Personal Finance

I'm in my 30s and want to retire early with a nest egg of $10 million - is that enough to live my dream?

Maurie Backman

Published: February 13, 2025 8:22 am

A lot of people aim to retire at an earlier age than usual. But retiring in your 30s is a tough thing to pull off — namely, because it takes a lot of savings to maintain a comfortable lifestyle.

If you stop working in your 30s, you might need your savings to last for 50 to 60 years. And there’s also healthcare to think about.

Medicare eligibility doesn’t begin until age 65. And having to fully cover the cost of health insurance for three decades could put a serious strain on the savings you have.

But that doesn’t mean retiring in your 30s is impossible. It’s a matter of how much money you have and the type of lifestyle you want to have.

When you have a lofty goal but are poised to pull it off

Someone with $2 or $3 million in assets may not be able to retire in their 30s. Even though that’s a lot of money, it’s not a whole ton over five or six decades.

But in this Reddit post, we have a 30-something with a $7.5 million net worth. Their goal is to build their net worth to $10 million and then potentially retire at that point. And they’re wondering if their plan works, or if they should try to save more before they retire.

The answer really depends on what they want their lifestyle to look like. If they amass a $10 million portfolio and withdraw from it at a rate of 2% per year, that gives them an annual income of $200,000.

But whether that’s enough is dependent on them alone. There are plenty of people who could easily manage their expenses on $200,000 a year, even if some of that money needs to be used to cover the cost of health insurance.

But that annual income won’t work for everyone. And someone with a $7.5 million net worth in their 30s is probably used to a much higher annual paycheck than that. So the poster here will need to be honest about what they want before deciding that $10 million is enough to retire on.

A financial advisor can help

Clearly, the poster here is in a great financial position no matter what. If they decide they’re not comfortable retiring on $10 million at such a young age, they could opt to push for a few more years, boost their net worth, and then enjoy the freedom to take larger withdrawals from their savings down the line.

Another thing the poster (and anyone else in this boat) should consider, though, is the boredom factor. It’s hard to keep busy day in, day out in the absence of work, which is why so many older Americans struggle with the transition to retirement.

So what the poster may want to do is find a way to work in some capacity. That could mean consulting and taking on projects that interest them. Or it could mean doing work they find meaningful, even if the pay isn’t so great. If they’re able to find a low-key job that offers health coverage, even better, as it’ll strain their savings that much less.

I’d also highly recommend that the poster, and anyone else who’s contemplating a very early retirement, speak to a financial advisor. An advisor can review their investments and goals and help determine how much money it takes to pull them off. An advisor can also share some of the pitfalls of a very early retirement so the poster can make a more informed decision.