Love the term ‘fuck you money.’
The amount of money that grows so quickly from interest alone that you can’t spend it faster than it continues to accumulate_. When you hit that point, you’re basically at “escape velocity” and never need to worry about money again in your life. Some people also call this level of wealth “fuck you money,” or the amount of money you’d need to be able to never need anything from anyone ever again.
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@pratik Yeah, I've seen it mostly in the context of having enough money that you'd be okay walking away from a partner.
@KimberlyHirsh @pratik That was my understanding of the phrase too. It could also apply to work: enough money that you can walk away from a toxic work environment.
@pratik I've generally heard the term "critical mass" used to describe the amount of money where your investment returns will cover your minimum standard of living. As @splinter and @KimberlyHirsh suggest, the former term is usually used to describe enough money that you can quit a job, confident that you can make ends meet long enough to find another job. (Leaving a partner is slightly different, mostly just because it's tacky to suggest that you'll find a replacement partner before the money runs out. Maybe better would be to have enough money to set up independent housekeeping—enough to rent and furnish your own place to live, etc.)
@philipbrewer @splinter @KimberlyHirsh Yup, I also interpreted that as something you have so as to not rely on an external job/source that either toxic or unreliable. It’s the idea that if you didn’t have to rely on a job for your day-to/day expenses, what would you do to stay busy?
@pratik I find this such a weird question. I don't think I've complained about "not having anything to do" since I was ten years old. I've always had more things I wanted to do that I could possibly fit into my days, and it hasn't gotten remotely better since I quit working a regular job.
@philipbrewer I meant it in a similar vein. Just because there are more things that I want to do than I'm actually doing right now doesn't mean I can. Also, as an immigrant on a visa for nearly twenty years, I had to stay employed for 40 hours to maintain my status. Also, reading Oliver Burkeman's 4K Weeks emphasized the idea that I am never going to be able to do all the things I want to do, so, even when/if I have the flexibility to do the things I can choose, I will still have to pick from a long list and not be disappointed with the ones I cannot.
@philipbrewer I don't think the implication is that you would find a replacement partner, just that you could walk away from a partner and have time to find a new source of income, instead of being in dire straits right away.