Whether he can retire on 600k would depend on where he chooses to live. Certainly it would be financial suicide to try to do so in the SF Bay Area. You'd likely

Whether he can retire on 600k would depend on where he chooses to live. Certainly it would be financial suicide to try to do so in the SF Bay Area. You'd likely be able to live quite well in many parts of SE Asia. He may very well be able to afford a decent life in various parts of the world. Regarding looking forward, one could theoretically just buy an annuity (I don't actually recommend this), or live in a country with a deflationary economy. "Investing" in the most commonly cited way, isn't the only way to provide cash flow from a nest egg and protect against inflation. I myself run a very conventional asset allocation for my own portfolio. Generally speaking, what you say is prudent advice and is good wisdom. But that doesn't mean that there are other, particular, ways to go about designing one's financial life (sort of like edge cases), and his choices shouldn't automatically be considered nonstarters.