I just finished Samuel Butler's The Way of All Flesh; a semi-autobiography completed in 1885.
In the book, he often refers to a certain class of people as being in receipt of a "living", which means they don't actually work, but live off their investments. He gives many examples of net worths and livings; for instance a sum of 80,000 pounds was expected to provide a living of 3500 pounds annually. Just a tad over 4%.
He also expounds on his investing philosophy:
...kept henceforward as nearly in the middle of the middle rut as I could...No amount of trouble would have been likely to have increased my estate one half so much as it had increased without my taking any trouble at all.
Some thing just don't change.
In the book, he often refers to a certain class of people as being in receipt of a "living", which means they don't actually work, but live off their investments. He gives many examples of net worths and livings; for instance a sum of 80,000 pounds was expected to provide a living of 3500 pounds annually. Just a tad over 4%.
He also expounds on his investing philosophy:
...kept henceforward as nearly in the middle of the middle rut as I could...No amount of trouble would have been likely to have increased my estate one half so much as it had increased without my taking any trouble at all.
Some thing just don't change.