No offense, amt, but you sure have a way of provoking thoughtful discussions.
Another poster says that if their net worth rose by 10x, they'd have no problem enjoying life by spending more money. I have no idea what our median net worth is here, but let's call it $10M (insert your life-changing figure here).
I know we all COULD enjoy life by spending more money (along with eating healthier & exercising more often) but WOULD we?
Most of us achieved ER by cutting expenses and by investing wisely. I don't think any of us achieved ER by freely spending our money. The habits that got us to ER are the same habits that can inhibit our distribution of our riches.
Spouse and I frequently debate SG's "windfall" question, but most of the answers just accelerate our "To Do" list. For example, our side "yard" is filled with weeds. Another retired family member has pointed out that we could fix the yard with a gallon of Roundup, a flat of zoysia plugs, and a couple ER years of patient gardening. But if we wuz rich, we'd have a contractor landscape the side yard. Then we'd put french doors in the livingroom, replace the kitchen counter's uneven ceramic tile with Corian, and add that barstool counter. Gazing on these projects would give us lasting pleasure and they actually possess some value.
But what about charity, hedonistic entertainment, and depreciating assets?
We haven't found a charity that appeals to us. Our efforts will probably be limited to buying the books for a college-bound homeschooler. But that's personal-- if this bright-eyed kid was an IPO then we'd be buying shares. Would a $1M foundation have the same personal touch? Should it be $5M or even the whole $10M? (As one survey participant said in Stanley's Millioniaire Next Door, "I am my favorite charity.")
Would we really derive pleasure from an around-the-world cruise, or would we fret over the number of starving children that could be fed for that money? Even worse, would our "entertainment standards" degrade to grousing about the quality of our stateroom's Courvoisier?
Would we really buy that custom longboard or a beach house next to Velzyland? Are we really responsible enough to care for more of George Carlin's "stuff"? While I'm pretty sure that I could handle it, I'd miss my current neighbors and I'd hate the responsibility of caring for & protecting more stuff. Yet as an overfunded INTJ engineer, I'd go crazy wild installing a 2 KW photovoltaic array on the livingroom roof with a high-end Trace inverter, net utility metering, and maybe even a submarine-style battery bank. I'd spend, gee, maybe $35K or even $40K. But there I go again confusing "big boy toys" with assets.
And finally, what kind of example would all of the above behavior set for our kids? I have trouble putting hard-earned cash in a vending machine when I have a water bottle in the car, yet my kid is extremely generous with my money and could turn affluenza into a lifelong affliction. We personally know a formerly hard-charging naval officer, on the cusp of command, who inherited the sole trusteeship of the parent's multi-million $$ foundation. All those impassioned talks about serving your country, taking care of your people, and making the Navy a better place went out the window in one weekend. In fact, BUPERS quietly accelerated the retirement approval just to get this morale-poisoning self-centered hypocrite out of the command as quickly as possible. The foundation does distribute money for good works, but now this "ER" spends a goodly chunk of the foundation's assets on first-class research junkets, wining & dining "co-sponsors", and planning self-aggrandizing charity affairs. Whether our offspring are chronologically still kids or "all grown up", would our example inspire them? Or would it turn them into whiny needy economic outpatients?
A couple years ago as I contemplated ER, I e-mailed an acquaintance who shares a lot of my background but is 30 years farther down the road. Retired military in the '70s, he and his wife started a successful realty business and rode Hawaii's boom up through the early '90s. Today they've turned most of the work over to their kids while they travel the convention circuit and give motivational sales training to new realtors. It's a bit different than the Terhorst's lifestyle but it's certainly a heckuva way to be a perpetual traveler. He's over 70 years old and he's probably worth eight figures, but they spend over half the year on the road and he cheerfully admits that he'll never retire.
I've read all the books & articles about "sudden wealth" and we might get there someday via our 100% stock retirement portfolio (or not). But right now that windfall seems to be more responsibility/burden than pleasure. While the money would wipe out the honey-do backlog, I don't think we'd substantially change our frugal value-driven lifestyle. I don't think we'd spend the rest, but I don't know what we'd do with it. "All of the above"?!
Except maybe for that custom longboard and the Velzyland house. I'll have to provoke those thoughts some more.
Another poster says that if their net worth rose by 10x, they'd have no problem enjoying life by spending more money. I have no idea what our median net worth is here, but let's call it $10M (insert your life-changing figure here).
I know we all COULD enjoy life by spending more money (along with eating healthier & exercising more often) but WOULD we?
Most of us achieved ER by cutting expenses and by investing wisely. I don't think any of us achieved ER by freely spending our money. The habits that got us to ER are the same habits that can inhibit our distribution of our riches.
Spouse and I frequently debate SG's "windfall" question, but most of the answers just accelerate our "To Do" list. For example, our side "yard" is filled with weeds. Another retired family member has pointed out that we could fix the yard with a gallon of Roundup, a flat of zoysia plugs, and a couple ER years of patient gardening. But if we wuz rich, we'd have a contractor landscape the side yard. Then we'd put french doors in the livingroom, replace the kitchen counter's uneven ceramic tile with Corian, and add that barstool counter. Gazing on these projects would give us lasting pleasure and they actually possess some value.
But what about charity, hedonistic entertainment, and depreciating assets?
We haven't found a charity that appeals to us. Our efforts will probably be limited to buying the books for a college-bound homeschooler. But that's personal-- if this bright-eyed kid was an IPO then we'd be buying shares. Would a $1M foundation have the same personal touch? Should it be $5M or even the whole $10M? (As one survey participant said in Stanley's Millioniaire Next Door, "I am my favorite charity.")
Would we really derive pleasure from an around-the-world cruise, or would we fret over the number of starving children that could be fed for that money? Even worse, would our "entertainment standards" degrade to grousing about the quality of our stateroom's Courvoisier?
Would we really buy that custom longboard or a beach house next to Velzyland? Are we really responsible enough to care for more of George Carlin's "stuff"? While I'm pretty sure that I could handle it, I'd miss my current neighbors and I'd hate the responsibility of caring for & protecting more stuff. Yet as an overfunded INTJ engineer, I'd go crazy wild installing a 2 KW photovoltaic array on the livingroom roof with a high-end Trace inverter, net utility metering, and maybe even a submarine-style battery bank. I'd spend, gee, maybe $35K or even $40K. But there I go again confusing "big boy toys" with assets.
And finally, what kind of example would all of the above behavior set for our kids? I have trouble putting hard-earned cash in a vending machine when I have a water bottle in the car, yet my kid is extremely generous with my money and could turn affluenza into a lifelong affliction. We personally know a formerly hard-charging naval officer, on the cusp of command, who inherited the sole trusteeship of the parent's multi-million $$ foundation. All those impassioned talks about serving your country, taking care of your people, and making the Navy a better place went out the window in one weekend. In fact, BUPERS quietly accelerated the retirement approval just to get this morale-poisoning self-centered hypocrite out of the command as quickly as possible. The foundation does distribute money for good works, but now this "ER" spends a goodly chunk of the foundation's assets on first-class research junkets, wining & dining "co-sponsors", and planning self-aggrandizing charity affairs. Whether our offspring are chronologically still kids or "all grown up", would our example inspire them? Or would it turn them into whiny needy economic outpatients?
A couple years ago as I contemplated ER, I e-mailed an acquaintance who shares a lot of my background but is 30 years farther down the road. Retired military in the '70s, he and his wife started a successful realty business and rode Hawaii's boom up through the early '90s. Today they've turned most of the work over to their kids while they travel the convention circuit and give motivational sales training to new realtors. It's a bit different than the Terhorst's lifestyle but it's certainly a heckuva way to be a perpetual traveler. He's over 70 years old and he's probably worth eight figures, but they spend over half the year on the road and he cheerfully admits that he'll never retire.
I've read all the books & articles about "sudden wealth" and we might get there someday via our 100% stock retirement portfolio (or not). But right now that windfall seems to be more responsibility/burden than pleasure. While the money would wipe out the honey-do backlog, I don't think we'd substantially change our frugal value-driven lifestyle. I don't think we'd spend the rest, but I don't know what we'd do with it. "All of the above"?!
Except maybe for that custom longboard and the Velzyland house. I'll have to provoke those thoughts some more.
