The 40-year plan · $1M start · engine + non-resident · 2026 → 2066

Start at $1M. Retire on day one. Compound for four decades.

Same machine, same rhythm — but at this size the harvest switch doesn't wait 25 years. The engine pays a Cebu salary from month one, and the growth is pure snowball.

$1,000,000The pot

~$42,000/yrYear-1 floor yield

~$2,611/moHarvest income, day one

$11.97MYear 40 (non-resident)

Year 0–1 · 2026–2027

IGNITION + CROSSING

12-rung ladder live immediately ($83,333/rung, one matures monthly). Core auto-buy, sleeve capped at $150K. Cross the border in year 1 — at this size the tax drag is $10K+/yr, so residency is the first trade, not the last.

→ $2,611/mo flowing · 0% tax era begins

Years 1–10 · 2027–2036

THE FORK

Two dials: harvest the ~$3-4.6K/mo as life income, or compound it. Most of this decade: live on the yield, let the principal roll. Sleeve gets $3-4K/mo of bullets — the offense finally has real ammo.

→ $1.88M · island life + growth simultaneously

Years 10–25 · 2036–2051

THE SNOWBALL

Contributions are now rounding error — the machine runs itself. Ladder stretches to 24+ rungs. Harvest covers a generous life with surplus auto-reinvested into fresh rungs.

→ $4.77M · harvest ~$11.7K/mo

Years 25–40 · 2051–2066

DYNASTY

The ladder is now a family institution: principal untouched across generations, yield is the family salary. Inflation-adjusted, tax-free, and impossible to blow up — the worst case is still eight figures.

→ $11.97M · harvest ~$29.3K/mo forever

The 40-year table — $1M start, $300/mo contributions, blended 6.2%, non-resident 0% tax

Year	Calendar	Balance	Ladder harvest/mo	Sleeve ammo/mo	Milestone
0	2026	$1,000,000	~$2,421	$150K sleeve	Ladder live — engine pays from month one
1	2027	$1,065,600	~$2,611	~$2,611
5	2031	$1,372,456	~$3,363	~$3,363
10	2036	$1,879,039	~$4,604	~$4,604	Harvest = $55K/yr — full Cebu life, principal intact
15	2041	$2,567,362	~$6,290	~$6,290
20	2046	$3,501,831	~$8,579	~$8,579	Harvest = $103K/yr — first gen's salary
25	2051	$4,769,552	~$11,685	~$11,685
30	2056	$6,488,316	~$15,896	~$15,896
35	2061	$8,817,379	~$21,603	~$21,603
40	2066	$11,972,041	~$29,332	~$29,332	$352K/yr harvest — the ladder is a dynasty

The non-resident overlay — now URGENT, not optional

Before leavingInternational brokerage in placeSchwab One International / IBKR while still US-addressed. At $1M both clear minimums easily.

Year 1PH tax residency180+ days, SRRV fits perfectly at this size ($50K deposit is pocket change here). Territorial tax: US interest untaxed in PH.

On landingW-8BEN filed§871(h) portfolio interest → 0% US withholding. At $42K/yr yield, this paper is worth $12,600/yr immediately.

Every yearClean filings1040-NR, FBAR/8938. At this size: a real cross-border CPA + possibly a trust structure for the dynasty phase.

NeverDay-count driftSubstantial-presence days can silently re-make you US-resident. At $1M that mistake costs ~$10-17K/yr. Track days like it's a job.

The crossing is worth ~$2.6 MILLION over 40 years. Stay US-taxed: $9.36M. Cross in year 1: $11.97M. Same bills, same rhythm — one address and one form between you and $2.6M. At $10M the drag becomes a national GDP of regret.

What changes at $1M (vs the $10K plan)

Harvest starts day one. No 25-year compound phase needed — $2,600/mo of yield already IS the island life. The dial between "live off it" and "let it snowball" is a lifestyle choice, not a survival one.

The sleeve gets real ammo. $3-4K/mo of yield-funded bullets vs $28/mo. The offense can finally hunt the spin-offs properly — still capped at 15% ($150K), still never principal.

12 rungs, not 4. $83,333 each, one matures every month, ~$3,500 lands monthly. The roll ritual is identical — 15 minutes, same four questions.

Estate layer appears. Past ~$3M, think trust/foundation wrappers for the handoff — the ladder becomes the thing your grandkids never sell.

"Every man gets what he says he is." — At $1M the sentence changes: you are not saving for the island. You are the man on the island, and the ladder is what he does with his mornings.

Model: $1M start, $300/mo contributions growing 3%/yr, blended 6.2% (floor 4% / core 8.5% / sleeve ~12% blended), non-resident 0% tax vs US 24% on yield portion. Sleeve treated as roughly break-even in the base case — the 6.2% blend is conservative for a machine with a 15% asymmetric sleeve. No inflation adjustment: real purchasing power ≈ these numbers ÷ 1.03^years. Educational, not financial advice.