My friends and relatives are all saying that i am stupid to give up a very cushy job at 57. Actually it is now 10.30am in Sydney and i just got in to work and i am very free at work which is why i am writing now. I would normally have nothing much to do so i just walk around the office chatting with other staff. I then would go for a 1-hour walk down to Glebe Point Bay (my office is very close to the bay) and then i would have my lunch in my room (i have my own room which can sit 2 persons but we don't need a second person). I would normally go home around 4pm so my day goes by quite slowly as most of the time i am surfing the net and bored. My package is pretty good with my base a little over a A$100k and my employer pays my defined-benefit super (epf) of about A$25-26k after-tax so my package is actually in excess of A$130k+ because of my employer contribution being tax-free. I am hoping they would give me redundancy which would give me an extra A$150-200k but i don't think they will because they need someone in this building.

The other problem i have is my relatives are saying that i am stupid to come back to KL to live because everyone in KL is migrating overseas and I am returning. Aust has probably the best old-age pension in the world where at the age of 67, you get an automatic pension of A$700/wk for couples if your retirement assets are not over A$400k (the house that you are living in is not counted as an asset as you need somewhere to live). This is one of the best pension in the world and is available to everyone who is either a PR or citizen. It is a safety net just in case our retirement investments plunges. If your retirement savings are between A$400-800k, you get a pro-rata rate of the A$700/wk. You don't get the pension if your retirement assets exceed A$800k. My wife and i probably will not qualify as we are over that A$800k but it is a good safety net to have as you can't predict stockmarket movements.

Do read the long post above on making comparison between yourself and others... it can be meaningless.

Just like comparing how much one should save, it all depends on one's individuality and lifestyle.

Years ago when James Clavell wrote Noble House, the drop dead money was 2 million. I guess it should be 5 million now. But of course it could be less and enough for anyone to retire.

With house, car and other assets fully paid, the minimal can be as low as 2k. Or 24k per year.

At 4% interest from a fixed deposit,  the untouched nest egg to generate this 24k is 600k.

Good question, which many non-financial savvy people will ask.

My way of calculation is not to touch the principal. Then :

1. Determine the amount needed for your own retirement budget
3. Determine which rate of return you can generate
4. Work backward to get the required amount

Eg.

1. Monthly expenses is RM8k, so yearly is RM96k. Let's round up to RM100k per year
2. Let's say a person is comfortable to make 5% pa net of tax and expenses from investment vehicle of his choice
3. Therefore, the amount of nest egg required will be RM100k / 5% = RM2m 

With principal untouched, then the retiree will have no pressure to live to any age. Many retirees eat into the nest egg to live, which makes him the longer he live, the more  worries he will finish up his money

Ya...there are many retirement calculator. Do you have the link ? It would help the readers here...

What if children studying in foreign IPTs ? Can still enjoy these benefits ?

You are so loaded. You should discuss it here!  

FI is almost every wage earner's dream. The path to fi could be long and tedious, often longer than one's working life. For reasons, only about 3.5% of adults in this country have over us$100k net worth.

FI basically has two components i.e income and expenses and two stages i.e pre-fi and fi.
In pre fi, income - expenses go-to fi funds.
In fi, fi funds income or drawdown > expected expenses.

Whether one should retire early is a matter of individual preference.