re: 400x your expected monthly expenses for retirement

Seems overly conservative. The other thing that people don’t keep in mind is that if you live on a conservative budget and save some of what you don’t spend, you can use that on overly expensive years.

Using the 4% rule of 3 million for $120,000 of income then one year you only spend $110,000 or do well in the stock market now you have a good chunk ‘extra’. It’s not like people that want $120,000 earn exactly that and spend exactly that every year.

If you live 1-2 years behind your market performance financially then it’s very easy to budget. In other words, don’t spend what you are currently earning. Spend what you made in the market last year or 2 years ago. So if you have an expensive year or a down year in the market, you adjust your spend accordingly and don’t dig yourself in a hole.