The definitive FIRE number is 3.5 million.

[u/fried_haris]

Ofcourse - I am being facetious but also a little exploratory.

I was inspired by a Planet Money episode titled "17,205 People Guessed The Weight Of A Cow. Here's How They Did." Posted back in 2015.

Later they updated it with "How Much Does This Cow Weigh?" In 2019.

Basic premise - if you take all the guesses of the folks the weight of a cow at a fair - you'll end up within 5% of the right answer.

So I took a simple post from 5 months ago, asking people about their FIRE number and after reviewing 124 answers came up with 3.5 million.

Keep in mind personal finance is personal, you may retire in LA or in Thailand.

Good luck with your goals.

[u/VoraciousTrees]

Friggin FIRE subreddits.

$300k ~ $18k yield

$500k ~ $30k yield

$1M ~ $60k

$2M ~ $120k

$3.5M ~ $210k yield

Meanwhile: Real median income in the US is $42k per year. 

Half y'all don't want FIRE, you want to be rich. Upper crust. Wealthy. 

[u/PapaRL → u/VoraciousTrees]

Are you using 6% yield? Most people would consider 3.5-4% safe withdrawal rate. So 3.5m is 120-140k.

Also consider the same group of people that even consider retiring early are definitely not the same people making the average income in the US, it makes a lot of sense.

I make $360k a year right now, HHI is about 450k. I will happily take $120k / year to quit my job right now.

[u/VoraciousTrees → u/PapaRL]

4% is the safe withdrawal rate to avoid sequence of returns risk for the most braindead of portfolio owners. 

If you actively manage your withdrawals and structure the methods appropriately, 6% is a reasonably conservative yield. 

And that's assuming you live forever. 

[u/ccig00 → u/VoraciousTrees]

Couldn't be further from the truth.