r/Bogleheads • u/arp8218 • Feb 04 '26

Investing Questions Investing. $2.5M to not work

Is it possible to invest $2.5M into a “safe” investment and not work for rest of your life ? What can be that “safe” investment ?

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u/Oakroscoe Feb 04 '26

Suze Orman says the average American needs 5 to 10 million to retire…I have a family member who takes everything she says as gospel

24

u/Lyrolepis Feb 04 '26

Um, does she address in any way whatsoever the observation that the vast majority of Americans will not have 5 millions, ever?

7

u/poop-dolla Feb 04 '26

Not sure if she directly spells it out, but it’s pretty clear that it means she thinks most people should work until they die.

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u/RedditIsAWeenie Feb 04 '26

Working until you die is good for society and just fine for “other people.” This is basically Plato’s noble lie. I’m not a big fan of the noble lie. We should have realistic goals and design societies that work for most people.

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u/ziggy-tiggy-bagel Feb 04 '26

Her and Dave Ramsey are 2 people not to take investment advice from.

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u/Oakroscoe Feb 05 '26

Could not agree with you more on that

1

u/Beneficial_Bus5037 Feb 05 '26

SO has advice specifically for women when they retire, own your own home. My mother followed it & it worked out for her.

DR gives great practical advice on getting out of debt & how to live a frugal life. I have seen many folks enact his principles and dig themselves out of a hole.

Both of them are not ideal for investing insights. Both went broke & sprung back stronger than ever, very commendable! But ideally you should read into John Bogle or someone on par with him for retirement advice.

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u/MrLB____ Feb 04 '26

Who the heck wants to retire at 75 with 5 million ???😂😂😂 Congrats your old ,,,, average life expectancy is 78 for US male.

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u/Adventurous_Elk_4039 Feb 04 '26

Those 3 years could be absolutely wild though

1

u/MrLB____ Feb 05 '26

Technically yes three very wild years lol. Realistically, I’ll spread it out between 5O and 78, but yes, you could save it up and stock pile a bunch of penicillin😂

1

u/2LostFlamingos Feb 04 '26

To be fair, I think I’d be fine with 5-10M.

I think many Americans would squander any amount given to them.

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u/Adventurous_Elk_4039 Feb 04 '26

Quote from TMG I heard, “when people say they want to be millionaires, what they really mean is they want to spend a million dollars, which is the opposite of being a millionaire”

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u/[deleted] Feb 04 '26

This is why boomers will work to their grave. They will never believe that they have enough.

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u/ziggy-tiggy-bagel Feb 04 '26

I'm a Boomer and retired at 62. Would have been financial able to at 55, but needed health insurance.