My wife retired 2 years ago and I’m still working — is our $12 million net worth enough for me to join her in retirement?

A 54-year-old's $230K annual rental income already surpasses his family's $200K expenses, giving him a passive income foundation for early retirement.

Retiring 11 years before Medicare eligibility means facing full, unsubsidized health insurance premiums after ACA enhanced credits expired in 2025.

Rental property deductions can significantly cut his taxable retirement income, with those deductions including depreciation over 27.5 years and restored 100% bonus depreciation.

Building a portfolio and living off one are two completely different skills, and almost nobody teaches the second. This problem is what The Definitive Guide to Retirement Income helps, and it is free today. Read more here. (Sponsor)

How much do you need invested before you can comfortably stop working? It is one of the most common questions among older Americans, and a 54-year-old Redditor in the fatFIRE community is grappling with it right now. His 49-year-old wife called it quits 2.5 years ago, and he is wondering whether he can follow her. According to the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, the average retirement age in 2024 was 64.6 for men and 62.6 for women, which means leaving the workforce at 54 would put this Redditor a full decade ahead of the typical male timeline.

To answer the question, he needs to weigh what he has saved and invested against what his family actually spends, then decide whether those assets can carry them both through what could be a very long retirement.

Running the numbers to see if retirement is in the cards

The Redditor's financial picture is detailed and, by most measures, impressive:

Now Available: The Definitive Guide to Retirement Income

Many successful investors eventually reach the same moment. The saving is done, the portfolio is built, and the question quietly changes from how much can I grow this to how much can I take out? Get that second question wrong and decades of good investing can come apart in a handful of years.

That is exactly what The Definitive Guide to Retirement Income helps answer. It covers what your retirement could actually cost, which income sources are worth using, and the withdrawal math that decides whether the money lasts. It is free today from Fisher Investments. Read More Here ›

Asset breakdown: $1.18 million in stocks, $10.4 million in property equity (including $6.1 million in rental properties, $0.95 million in land, and a primary home worth $3.3 million), plus $300K in cash

Roughly $230K in annual cash flow from rental properties after all costs

Active income fluctuating between $300K and $500K per year

Annual household expenses of approximately $200,000, not counting taxes