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What’s Your Ideal Income And Amount Of Work A Day?

Updated: 02/21/2021 by Financial Samurai 64 Comments

Lake Tahoe Vista

Do you have an ideal income and amount of work a day? I do. My ideal income is $300,000 for a family of four while working four hours a day.

With $300,000 a year, my wife and I can live a relatively middle-class lifestyle in an expensive city like San Francisco. Meanwhile, working four hours a day is just enough to do something productive while having fun. Working longer starts to feel more like a dream.

What’s Your Ideal Income And Amount Of Work A Day?

Because I had a $100,000 income target in mind while in college, I set out to work in an industry which would enabled me to make six figures.  Industries such as consulting, finance, legal, high tech, and medical are such industries.  The problem is getting in and surviving for a long enough time to reap the financial rewards.

I see many people bail out before the income really gets good because they just can’t take the work hours, pressure, and stress anymore. 

I understand completely since not everybody is cut out to work 50-80 hours a week and constantly compete for their lives.  Eventually, we all burn out.  I’m just surprised how quickly some of the younger folks burn out nowadays.

As a middle-aged man now, I’m no longer naive about the world.  $300,000 is my ideal income for maximum happiness for a family of four, but at what cost? 

If I am to spend more than 50 hours a week trying to make $300,000, that’s not very impressive. If I could spend just 20 hours a week making $300,000, then I think that would be mighty fine.

What’s your ideal income and amount of work a day? Only you can figure it out.

IDEAL AMOUNT OF WORK TIME A DAY

My ideal amount of work  a day is roughly four hours. I like to get up early and work from 7:30am to 11:30am non-stop.  I find that I can maintain a maximum focus of up to four hours, by which time I start to fade if I work any longer. My concentration deteriorates, and I start to get fidgety and want to go outside.

From 11:30am-1pm, I take a leisurely lunch break. Afterward, I enjoy a nice 30 minute siesta on the couch before I go and perform some physical activity to try and stay in shape.  I might sprinkle some afternoon errands and by the time 6pm roles around, it’s date night and relaxation time.

There will often be times when I have to get on the computer and work at night due to clients in Australia and Asia. However, I don’t plan on spending more than 45 minutes online after dinner anymore because I want to spend time with my loved ones instead.

I encourage everybody to get a sense of what their optimal work hours are and find a way to get there. I know if I only worked for one hour a day, I’d feel unproductive. Meanwhile, each hour after four hours of work gets less and less enjoyable to the point where I will start hating work after the twelve hour mark!

SLOW AND STEADY WINS THE RACE

Making $300,000 a year working just 20 hours a week is no easy task. I’ve reset to zero now that I’ve retired from corporate life and look to build multiple income streams online instead. Although the task may be difficult, if I give myself a long enough runway, I believe I can make it happen.

By December 31, 2022, I aim to regularly generate over $300,000 a year in passive investment income. To do so, I must continue to save at least 50% of my online income and reinvest 90%+ of it.

Perhaps I will fail, but at least I will try. Perhaps I’ll get tempted to go back to the corporate life before then. That doesn’t mean I still can’t strive towards my goal. All I know is that I’m going to focus on the journey and have fun trying to get there!

Favorite Way To Earn My Ideal Income

For 2021+, I plan to generate the ideal income mainly through real estate crowdfunding.

Real estate is my favorite way to achieving financial freedom because it is a tangible asset that is less volatile, provides utility, and generates income. Stocks are fine, but stock yields are low and stocks are much more volatile. The -32% decline in March 2020 was the latest example. However, real estate held steady and appreciated in value then. 

Given interest rates have come way down, the value of rental income has gone way up. The reason why is because it now takes a lot more capital to generate the same amount of risk-adjusted income. Yet, real estate prices have not reflected this reality yet, hence the opportunity. 

Take a look at my two favorite real estate crowdfunding platforms that are free to sign up and explore:

Fundrise: A way for accredited and non-accredited investors to diversify into real estate through private eFunds. Fundrise has been around since 2012 and has consistently generated steady returns, no matter what the stock market is doing.

CrowdStreet: A way for accredited investors to invest in individual real estate opportunities mostly in 18-hour cities. 18-hour cities are secondary cities with lower valuations, higher rental yields, and potentially higher growth due to job growth and demographic trends.

I’ve personally invested $810,000 in real estate crowdfunding across 18 projects to take advantage of lower valuations in the heartland of America. My real estate investments account for roughly 50% of my current passive income of ~$300,000.

Manage Your Finances In One Place

Get a handle on your finances by signing up with Personal Capital. They are a free online platform which aggregates all your financial accounts in one place so you can see where you can optimize. Before Personal Capital, I had to log into eight different systems to track 25+ difference accounts (brokerage, multiple banks, 401K, etc) to manage my finances.

Now, I can just log into Personal Capital to see how my stock accounts are doing and when my CDs are expiring. I can also see how much I’m spending every month. If you are interested, they can even provide tailored financial advice for much cheaper than traditional wealth managers.

Start Your Own Blog To Earn Supplemental Income

It’s been over 12 years since I started Financial Samurai and I’m earning more online than I did as an Executive Director at a major Wall Street firm while working way less and having so much more fun! 

I never thought I’d be able to quit my job in 2012 just three years after starting Financial Samurai. Check out a real income statement from a blogger who makes $150,000 a year online and another $180,000 off-line thanks to his site!

Blogging For A Living Income Example: $300,000+
Look at all the income possibilities. This is a real example. Click to learn how to start your own website today!

I strongly recommend everybody start their own website today so you can at least own your own brand online. Having your own website makes you stand out from a crowded field that’s full of people with only LinkedIn profiles.

I recommend signing up for Bluehost for just $2.95 a month and linking your WordPress site like mine once you’ve found a great domain name. Starting a site used to cost thousands and thousands of dollars and days of your time. Now it can be done in minutes.

Once you own your own site, it’s much easier to get a job, sell a product, and tell your story. Who knows, you might even be able to break free from Corporate America if you get big enough!

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Filed Under: Career & Employment, Retirement

Author Bio: I started Financial Samurai in 2009 to help people achieve financial freedom sooner. Financial Samurai is now one of the largest independently run personal finance sites with about one million visitors a month.

I spent 13 years working at Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse. In 1999, I earned my BA from William & Mary and in 2006, I received my MBA from UC Berkeley.

In 2012, I left banking after negotiating a severance package worth over five years of living expenses. Today, I enjoy being a stay-at-home dad to two young children, playing tennis, and writing.

Order a hardcopy of my new WSJ bestselling book, Buy This, Not That: How To Spend Your Way To Wealth And Freedom. Not only will you build more wealth by reading my book, you’ll also make better choices when faced with some of life’s biggest decisions.

Current Recommendations:

1) Check out Fundrise, my favorite real estate investing platform. I’ve personally invested $810,000 in private real estate to take advantage of lower valuations and higher cap rates in the Sunbelt. Roughly $160,000 of my annual passive income comes from real estate. And passive income is the key to being free.

2) If you have debt and/or children, life insurance is a must. PolicyGenius is the easiest way to find affordable life insurance in minutes. My wife was able to double her life insurance coverage for less with PolicyGenius. I also just got a new affordable 20-year term policy with them.

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Comments

  1. Chinnie says

    December 16, 2015 at 4:28 am

    did you make it? your $200,000 goal by dec 31, 2015? I am inspired…be honest though. I am looking for something to start up and you’ve helped thus far.

    Thanks alot

    Reply
  2. Carl says

    August 3, 2012 at 4:13 am

    Hi guys,

    I was born and I live in Western Europe where prices are super high (3-bedroom flat in a town approx. $250k and we pay up to $100 for full throttle of petrol for my VW Rabbit).

    As an college educated expert I work in Fortune500 corporation and I currently earn around $33k/year before taxes, working approx. 50 hours a week.

    My dream is to earn around $150k and work 40 hours/week what is fine with me. To reach this level in Europe there’s only one legitimate way, one must establish a company :)

    Reply
    • Financial Samurai says

      August 4, 2012 at 7:52 am

      Carl, let me make you feel better. a 3-bedroom flat in San Francisco at roughly 1,300sqft (130sqm) cost about $1-1.2 million in a good neighborhood!

      Reply
  3. Invest It Wisely says

    August 1, 2012 at 6:29 am

    $200,000 on 4 hours a day would be sweet. ;) I don’t have any doubts that you can get there, Sam. However, I would actually still be fine with half of that for 8 hours a day, honestly. The reason is because that is still better than I would do as a pure dev in the market here, and I still have the freedom of making my own hours.

    Right now I’m at more like 50 hours to 60 hrs a week (it used to be more but I would say the average has come down over the summer). I don’t burn out because I change gears, or take a day off in the middle of the week, or whatever I need to do. I don’t think this could last for the long term though so bringing this down to 40 hours and increasing earnings will be a good challenge!

    Reply
    • Financial Samurai says

      August 4, 2012 at 7:51 am

      Cool. Yeah, everything is relative. I already know I can make $100K/year at 4 hrs a day in operating profits (not revenue), so I want to challenge myself more to double. If I fail, at least I know I will have tried.

      Work the hardest and longest while you still have the energy as you are now! Everything will fade eventually.

      Reply
  4. FullyInformed.com says

    July 29, 2012 at 10:42 pm

    Personally I can live on a lot less than $200,000. I own my home, my two children have good jobs, I have a ten year old car that is like new, I have a very small pension and I love to invest through selling options. I found a mentor almost 4 decades ago and that changed my way of investing. For the first 20 years I invested everything and compounded every trade. But since then I have basically lived off my investing. I don’t make 200,000 a year but then I don’t need that amount either. I figured out that my time was worth a lot more to me than I thought and I couldn’t place a dollar figure on it. Family and friends is what i focus on.

    Reply
    • Financial Samurai says

      July 31, 2012 at 8:13 am

      Sounds like you only need $50,000 a year then! Trust me though, having $200,000 to blow is a great amount of fun!

      Reply
  5. The Financial Blogger says

    July 29, 2012 at 6:07 pm

    I’ve already reached my objective (100K – 30 hours) but now I’m trying to find a way to increase the income while decreasing the hours of work. As you said, this is more complicated!

    I need to focus on what is “scalable” so I can multiply each hour I work into multiple dollars. this will be interesting to follow your quest to drop your workweek at 20 hours and generate 6 figures!

    Reply
    • Financial Samurai says

      July 31, 2012 at 8:13 am

      Sounds good! Are you happy with your asset base? One of the things I wanted to accumulate was a large enough asset base (NUT) so that it could throw off enough passive income to retire.

      In my question to work 20 hrs and make $200,000, I am going to exclude the ~$80,000 annual passive income I generate from CDs, dividends, and rental income to make things harder. Let’s see!

      Reply
      • The Financial Blogger says

        August 3, 2012 at 5:58 pm

        My biggest assets are my 3 kids and my wife. I don’t care about the millions, I’m already richer than that ;-) The money I make is only the gravy.

        I’m very curious to see your progression, will you do income updates? 20 hrs, 200K this is quite a challenge ;-)

        Reply
  6. pcash says

    July 27, 2012 at 2:24 pm

    This is the best question to be asking people. Time is the most limited resource we all have, and it should always be considered when discussing employment. Would you rather have C-level type job that pays $800000 a year but forces you to travel all the time and work roughly 60-70 hours a week (with loads of stress) or have $20 million in the bank earning $250k a year in interest from a CD? After a while, no matter how much you think you’re passionate about work, it is in the end, work. People get paid gobs of money because it is hard, stressful and just plain not fun.

    I’ll take less money and more time any day. For me, if I can get a combined household income of $150-200K (in today’s dollars), while working less than 40 hours a week, without the stress of losing this income stream, I’ll take it over a stressful C-level job any time. My route to achieving this will via numerous income streams (real estate, programming side jobs, and of course saving up a sizable nest egg). I hope I’m not being too unrealistic, but I think it is a possibility.

    Reply
    • Financial Samurai says

      July 31, 2012 at 8:11 am

      Don’t think you’re being too unrealistic at all. Doing the “C-level” job was basically what I did for the past seven year so I could amass my NUT. I coudn’t do the job at a later age b/c I wouldn’t have the energy. I knew the party would eventually end. Just didn’t know when.

      Now that the Nut has been created, along w/ various income streams, I want to take it easier in my 30’s and beyond.

      Reply
  7. Miss T @ Prairie Eco-Thrifter says

    July 27, 2012 at 9:28 am

    I am similar to you Sam. I am a blitzer. I can get a lot done but I need to change it up. I lose focus otherwise. If I could work four hours a day I would get a lot done. Probably the same amount as in 8.

    Reply
    • Financial Samurai says

      July 31, 2012 at 8:09 am

      Cool. I bet many folks who go to work for 8 hours a day only work 3-4 hours a day anyway.

      Reply
  8. Jason says

    July 26, 2012 at 5:50 pm

    I would like to not ever think about income, or # hours worked per week, ever again.
    And be able to do whatever I want.
    That is MY dream.

    Reply
    • Financial Samurai says

      July 31, 2012 at 8:08 am

      That is one definition of Financial Independence!

      I’ll tell you a secret though. Once you have FI, then it becomes even MORE fun to think about work and income because you don’t need to do either!

      Reply
      • Jason says

        July 31, 2012 at 9:36 am

        That is exactly my intention.

        I once saw a video of sergiy brin from google. He spoke to a class, at either Berkeley or Stanford I forget–to us East Coasters, there is little difference :-)

        Anyway, he said he doesn’t really lose sleep because of his competition. But, when he thinks about possibilities, what CAN be done in the world, and he gets excited…THEN he loses sleep.

        Reply
        • Financial Samurai says

          July 31, 2012 at 10:34 am

          Awesome. There is a good feeling of getting so excited you can’t sleep. I’ve been feeling this way for the past 3 years with my online activities. I wake up at 5am-6am b/c I can’t wait to see what happened in the world while I was sleeping!

          It’s crazy nuts, and crazy fun!

          Berkeley is far far better btw!

          Reply
  9. Untemplater says

    July 26, 2012 at 12:23 pm

    I am a bit of a workaholic lately so I would be happy to work 6-8 hours a day all in with weekends to do whatever I please. Right now I am not getting enough as I want done during the week between my jobs so I use the weekends to catch up on things. I am probably way too attached to my computer than for my own good. I’m sure if my body needed less sleep I’d probably work more than I already am. Hmm I think I need to go to workaholics anonymous.

    Reply
    • Financial Samurai says

      July 26, 2012 at 9:17 pm

      Time to chuck the computer out the window! :)

      Reply
  10. RichUncle EL says

    July 26, 2012 at 9:51 am

    My ideal income would be 150K working about 25 hours a week. I think with this income and being debt free it is more than enough to pay for rent / mortgage expenses and just enjoy life.

    Reply
  11. Dillon says

    July 26, 2012 at 9:48 am

    I currently have a federal job and I must say, 9 hour (a day off every 2 weeks) and 10 hour (a day off every week) options are great compared to the more traditional 5 day work week. That said, ideally I think 30 hour work weeks split up into 10 hours on say, Tuesday through Thursday would be good for me. A hh income (assuming I won’t be having any children for several years) of 120k would be fine. Add kids and move to a house and bump the hh up to 150k and set on inflationary autopilot.

    Reply
    • Financial Samurai says

      July 31, 2012 at 8:07 am

      Sounds good to me! I’d love to have the option of working 4 days a week only. Good for the longevity. Good luck!

      Reply
  12. Financial Samurai says

    July 26, 2012 at 8:51 am

    Sounds good Dave. I know exactly why it’s $189,000. All about flying under the radar and not getting skewered by the gov’t!

    Reply
  13. Money Reasons says

    July 26, 2012 at 8:50 am

    I think $200,000 sounds like a good number for me to shoot for, but I think I would like to work 4 hard (normal) hours, and I’d like to get to a point where I also work 2 soft hours. The soft hours would be something that I could do at the same time as I’m doing other tasks or in a doctor’s waiting office, or really doing anything that doesn’t require 100% (or really even 50%) of my concentration. So a 6 hour workday would be ideal for me.

    Reply
    • Financial Samurai says

      July 26, 2012 at 9:24 am

      I hear you about the “soft hours”. I consider checking e-mails at night soft work, and typing in the bath tub sof work as well.

      Reply
  14. Shaun @ Money Cactus says

    July 26, 2012 at 7:44 am

    I’ve been thinking a lot about this lately Sam, I only do an 8 hour day, but still feel that it is too much. 4 hours sounds about right, you need a bit of time to get a run at things without them building up. As for income, there are a few variable involved, but $150K – $200K would be pretty solid I would think. If I could go out and achieve that myself the way you plan to, I’d be more than happy… something to focus on anyway.

    Love your goal by the way, look forward to watching you make it happen.

    Reply
    • Financial Samurai says

      July 26, 2012 at 9:23 am

      Man, if I only did an 8 hour day (does that include or exclue lunch), I could probably work EASILY for 10 more years in my previous career! I don’t know anybody who works 40 hours a week or less in my immediate circle.

      It does feel good to do so though!

      Reply
  15. Jai Catalano says

    July 26, 2012 at 7:14 am

    I highly doubt you will fail. You might have to adjust but failure never happens. Change does.

    Reply
  16. Manette @ Barbara Friedberg Personal Finance says

    July 26, 2012 at 7:04 am

    Though I am now working as a freelance, I still spend 8-10 hours a day in front of the computer writing, researching, and promoting my blogs. But in reality, I dream of working 4-6 hours each day, 4-5 days in a week. I hope to turn it into reality next year.

    Reply
    • Financial Samurai says

      July 26, 2012 at 8:50 am

      Sounds good. Do you freelance for Barbara?

      Reply
  17. Virginia says

    July 26, 2012 at 6:59 am

    I would be happy with 20 hours a week and $50K a year. It seems like it should be feasible but there don’t seem to be a lot of well paying part time options out there.

    Reply
    • Financial Samurai says

      August 4, 2012 at 7:49 am

      What part of the country do you live? I could do 50K/year if I hade not mortgage or rent, but otherwise, seems a little low for me.

      Reply
      • virginia says

        August 11, 2012 at 9:26 pm

        I live in the dc area. You are correct. I would need my husband to keep working for a similar amount or pay off my mortgage (which I hope to do in a couple years) to live comfortably. I would need more if I was to be the only one working tomorrow.

        Reply
  18. Bogey says

    July 26, 2012 at 6:04 am

    Assuming all my debts were paid off, which should happen by age 35 or so (including mortgage), I’d be happy netting $80k to $100k per year.

    I plan to do this by owning several rental properties. Realistically, the latest I see myself being able to live this lifestyle is 45 years old, and potentially by age 40.

    Managing the properties myself might average 10 hours per week, perhaps less. It would depend on how much repair/remodel work I did myself.

    The rest of my time would be spent playing golf at my country club and taking a few trips each year.

    Reply
    • Financial Samurai says

      July 26, 2012 at 8:52 am

      Sounds like $150,000 gross then.

      That’s a great income with no mortgage. If I had no mortgage, I think $80,000 gross per person is just peachy.

      Reply
      • Bogey says

        July 26, 2012 at 11:25 am

        Given that most of my income will be from RE, tax burden shouldn’t be all that high due to some depreciation. Maybe $120,000 gross.

        Reply
  19. MD says

    July 26, 2012 at 5:52 am

    This is a good question Sam. Ideally you want to put in less effort and make more money. However, it doesn’t always work out like this. I like your routine of 4 hours. I would be happy with 4-6 hrs of work M-F and making $100k per year.

    Reply
    • Financial Samurai says

      July 26, 2012 at 8:53 am

      MD, speak to me about folks in your generation. Do you think there is an unrealistic approach to making $100K a year working 4 hours a day? Or, is now easier than ever thanks to the internet?

      Reply
      • MD says

        July 26, 2012 at 10:13 am

        Um it depends on what you’re into to be honest. I don’t have too many friends that have that entrepreneurial spirit that we all share on here. I have friends that make good money in construction and other fields. The brutal truth is that I don’t know too many people making over $100k per year lol.

        Reply
        • Financial Samurai says

          August 4, 2012 at 7:48 am

          That’s true. The older you get, the more people you know who will make 100K a year. Just takes time.

          Reply
  20. Mike Hunt says

    July 26, 2012 at 3:57 am

    Sam,

    I like your targets, both the number of hours a week / day and the income. Is this income on top of all your passive income that is coming in?

    How are you going to spend all that money? We are spending less than $50k a year and it seems like a lavish lifestyle (although our abode is pretty small).

    -Mike

    Reply
    • Financial Samurai says

      July 26, 2012 at 6:34 am

      SF is much more expensive than Bangkok Mike!

      Reply
  21. Call Me What You Want Even Cheap says

    July 26, 2012 at 3:56 am

    My ideal income would be $300k combined. This would allow us to take many mini vacations, give more and just live the life we want. We should be there within a couple of years. 20 hours a week would be ideal. I’ll have to really try hard to get there.

    Reply
    • Financial Samurai says

      July 26, 2012 at 8:54 am

      $300,000 in a couple years sounds great! And, you don’t have to be “cheap” anymore, per your definition and live it up huge!

      Reply
      • Call Me What You Want Even Cheap says

        July 26, 2012 at 9:42 am

        I think I’ll still be cheap! I will always give, save and spend more as my income increases. But I’ll still haggle for a dollar. Lol

        Reply
        • Financial Samurai says

          July 26, 2012 at 9:53 am

          No temptation to just retire and let the hubby do all the work?

          Reply
        • Call Me What You Want Even Cheap says

          July 26, 2012 at 12:25 pm

          We actually talked about that. But growing up with a single mom and no father makes it hard to solely rely on a man. I am not saying it would never happen, but it would be a huge shift in my thinking. Besides I love working and contributing to our mutual financial goals. We’ll get there faster with two incomes versus one.

          Reply
  22. Chris says

    July 25, 2012 at 9:20 pm

    My magic number at this point in my life is $150k. I’m only 22 so that’s WAY more than enough. I would like a 20 – 30 hour week. That’s cool that you mentioned your optimal work hours. The past 2 week I have been rewiring two of our offices so I have to be at work when nobody is there. I go in at 5:30 – 8:30 and come back at 3:00 – 8:00. I’ve identified my perfect work time. It may be because nobody is there most of the time I am working, but I’m pretty much ready to work at 4:00am when I wake up. I can go all the way until about 9:30, and I’m ready for a nap. I would skip all the way until 5:00 when most people are getting off I would work until 8 or 9. That is more than 20 – 30 hours, but I like to work. I would prefer it be on my own endeavors though and not for somebody else:).

    Reply
    • Financial Samurai says

      July 26, 2012 at 8:57 am

      4am to 9:30am sounds good! Then you’ll have the entire day to do as you please!

      The thing is, once you get to $150K, you MIGHT change your mind!

      Reply
  23. Nun says

    July 25, 2012 at 8:49 pm

    I think my ideal would be $100k right now. I think what you are aiming to do is extremely awesome. That $100k would be enough to cover living expenses and provide enough to make life comfortable and to help save a good chunk as well. Late 20’s and relatively single so expenses are menial. I think I would like to keep my course load as well which means as a professor I’d be over the 20hr limit but the rest still applies. I don’t think I’ll ever stop especially because my students love my take on econ and finance…sorry I’m kind of proud :)

    Reply
    • Financial Samurai says

      July 26, 2012 at 9:22 am

      Nun, that’s great your students love your class! I think I’d have fun taking your class too! Seeing positive feedback from students must feel the best. Good job!

      Reply
  24. Cat Alford @ BudgeBlonde.com says

    July 25, 2012 at 8:32 pm

    Hey Sam! This is a great question, and I don’t think anyone has ever asked me this before! My life is so simple right now uncluttered by things and without kids yet, but I think I could be happy as a clam in a really pretty, small house, working 20 hours a week making 50-80kish a year. With kids, maybe working less and making more (that’s the dream right!?) My only really big expenses would be travelling because I love to do so! I wish you all the best in your 3 year plan. I’m amazed how my own little corner of the internet grows each day, so it’s exciting to see others who are ahead in this type of work and doing well like yourself!! Oh! and P.S. I just wrote you an e-mail but I forgot to tell you that yes! You SHOULD definitely come and visit us in Grenada. I will show you around! It’s a pretty little island. We are here until Dec 2013. :)

    Reply
    • Financial Samurai says

      July 26, 2012 at 8:58 am

      OK! Will try and make it out before Dec 2013. Never been to Grenada.

      50-80K sounds good to me!

      Reply
  25. krantcents says

    July 25, 2012 at 1:41 pm

    At my stage of life, I have a different goal in mind. In 5 years, I will be debt free earning somewhere $100-150K a year. More than enough to do all the things I want to do. I like multiple income streams so I will continue blogging and see where that takes me. I have some ideas, but it is on the back burner for now. I feel opportunities present themselves all the time, so who knows.

    Reply
    • Financial Samurai says

      July 26, 2012 at 8:58 am

      Being debt free and making $100-150K/year sounds great. What is the $100-150K a year come from?

      I think you will have way more than you need!

      Reply
  26. Lance@MoneyLife&More says

    July 25, 2012 at 1:33 pm

    I had never thought about it this way before! I would need to do some serious thought on the dollar amount but ideally I’d probably like to work around 20 to 30 hours a week. Income would be tougher for me to determine at this point but ideally my minimum would probably end up at least 100,000.

    I need to think on this and set a similar goal for myself.

    Reply
  27. Nurse Frugal says

    July 25, 2012 at 1:32 pm

    I would be a happy little clam if I made 100,000 working 20 hours a week. I don’t need much, and someday I would love to only work one day a week at my nursing gig and spend the other time on other stuff, like investing in real estate and my blog ;)
    – Nurse Frugal

    Reply
    • Financial Samurai says

      August 4, 2012 at 7:48 am

      Ah, but once you start investing in real estate, your number of work hours will go up, unless you find that key property that always attracts key tenants who never welch! 100K is definitely good though for 20 hours!

      Reply
  28. Holly@Clubthrifty.com says

    July 25, 2012 at 1:07 pm

    We make a modest living and live in a very inexpensive area. Our combined income is about 100K right now and it is more than enough to provide for what we need, save for retirement, and pursue other financial goals. I work 40 hours a week now and it is fine with me. However, in the future I want to work much less. I want to quit my 9-5 job sometime in my 40’s and possibly do something part time. We plan on being fully retired at 55 other than managing our rental properties.

    I like working….for now.

    Reply
    • Financial Samurai says

      July 26, 2012 at 9:16 pm

      It’s great you like working for now. I hope you will keep on liking it for as long as possible. I could have gone to age 40, but after that, I think I would start dreading work.

      Reply
  29. Bridget says

    July 25, 2012 at 12:07 pm

    I’d like to gross $200,000/yr and work 30hr work weeks.

    Reply
  30. Michelle says

    July 25, 2012 at 12:05 pm

    My ideal with be six figures (both of us combined) with maybe 30 hours max for each of us a week. We live in the Midwest, so everything is very cheap, so even high 5 digits would work (if we had no debt).

    Reply
    • Financial Samurai says

      July 26, 2012 at 9:16 pm

      Midwest is so inexpensive relative. Does you loving Hawaii make you dread living in the MidWest? Any plans on moving?

      Reply

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