Ask HN: What's the minimum amount of money you'd consider to be FU money?

[petersalka]

I think we all agree that getting "fuck you money" is ONE of the main reasons we work 16 hours a day, 7 days a week. Then there's passion, legacy, love and world peace of course but let's talk about the money for a while.

What's the minimum amount of money you'd need to have to consider yourself having "fuck you money", thus allowing you to tick off that box on your list?

[coffeenut]

It is not a fixed constant, however, but rather a cell in a spreadsheet linked to any number of continually fluctuating economic indicators. :)

It currently sits at around $20 million USD.

[cd34]

Are you trying to get FU money to quit everything, or FU money to reorganize and attempt something?

I've always called that a freedom number, $7m in the bank, live off the interest. Enough income that I would not be required to do anything to ensure a somewhat healthy survival. No having to worry about deadlines for projects, hustling to get a new contract from a client signed, etc. That doesn't mean I stop working on tech, it means that I start working on tech that I want to work on.

I'm sort of lucky in that my current job does include a lot of things I enjoy working on, but, does contain some drudgery that I don't enjoy. Is it worth 20x7? Maybe.

Or, are you looking for FU money to go out and start your own thing? In that case, 3x annual subsistance for you and a few partners, then budget 18 months to have a marketable product/service. You leave the current situation and take control of your own destiny.

There are ways to generate passive income if you have excess income from your current situation. You just need to define what type of FU money you're looking for.

[petersalka]

Maybe we need to find a clearer definition of FU money.

It should most likely be the value of current, highly liquid assets that ensure one's long term financial security and independence.

A steady income of $250k a year should be enough for most people to enjoy a very comfortable life and potentially build up a certain amount of wealth. But what happens if you loose that stream of income (due to illness or a change in economic or political factors)? You may run out of your accumulated savings quite quickly and in turn loose your independence and security.

So far, the suggestions have been: $2 million, $6 million and $20 million.

[CallMeV]

Work out what your monthly expenditures are going to be. In the UK, these would include rent and rates, probably monthly mortgage payments if you own the property in which you live, your monthly utilities (electricity, broadband, phone, TV, water, gas) and all the other things you need to pay for each month such as magazine subscriptions.

Do you have a car? Work out the running costs. Fuel, repairs and maintenance, insurance, car tax or whatever your country charges for annual registration.

Add 20% to this figure to take inflation into account.

Now double the running total to cover the basics of food, consumables, kitchen and bathroom supplies, soap etc.

Double the running total again to cover clothes, fancy gadgets and fun stuff.

This is still only a monthly figure. To work out a minimum amount of Fuck You Money, multiply this figure by 60 to give you the minimum that you can live on for five years without having to go and look for more money, or by 120 to allow you financial independence for 10 years.

[tz]

$10M - It covers the reasonable standard of living outlined by some of the other commenters plus enables you to purchase a nice (in some areas VERY nice) home with cash.

[hasenj]

Can't say where's the fine line (if any ..)

Would $4M be FU money? Yea, definitely.

Would $1M do it? Hm, I'm not really sure. I'm sure it would be very fortunate to have that amount (I'd be able to pay college debts for all my family and move somewhere else), but I'm not sure how long it would last me.

[TimJRobinson]

I actually went though everything I want in my 'awesome but not extravagant' life, and it came to a total of just slightly over $250k a year. (and that's with tax calculations included)

If you go through the calculations you often find the numbers not as high as you think.

[arn → TimJRobinson]

Which at a 4% annual draw is a lump sum of $6,250,000 (after taxes), not taking into account inflation over the years.

[mcotton]

My current goal for FU money is ~$2 million. That isn't enough to retire, but that's not what I want. I want $1 million for some angle investing in a project with friends and the rest to make sure my family has food.

[arn]

It's been said that you can pull 4% of your investment safely while preserving your capital. So, figure out how much you need to make in a year and multiply it by 25 and that's roughly your FU lump sum.

[pontifier]

I just want to get out of debt and throw a party at the ISS... so 1.4M to get out of debt, and like 200M for the party?

[alienDeveloper]

i say $55 billion Dollars will do the job. ;) i really like the titles "Sir" and "The wealthiest man in the world" .. I hope im not day dreaming .. again.. :)

[revorad]

$1T.