We are discussing the same thing that has been discussed all along. Namely: If you had 1M dollars to live off forever could it be done and how?

If you don't want to read wide ranging discussion on that topic you probably shouldn't open a ~400 post thread with that title.

Just sayin.

Actually, that could be done for way less than $1M, but that is pretty off-topic for this thread.

Right because its necessary for a millionaire to buy bulk meat and vaccuum seal it to save a few hundred / year?

If he is a penny shy from not being a millionaire and isn't going to work ever again, yeah, it wouldn't hurt.

More interestingly is if its even possible. Maybe with good research into edible plants / berries and survival techniques you got a shot. Same logic applies on why some captive animals can never go back into the wild. Its a stretch for any normal man to make it more than a week.

Its not necessary. If you want to continue this disucssion along these lines, you need to change 1m to 200k.

Otherwise the only interesting discussion here is why someone with wealth would choose to live like this.

Or to pressure can smoked salmon in half pint jars cause you enjoy the snack from your own pantry. Why would anyone with wealth choose to actually toil to live. Your butler would be there to hand you your robe and wipe your tushie when you finish your business. pulease.

We're not talking about something that is a lap of luxury. We're talking about decreasing the quality of the item we consume in addition to adding carrying costs to save money.

You can make a similar argument for whatever. Like eliminating all lamb consumption (too pricey) and chicken breast (just cheaper thighs). In fact we should be focused on cutting down on calories since its cheaper to not eat.

Conceivably I don't even need to steal many things to live on a $0 nest egg.

I dont even think you have to be talking good food. Its really a problem in how we value meals. Getting 30% more TV for the same price is a big deal.
Getting 30% more of a meal for the same price because you took out the restaurant overhead is still pretty meaingless value wise. No one is going to get off on the fact that you can get a "free meal" that is a third of the size to have for dinner tomarrow just because you didn't go to a restaurant.
Its also a question of the quality of the cooking.
I love to cook and try new things. I can make an ok chicken vindaloo for about 1/4th the price of the indian joint down the street if spread over several meals from the intial cost of spices. I still go there though for vindaloo from time to time because mine never taste exactly right since i'm not an indian chef with decades of cooking experience. Not to mention for a buck more at the restaurant I can get lamb instead of chicken, which to make at home would end up costing more since I can't buy that small amount of lamb at a decent price.

Since retiring I have time to shop fresh every day...cooking at home is now not only cheaper, but magnitudes more healthy & delicious.

4. Move the hell out of Malaysia or the whole deal stinks

Assuming my house and car are paid for - I see no reason why 1m wouldn't be enough.

Most people don't eat $13 dollar steaks every night. You're kind of out there, imo.

I've been looking at this thread living in the UK.

Now i was under the impression living in an average US town/city was cheaper than the average UK, however reading a lot of the posts saying $30k a year was hard to do and it sounded like u would be basically begging for money, has made me think.

In the UK if u had £30k presuming £1m, £30k after tax would give you a well above average lifestyle, nothing fantastic, but the kind owning your own flat/house depending where you lived and how much you spent etc....30k is 2500/month. That would give a good living considering you wouldn't have to work.

Surprised really that you ppl in US don't think its enough.

Obviously you mean outside of London.

Working makes life cheaper. Not having to work is the issue.

I don't think so. I'm not going to be buying $3000 suits if I'm sitting on my ass all day (at home), or buying a $10 lunch out every day, or all the gas I use in my commute. Entertainment costs may rise but unless you're trying to live a "baller" lifestyle like you guys seem to be, it won't be enough to offset the costs of work.

This is just wrong. Only if your make it so.

By making it do you mean leaving the house. We all agree that if you want to sit at home and live a boring life while you wait die you can easily do this. At this point though we are just going in circles.

No, not at all, as long as you are willing to limit the number of drinks you buy that are marked up 400% or greater this isn't even a problem.

So basically leaving the house and socializing is out unless you are ok with loitering.

Yeah well London would be a stretch, you could get a flat somewhere away from central on that kind of money though, it wouldn't be great...but then again you are talking one of the worlds most expensive property areas....wouldn't be hard to compromise.

ThePressure,

You forget the exchange rate. As of 1/17/2010 1 GBP = 1.6 USD dollars(approx). If you use conversion rates:

30,000 pounds = 48,000 US dollars(approx), so that would be a much higher amount for someone to live off of in the US.

30,000 US dollars = 18,800 pounds(approx), so living on 30,000 US dollars would equal less than 20,000 pounds. That would mean some tighter living in the UK. Plus, I'm sure that are places like London and other areas that have high costs of living.

I'm amazed at the lack of financial literacy on this thread. People think that 30 K/year will allow them to live anywhere/anyway they want and that just isn't true.

Those that advocate it being possible are fully aware they can't live anywhere/anyway they want. If I've missed some idiot in this thread thinking that, then thats my bad.

Those that advocate it not being possible tend to be those that refuse to think they could live a much simplier life. I don't mean that in a bad way, its just those people tend to have a higher class lifestyle in the first place and don't want to give things up, even in a hypothetical.

Its easy to upgrade. Its extremely painful to downgrade.

If you had $1M, you would realize no one lives forever.

Nobody thinks it will allow you to live anywhere/anyway you want.

Nobody has said that.

THe point is that there are many people who can and would live fulfilled lives with 1m dollars, without ever feeling the desire to work a regular job to make more money.

They would prefer more money, but it in many cases wouldnt be worth the work.








Steaks are significantly more expensive per serving than basically anything else you'll make on a regular basis.


Most meals are going to be simple and cheap.

Average cost of food per day if you dont eat out should be no more than $25 and that is a generous budget.

Gourmet isnt the same as 'good'.
Good food can be extremely inexpensive.


I've listed several hobbies that are extremely common.

You just for whatever can't believe that there are people out there who are content with the way they are - and wouldn't strive to be henry-like. I live a lot like you guys too and i enjoy it, but we are not in the majority. This forum is a collection of some of the biggest spenders around.



This is going ot be shocking to you probably.

But most people dont like their jobs.

And while everyone prefers more money to less,

There comes a point to many where the amount of money they can expect to get from an hour of work isn't worth the effort.

And that point comes when the amount of pleasure they'd get out of the money earned for a days work would be less than the displeasure they'd get by going to work instead of doing other things that fit within a $30k/y budget.

Most people in the world arent high maintanance prissy little bitches.

Most people live in places where the cost of living is extremely low, and they live happy and fulfilled lives despite it.