This depends totally on your needs, ability to make money going forward, comfort with risk, etc. My bare minimum personal burn rate is about 1.5k per month, 2k at my usual standard of living. I quit the day job with about 5k in liquid savings, a retirement account rather larger that I haven't touched, and some consulting work lined up to cover the summer months. It was all but certain that sales from September on would cover all my expenses.