A good friend of mine recently inherited a good chunk of money from a grandmother who passed recently. He was the only grandchild and is obviously the only child to his parents who are also well off financially so he'll eventually inherit their money as well.
I find myself being a bit jealous of him and even a bit bitter sometimes as he'll basically inherit his retirement and I'm planning and saving and living well below my means while my friend and his wife are travelling and spending and not worried about saving at all.
Has anyone ever encountered a similar situation? He's a very good friend of mine and I'm trying not to let my jealousy get in the way of our friendship.
The key is not getting what you want, but wanting what you got.
It is really tough to measure the financial health of the people around you (friends and family). Here is what I know (not much, but what I know)-
I have one aunt which I have had 2-3 investing conversations with (at least- maybe more). She is 60 and still works (for school district) and enjoys what she does. I am 34 and cannot wait to retire.
I have another uncle which has discussed investing with me once or twice. He owns his own business (plumbing) and I think he is by far the richest person I know (net worth wise). No way I will ever know for sure, I can just guess.
I have a real good friend who has a job, owns his own business, and also flips houses. His wife is also a nurse part time. Their property is 20-30 acres, and they have been offered low 8 figures for it, I think he said (maybe it was only 7 figures?). He and I talk about managing money all the time. He watches his costs, he takes lot of vacations, and does not have an issue heading out whenever my wife and I invite their family wherever.
Here are things to consider- do people carry a mortgage? Do they take more than one vacation every year? Where? How? Do they have to alter spending when doing social activities with you after these vacations? Do you see bad spending patterns or investment patterns?
I watch spending all the time. We eat out more than I'd like... and we aren't at level where we can save and take vacations (so we save- for now). But I can clearly see people around me taking vacations, then coming home and suggesting they cannot go out to eat with us (a sign the vacation was too much $$, IMO). If I bring up investing, they change the subject. I see people whose idea of saving is purchasing a vacaion home, yet they complain of costs of various things all the time... who am I to judge, but I think they don't have the same priorities as me.
So I use that to know I will be able to retire younger than most people I know. There are a few exceptions. My best friend could sell his house and retire today I think... but that is not his goal in life (yet). That property has also been in his family for years...
