I retired young, now I mostly do nothing but watch anime.

You had financial struggles through 2012-2020, and yet gotten rich enough to no longer need to work a day in your life mere 5 years later? That's at least $2M disposable income after expenses and taxes to be gained in 5 years. Doesn't seem like a type of person who'd watch 16 episodes a day would achieve. Maybe you got really lucky at doing a crypto scam, but otherwise this seems quite unbelievable.

@ColourWheel, Ehh, I disagree. If you are living in EU, you can go to Bulgaria or something and probably purchase a very nice home for $300k, put everything else on S&P500 index fund with average 7-10% annual return, only withdraw the average interest, and you can easily make ends meet and not work ever. The average Bulgarian have way less to go with annually and they do survive.

P.S Checking in now, from 1990-2025 the average annual return of S&P500 was 11.68% so I was a little bit too pessimistic when I ballparked it as 7-10%.

Well hope this person who "isn't that rich" then decides to move to Bulgaria and hope they get the same average annual return that one could get between 1990-2025. lol

@ColourWheel

They can move to Romania or Greece or something too :p If the time frame was problematic, making it 1960-2025 barely changes it (11.58%), S&P500 (top 500 companies in US) is one of the most stable instruments that people put in their 401k, on long-term you can't go wrong with it. Unless someone nukes US, but then you are fucked either way.

I guess I would never understand why anyone would want to live the rest of their life so frugal if they claim they have enough to retire at such a young age.

Also I did a quick check because that number seems really weird. 11.58% is just a nominal return where even some year of investing can highly fluctuate where it could be possible for someone to not even make a good enough return to cover basic living over several years. Otherwise any chump could quickly go out and get a loan to invest in the S&P500 with collateral simply on paper and still make back enough to pay back the interest while also making enough profit each year. lol

@ColourWheel, Ehh, I disagree. If you are living in EU, you can go to Bulgaria or something and probably purchase a very nice home for $300k, put everything else on S&P500 index fund with average 7-10% annual return, only withdraw the average interest, and you can easily make ends meet and not work ever. The average Bulgarian have way less to go with annually and they do survive.

P.S Checking in now, from 1990-2025 the average annual return of S&P500 was 11.68% so I was a little bit too pessimistic when I ballparked it as 7-10%.

@Auron

It's generally correct, but the devil is in the details. First, you may struggle to withdraw the average return during bad years when the market is down - especially if it's multiple years in a row (like 2000–2002). For example, 2M -12% +12% still leaves you with less than 2M.

Also, don't forget about capgain tax 25% and the risk of usd weakening to eu currencies (happening now).

Finally, to make cash flow more stable, you will likely include bonds, which lowers your average return further, maybe 4-7% after taxes and inflation.

I think there is a consensus of 4% being a safe withdrawal rate for retirement portfolios, but never explored it any deeper.

@LoveYourSmile

I agree that if you get multiple bad years and then multiple good years it is bad because the base is less even if the rate is same (2M -12% +12% < 2M)

I'll take your word that 4% is the safe bet for the base to not depreciate, which would still give you more than enough in many lower cost of living EU countries.

Everything you are talking about is simply all theoretical. 2 million USDs today might only be worth $1 million in spending power in the next 2 decades from now. lol

You are still oversimplifying things. Inflation can erode real earnings as well as compress stock valuations. Stocks don't always outperform inflation either. Also there is timing with stuff like sequence of returns risks. Stocks aren't explicitly inflation-protected either where even bonds can decrease in value too.

Back in the late 80s and early 90s people thought all they needed was 1 million USDs and then they would be set for life... boy were they wrong. By the turn of the century 1 million USDs was not worth as much as it was back then. lol

You are still oversimplifying things. Inflation can erode real earnings as well as compress stock valuations. Stocks don't always outperform inflation either. Also there is timing with stuff like sequence of returns risks. Stocks aren't explicitly inflation-protected either where even bonds can decrease in value too.

Back in the late 80s and early 90s people thought all they needed was 1 million USDs and then they would be set for life... boy were they wrong. By the turn of the century 1 million USDs was not worth as much as it was back then. lol

Everything you are talking about is simply all theoretical. 2 million USDs today might only be worth $1 million in spending power in the next 2 decades from now. lol

One isn't going to apply the same type of retirement plan who is in their mid 30s over someone who is in their mid 60s. For one thing most people who retire also receive and rely on stuff like Social Security, have personal savings, have home equity, and even some still will take up a part time job beyond having stuff like Annuities and Pensions.

From what I have gathered the OP simply just wants to do nothing with their life other than just spending time consuming Anime all the time at the ripe age of 32. lol

They are not going to receive things like Social Security. They haven't specifically mentioned having stock but I am assuming whatever wealth they sudden have accumulated to be able to retire at such a young age means it's not simply just wealth on paper. Also once someone retires they do not typically invest the same way one would when they are not retired. Something like a 401(k) is meant to be a portfolio one has active before one retires. Where once one retires likely in their mid 60s then they start taking out money otherwise be hit with financial penalties and as well as be taxed as income. Smart investors would start investing outside of the S&P500 when they retire at a typical retiring age.

@Auron

I get the gist of what you are trying to say but everything you are posting is simply just in theory and nothing more.

I could design an Operation Amp to amplify audio on paper calculating the internal resistance of a diode inside a transistor when it's turn on to calculating the amount of resistance needed for the current to flow throughout the circuit. But when it comes time to build it and I use the values I calculated, the freaken thing doesn't work the way I calculated it and likely will make any audio sound like shit. lol

It's because all I did was design it in theory where in reality one needs to physically measure each resistor down to the it's specific ohms.

Unless you know the future and exactly how much things will cost in the future. Doesn't matter if you think 2 million will be enough to retire at the age of 32. Back in the early 2000s my internet bill was only $35 a month, today I pay $175 a month for my internet. Back in the late 90s my cell phone bill was $20 a month. Today I spend over $180 month on my phone bill. Back when I started my family I was spending roughly around $9,000 annually for health care. Today healthcare coverage cost me to cover my family $16,500 a year and I only have a one Daughter and a Wife. Shit simply changes over time. Even taking only 4% in theory out of some S&P500 investment annually over time starting at the age of 32, likely by the time that person reaches even their late 60s (even if things were at a fixed rate where they made 7% each year) having $80,000 annually to will likely not be enough money to cover basic living expenses 4 decades no matter where one wishes to live. lol

Yeah... I am not going to argue with you anymore. Seems you got it all worked out where you figured out how to guarantee to not lose your money no matter what. lol

Seems you know exactly what stocks, bonds, mutual funds, etc... which will never go down in value even during poor market performances. You seem to have figured out how to make sure your investments will always outpace inflation and make sure your money never loses it's purchasing power even with balance growth. lol

So good for you. lol

@derangedx29 I never said anyone gets social security at your age. I simply said most people who do retire also receive and rely on stuff like Social Security (most people retire at the age of 65 where I live). Specifically stating if one retires at a young age (such as 32), one isn't going to receive things like Social Security...



...and also good for you being able to retire at your age. Hope you find a good place to live out the rest of your life just to perpetually spend it watching Japanese Anime. Such as a place like Bulgaria, just like Auron suggested. lol