Hello TH! Noticed that you said that you would not recommend ER
on less thna 750K. All you need is the motivation and a little luck.
Why do something that sounds harder than work? The other day someone posted that he was sitting in Thailand by a fan in 100 degree weather. Wouldn't most people rather get a job? Maybe just an attendant in a nice AC'd Movie Theater? I remember as a kid in the South, I was a pin spotter in a bowling alley before fully mechaical spotters were deployed. I looked forward very much to that job, because it was 95 outside, and a cool 70 inside. I wish I could have slept there.
Also, not to knock anyone's success, but if one were starting today, would he want to start out assuming luck? Game theory says that isn't a good idea.
Reminds of about twenty years ago, I was trying to describe to my Dad about ER. He said, well how much will you have to live on? I answered, well, I should pull about what a union hod carrier does. He said, that's nice, but are you sure this is a good use of a college education?
I feel like the song, "...don't do what I have done..."
It's true that many jobs stink, but some are pretty nice. If I were thinking of retiring with $750,000, I would think again and have a look at my possibilities in the job market. Of course, unless the $750,000 is in addition to various entitlements. Something which is not always stated as carefully as it might be by retirees.
Often I see some guy, with kids, no job, living pretty well. Look closer there is often a military pension, some disability payments, etc., etc. If one is planning to copy others, my idea is be sure you know everything there is to know about their situations.
Personally, unless I had a solid and meaningful pension, health insurance, SS, etc., I would not retire at an age under 50 with less than $2mm. If one adopts a 3% WR, that gives $60,000 before tax. The Wall Street Journal ran a story yesterday about a metals scavenger that expects to make $60,000 this year. Looks like the returns to capital are not too good, if it takes $2,000,000 to equal the income of a scavenger.
My figure of $2mm applies to someone with only a wife and no kids. OTOH, if you are alone, you are only rolling your own dice, so who is to say what you should be content with? I could live in a van, and I have seen old men living in vans, and looking pretty OK. I don't think I'd want to impose that risk on a woman. And no way on kids.
Mikey