If I came into as little as 5 million today, I would quit my job that very second. I could make that work for the rest of my life easily. I do enjoy my job, for the most part, and I am good at it, but I in no way shape or form would choose to spend most of my life at a job. I cannot even fathom what that job would look like.
Like others have already done on here, I am an aspiring author. I have one of those "forever" novels going, in a way, and a few short stories, and my intention is to enter the Writers of the Future contest this year, and I have one story about ready for entry. But I am getting late into this one so it isn't a viable substitute for the income I am making now at work. I would like for it to be, but that is down the road. If I came into 5 million I could just retire. If I came into 250k I would take a couple years off to write and see if I can make a go at it (and pursue a few other passions, like Habitat for Humanity, which has been a great downtime thing for me for about 10 years now, also Walk for Life, among others). But even writing is a stretch, as the vast majority of writers have to do something else on the side. I would like to think I have the chops to crank out a few best-sellers, but at times you have to be realistic too and realize the family wants to eat now, not down the road.
I DO like my job, and now I get to do it in Germany which is WAY harder than I had imagine, but also pretty damn cool. But I am not one of those lucky few who gets to work doing my passion. I do not have a passion for schlepping boxes, or figuring out the best way to store candles so they don't melt in an un-air-conditioned warehouse, or whatever. So I totally get the dream of early retirement.