[tachibana]

Sorry, no hard numbers for privacy reasons.

The basic living needs of my family (food, clothing, mortgage, utilities, cars, etc.) has been covered by my investment portfolio for several years by now. Any additional income goes straight towards increasing said portfolio.

Rough estimates for the source of the principal for the investment income:

- 50% - savings from worked income

- 30% - earnings from real estate investments

- 20% - earnings from outside consulting / freelance software projects.

I personally believe that anybody who exercises a fair amount of discipline to save away their income and spend reasonably can become financially independent within 15-20 years. Thanks to what I learned from my accounting classes, I was able to accomplish this in less than 10 years.

[mattm]

This is what I'm currently aiming for. I have about $100/month coming in from dividends and distributions and am looking to seriously ramp this up. I haven't really been paying that much attention until now. I figure if I take on side work, I could have my basic expenses covered within 5 years and within 10 years I would have enough to cover expenses for any children that might come along in the future and provide some cushion.