Is $10 million the optimal amount for early retirement?
According to a Financial Samurai post, $10 million is the ideal amount for retirement.
My take is that if the goal is to optimize for happiness, accumulating more than $10 million seems sub-optimal. Of course the $10 million amount should be adjusted for location and lifestyle, also if working for money is the happiest thing you do then there is no conflict. The idea is that people in the top 1% of wealth distribution (which $10MM NW puts you in in most places) already have more than they need to live comfortably. In fact, working to accumulate more wealth will only reduce your total lifetime happiness.
Those of you who keep working after ~$10MM NW, why?
I'll go first. Currently at ~$12MM NW, $2MM in primary residence, $10MM in stocks and ETFs. I haven't retired yet because I'm too lazy to buy my own health insurance and setup my assets for a steady income stream. My current job is easy and low stress, keeping the status quo is probably not the optimal solution, but it is the easiest path forward.