[BeetleB]

Depends on your age and where you live. If you're single, no kids, and don't need healthcare, sure.

Where I live (not expensive like SV), they recommend $90K+ to "live comfortably".

A 1 bedroom apartment is $19K/year. Insurance rates vary widely, but premium + deductible - you may want to assume $10K/year. So you're already at $30K without eating, Internet, utility bills and transportation.

I'm sure one could live off of that 1M if fairly frugal, but it's not what most people want.

[markdown]

Healthcare is taken care of by his taxes.

[mh-]

A quick google suggests more than a third of Germany pays for supplementary private health insurance (Zusatzversicherung) in addition to what their taxes take care of.