People who save for retirement

[TrailBate]

I work with some people who save EVERYTHING. They never splurge on anything, never go on vacation, never go out to eat. Because they want to save it all for retirement. I can understand saving money, but how much fun can you be having in life if you never spend some money while you're young? THese people are going to end up too old to enjoy their millions. THey're gonna sit there, wetting their depends, wishing they did more while they were young!
It's one of the reasons I'm going to go on a Western Spirit trip this year. Screw the budget! I need to have fun while I'm young.


end of babble.

[Jisch]

TB:

I agree with you, but we try to walk the line. We take our vacations and spend plenty on bikes, but we try to sock some away here and there. That being said, I just turned 41, I fear I may be coming up on a mid-life thing. I'm starting to question why I continue to work my fingers and brain to the bone for "the man".

I started talking to my family about knocking the spending back a coupla huge notches, and taking some job where I can enjoy myself rather than being attached to this corporate treadmill.

A move out west is starting to look good too. I've only been to UT twice, but man does that place look like a nice place to live. My wife is a saint, she brought home the book "what color is your parachute" gotta read that and get some idea of what to do here.

John

[TrailBate]

i'm trying to move, also. This will be my first trip to utah/arizona, but I wouldn't mind moving out there, except I'd get sick of it being sunny all the time.

[jh_on_the_cape]

You have to strike a balance, of course.
The real question is: what Western Spirit trip are you going to go on???
In my balance, I think trips are great, but I don't think I would pony up for th WS trip. Probably try to save the cash and do it on my own. But it is really one of my dreams to go on one of those trips: ride and camp and relax and forget about the chores!

My real dream is to work part-time, like 6 mos a year.

I also think about moving out West. I used to live in CA. It's nice, but the grass is always greener... there are nice places to live in New England and Utah. And not-so-nice places on both sides...

[ArmOnFire]

My favorite is the D.I.N.K. 's (Dual Income No Kids)
I work with one, and at one of our annual 401k meeting, she asked what is the maximum they could put into their account. Maximum!?

[MTBME]

You could go crazy worrying about this stuff. There has to be a balance. I would also like to take a trip out West this year and maybe get to see the Florida keyes one of these days. (No I'm not gay).

Meanwhile the "experts" tell us that we should be sitting on enough income to carry you for six months in case of a financial setback. And the other "experts" are reminding us that we probably aren't doing enough to save for the golden years. Yeah, like the markets are real dependable. It's all a crap shoot.

[jerseygirl]

I'm with you Trailbait. Who wants to be the richest person in the graveyard?

I'm planning on taking my kids on a WS trip in 2006 to the Grand Canyon. I want to enjoy life with them while I'm still fairly young and healthy.

[Jisch]

Actually the thing that freaks me out isn't retirement. I think I can live pretty cheaply if I have to. College for the kids. Wholly Crap! :o

How am I going to afford that chunk o' change? My kids are 2 years apart, so over the course of 6 years I have to come up with what? $200K? Yeah, right.

Like retirement, we've been saving a comfortable amount, but apparently not enough. Sometimes I think the best bet would be to take that bump down in pay now, set the kids up for financial aid.

John

[TrailBate]

My favorite is the D.I.N.K. 's (Dual Income No Kids)
I work with one, and at one of our annual 401k meeting, she asked what is the maximum they could put into their account. Maximum!?




the problem with that is, not only are they going to be old and wealthy, but they'll also be lonely. Nothing like dying alone in an expensive retirement home. Who will visit them?

[MTBME]

"Sometimes I think the best bet would be to take that bump down in pay now, set the kids up for financial aid."

You got a hell of a point there. You're caught between a rock and a hard place. Your not filthy rich. And your not dirt poor to qualify for all kinds of grants etc. That's where I was. Told my two daughters to look at the in state colleges. (Cheaper tuition) I'll pay half, they get student loans for the rest. Both of them are college graduates now and working good jobs full time. I never took a loan out and made the monthly payments out of my paycheck. Now I'm all set... unless they decide to get married. :'(

[felixatvtc]

My favorite is the D.I.N.K. 's (Dual Income No Kids)
I work with one, and at one of our annual 401k meeting, she asked what is the maximum they could put into their account. Maximum!?




the problem with that is, not only are they going to be old and wealthy, but they'll also be lonely. Nothing like dying alone in an expensive retirement home. Who will visit them?


Sorry TB, but I swear by DINK Standards. You DON'T need kids to fill the gap and if you do, you have some seroius mental issues. If i'm totally off my rocker with this...how often do you actually go visit your grandparents? Or your parents? I know when i do after a couple of hours i'm ready to kill them.

I look at my 4 aunts. 2 of them desided to not have kids and both at age 40 are happy free spirits. No need to worry about tuition, and making ends meet because they have extra mouths to feed. Hell one of them just up and left and moved to california for a year (still owning the house here in the east) just for kicks. The other 2 aunts have 2 kids each and have lived/worked in the same place since i was a baby, worrying about there future, how they are going to make ends meet, a how the hell they are going to put 2 kids through college. Not to mention both of those uncles with the 2 kids...has to work two jobs.

Then again this is all just my opinion. I don't walk the standard "american dream" path like most

[huff'npuff]

"Sometimes I think the best bet would be to take that bump down in pay now, set the kids up for financial aid."

You got a hell of a point there. You're caught between a rock and a hard place. Your not filthy rich. And your not dirt poor to qualify for all kinds of grants etc. That's where I was. Told my two daughters to look at the in state colleges. (Cheaper tuition) I'll pay half, they get student loans for the rest. Both of them are college graduates now and working good jobs full time. I never took a load out and made the monthly payments out of my paycheck. Now I'm all set... unless they decide to get married. :'(


Toss each of 'em 5K and tell 'em to elope.

[MissJean]

That's where I was. Told my two daughters to look at the in state colleges. (Cheaper tuition) I'll pay half, they get student loans for the rest. Both of them are college graduates now and working good jobs full time. I never took a loan out and made the monthly payments out of my paycheck. Now I'm all set... unless they decide to get married. :'(


That was us exactly! Smack dab in the middle, not poor enough & not rich enough. It has been a tight 6 years. (The last tuition payment was last month. Halleluiah!!!!)
My retirement plan is for those college educated daughters to get good jobs so we can move in with them when we are old. 8)

As for weddings…they are the biggest waste of money. I’d rather give them money to buy a house or invest.

[Quo Fan]

Save enough for a rainy day, and spend the rest for some time in the sun. I have come to grips with the fact that I will have to work until the day I die, but as soon as my kid is paid for, I'm leaving the slave job I have now and doing something different. I don't know what, yet, But I have a few years to figure it out.