10 years ago, $1 million was kind of the benchmark for the FI community. Then it became

2 million. Today, I'm hearing $2.5, 3, even $5 million. So what happened? Are these inflated

FI numbers actually necessary or are people being too conservative?

Hello, hello, hello, and welcome to the Bigger Pockets Money podcast.

My name is Mindy Jensen, and with me as always is my million-dollar co-host, Scott Trench.

Thanks, Mindy, great to be here.

That was a grand, a 40 grand intro right there.

So today we're going to be talking about whether five numbers are, in fact,

creeping higher than they need to be and how to avoid becoming so conservative that you delay

the optionality we're all pursuing when you set out upon the journey to financial independence.

Scott, that was a really great joke that you made. I called you my million dollar co-hosted

and you said that was a 40 grand introduction.

$40,000 is the amount of money that you can spend with a $1 million portfolio according to the 4%

rule. So thank you so much for that little nerd joke. At $2.5 million, you're now able to spend

$100,000 a year. Do you think this is enough for most people?

Do you think people are inflating their fine numbers because they're being conservative?

Yes, I think that $2.5 million is enough for most people to enjoy true and lasting financial independence, even with a family

in this country, in most places, not all places at the median, but in most places. So I think that

that's my short answer to that. But there's a lot of nuance behind it, and I've actually gone into

great lengths and data once again to kind of test that assertion. But I think,

I think, yes, that is the answer. And I also think that the fire community is a large and growing

population. The Bigger Pockets Money community is fire or more FIEE than fiery because they, you know,

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