3 ms·

That's not quite what "independent" means. It means you'll be able to live off the interest, and not have to work for money any more. If you spend the principle

• mindcrime 13y ago
  Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying. If I had $4MM, I'd spend a small chunk up-front, and then I'd have enough left such that - if I invested wisely - I would most likely not have to work again, while being able to do some traveling. I'm not talking about exotic vacations to Monte Carlo to go gamble away $500,000 a night or anything, mind you. I'm talking about flying to $SOMEWHERE_COOL, and spend a week or two mostly lying on the beach reading and people watching. And at worst, that would be enough that if I did want to work again, I could be extremely picky about what kind of work I'd take on, and when, and where. That's a kind of independence in its own right. You also have to keep in mind that I'm an older guy (relative to this crowd) so barring major breakthroughs in medical technology, I don't have to stretch my money out as long as somebody who's in their 20's or whatever.