Thanks. When things look bad we just need to look around. There is always someone who is facing a deeper suffering. At least we had our daughter to love and share our lives with for 34 years. Nine years old is hard to deal with. I thank God for the time we did have with our daughter. We will never forget her.
Forgiving, repairing damaged relationships, sharing and giving.....these are the things that matter in life. Doing the things you wanted to do come in a close second.
Using my parents as an example, they are mid to late seventies and the house is paid for as well as the cars. My mom still sells real estate part time just to keep busy but they definitely don't need the money as they are able to pay most of their fixed monthly costs with just one social security check. In addition, they have respectable stock assets. The point is they have very low monthly costs. How much you need to retire really depends on how much you need to live on. Personally, I don't even look forward to retiring as it is a mental trap. I focus my energy on doing work I enjoy now and look for ways to maximize value offered and reward obtained.
Adding to what volpri said, why work so hard to amass so much money so that at 65 or 70 you have the means but now you are too old to really enjoy fully the fruits of your labor. Find long term wealth in investments and businesses that create wealth now and long term, not assuming you gonna trade your way to riches with your amazing system or looking for the holy grail. I am enjoying the wealth i am creating now while still generating money for the long term. Why wait until 65 to Start living... Even the most blue collar worker can find a way to create wealth to be enjoyed now AND in retirement. Stop thinking trading will get you there. I trade with wealth money already created for additional fun funds not trade to create wealth because if you think you are, the only one you are making wealthy is your broker.
volpri, I'm very sorry about your daughter. Orman is focused on people who invest for the long term. So, I imagine that for a 40-yr-old, she'd be advising paying off the house (usually bad advice, IMHO, for anyone who is halfway decent at managing money) and using something like a 60/40 fund (which may do poorly as bonds lose in the coming years). So, maybe such people do need more money to retire.
Volpri, so sorry to hear of your loss. Your daughter left a legacy in her children that I'm sure you will cherish for as long as you live and I hope that gives you and your wife some comfort. I have a friend that retired last year and earlier this year was diagnosed with ALS. You just never know what life will deal you, so enjoy the here and now.
I think there are creative ways to generate about 8% yield through a portfolio of corporate bonds, muni bonds and the recently available crowdsourced PE investments. Spread out $1M across a diversified mix of such investments and one could survive off the income.
R1234, I will keep it even simpler for you. Take the $1M put in the highest guaranteed annuity you can find and go sit down somewhere. When I retire, I don't want no parts of the stock market any more. Maybe trade because that's me believing in my skills set, not the stock market monkey and pony and clown show. Who wants to be in there 60s worry about investments portfolios? Not me!