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Old 07-13-2011, 08:06 AM   #61
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There's a song "If I had a million dollars " and it rattles off a bunch of crap they would buy (fur coat, lama, .....) at the end the singer says "If I had a million dollars, I'ld be RICH." Everytime I hear the song I insert BROKE for RICH - yelling into the radio (infront of the wife/kids). Obviously anybody buying all that crap would be broke.

You got it by not spending.

If you have a million dollars ... stay the course.
good one. I have thought the same thing. That band (Bear Naked Ladies) broke up recently after the lead singer got into some drug related legal problems. I suspect that for those guys a millon would still be a lot.
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Old 07-13-2011, 08:52 AM   #62
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good one. I have thought the same thing. That band (Bear Naked Ladies) broke up recently after the lead singer got into some drug related legal problems. I suspect that for those guys a millon would still be a lot.
Well, at one point they did suggest living below their means. Wasn't one of the verses "I'd buy you a K-car?" I forget what year that song came out, but the Plymouth Reliant and Dodge Aries had been out of production for awhile by then, and never were expensive cars, so perhaps they were advocating buying a cheap used car?
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Old 07-13-2011, 09:12 AM   #63
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If I had (another) million dollars I would upgrade my lifestyle.

Ha
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Old 07-13-2011, 09:35 AM   #64
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If I had (another) million dollars I would upgrade my lifestyle.

Ha
Same here. $1M, on top of what I already have in my portfolio, would make me think seriously about pulling the plug and retiring right now.
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Old 07-13-2011, 09:40 AM   #65
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If I had (another) million dollars I would upgrade my lifestyle.

Ha
+1.

Put another way, if we had additional financial resources appear as a windfall, we'd add additional discretionary spending to our budget right away! International travel, local dining out and entertainment, a nicer camper, fly-in fishing trips, well you get the picture. We're doing OK now, but definitely have room on the calendar to squeeze in some additional activities.
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Old 07-13-2011, 10:11 AM   #66
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+1 (including replacing my now 20-year-old mattress set); and I've already worn out my oldest pair of athletic shoes, now that I am exercising more in ER.
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Old 07-13-2011, 10:21 AM   #67
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+1 (including replacing my now 20-year-old mattress set); and I've already worn out my oldest pair of athletic shoes, now that I am exercising more in ER.
As one gets older (and starts/continues to exercise), skimping on a good mattress and box spring is NOT a good idea. Quality sleep is critically important.
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Old 07-13-2011, 10:36 AM   #68
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As one gets older (and starts/continues to exercise), skimping on a good mattress and box spring is NOT a good idea. Quality sleep is critically important.
Yes, I agree. But I'm still trying to figure out whether I'm a soft or firm mattress kind of guy. I need to go out there and do some field research, after doing a bit of online research, including here.
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Old 07-13-2011, 10:57 AM   #69
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If I had more money right now, I'd just put it in Vanguard and sit on it, most likely (and pay more taxes because of having it). There is a danger in upgrading one's lifestyle excessively and losing oneself in the process.

As Thoreau put it, "My greatest skill is to want but little".

I do enjoy the things that I buy, though, like my desk that I bought recently. I just wouldn't enjoy going overboard.
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Old 07-13-2011, 11:02 AM   #70
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We probably wouldn't do much of anything different except increase discretionary spending some although at the moment I'm hard pressed to think of anything we'd rush out to buy. I already have too much stuff as it is.

We already have everything that's important - good health, friends & family, nice home, reliable vehicles, enough cash on hand to meet any reasonably foreseeable need, etc.

Maybe a class C RV for me, but I doubt DW would want to go much.

We do buy two lottery tickets a month, and what we're buying with our $2 is a month's worth of daydreams. If we hit a large payoff we'd set up two trust funds for a niece and a nephew who have learning disabilities. A local guy here won a $300 million lottery and he's giving most of it away to various local charities. He's smart enough to know that after the first couple of million, more doesn't make you any happier.
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Old 07-13-2011, 11:06 AM   #71
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Well, at one point they did suggest living below their means. Wasn't one of the verses "I'd buy you a K-car?" I forget what year that song came out, but the Plymouth Reliant and Dodge Aries had been out of production for awhile by then, and never were expensive cars, so perhaps they were advocating buying a cheap used car?
good point. I think the song was around 1990. the K car seemed a little out of place with all the expensive stuff" like John Merrick's remains(all them crazy elephant bones)
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Old 07-13-2011, 11:10 AM   #72
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@W2R "losing oneself in the process" Wow. I think when you get to our age after a lifetime of prudent fiscal management it is pretty unlikely that $1million would accomplish that difficult task. Maybe a $billion?
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Old 07-13-2011, 11:21 AM   #73
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When I blew past $1M (stock options were doing really well in the late 90s), I decided that if/when I hit $2M I would buy the Honda S2000 roadster I'd been drooling over. When I hit $2M, I decided I really didn't like that car so much and didn't want to pay $35-40K for such a toy, and instead paid $14K for a used Miata. I still have and enjoy the Miata. A splurge, but not an extravagant one.

I've never played the lottery, because I think a $300M jackpot would ruin my life. I think I'd enjoy up to another $10M. Beyond that I think it'd be more of a burden.
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Old 07-13-2011, 11:28 AM   #74
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@W2R "losing oneself in the process" Wow. I think when you get to our age after a lifetime of prudent fiscal management it is pretty unlikely that $1million would accomplish that difficult task. Maybe a $billion?
I dunno. It's pretty scary to read about what happens to some people when they come into money. Seems like they go on a wild spending spree and blow it all on fast cars or whatever. I think that is pretty sad.

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When I blew past $1M (stock options were doing really well in the late 90s), I decided that if/when I hit $2M I would buy the Honda S2000 roadster I'd been drooling over. When I hit $2M, I decided I really didn't like that car so much and didn't want to pay $35-40K for such a toy, and instead paid $14K for a used Miata. I still have and enjoy the Miata. A splurge, but not an extravagant one.

I've never played the lottery, because I think a $300M jackpot would ruin my life. I think I'd enjoy up to another $10M. Beyond that I think it'd be more of a burden.
Your thinking is similar to mine on this. You bought a used Miata and felt happier with that, even though you had 2 million dollars.

Thresholds are different. I have less than you but don't think I'd find much use for any more money. But then again, maybe the experience would be different than I think.

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+1.

Put another way, if we had additional financial resources appear as a windfall, we'd add additional discretionary spending to our budget right away! International travel, local dining out and entertainment, a nicer camper, fly-in fishing trips, well you get the picture. We're doing OK now, but definitely have room on the calendar to squeeze in some additional activities.
See, none of those things really do much for me. We already dine out a lot, but the rest of it? I don't even like travel and so obviousl I also don't want a camper. My Wii and my new access to digital TV provide more entertainment than I have time.
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Old 07-13-2011, 12:06 PM   #75
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Same here. $1M, on top of what I already have in my portfolio, would make me think seriously about pulling the plug and retiring right now.?
I just thought of something...if this little fantasy did happen and I decided to retire, I'd make it a point to call into Suze Orman, tell her I got out of the rat race at 41 and ain't looking back, just so I can hear her say "AAAHHHR YOOOO KIDDINGME?!"
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Old 07-13-2011, 12:26 PM   #76
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There is a danger in upgrading one's lifestyle excessively and losing oneself in the process.
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Beyond that I think it'd be more of a burden.
I think that once there's enough money to stop worrying, then any further dollars have no value. Paradoxically I feel an onerous stewardship obligation of optimizing the use of those worthless dollars.

You would think that if you had an extra $25K and wanted a pickup truck then you should sort through Craigslist, take a candidate to a mechanic, and buy it. Done. Next project? Sell it or throw it away when the floormats get dirty, because you bought it with dollars that had no real value to begin with.

But no-- we obsess over those worthless dollars to optimize their value at picking out exactly the best truck for that price. Or maybe chipping in a little more for a "better" truck. And then we optimize the quality & lifespan of that truck even though we could just go buy another one.

And maybe the worrying never stops because there's always the specter of "But what if I'm wrong and I really NEED that money someday?"

I'd pitchfork the green waste onto the next generation, but I fret about affluenza & entitlement. I've seen that among a few shipmates in my generation and I don't want to create another one. The problem is that I don't really know how to avoid creating one-- other than to give them enough money to suffer from its effects and learn to cope with it while hopefully not becoming addicted. Sorta like "teaching" your kids not to be alcoholics by making them drink enough to puke their way through a hangover. I don't want to get into how I chose that analogy.

I'd shovel the green waste into a 529 for the college fund of the third generation, but intellectually I know that growing up with "Grandpa's saving for you to go to MIT" is not exactly the same as having scholarship skin in the game.

So for now the best options seem to be annual charitable donations and, waaaaaay down the road, perhaps endowing a college scholarship program.

I enjoy surfing at White Plains Beach on the last Wednesday morning and the first Saturday of the month. Those are the days when AccesSurf sets up their equipment and their beach-mat track down to the shorebreak for disabled surfers. Some of them are kids with mental and/or physical issues and some of them are adults in wheelchairs. I'm amazed at the variety of floating objects that are put in the water, and I'm even more impressed by the people who are using the equipment and those who are helping them. I have no desire to join the volunteer crowd (it's hard, hot, sweaty work), but I enjoy watching it take place while thinking "Hey, I helped pay for that!"

We donate to a food bank and a homeless shelter, too, but watching their programs in action doesn't exactly deliver the same sort of psychic kick.
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Old 07-13-2011, 12:39 PM   #77
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i hear what you are saying about not needing or wanting any more. This subject has been done here a few times. if I were to be true to form this is where I would say you aren't being creative enough, or that you aren't giving yourself enough credit for using the money wisely, or that I wouldn't have any trouble spending more. Maybe someone else will take this minority point of view this time.
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Old 07-13-2011, 01:01 PM   #78
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I'm sure there comes a point when, financially, enough is enough. Personally, I don't know where that point would be for me. I'm happy with what I've got right now. But I'd be happier with $1M more. Happier still with another $1M on top of that. At some point, an extra $1M wouldn't have much meaning, but I don't know where that threshold is. Guess I'll find out when, and if, I get there!
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Old 07-13-2011, 01:11 PM   #79
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I'm sure there comes a point when, financially, enough is enough. Personally, I don't know where that point would be for me. I'm happy with what I've got right now. But I'd be happier with $1M more. Happier still with another $1M on top of that. At some point, an extra $1M wouldn't have much meaning, but I don't know where that threshold is. Guess I'll find out when, and if, I get there!
Sounds like a reasonable approach. I wonder though if you would actually get to that satisfied point? Depends on your personality I think. Seems like Nords is there. Probably a good place to be.
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Old 07-13-2011, 01:12 PM   #80
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[QUOTE=W2R;1088608]I dunno. It's pretty scary to read about what happens to some people when they come into money. Seems like they go on a wild spending spree and blow it all on fast cars or whatever. I think that is pretty sad.

In Charlie Sheen's case exchange "fast cars" with "fast women".
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