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Old 06-07-2017, 11:40 AM   #41
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Hmm... seems like you are citing the most expensive options. A quick check of Google Flights shows numerous nonstop LAX to London business class flights available for a wide range of dates and numerous carriers for $4,500 or less. I found some flights/dates for around $2,600 if you're willing to deal with two stops. I suppose if it has to be Virgin or BA, nonstop, and within the next couple weeks, you could end up paying $8K or more. To avoid these ultra high fares, I never limit myself to just a select few airlines, and I always plan international travel many months in advance.
Because that's how I fly. My husband only wants non stop. I only fly BA or Virgin or maybe Air New Zealand. Why should I pick the cheapest option to prove a point.
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Old 06-07-2017, 12:04 PM   #42
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Because that's how I fly. My husband only wants non stop. I only fly BA or Virgin or maybe Air New Zealand. Why should I pick the cheapest option to prove a point.
You shouldn't. You should do exactly what you want with your money, and I suspect you will regardless of what I post here. All I was trying to point out is that there are numerous nonstop biz-class flights that are far less expensive than what you cited originally. And I was pleasantly surprised to discover that, since I had been under the mistaken impression that most international business class fares were outrageously pricey.
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Old 06-07-2017, 12:23 PM   #43
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It's hard to know the future. That's why I prefer not to be overly confident because I can't predict the future.
Throw in those unknown unknowns are you really can't be sure about anything.
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Old 06-07-2017, 06:05 PM   #44
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Thank you all for posting.

Two of my takeaways are that the excess monies, if spent, will be on luxuries, not necessities. The other on how to give money away.

When I look at these comments, and the comments of Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, money is looked at how it can do the most good. We want to make the world a better place. Not to get political, that's why I thought those protests about the evil 1%ers was misguided. Most people hearts are set on doing good.

Lastly, it just blows my mind that for the rest of my life I basically have the world at my disposal. Restaurants, hotels, airplanes, whatever, the world is there ready for me to spend money. And honestly, one doesn't have to be rich to live this lifestyle.
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Old 06-07-2017, 06:09 PM   #45
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I thought this link was interesting. It talks about all the 'early retirement is easy' blogs and notes they have mostly appeared in this bull market.

https://ournextlife.com/2017/05/10/c...e-projections/
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Old 06-07-2017, 07:47 PM   #46
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Throw in those unknown unknowns are you really can't be sure about anything.
With medical advances, I'm planning in case we live another 50 years. A lot can happen in 50 years. A lot has happened in 5 years for us - especially with health care costs. We've had crazy high and crazy low years after the ACA went into effect compared to our initial budget. I'm glad we had a fair bit of buffer to help in the crazy high years. We would have probably moved abroad if the ACA had not come along.
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Old 06-07-2017, 09:45 PM   #47
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"You can never be too rich or too thin".

Wallis Simpson - The Duchess of Windsor
Too rich - probably not.

Too thin - you can definitely be too thin!!! Lots of health problems can result from being too thin, conversely, if you are really really thin it may be because you are in the advanced stage of a fatal disease.
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Old 06-07-2017, 09:52 PM   #48
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That's basically how I feel, even though I am pretty confident I have more than enough money to cover any and all reasonable needs and wants for the rest of my life.

I was curious, so I just checked the cost of round-trip business class ticket to Rome from my neck of the woods here in metro Atlanta, and I found some—at around $2,400—that I could pretty easily afford. As long as I don't discover the "need" to take more than one or two such flights per year, I should be A-OK. That's actually a pretty encouraging realization!
Yeah - $2400pp is not bad. I'd be more willing if for two of us it would be less than $5K to fly to Europe business class, compared to $2500 for economy. But usually it's $4K per person business class ($8K total), and that extra $5500 - well, that would go so far to spend it on other things!
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Old 06-08-2017, 06:04 AM   #49
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Too rich - probably not.



Too thin - you can definitely be too thin!!! Lots of health problems can result from being too thin, conversely, if you are really really thin it may be because you are in the advanced stage of a fatal disease.


I don't get why people seize on this comment. I think it is 99% true - most people are overweight, some significantly, and the perception of what is 'thin' is now actually someone who is normal weight or slightly heavy (based on my observation in Texas). There is no harm from being skinny but There is obviously a difference between skinny and malnourished.

I know I regularly get told I am "too skinny" even though I am firmly in the middle of a healthy BMI/body fat %.
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Old 06-08-2017, 07:05 AM   #50
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I've been retired for about 4 years now (wife for 5). Lived an exciting although frugal life so far with lots of travel and experiences on modest incomes. It's hard to break our frugal life style but we still travel and have a full life. She plays tennis almost everyday and I work on my pottery/ceramics while volunteering with jobs at animal rescue, broadcasting at the local PBS station and the zoo.

So far we cover our expenses with SS and a couple of small pensions and have not yet dipped into our investments so they continue to grow. Fortunately we planned well, the house was paid off years ago, and medical is taken care of. If needed and the SS etc goes away our investments would last us at least 40 more years. I think the bucket will have been kicked before then.

Cheers!
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Old 06-08-2017, 07:39 AM   #51
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This post really got me thinking about how I am spending my money today. I am about four years from retirement, my husband 2.5 years. We have a healthy nest egg. When we start taking SS and my small pension, those three income streams will pay for the majority of our average living expenses. I too am cautious about not wanting to spend too much of the nest egg and not have enough for future unforeseen needs. But balancing that with not wanting to have a huge estate at my death (nice for my daughter) or denying myself stuff or experiences that would enrich my life while I'm still able to enjoy.

So, I'm trying to find the balance between not living "too frugally or going without" with saving for future needs (health, inflation, whatever). I've decided to use a phrase from one of my favorite TV shows, Parks and Rec." I'm going to "Treat Your Self."

There are services/products I'm going to purchase which will make my life easier NOW. I"m thinking about a cleaning service (I like a clean house but hate to clean. After 40 years it's repetitive and rarely stays clean for long.), monthly massage (chronic back issues) and I'm going to buy whatever plants I want for my garden! My husband has always been encouraging for me to do what I want. It is difficult for me to spend on myself due to my own self imposed frugality. Let's see if I can do this. Wish me luck!
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Old 06-08-2017, 08:03 AM   #52
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I've always treat my self, regular massage, in some years, I spend $10,000 with flex spending for my bad back. As for garden, I consider that cheap therapy, I blow my dough at the garden center often and it has years that I've doing that. As for cleaning service, my husband helps with that occasionally when he feels like. I'm not picky about cleanliness because I live outside in my garden most of the time.
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Old 06-08-2017, 08:07 AM   #53
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I don't get why people seize on this comment. I think it is 99% true - most people are overweight, some significantly, and the perception of what is 'thin' is now actually someone who is normal weight or slightly heavy (based on my observation in Texas). There is no harm from being skinny but There is obviously a difference between skinny and malnourished.

I know I regularly get told I am "too skinny" even though I am firmly in the middle of a healthy BMI/body fat %.
It doesn't matter if most people are too fat. IMO it is clearly possible to be too thin - and yes, malnourished. I didn't say all skinny persons are too thin.

I simply disagree with the Duchess of Windsor because it makes me think of people like Karen Carpenter, or wasted cancer victims, drug addicts, or those poor people from the Nazi concentration camps. I don't think any rich, high society lady would want to look like that.
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Old 06-08-2017, 08:22 AM   #54
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That's basically how I feel, even though I am pretty confident I have more than enough money to cover any and all reasonable needs and wants for the rest of my life.

I was curious, so I just checked the cost of round-trip business class ticket to Rome from my neck of the woods here in metro Atlanta, and I found some—at around $2,400—that I could pretty easily afford. As long as I don't discover the "need" to take more than one or two such flights per year, I should be A-OK. That's actually a pretty encouraging realization!
I would have to pay more to go to Europe from my corner of the wood in Western USA, but $2400 is already a lot more than what I normally pay. At some point, I guess the comfort of a better seat would be enough to overcome my natural stinginess.

But looking ahead, if my physical condition gets worse so that I really need the comfort of a business or 1st class seat (I am not a big nor tall guy), then I also would not be able to handle my own luggage, nor keep up with the crazy Italian car drivers, nor able to walk several miles a day for sightseeing on my own.

Never having taken a tour in my life, I think that when I get to the point when I cannot travel on my own, may as well stay home and watch travel videos.

What I am trying to say is that I have always been desirous of better airline seats, but that is more of a luxurious thing than a necessity. When it becomes a necessity for me, my travel days will be over.
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Old 06-08-2017, 08:33 AM   #55
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Not only that, but the thin-and-healthy weight of a 30-year-old could be the too-thin-and-osteoporosis weight of 70 years old. We lose our cushioning subcutaneous fat as we age, which makes our bones and organs easier to injure.

That's not to say we should gain 20 pounds of fat just because we're older - building muscle is very helpful, but that takes a *lot* of work and time which few older people are willing to invest.

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It doesn't matter if most people are too fat. IMO it is clearly possible to be too thin - and yes, malnourished. I didn't say all skinny persons are too thin.

I simply disagree with the Duchess of Windsor because it makes me think of people like Karen Carpenter, or wasted cancer victims, drug addicts, or those poor people from the Nazi concentration camps. I don't think any rich, high society lady would want to look like that.
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Old 06-08-2017, 08:48 AM   #56
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What I am trying to say is that I have always been desirous of better airline seats, but that is more of a luxurious thing than a necessity. When it becomes a necessity for me, my travel days will be over.
Yeah, I would basically agree. I certainly don't look at business- or first-class seating on overseas flights as a necessity or even a reasonable value for the money at this point. The most I've ever spent on an international flight was about $1,300 (economy seating), and I remember being in a little bit of pain about it at the time. But then you think about basically doubling that in order to get the cheapest biz-class seat on a flight to Europe, and you start asking yourself what exactly that extra $1,300 is really getting you. As mentioned in another thread, you could just as easily opt for the economy fare, and use the savings to add two whole days to your trip. And then spend those extra couple days at your destination recovering from the jet lag, etc. As for the uncomfortable flight stuck in a small coach seat, just take a bunch of cheap, generic Xanax to make it more tolerable. You'll be asleep or at least very chilled out for the majority of the flight that way.
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Old 06-08-2017, 09:02 AM   #57
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Yeah, I would basically agree. I certainly don't look at business- or first-class seating on overseas flights as a necessity or even a reasonable value for the money at this point. The most I've ever spent on an international flight was about $1,300 (economy seating), and I remember being in a little bit of pain about it at the time. But then you think about basically doubling that in order to get the cheapest biz-class seat on a flight to Europe, and you start asking yourself what exactly that extra $1,300 is really getting you. As mentioned in another thread, you could just as easily opt for the economy fare, and use the savings to add two whole days to your trip. And then spend those extra couple days at your destination recovering from the jet lag, etc. As for the uncomfortable flight stuck in a small coach seat, just take a bunch of cheap, generic Xanax to make it more tolerable. You'll be asleep or at least very chilled out for the majority of the flight that way.
Funny - I'd actually be OK with the doubling in price for international business class. It's the 4x pricing that gets to me. But obviously there is high demand for those lie flat seats, so they are able to price them at a premium.
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Old 06-08-2017, 09:10 AM   #58
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It doesn't matter if most people are too fat. IMO it is clearly possible to be too thin - and yes, malnourished. I didn't say all skinny persons are too thin.

I simply disagree with the Duchess of Windsor because it makes me think of people like Karen Carpenter, or wasted cancer victims, drug addicts, or those poor people from the Nazi concentration camps. I don't think any rich, high society lady would want to look like that.
You might want to look at Kate and Pipa Middleton. I noticed one of my kids comes close to their weight, definitely bigger than Arianna Grande, but there are thin people out there, I admit mostly for the younger crowd who are thin. Macron's wife is another example for somebody older than 60 and thin.
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Old 06-08-2017, 09:15 AM   #59
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So emotionally, I'd say of course I don't have more money than I'll ever need. If nothing else, I'm just not wired that way. To even say the words feels a bit... cocky?

That being said, being just over a year in to retirement and I'm at 30% more than my super safe, super conservative, only now can I feel comfortable pulling the trigger number. So analytically, I'm closer to being able to say that then I might initially think.

I guess I worry more about running out of money than having too much. So long as I can lead the life I want to lead, I'm not fussed if there's extra at the end. I have no kids, so it looks like the local animal rescue will do that much better.
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Old 06-08-2017, 09:53 AM   #60
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You might want to look at Kate and Pipa Middleton. I noticed one of my kids comes close to their weight, definitely bigger than Arianna Grande, but there are thin people out there, I admit mostly for the younger crowd who are thin. Macron's wife is another example for somebody older than 60 and thin.
I'm not sure about your point. Are you saying they are too thin? Or you think that I would think they are too thin? They look perfectly healthy to me and nothing like the very ill people I listed.

Did you think I was saying that all thin people are unhealthy?

Or do you think these rich high society ladies look like drug addicts or anorexic women starving themselves to death? They certainly don't look like that to me.
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