Balance between ER and living for today

[retire@40]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lets-retire The bad part of it all is we didn't get to take much of a vacation last year and it looks the same this year, darned medical issues.* *

That's one reason why I'm a big fan of retiring, or at least semi-retiring as early as you can.* Don't make plans now for your future long vacations when you are 65.* You may not get there or as in the case above, your medical problems may prevent you from leaving your house.

If you can build up a good reserve for yourself that can give you even 75% of the SWR you need, then quit your full-time work and get a part-time, hopefully more enjoyable job, that can supplement the rest of your needed income.* This will reduce your stress and give you more time to enjoy your life.

[JonnyM]

To ease the thread back on topic. (OK, I hanker for a 67 Goat, and DW says it's gotta be topless, she loves to go topless, but that's another thread) I think there is a definite advantage to have an age-based ER equation, as opposed to a Funds based requirement. We finally figured out that we wanted to ER, preference for FIRE but neverthe less ER 7 years ago, when I was 43 and DW was 42. Our public service jobs require age 50 minimum to receive any sort of pension whatsoever. Since at that ephipany moment we had no savings, we embarked on doing some catchup, but realistically we were never going to acquire tons-o-dough based on putting away 7 or 8K a piece for 7 years. My thought in those heady days was we'd end up with about 100k x 2 at the end of the road. Serious money, but that was long before I learned about the 4 percent rule. I was assuming we could draw oh say 10 percent per year, (I told you I had no clue during the late 90's, it DID seem real easy to make money with money) but at the end of the day, our expenses were going to have to be covered by our DBP's.

OK as it happened, life changed a few parameters, some for the better, one for the very much worse, but through the whole period we never denied ourselves the "fun" stuff. I'm not saying we flew to Europe for a month or two, but we enjoyed our moderately expensive hobbies (I have 30 examples of the Icon in my Sig for instance) and took time off from work to smell the roses, always had one totally reliable vehicle, and another me to commute (current auction purchased Lincoln Mark VIII), and managed to get to pretty close to debt free with a goal of total debt freedom by next April Fools when I finally opt out. We'll end up with a couple more years of Mortage, but that's doable.

We enjoyed life, never lived below our effective means, and will have to slightly reduce our expenses when I ER (DW is already there) but not enough to significantly change the lifestyle we enjoy, and we're planning to use what remains of that savings nestegg to fund our "fun" fund for those Europe trips we've never had the "time" to do right. We're convinced we played the hand the best we could, no regrets, and I CAN'T WAIT to join DW at home.

[playaman]

I'm reading this thread after getting home from a 6 p.m. dinner meeting related to my work -- and I semi-retired myself a year ago! Clearly, I'm still doing something wrong here.

I'm really sensitive to the "dying early" syndrome noted above. My father died at 51 of a heart attack, his father at 38 of a kidney problem (from which allegedly no one dies today). My goal is to live to at least 89 -- and I think I'll make it. Really quitting the "rat race," though, has got to be a part of any longevity.

Retirement is two years and one month away. We're financially ready but waiting for my daughter to get out of college. I don't want to wish my life away, but I hope those two years pass quickly.

[dex]

Jonny M,
So, let me understand this correctly - 7 years ago you had no savings, some debt and a mortage. in April 2006 you and the DW will have a pension and only the mortage (health insurance?)

I think this is fantastic. I think it points out that this whole "Do I have enough to retire" is a matter of perspective.

Please don't tell me you worked for the government and will have a pension with a COLA and health insurance included. It would take the risk aspect out of the equation.

[xprinter]

We have been socking away as much as possible since we got married 5 years ago. We are both 51 and want to retire before 60. Divorce side tracked me from my goal of ER in the middle 90's. Now we are back on track, but I still have trouble with vacations. It just does not seem worth the 5k to take a week on an island or the 10k to go to Europe. I don't know if we will ever have enough to live the good life, but we both experience joy with simple things.

[MRGALT2U]

Quote:

Originally Posted by xprinter . It just does not seem worth the 5k to take a week on an island or the 10k to go to Europe. I don't know if we will ever have enough to live the good life, but we both experience joy with simple things.

Now, reread what you posted and see if you can find a problem
or contradiction.

JG

[unclemick]

In ER, the need to get outta Dodge - aka travel evaporated rapidly. The rationale would probably take several forms - but number one - the need to put distance between us and the job turned out to be a big driver.

Passage of time, age, health are lessor factors - but part of it also.

We did our Europe, Island, and cruise thingy while still working.

Thinking cheap the first ten years of ER - means we could afford the trips now - but there is no enthusiasm for going.

Quote:

Thinking cheap the first ten years of ER - means we could afford the trips now - but there is no enthusiasm for going.

As Warren Buffett said "don't postone sex for your old age"

Life is not a Dress Rehearsal. - If you've got a few extra bucks, get out there and enjoy it. - You can't line your coffin with it! 8)

[unclemick]

My neighbor said it best - we can't wait to get out to the camp for the summer - and here you go hooking up the RV or rushing to the airport to go somewhere else.

After ER - we finally got it.

An aside - sex and travel aren't the same thing - heh, heh, heh, heh, heh.

There is a Viagra joke in there somewhere - but it escapes me.

[piranha]

I'm 32. My wife is 34. I plan on retiring before age 50, and should be able to do so comfortably. My wife and I have been saving money in various retirement and non-retirement accounts for quite awhile (we have amassed around 250 G total so far), so I think it's a goal that will be able to be easily attained. We both have steady employment (teachers in a public school district), and with the way our current pension and benefits package is structured, retiring at that young of an age seems like a no brainer.

At the same time, we don't neglect "living for today". We have a nice house with a nice sized mortgage. We both drive 5-6 year old cars that have low mileage (they're paid off). We take at least 2 vacactions per year with our 2 kids.

There is a delicate balance that needs to be achieved, but planning for ER and living (and enjoying youself) for today is possible if you budget your money accordingly and make wise decisions.

[Ol_Rancher]

Piranha,
"the way our current pension benefits package is structured"
.. this is your greatest unknown. State teacher pension funds look at limiting early retirement age minimums as their first way to bring costs into line without tax increases. Hold your breath. Texas just implimented age 60 as minimum without benefit reductions for ER. A trend? Quite possibly. Retired teachers are grandfathered. I retired at age 53 with full benefits as per calculations. Those days are coming to a close fast. Sorry to alarm you but forewarned is forearmed.

[Eagle43]

Quote:

Originally Posted by xprinter We have been socking away as much as possible since we got married 5 years ago. We are both 51 and want to retire before 60. Divorce side tracked me from my goal of ER in the middle 90's. Now we are back on track, but I still have trouble with vacations. It just does not seem worth the 5k to take a week on an island or the 10k to go to Europe. I don't know if we will ever have enough to live the good life, but we both experience joy with simple things.

To quote (misquote) from "Die Broke" ... "Your last check should be to the mortuary for your funeral expenses, and it should bounce."

[piranha]

understood regarding pensions. *In Michigan, the minimum age is 46... but you need 30 years of service to be eligible for full retirement benefits. *I purchased the maximum years of service towards retirement allowed early on in my teaching career (5 years). *I've been teaching now for 10 years... which leaves 15 years to go to meet the current minimum requirement.

Will that change? *Probably. *I'm just hoping they grandfather in people that are currently operating under this system. *

I guess what I'd like to know is:

When Texas upped the minimum to age 60, did that apply to all current non-retired teachers or did they grandfather in any non-retired people? *

[Helen]

Quote:

Originally Posted by piranha I'm 32.* My wife is 34.* I plan on retiring before age 50, and should be able to do so comfortably.* My wife and I have been saving money in various retirement and non-retirement accounts for quite awhile (we have amassed around 250 G total so far), so I think it's a goal that will be able to be easily attained.*

Wow ! How have you been able to sock $250k away by an average age of 33 - if you don't mind my asking.

Congratulations !!!!

-helen

[xprinter]

JG

Quote:

Now, reread what you posted and see if you can find a problem or contradiction.

Finding joy in the simple life and still yearning for travel does not seem to be a contradiction to me.

[cute fuzzy bunny]

The problem is that something you wrote gave him the opportunity to write a pithy post.

[piranha]

Helen: See this...

http://early-retirement.org/forums/i...p?topic=2282.0

[FlowGirl]

Quote:

Originally Posted by xprinter Now we are back on track, but I still have trouble with vacations. It just does not seem worth the 5k to take a week on an island or the 10k to go to Europe. I don't know if we will ever have enough to live the good life, but we both experience joy with simple things.

We just went to Europe for 4 weeks on less than half of $10K without sacrificing a bit. Admitedly the spouse and I got free airfare, but the round trip ticket we bought my MIL was only $400, so that wasn't a huge part of our expenses anyway. Yeah, we didn't stay in 4 star resorts, but we didn't have to rough it in youth hostels either - we just did our homework and looked for bragains along the way.

I'll be the first to admit that 5 grand is still a lot, but we saved up the money and the vacation time and made it happen because travel is our priority right now. I'm under no illusions that we can have an extravagant lifestyle, but I have no doubt that we can have "the good life" on a very middle class salary.

[razztazz]

Quote:

We just went to Europe for 4 weeks on less than half of $10K without sacrificing a bit.

Could just give me a brief description of how you managed , not a trip to Europe but FOUR WEEKS on less that 5 grand?

I used to live there as a "stealth local" which is teh bets way to do it but I didn't see enough of Eu because i wa sworking at the time. I'd like to go back and see more but like someone else posted, moneywise the cost/bennie analysis doesn't seem worth it. But the 5 G+/- for 30 days is defineitley worth it. I personally have no idea HOW to go about getting that kind of detailed info.

[azanon]

I'm in the camp that also has trouble with extravigant vacations. * Even 5K dollars is a lot (realized income with taxes paid on it) when i consider the effort and sacrifice it takes to come up with that much money. * And for frame of reference of how much 5K is to me, our combined income (wife and I) is about 110K.

For now, my wife and I do have to skimp on a few things, such as extravagant vacations, to be able to afford to max both my 401(k) and our Roths, while paying for our cars and mortgage, and for our one child. * And that's given our combined income. *When making a what goes vs what stays decision about what to cut, its easy to pick very expensive vacations. * Especially when a large degree of what makes a vacation valuable can be had near your home for much less (ie: rest/relaxation, nice hotels, scenic areas, new/nice restaurants, different activities).

My beef with vacations is the inevitability of the facts one to two weeks later; 1. You have 5-10K less * *2. You have nothing to show for it. * Sure you can say you have the memories. * But OUCH, 10K is a high pricetag for memories of some place that cannot differ that much from the images we all have of famous places pictured on the internet and in books.