This is such an interesting thread with plenty of good points.

Sorry if this post takes the discussion on a different track.

I was wondering what the general view was on how much one would need to retire.

From my point of view, retirement is not ceasing work. It's about taking time to enjoy life, and doing things for pleasure as opposed to being obligated to do something. Freedom perhaps.

As I examined my own situation, it boiled down to what lifestyle I would want and how much I would need to fund it via passive income. I think the net worth part is the smaller part of the equation because it's how much you would like to spend that should drive the net worth component.

In addition, I see one's primary residence as almost inconsequential in determining if one is well prepared to retire because unless one is ready to downgrade, and incur all the associated costs of making the switch, both financial and emotional, the value of your primary residence will not put food on the table.

I remember reading a book about personal wealth, and it said most prudent and down to earth "wealthy" people live in a home that is worth no more than 20% of one's total net worth. I guess in Singapore, this % gets skewed but wonder how far it should be stretched...the more you allocate to the roof over your head, the less you have to provide you with an alternative source of income.

I also recall the value of one's car should be like 5% or less of one's net worth.

So I kinda tried to apply these guidelines +/- as I was planning my own scenario, using annual anticipated expenditure to derive the size of an income generating portfolio and came up with these numbers:

Value of primary residence 1.5m
Value of income generating portfolio 7m (zero real estate)
Target yield 4% or 280k which more than covers my household expenditure.
Simple used japanese car - value probably not much now.

I am in my mid 40s now, wife is slightly younger. We've just about achieved this target and now contemplating entering the new phase of our lives which basically entails not being bound by an employment contract or obligations to business partners. We kinda know what we want to do with our time, and it won't involve chasing any more dollars.

I was wondering what general views were on how much one would need to retire comfortably, when would you stop "working", etc and perhaps, what instruments one would use to generate one's retirement income.