I think this is highly dependent on how you define “successful”.
I don’t care if I’m rich as Croesus. If I don’t get to go home and play with my daughter (at least a few days per week) and have a decent conversation with my wife, then I don’t consider myself successful.
That’s the way my grandfather is. He’s had more than enough $ to retire for the past 15 years but he continues to run and build his business because he enjoys it. He’s tried to retire and can’t do it. He just winds up starting another business. Its great since keeps him thinking and keeps his mind sharp. Hes 75 and is as sharp as ever. He loves going into his office and tinkering with machines and figuring out how to make his products better. The fact that he keeps making more money is probably another benefit. Not to mention being self employed he can go and take a month off and do all the crap that retired people like to do.
To work because you like what you do and not because you have to in order to survive is definitely my vision of success. Or more abstractly, success is the ability to live a life consistent with your values (whatever those may be - people differ on this), knowing that it is financially sustainable for you to do so.
Some people’s values are such that they can only be happy if they have more than other people. To me, that’s a fools game, because there are 7+ billion people on the planet, and only one person can have more than anyone else. More important to do or create something you find admirable or meaningful and then just not give a crap if someone else has more junk than you do.
The salary level that allows me to get unlimited pussy, food and medical care.
In US, trailer trash living on welfare and medicaid, surrounded by desperate single moms, comes pretty close to this nirvana.
I think majority of people here are lying to thesmeves. If offered $1b dollars, would you still go to work? Be honest. If answer is No, then for your money is not just the scorecard
Ha, if you offered me $16 dollars I would laugh in your face and walk away. That is not nearly enough to get me to retire.
Honestly though, who spends 100% of their energy on “furthering their career?” Question is flawed. Better question is at what salary is it no longer worth it to you to do an MBA. Or, how much of a pay cut would you take to be able to work from home one week out of a month?
Of course most people wouldn’t. But thats a useless comparison because it’s virtually guaranteed to never happen. You get a net worth of a couple million though, which is a lot more realistic, and are you “wealthy”? Sure but can you afford to not work and also do whatever the F you want in your free time? Probably not.
Anyone who turns down $1Bn in exchange for leaving work is really dumb. I don’t care how much you like it.
*only caveat is if you are already incredibly rich and the extra money means nothing to you
Well yes, if someone drops $1 billion in your lap, you would not need money any more. Perhaps you will seek other measures of success, like political influence or something (i.e. Mitt Romney or Michael Bloomberg).
But that is beyond the threshold of reasonableness. If you’re talking about money that people like us can reasonably make - let’s say $0 to $1 million a year or something - there is always room for more money within this range.
^ This. I think Itera nailed it. When you’re working a job which had a rusty hacksaw tutorial in the training manual, you are a fool to not quit and just take the money.
But, if you’re repping SS ER in NYC, then you’d be a fool to take the money (per your caveat). Everyone knows that SS ER is the all powerful self actualization nirvana.
Once again, I’m proud to say I post on the same forum as the Oracle of Midtown who commands global commerce with the clicks of his mouse and MS Excel model.
I’m going to buy you a drink before I die lol
real talk
$5 million if I won a lottery.
For my lifestyle, $150K if I had to work.
+2
I make about 4 times now than what I made as a grad but with a wife who doesn’t work and 2 kids I feel poorer now than I’ve ever felt.
Lets be frank, most of us will never be happy how much ever we get 
This
I know I may sound absurd, but money doesn’t motivate me. Sure it is nice having it and I have my fair share for my age, but it’s not my motivation. I’m a workaholic and given the areas of interest I have, money tends to be associated with them. I fully understand how people can work past when they could retire – I can’t imagine ever retiring, it seems very boring.
For example, I recently got a non-competitive raise (I’m in a scheduled program for a couple years with predetermined raises) and didn’t even open the email to see what it is. Now if I had a wife and kids (and therefore much lower disposable income), I’d probably care. But right now it’s all gravy.
^ Retiring completely sittin around doing nothing does sound boring. But if you enjoy being a workaholic, you’ve never experienced what it means to work to your absolute limit of collapse. That will change your opinion mighty quick
I don’t feel like doing the math, but I would want to be able to comfortably afford a couple of very nice homes in the US and a couple more in Europe, some domestic staff, a decent vacation budget (say $50,000 per year), private schooling for 2 kids, a handful of really nice cars, a couple of country club memberships, and other sundry items.
You forgot to mention a personal yacht…
Yes, these and even more can give you more comfort, luxury and still you may not be ‘happy’ - rather be more unhappy due to tension to retain and meet increasing resources to maintain them - 'happiness’will be as elusive as ever. Happiness means to be contended ‘with what you have’ and progress means not to be happy with ‘what you are’. What ultimately matters is how peaceful you are with yourself and your situation particularly after a certain level of optimum achievemnt not mere materialistic possession. Happiness is a state of mind which comes from within not from external objects and gadgets otherwise all kings ( have/had everything what you wish to have), dictatators (who looted their country’s resources and in many cases settled elsewhere with desired objects like yours!) and billionairs (who already have much more than what you want) but are known to be anything else but happy and contended.
Affordability beyond a certain limit does not necessarily mean you will be certainly happy. Home is happy not due to size or by the walls but because of the people who live in it together (not to divorce or sue each other at the drop of hat) and then one home is enough otherwise those are nice ‘houses’ not ‘homes’. Real enjoyable vacations may need some money but not a big budget, happiness of a vacation depends on with whom and where do you spend it. A string shoe budget trek in Alps or Himalayas can be much more happier than a high cost european beach or african safari vacation, if you know how to enjoy it; and so on…
At first sight what you aspire for may seem to be the road to happiness but if you ponder deeply and find some one who is ‘really happy’ - it may not be because of it. Sicerely hope you have all the things you wish to have sooner than later (and still have the health and mind to be happy and enjoy the life without high blood pressure, being diabetic etc.)