I’m Worth $8.5 Million At Only 40 Years Old. Is It Immoral To Retire Now, Or Should I Keep Working?

When you are 40 years old with $8.5 million, you are in a truly fantastic financial position. At a safe withdrawal rate of around 3.7%, your nest egg should comfortably produce around $314,500 in annual income. That should be more than enough money for most people to live on and still spend pretty lavishly. 

Since you have enough money saved to provide you with a very good living, you can choose to retire at 40 if you want to. However, you should be aware that not everyone thinks early retirement is a good thing. Instead, some people who place a high premium on being employed may find that your decision to stop doing your job at such a young age is foolish and perhaps even immoral.

The opinions of others can largely be ignored when it comes to your retirement decisions. However, that gets harder if your close family or friends are telling you that you should not be retiring yet. If your spouse, inlaws, parents, or other immediate loved ones have an opinion about your plans to leave work, you need to be ready to respond. Here’s what you should do.

Don’t let your dream lifestyle be taken away by the disapproval of others

Ultimately, if you managed to save $8.5 million in your 40s, you must have done something right during your career. Whether you built a business, earned a great income, saved and invested aggressively, or did all three, you have created this $8.5 million for yourself. You deserve to be able to do what you want with the money — including sitting back and enjoying life. 

Now, of course, if your spouse has objections to you retiring early despite your wealth, this does need to be addressed. And if close family members are questioning you, you may want to give them the courtesy of a response. When you make your announcement that you are retiring, you can explain why you have made this choice. Be ready to highlight your past successes and explain that you’ve dreamed of early retirement and what your likely plans are going to be.

You can also ask their concerns. Are they worried you’re just going to sit around all day? Do they think you’ll be bored? Are they afraid the money isn’t enough? Tackle these issues one by one and be prepared to share your plans to alleviate their worries. You may be able to put their minds at ease if, say, they don’t want you to retire young because they worry you’ll sit around and play video games all day.  

Retiring also does not have to mean giving up work for good. If you have $8.5 million in your 40s, you have plenty of time to do something meaningful that matters to you — especially since you don’t need the money. If you want to be a professional dog walker at the shelter or give people tours on a fishing boat, you can spend your days doing that so you still have meaning and purpose. 

Hopefully, as you discuss your plans, those around you start to feel comfortable once you’ve shed light on what retirement will look like. Ultimately, though, your decisions are yours to make and you’ve set yourself up to have the freedom to do what you want. It’s up to you how much effort you want to spend making people understand your choices, but you should not hesitate to do what you feel is right after working hard to get to where you are.