He's also taking out $20k per year, a whopping four percent. Standard in the financial planning industry is that long term retirees need to keep their annual draw down to about 2% to keep their portfolio steady or growing.
So 4% to spend, 5% in real growth, 2% inflation -- 11% nominal gains per year. That's achievable, but he's going to need to be a damn good investor.
Any discussion on early retirement is incomplete without a mention of John Greaney's safe withdrawal rate study:
http://www.retireearlyhomepage.com/safesum.html
I highly recommend his site.
So 4% to spend, 5% in real growth, 2% inflation -- 11% nominal gains per year. That's achievable, but he's going to need to be a damn good investor.