Should I spend every nickel before I die?

[megacorp-firee]

heh heh heh - Trying to force myself to enjoy spending more - but it's hard. .

... uh need help? ... just trying to be neighborly

 

[Enuff2Eat]

Spending is American all time favorite activities. I enjoy it as much as the next guy but trying to be discipline and LBYM for so long and now, seeing someone seriously ill with so much money left to spend but can't, make me want to pull the trigger and buying everything insight..... hum, easy said then done.

I tossed, I rolled, I turned, I flipped... still I can't do it. Oh sure I love the "spanking" and the new stuffs but ... I feel that it's an obligation to leave as much as possible for my children so they don't have to work as hard as we do. I have seen children with "well to do" parents, they tend to enjoy more of a good thing in life and have less stress than children come from poor families.

Thanks for everyone suggestion. I guess here is how I want to do it.. Accumulate as much as possible. So first, I can buy freedom then continue to LBYM but with more extravagant buying and still left everything to them someday, hopefully I don't outlive my money.

 

[mews]

I tossed, I rolled, I turned, I flipped... still I can't do it. Oh sure I love the "spanking" and the new stuffs but ... I feel that it's an obligation to leave as much as possible for my children so they don't have to work as hard as we do. I have seen children with "well to do" parents, they tend to enjoy more of a good thing in life and have less stress than children come from poor families.

Many of them have DIFFERENT stress. They confuse want with need, judge themselves by ownership of 'toys', and judge others in the same way.

Love them well, educate them well, and try and raise true adults.

If their reaction upon your death is 'well, we can get a new car!', something is wrong

ta,
mew

 

[Shawn]

While my preference is not to die, I'll be perfectly happy if I die "filthy rich." I won't be disappointed if my lifetime savings go to charity.

I don't need to spend a lot of money to be happy, and I don't see my frugal ways changing very much after I ER. My initial SWR will probably be under 1%. With my pension, I may never touch my investments. In fact, I may remain in the accumulation stage for the rest of my life. Of course, time will tell. Yes, I want to do things that I haven't done while being employed. But this is not a money issue. It's a time issue. I look at money as a source of freedom and security. I don't know what the future will bring, so I can sleep well at night knowing that the money is there. Spending isn't prohibited, but it's not required.

But that's me. To each his/her own.

 

[SciFiFan53]

To do this you have to set a DOD (date of death). I chose a date that is 10% longer than anyone in my family. If I'm still around at that date I would sell my real estate and rent. That should get me another 5 to 10 yrs down the road. If at this point I'm still around I really don't care as I'll probably be drooling on myself staring out a window somewhere. Sorry kids, I spent it.

Choosing a date 10% longer than any family member works for me - my grandmother died at 98

 

[heyduke]

i too am in the camp of planning to spend it all (if I live long enough) - what this doesn't include will be my last home and possessions which would still be enough to satisfy my beneficiaries... now if I live longer than I expect a reverse mortgage may even take this away...

 

[freebird5825]

I don't have kids so can't really comment on the idea of leaving an inheritance for your family, but: I really hope that my own parents are not pinching pennies so that they can leave me something...

Ditto, no kids.
I try to strike a balance between saving and splurging - delayed gratification and all that jazz.
FWIW, my Mom had this same attitude about sacrifice so she could leave something for us kids. She did not have a lot at all. No pension, only SS and some CDs.
I used to hound her to spend it on herself. I sent her "mad money" so she could have fun. That she did use!
She eventually listened to me a little and used a bit of her own...however I did inherit my stubbornness from somewhere.

 

[Walt34]

... I feel that it's an obligation to leave as much as possible for my children so they don't have to work as hard as we do. I have seen children with "well to do" parents, they tend to enjoy more of a good thing in life and have less stress than children come from poor families.

An interesting read is The Millionaire Next Door. Although published in 1996, it points out that most of the country's millionaires are first-generation and came from poor or working poor backgrounds. Many of the people interviewed expressed the same sentiment that Enuff2Eat has.

 

[rescueme]

My DW/me are "financially blessed" to do what we want, and live in the manner we wish, in retirement.

Can we spend more? Sure. Do we need to spend more? No. We travel (both foreign and US) several times each year. We built our "terminal home" to our specifications and even though it's not a castle, it's certainly large enough for the two of us (with our two dogs - we do rescue work). We don't deny ourselves anything by a comment "we can't afford it" (however, we don't spend $$$ just for the heck of it.)

I never looked at retirement/end-of-life assets as a "zero sum game".

We will have more than enough to carry us till our end of life. Our liquidated estate at that time will go to our named charities, to allow them to continue their work and share in our good fortune.

We have no regrets on leaving anything behind; in fact our saying has always been "we've rather die with money, than live without it"....

 

[Midpack]

Spending is American all time favorite activities. I enjoy it as much as the next guy but trying to be discipline and LBYM for so long and now, seeing someone seriously ill with so much money left to spend but can't, make me want to pull the trigger and buying everything insight..... hum, easy said then done.

I tossed, I rolled, I turned, I flipped... still I can't do it. Oh sure I love the "spanking" and the new stuffs but ... I feel that it's an obligation to leave as much as possible for my children so they don't have to work as hard as we do. I have seen children with "well to do" parents, they tend to enjoy more of a good thing in life and have less stress than children come from poor families.

Thanks for everyone suggestion. I guess here is how I want to do it.. Accumulate as much as possible. So first, I can buy freedom then continue to LBYM but with more extravagant buying and still left everything to them someday, hopefully I don't outlive my money.

It's helpful to listen to other POV's, but as you know the "right answer" is different for each and every one of us. I think about that balance between "now" and the "future" all the time, and probably always will. But my answer is uniquely my own, like everyone else.

And no one can plan to die broke, leave exactly X inheritance - you develop a viable plan, adjust along the way and get as close as you can. Some people will die before they planned, some after. Some will have better returns than they expected, so lesser. Some will have expenses greater than they planned, some less. Inflation will be more than some plan, less for others. Social Security will deliver as currently planned for your lifetime, or may not. And so on...

 

[Jay_Gatsby]

It's only free if you can talk DW into it.

I can't begin to imagine what it would cost if DW caught you and whomever you paid.

I thought you could do it all by yourself....

 

[Khan]

After a long and thrilling career as a cheap SOB (her words) - post Katrina trying to switch to the you can't take it with you mode - I found it terrifying, scary and thoroughly uncomfortible - almost to the point of seeing a shrink and taking anti-depression meds. But since that cost's money I avoided that.

Even with some pssst Wellesley type Norwegian widow stocks and balanced index funds we were fortunate to have a few minor dips this last decade to make me all warm and fuzzy and point - ah ha see we got to be frugal(that's high class for for cheap).

Unfortunately balanced index/time in the market/I'm not getting any younger - means spend more(no heirs).

I passed up my favorite Salvation Army Store - bought a winter coat(1/2 price) at Sears and a Stetson hat at Dilliards and new tires at 60k miles for my Equinox. Actually gave my 250k GMC- with rusty fender to someone who needed a vehicle.

heh heh heh - Trying to force myself to enjoy spending more - but it's hard. .

My situation is similar.
No heirs, hate shopping.
Have increased amount given away.

Come November, I will buy some new clothes; stuff is starting to get rather shabby.

And next year I will start accessing my retirement accounts.

 

[W2R]

Khan, I went to Academy earlier this afternoon to buy some more of the polo shirts that I often wear. They usually cost $10-$20. I picked out six of the same brand that I always buy, and it turned out they were on sale for $2.44 - - all six, with tax, totalled $15!!!

I am pleased but I guess my attempts at a spending spree will have to wait until another day.

 

[mews]

W2R, you just 'saved' $75 to add to your next spending spree!

(Isn't mental accounting fun )

ta,
mew

 

[Koolau]

This is a fascinating subject. I think I've learned a few things about myself - not a bad trick for someone of my age. I find myself most in tune with Uncle Mick, I think. For the first time, I had to actually take money from my 401(k) this year (for other than Roth conversion) and it almost put me into A-Fib (I can sympathize with RonBoyd). Fortunately I only had a few palpitations!

It's funny, too, because I wasn't always so frugal. I don't know if I just "saw the light" about LBYM or if it's in the genes (both parents were adults during GD) and those genes are just now being expressed. In any case, I seem to need belt/suspenders/backups-to-backups, etc. At what point do I "realize" that none of us gets out of here alive?

Don't get me wrong. I think we live very well. We don't actually lack anything, but we could have most of the "spanking" new things we want but settle for used or refurbished or at least discounted - e.g., I've never intentionally flown 1st class. Nor are we going to leave it all to the kids. We've always been of the school of thought "Give the kids the boost they need at the time - education, maybe house down payment, etc. - then leave the rest to the charities we've supported all our lives."

So maybe the point is that each of us has to do what is comfortable and not worry too much about how we could do it differently. I'm most blessed in having a spouse who is at nearly the same page as I when it comes to spending/accumulation of things/kids/charity/etc. I strongly suspect that Uncle Mick's SO uses "cheap SOB" as a term of endearment rather than a criticism. If he doubts that, he should try altering his spending habits (maybe for just a month, heh, heh) and see if she starts to call him "profligate SOB"! YMMV

Thanks to all for your usual helpful insights.

 

[Meadbh]

It seems to me that you need a margin of error. If you try to get it just right and spend every nickel before you die, you risk getting it wrong, and run out of money while still embarrassingly healthy. Are you prepared to commit suicide under those circumstances?

 

[youbet]

It seems to me that you need a margin of error.

I think what we're talking about is having too much of a margin of error. Many of us have LBYM so ingrained that we likely will not experience things, own things, help people, etc., when we'll very likely go to our graves with huge residual amounts in our coffers.

In recent threads, we've heard from foks who are either SIRE or FIRE (big enough pensions and big enough portfolios to live nicely off either), folks with cushions for their cushions, folks still acccumulating from pension and SS income during retirement and likely never to experience the "withdrawal phase" and so on and so forth.

I wouldn't worry too much about folks on this board not allowing for a "margin of error."

 

[NW-Bound]

I think youbet is correct about the LBYM inclination of the typical forum member.

However, another "market correction" like the one we just experienced would certainly reduce that extra "margin of error" and "cushion of cushions".

But then, the compensation is that the reverse wealth effect would also take away any desirous thought of "spanking new stuff".

Argghhh... Why am I talking of a market correction? Noooo, not right after another "Whee" post.

 

[Aussie Trooper]

It depends how tight youve cut it...

My plan is to have ever increasing wealth and income when I retire....

But if youve cut it fine I would be aiming to have 10-15% of your money left if you live 15% longer then mode age of death (most common) which I think from memory is generally about 3 years above the average age of death in most western countries. Take into account your relative health and family history......especially for Cardiac disease or cancer... You are the best judge of this.

 

[youbet]

DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT spend every nickel before you die. You'll need one nickel to be placed in your lips at death to pay Charon to ferry you across the Styx. It would be a huge mistake to not have that nickel!


Charon (mythology) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia




Edit: To avoid any confusion, my sig line refers to the attractive lady in the blue kayak paddling on the Kankakee River in northern Illinois. Charon is the guy in the red loin cloth paddling on the Styx.

 

[NW-Bound]

I dunno!

What was the denomination of the Greek coin to be paid? It is likely to be worth much more than a US nickel now. I am not even sure if a Susan B Anthony would cover the fare even. Why chance it? A two-euro coin is better. Heck, a Krugerrand would get you the boat all to yourself, and Charon may even sing to entertain like a Venice gondolier.


PS. Your clarification about the avatar vs. the painting really helps. For a second there, I was really wonderin'.

 

[youbet]

I dunno!

What was the denomination of the Greek coin to be paid?

A coin to pay Charon for passage, usually an obolus or danake, was sometimes placed in or on the mouth of a dead person.[

But, ya know, there is a recession goin' on. No obolus or danake? A nickel just might do! I sure wouldn't spend my last one pre-croaking and risk spending 100 yrs wandering the banks of the Styx, that's for sure!

 

[youbet]

What was the denomination of the Greek coin to be paid? It is likely to be worth much more than a US nickel now. I am not even sure if a Susan B Anthony would cover the fare even. Why chance it? A two-euro coin is better. Heck, a Krugerrand would get you the boat all to yourself, and Charon may even sing to entertain like a Venice gondolier.

You have a good point there! Having a Krugerrand instead of a nickel would provide that "cushion" everyone is always talking about! You know, a little extra "just in case."

 

[NW-Bound]

But then, the LBYM'er among us would compromise with just a silver dollar. Enough margin there, I'd say.

 

[NW-Bound]

Heh, heh, heh...

All this talk about paying toll or a ride fare just reminded me of a bumper sticker I saw a few days earlier on the freeway.

"Cash, grass, or ass...
Nobody rides free"​

If you don't have the first two, you wouldn't want to hitchhike with this guy.