundred a month at best.
I had to kinda laugh at your assertion that most will build up a large nest egg and quit working. I highly doubt most Americans will change their spending habits. Saving 60%+ of your income is something most are not conditioned to strive for. Instead, most will spend right up what their income allows.