This question has been floating around the blogosphere and beyond forever, but I’ve never really taken the time to answer it — not on my blog or even for myself.

We all dream about one day having enough money that we don’t have to worry about it anymore. But how much money would it take to get there?

Here’s what I’d need:

• Student loans: $60,000
• Home: $300,000? (I’ve never actually looked into how much we’d need for a home since we’re so far from buying one, but this seems like a fair estimate for a nice home in a good neighborhood.)
• Cars: $40,000 (for two reliable economy cars)
• Living expenses: If we invested $600,000 at a return of roughly 8% per year, it would net $48,000 a year. Without a mortgage, debt, or car payment, that would be plenty for us to live comfortably even after taxes.

So $1,000,000 would be enough money that we’d never have to work again. We’d probably make a little money writing, but the point is we wouldn’t have to work to live. Isn’t that a nice thought? I’m surprised that’s all it would take to sustain us for the rest of our lives.

How much money would you need?