My Path to Financial Independence as a Software Engineer

Re:My Path to Financial Independence as a Software Engineer by sillysaurusx on Sunday December 26, 2021 @06:48AM (#29691627)

I’m not sure I understand. Is it really true that you can’t extract 4% cash money per year off of a million dollars, even in a down market, without shrinking the principal?

$100k should be enough to live comfortably off of in the Midwest.

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Re:My Path to Financial Independence as a Software Engineer by ZephyrBlu on Sunday December 26, 2021 @07:21AM (#29691844)

I'm confused by your question. If you take 4% of the principal and the market does not return at least 4%, your principle has shrunk. This does not account for inflation either.

The Trinity study that the 4% rule comes from is based on having some assets left after 30 years, not the original principle being intact.

Trinity study: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trinity_study

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