how much is a lot?

[john_1]

If you could choose a number that if you had it in your bank account would mean you would be able to stop working or really change your life??

[#2]

R18m - will do it for me. Invested dividends at 5% about R900K a year. Will do nicely thank you. Problem is we as humans are designed to work, so boredom would mean that we take a few risks & lose it all.. Cest La Vie

[stores]

John..a difficult question...I have been retired a year now and asked my pension advidor the same question...There is no answer, but I recon that you need USD 1.0 million in total assets to retire now if you live in SA (without debt/bonds and also have a pension that takes care of normal monthly expenses) and also have at least half a bar in Rands for contingecies. Your second part of the question....Another bar in Rands would change my life. I would be a little less conservative with respect to questioning my own affordability and splash out a bit with travel and other lekker things.

[stores]

John..You would probably need to double your assets (i.e. 2 million USD if you wanted to stop working and live outside RSA). IMO

[#5]

bruberi - " thinking is the hardest work there is, that is probably the reason why so few engage in it".

[john_1]

Well I guess part of the question also is how big are you willing to dream...

[#7]

R10m... Use R5m to buy investment properties and pretty much have the rentals with escalations as my fall back then stick the rest in various Allan Gray locl and offshore unit trusts...

[Blik]

Some thoughts: Rather than ask the question "how big can I dream", I would rather answer how much do I need to be happy. I reckon I could happily live on an inflation adjusted salary of between 200 - 300K a year. Assuming a solid 3-4% dividend yield with a bit of backup in cash, I reckon i could happily retire on between 7 and 10 mill. That is assuming all debts have been paid off, and I dont need to purchase a house. I'd be happy with that. It all depends on what makes you happy. If happiness is achivied through work and asset gain, then you will never reach a goal, becuase the act of working, earning and growning makes you happy. If a goal of a set standard of living will make you happy, then you need to work to the goal and when realised you need to stop.

[AJT]

John, you tell me how long I am going to live and I will give you a figure.....

[geordie1]

I stopped working 13 years ago>I had no debt owned 3 houses and had 3 million invested in equities-oviously equities have increased substantially since then-I still do not work-no boredom

[prancing_horse]

If you're a genuine Geordie Lad, You must be nursing a helluva hangover after giving Villa six of the best.

[geordie1]

Well really pleased for the lads but springboks loss was a bit hard to take-had a few drinks anyway so as usual had the hangover-drinking is constant but the reasons for it vary

[ms_moneybags]

Ireckon 20 million rands to retire omfortably.Safe to say i have to work a bit longer.Allan Gray doing a great job of assisting me to get to that target Also OST of course.....

[john_1]

For me the starting number would be 60 million rands,..I know thats a large amount but I am ok with it!

[DST]

Quote of the Day from www.tickertalk.co.za

J. Paul Getty "If you can count your money, you don't have a billion dollars."