Most people are snapped into a hierarchy where we have to ask permission of the folks on top of us to get what we want.

When we were kids it was our parents. Then it was teachers. Then college admissions officers. Professors. Recruiters. When we joined the workplace it was our bosses.

A life that is defined by what people with power over us think about us is frustrating - in can create pent up resentment, anger, and disappointment.

This leads to the "f--k you" fantasy. You picture yourself telling your bosses and hated co-workers to f--k off, marching out the door, and being your own person for the first time in your life. Virtually everyone has had this fantasy. It is why people play the lottery.

The minimum for f--k you money is enough that you will never have to work again but with a reasonable lifestyle: nice house, health care, vacations, enough to send your kids to good schools, etc.

How much depends on who you are and where you are. In Silicon Valley the consensus is about $10 million. Other parts of the U.S. may be a few million. In other countries it takes very little.

This is not private jet kind of money, but it is enough to never need to depend on anyone else again, and it is certainly enough that you'll never find yourself working at Oracle and counting the days until you have you have accrued enough of your three weeks vacation to escape the office for a week, checking your Blackberry the whole time and dreading your return.

But I find that the kinds of people who do obtain their f--k you money rarely end up telling the world to f--k off and go live on the beach. They end up starting other companies, giving money to charity, investing in startups, and becoming more engaged in the world than ever, except on their own terms.