Minimize vacations to retire early?

[travelover]

I think that there is a middle ground. I took lots of great vacations and still retired early. The key, for me, was paying myself first and investing it, then budgeting vacations and other luxuries out of the remainder.

[Aerides]

Quote:

Originally Posted by vchan2177 Which life stage that you decide to start planning and working to become FIRE?

It was an abstract goal in our early 30's, but a concrete one by our late 30's. It's also not for everyone. Sounds like she's smart and knows what she wants, for now. People change a lot from 25 to 35 to 45.

[Nick12]

Option 1. Nothing in this world is free so I decided to climb the ladder, sacrifice, save and invest then retired early. Now I can do whatever and when I want to make it happen.

[ziggy29]

Well, she's 25 and can make up her own mind. I (vaguely) remember being 25. I was weird (possibly because I was single and didn't have much of a life) and I was already putting 12% of income into my 401K, but that is unusual at 25.

Frankly, looking back on it, I think as long as all the bills are paid and there is at least a reasonable amount of retirement savings going in, I'd say go ahead and use the rest as discretionary funds for now. As much as I wanted to see my possible retirement date get nearer and nearer with each year of contributing until it almost bled, there is no guarantee you will be around for those tomorrows.

But you know you have today. And there is some value to having cherished memories and photographs for the rest of your life.

I suspect as she gets older, if her w*rk experience is like many of us and it sucks and she wants out, she will re-prioritize on her own. If not, be glad she apparently has a job she likes well enough to stick around for a few extra years.

I would vote for some sort of a happy medium, personally. Maybe one less big vacation a year, instead directed into a 401K/IRA.

[marko]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RunningBum I don't believe in waiting until retirement to enjoy life. Option 2 for me.

+100

[mh]

Quote:

Originally Posted by vchan2177 My 25 years old daughter wants to retire early but she is fond of going on expensive vacations. (Skydiving in Dubai, Dog sledding in Alaska to see the Northern lights, etc) I then asked her a question on which path she would take.... (1) Minimize vacations expenses to retire early or (2) Take great vacations and retire later. She prefer option 2 because she is in her 20's and she wants to enjoy life. She also claims that at age 40 or 50 she will be "too old" to enjoy these things in early retirement. Any comments on which option you would take? A video of her Dubai vacation is at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lz3bBhtymJQ

Splitting the difference makes sense to me. Just try to cut costs on the travel expenses. Research and use cred cheap flights. Use hostels , eat street food , etc...

[Gumby]

Quote:

Originally Posted by travelover I think that there is a middle ground. I took lots of great vacations and still retired early. The key, for me, was paying myself first and investing it, then budgeting vacations and other luxuries out of the remainder.

I agree wholeheartedly. Life is for living both now and in the future. I have always been aware that if we skimped and saved in the present, we could retire much earlier and skimp and save after retirement. I didn't want to do that. I wanted a nice, fun life now and in the future. So, we have taken a lot of fun vacations over the past 30 years or so, and after I retire at the end of May, we will continue to take a lot of fun vacations. In fact, we'll be able to double our current spending after retirement if we choose. We worked until we were 60/58 to make that possible, but we have no regrets.

[YVRRocketSurgery]

+1 to the comments about balance.

And to be honest, as 50 starts to loom large on the horizon and various parts of the body starts to ache more, I do regret not being a bit more travel adventurous when younger. It doesn't necessarily mean spending piles of cash either.

[cathy63]

I do not regret for one minute taking time during my 20s, 30s and 40s to enjoy life and have fun with my husband, daughter and other family. We probably worked a year longer than we would have if we had never taken a vacation, but we still retired early. If I had it to do over again, I might even travel more and retire later.

[Bamaman]

I've been traveling internationally since going to college in Austria the Summer of '70. We've traveled all over the world scuba diving and snow skiing. Now that I'm of real retirement age, I'm still traveling heavily but not doing adventurous things.

We seem to keep finding real travel bargains online, and only travel when we get real bargains. We're flying to Madrid in May round trip for about $500--a bargain in today's travel world. We spend less in 2 weeks in Europe than our friends spend going to the Gulf Coast and renting a condo for a week. I did cringe yesterday when I made reservations in Paris for $200 a night--twice what we usually spend on the road.

As far as the daughter and her adventure travel: Good for her. Save 10% in a 401K and save enough to pay cash for her travel--not using credit cards. She should just continue to live below her means and keep on enjoying the world.

[chris2008]

We have always spent at least 4 weeks/year travelling. We are 60/67 now and ERed 5,5 years ago.
DH has health issues since app. 10 years, some of that not treatable.
We just had to cancel 5 weeks in NZ for the second time for health reasons.
We will travel again, but we are glad for each trip we have taken so far. Sometimes life is short, so better enjoy it along the way.

[exnavynuke]

I'm going with option 3 - retire not quite as early and take good vacations.

Moderation in all things, including moderation. - Oscar Wilde

I'm 42 now and take ~3-4 international vacations per year (mostly tropical diving, sailing, etc). I could go farther, fancier, or longer, but I get enough enjoyment to satisfy my desire for those experiences while minimizing the costs (May's trip will run me about $2k for the week of diving on a boat, while doing that same week on a fancier boat on the other side of the world would cost me at least three times that amount).

[Aiming_4_55]

Quote:

Originally Posted by vchan2177 My 25 years old daughter wants to retire early but she is fond of going on expensive vacations. (Skydiving in Dubai, Dog sledding in Alaska to see the Northern lights, etc) I then asked her a question on which path she would take.... (1) Minimize vacations expenses to retire early or (2) Take great vacations and retire later. She prefer option 2 because she is in her 20's and she wants to enjoy life. She also claims that at age 40 or 50 she will be "too old" to enjoy these things in early retirement. ...

How does she define early?

I believe interests change from age 20's to 40's and 50's, so its just not all about "too old" however the body will give you signs of changes too.

If she lived in CA all her life, it's great she wants adventure to explore. I say this as I never had the chance or income for such vacations in my 20's so I would splurge for 1 - 2 trips for my kids as a graduation present so they can enjoy more in life as I can't take the $$ with me.

Now as I approach FIRE in my late 40's/early 50's, we as a family traveled 7 times last year, taking 6 weeks off work while the prior year was about 6 trips. Perhaps it impacted my OMY, but I'm enjoying the family time and experiences.

If she is working and not carrying a credit card balance or expecting parents to fund the trips, you raised a wonderful daughter. Enjoy the smiles with her.

PS. I see some kids in their 20's never traveling but rather spending the money on cigarettes, weed, and alcohol with no savings toward retirement. Which is better?

[donheff]

I took a lot of vacations when I was younger - skiing, windsurfing, diving. Might as well have a life. I'm with her. Nonetheless, there is a fair chance that she will find that life after 50 is the best part of her life.

[cooch96]

Yes, travel and do adventures when young and passionate. My best advice is to find activities that are affordable alternatives. In her case, would it have been cheaper to travel to Dubai for the cultural experience and skydive near home?

Other examples: take up archery instead of shooting; disc golf instead of regular golf: race bicycles instead of motorcycles.

[athena53]

I agree on the middle ground. I made a couple of trips to Europe in my 20s but "benched" myself after I had DS and was married to a spendthrift. I could either save for retirement or travel, but not both. After I divorced the spendthrift and started dating the man who would eventually be my second husband, travel became a priority again; he and I got to Europe at least twice a year. We still saved by making judicious use of FF miles and hotel rewards and spending very little in areas that were less important to us (cars and restaurants).

When we married DH as 65 and I was 50 and I knew that waiting for all the great trips till I retired would be dicey. We created a lot of wonderful memories before he died at age 78. I retired at age 61 and am still thoroughly enjoying my travels at age 66.

[Chuckanut]

Quote:

Originally Posted by exnavynuke I'm going with option 3 - retire not quite as early and take good vacations.

+1 Life is about balance.

We could all fill this site with war stories about people we know who put off the 'fun' in life to amass more money, buy even bigger houses, etc. Only to find themselves 6 feet under, or very sick and unable to benefit from all that sacrifice.

OTOH, you don't want to hit the 50's, 60's and 70's, been in good health, have plenty of time, but find that the only travel you can afford is 3 nights at a cheap condo near the beach during the off season when the pool isn't heated and the day's high is 54.

[jjquantz]

Heck, when I was 25 I had a 2 year old and BigOil was giving me all of 2 weeks of vacation each year so that all went to visiting family at the holidays. I agree that there is a broad middle ground, but I would have no problems with her taking option 2.

Certainly both of my daughters have had many more adventures than DW and I did at their ages. Still, my younger daughter (32) and her husband have been more option 2 and my older daughter (36) and husband have been more option 1. They both have done some great saving and they seem happy with their choices.

[2177V]

Most people seem to lean toward option 2. When i mentioned to her about the rationale of some people advocating option 1, she smiled at me and stated: "I am not going to sacrifice my youth for any financial gain".

She has already made some sacrifices: Modest wedding (It is not the wedding, it's the marriage), Used cars (A used car gets her to point B as well as a new car), Townhouse instead of a single family home (no backyard for a dog, sorry Fido), mostly eating at home (her husband used to work at a Suishi restuarant), modest clothes (she shops at discount stores), etc.

The ONLY things she refuses to sacrifice are: (1) her adventure vacations in her youth and (2) education for her kids when the time comes.

She claims that she can retire only 3 to 5 years later than people who sacrifices their youth in an all out attempt to reach FIRE.

[dcoy]

Option 2. No better time to enjoy life than RIGHT NOW!