<prompt> Human: Throwaway for obvious reasons. Im posting this in rpersonalfinance and not a business sub because Im seeking advice from a personal finance perspective rather than whats the right business decision.About five years ago I laid off from my job as an IT manager. I couldnt find work and lived off unemployment for six months. That eventually ran out and I still hadnt gotten an offer, despite several interviews. One day, something fundamentally snapped and I got very, very angry. I could no longer stomach the thought of continuing to beg for the opportunity to earn a living. I decided to instead forge my own future and started a business instead.I had about 200 in the bank and started to hit up my network and Craigslist for freelance web dev and IT support jobs. The fire in my belly stayed with me and helped me get through some extremely stressful and uncertain years. At various points I liquidated my 401k and my wifes 401k at her insistence to keep the company afloat. Ive since repaid my wife, but it was an extremely shameful act of desperation.Fast forward to December, 2014. Its been an epic journey. The business has been through several iterations and is now primarily a highly specialized IT consulting firm. There are only about a couple of dozen companies in the world that are direct competitors. However, this specialization is exploding think: the first mobile app development companies about 7 years ago and my industry is marching towards consolidation. I expect the frenzy of acquisitions to peak in about 12 months. However, Im already being courted by multiple suitors.Because of the acquisition race, the normal 1.5x - 2.0x revenue multiplier on professional services firms doesnt really apply. The right buyer stands to get a significant head start in the market and make gobs of money off our work. I was most recently offered 1.5MM for the company and a 250kyr. salary to stay on. I declined because I feel that its worth fair amount more now but is likely to be worth 8-10MM in a year. However, its been haunting me and screwing with my head: Five years ago I had nearly nothing and I just turned down more than a million dollars!Ive been so caught up in building the company and just grinding it out day-after-day because F the Man! that I never really stopped to consider anything else. Its really easy to continue marching forward where there is no other alternative. But this offer has forced a decision on me. I could probably get 2-3MM today or I could slog through another year or two of uncertainty. I might make a lot more money then, but I could also get squashed as bigger, more capitalized companies move into the industry.My question for PF: I want to be financially independent. That is freedom to me. How much do I need to sell my company for to achieve that?I pay myself an annual salary of 75k, take about another 15k annually as a draw, and my wife makes about 35kyr. We have about 100k in equity in our house and 220k left on the mortgage 20 more years 4 38. I owe about 40k on a 0.0 APR car note that I just originated last month. No credit card, student loan, medical or other personal debt. Were both in our late 30s with a couple of toddlers. Combined we have about 100k in retirement accounts. Of special concern: Ive been significantly underpaying myself over the years to help keep cash in the business and fuel its growth. If I sell, I feel that Id owe my wife an increased standard of living rather than what Im currently making.Sorry for the rambling novella. But Ive been single minded on just one goal for years and its difficult for me to articulate what Im feeling.  <response>: A reasonably safe draw down is to spend 3year of your nest egg at your age. So if you can live on After tax sale price.03, youre good. 