I'm Planning to Quit My Six-Figure Job With Less Than $1 Million

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Hey everyone,

I need to be real with you about something that's been consuming my thoughts lately.

We've all heard that magic retirement number, right? A million dollars. Maybe two million if you want to "live comfortably." Financial advisors throw these numbers around like they're universal truths, and honestly, it's been stressing me out.

Here's what I'm starting to understand: that number is completely arbitrary.

I don't have a million dollars saved. Not even close. But I'm seriously planning to walk away from my six-figure job in the next 12-18 months. And I'm not planning to struggle—I'm planning to thrive.

Let me explain how I think this is actually possible, because if someone had told me a year ago I could even consider this, I would've thought they were delusional.

I need to start with the honest part that nobody talks about.

I've been working in finance for several years now. Solid salary. Good bonuses on paper. From the outside, I'm crushing it. But I'm exhausted.

I can't keep doing this for another 30 years. The thought of showing up to this same desk, dealing with the same pressure, following the same routine until I'm 65? It makes me want to scream.

My sister knows me well. When I mentioned I was thinking about this, she asked: "Okay, but what's the actual plan?"

And that's the thing—I'm building one. A real one. Not just a fantasy about "someday when I have enough money."

Here's what I'm figuring out.

Here's the thing about planning to quit your job to live off investments: the math HAS to make sense.

I know that sounds obvious, but so many people skip this step. They dream about financial freedom without actually running the numbers.

So I'm spending this year planning properly. I made a spreadsheet—nothing fancy, just brutal honesty:

Then I'm looking at what my investment portfolio could potentially generate. The key question I keep asking myself: Could my investment income realistically cover my expenses?

If the answer is no, I'm not ready. I'd burn through savings in months and panic my way back to a job I hate even more.

For me right now, my projected investment income would almost cover everything. Where there's a gap, I'm saving aggressively to plug it. I'm also building up six months of expenses as a safety net because I'm not the type to wing it.

Some people can handle that uncertainty. I can't. I need to know I have a buffer.

People always ask me: "What exactly would you invest in?" So here's what I'm working on.

1. Property (The Foundation I'm Building)

I'm looking at buying a rental property—probably a two-bedroom flat outside of New Jersey where prices are more reasonable. New York real estate is insanely expensive, but here's my plan: the rental income from that flat would ideally cover most, if not all, of my current housing costs.

Property is boring. It's not sexy. But if you look at wealthy people across the world, a huge percentage built their wealth through real estate.

Now, I get it—not everyone can afford to buy property solo. I'm actually exploring doing this as a group investment. Get a few friends or family members together who are serious about investing. Pool our money. Set up a company where everyone's a shareholder. When the rent comes in, we split the profits according to ownership.

I'm making sure everything would be legally documented. But it seems absolutely doable.

2. Bonds (The Steady Income I'm Targeting)

I've been researching bonds—basically IOUs from companies or governments. You lend them money, they pay you interest regularly.

I'm looking at bonds that could pay 7-12% annually. My strategy is to spread them out so I'd get coupon payments every quarter. That would give me consistent, predictable income.

Are bonds risky? Some are. But if I stick with higher-quality issuers and diversify, the risk seems manageable. And the income would be reliable.

3. Dividend-Paying Stocks (The Compounders I'm Researching)

I'm focusing my research on blue-chip companies—big, stable, well-established businesses that consistently pay dividends.

When a company makes profit, it can pay some of that out to shareholders as dividends. Not all companies do this, but many large ones do, and they do it like clockwork.

I'm specifically searching for companies with strong dividend histories. Not speculative plays—boring, profitable companies that have been around for decades and will probably be around for decades more.

The dividends from these stocks could become a major supplement to my income. And the beautiful part? As these companies grow, the dividends often increase too.

Here's where I think most people's plans fall apart: they think their investments need to cover 100% of their lifestyle forever, starting on day one.

That's not realistic for most of us. And I'm realizing it's not even necessary.

The real insight I'm having? My skill set is transferable.

Right now, I'm selling my time, my expertise, my intelligence to my employer. Let's say they pay me £100 for my work. But the value I create for them? Probably closer to £500 or £1,000.

That's how businesses work—they make more from you than they pay you. That's not a criticism. That's just the model.

But here's what's hitting me: if my skill set is valuable to them, it's valuable to others. And if I work for myself, I keep way more of that value.

So I'm not planning to quit and live purely off passive income. I'm planning to consult. Work maybe 8-10 days a month on my own terms, and potentially earn what I currently make in a full month of 9-to-5 grinding.

This is the piece I think everyone misses: Your investments give you the foundation and the freedom. Your skills give you the flexibility to keep building.

If I actually do this, I could travel more than I've ever been able to. Not just the same business trips to the same cities, but actually go where I want, when I want.

I've got ideas for passion projects I want to explore. Creative work. Learning new things. Growing in directions that have nothing to do with climbing a corporate ladder.

None of this seems possible if I stay trapped in the "I need a million dollars first" mindset.

I talked to someone recently who went independent after 14 years at a big company.

"The scariest part," he said, "was thinking: what if nobody ever comes? What if I go independent and just... sit there with no clients?"

That's exactly my fear. That if I step out on my own, I'll be forgotten. That the safety net of a company paycheck is the only thing keeping me afloat.

But I keep coming back to this thought: if I'm good at what I do, money will find me.

It'll take effort. The first client will be the hardest. Then the second. Then the third. But every successful business started exactly like this.

I'm definitely waiting until my bonus is paid. I've worked my ass off all year—I'm not leaving money on the table.

I'm also giving myself a full year to plan this properly. The people who quit on impulse? They usually end up broke and bitter, crawling back to jobs they hate even more.

But I'm also trying not to let perfect be the enemy of good. I've spent years thinking, "I can't do this until I have [insert arbitrary number]." That's just fear talking.

The real question isn't "Do I have enough money?" It's "Do I have a plan that makes sense, and am I willing to be resourceful?"

I'm starting to understand that we massively underestimate the power of time.

When you're working for an employer, you're stuck in their timeline. Their schedule. Their priorities. Your income is capped by what they're willing to pay you.

But when you step out, time becomes your ally. Your investment portfolio compounds. Your skill set compounds. Your network compounds. Your earning potential can actually increase because you're capturing more of the value you create.

This is how I think you can retire without a million dollars. You build income streams that grow over time while using your skills to keep building your capital base.

So what's the actual number I need to make this work?

It's whatever my expenses are, plus a safety buffer, backed by income streams I control.

For some people, that's $300,000. For others, it's $2 million. It depends entirely on lifestyle, goals, risk tolerance.

But it's definitely not some universal magic number that financial advisors pulled out of thin air.

The scariest part of all this? Realizing that the only thing holding me back might be the story I'm telling myself about what's possible.

I'm not special. I don't have secret knowledge. I'm just tired of living well below my means despite making good money, and I'm deciding to change it.

I'm 12 months into this planning process. My investment portfolio is growing. My savings buffer is building. I'm researching properties. I'm learning about bonds and dividend stocks. I'm having conversations with people who've done this successfully.

Am I scared? Absolutely. Do I have moments where I think "this is crazy"? Every day.

But I also can't shake this feeling that if I don't at least try, I'll spend the next 30 years wondering "what if?"

The next 6-12 months will tell me if this is actually viable. I'm watching my numbers closely. I'm stress-testing my assumptions. I'm being as realistic as I can be.

But I'm also moving forward. Because I'm realizing that waiting for perfect certainty is just another form of giving up.

I'll leave you with something that's been stuck in my head:

"The man who thinks he can and the man who thinks he can't are both right." - Confucius

I'm choosing to think I can. We'll see where that takes me.

If you're thinking about something similar, I'd love to hear your plan. What's holding you back? What are you working on? Let's figure this out together.

—Alex