Is everyone here lucky or something??

[BreathFree]

Not to take anything away from your friend, but luck played a huge part in his being able to retire at 50. I've known district managers who have worked for their companies 25-30 years and were let go when a larger company bought their company. Work ethic had nothing to do with their being fired. So, without some good luck your friend could have worked his way up to manager and then all of a sudden found himself applying for a job as an assistant manager at a Denny's.

I can't believe anyone who had the ambition and determination to successfully open, and operate several resteraunts, would just settle for any position in any capacity and never advance their position.

Luck often times appears to steer the course rather than determine the final destination.

 

[Live Free]

I think there is definitely some luck involved. I don't dispute that many on this board have worked very hard and sacrificed a lot to get to where you are. That is obviously a factor. But really, I know many people who are/were limited in their ability to do the same, and not self-limited. As an example, I think of my SIL who has a severely disabled child who requires 24/7 total care. She has been providing this care to her child for almost 40 years. I can tell you that her retirement account isn't anything close to mine and she works her a@# off and has more stress than I can comprehend. The costs over the years associated with her child's care is very high (e.g. structural changes needed to home, endless surgeries and hospital admisstions). Sometimes life is hard. Are there lazy people or spendaholics or people who just can't manage their money well? Yes. If you and your family have good health, a good education, smarts, a good work ethic, some opportunity (most of us were given a chance by someone at least at the start of our careers), and good money management skills -- well, I call you (among other attributes) lucky!

 

[marko]

However, LBYM has nothing to do with "luck" and everything to do with discipline and willpower. And that is how the great majority of those on this board got to where they are.


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Maybe those who aren't prepared and have not saved just feel better chalking up our ER to 'luck'. Hard to sleep at night realizing that you've been a fool when the clock has caught up with you.

 

[marko]

Like my old grand pappy used to say, "Luck is when preparation meets opportunity."

I read somewhere that if you took all billionaires and took all their money away, within 10 years, they'd have made it all back. Also, if you took all that money and gave it to the poor, in 10 years, they'd all be poor again.

 

[sengsational]

I read somewhere that if you took all billionaires and took all their money away, within 10 years, they'd have made it all back. Also, if you took all that money and gave it to the poor, in 10 years, they'd all be poor again.

I can't say that I would believe that.
I'm sure that the originally rich people would do better in general than the poor people. But to suggest that the rich people would make entirely all their money back, that sounds far-fetched. And certainly there must be a few poor people that, given the opportunity, would do something magnificent and build on their wealth.

 

[marko]

I can't say that I would believe that.
I'm sure that the originally rich people would do better in general than the poor people. But to suggest that the rich people would make entirely all their money back, that sounds far-fetched. And certainly there must be a few poor people that, given the opportunity, would do something magnificent and build on their wealth.

I don't think the anecdote was intended to be taken literally or to be a blanket statement.

I think the point was that the self-made billionaires, like the self inflicted poor have certain outlooks, qualities and traits that made them so.

We've all seen far too many lottery winners who were poor ending up worse off than had they not won.

 

[Mulligan]

I don't think the anecdote was intended to be taken literally or to be a blanket statement.



I think the point was that the self-made billionaires, like the self inflicted poor have certain outlooks, qualities and traits that made them so.



We've all seen far too many lottery winners who were poor ending up worse off than had they not won.

My opinion means nothing but in general, I would lay my money on that outcome more than everybody maintaining the new status quo. A certain group would spend it with no control, or buy things with ongoing costs that drain them dry eventually. What is it about 85% of all NBA players are broke within 5 years of retirement? Seems that would happen to the masses of people with newly found money given to them.


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[sanfanciscotreat]

Sure. That's why we cook it. Problem solved.

Trichinosis is not a problem with pork anymore. You can now eat pork without cooking the hell out of it.

 

[robertf57]

The idea that luck ( a presumably random event) plays a major role in success is not in accord with my experience of life in the US. Or else it must run in families: All my sibs, cousins and children somehow got lucky! I go with the definition of luck as the intersection of attitude, preparation and hard work....

 

[CaliforniaMan]

In my case, a lot of the motivation was simply an acknowledgement that as we age our stock of human capital depletes over time. If you do not efficiently convert some of your human capital into financial capital as that happens, you are potentially up the proverbial creek.

+1 Very good point, and one that few of us think about while we are young and think the good times will roll on forever.

 

[sanfanciscotreat]

However, LBYM has nothing to do with "luck" and everything to do with discipline and willpower. And that is how the great majority of those on this board got to where they are.


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Yep, my successful restaurant buddy who retired at fifty just got rid of his old truck and got a used 95 model in great shape. Spent much less that for a new one. There are more than one way to save your hard earned money.

 

[sanfanciscotreat]

The idea that luck ( a presumably random event) plays a major role in success is not in accord with my experience of life in the US. Or else it must run in families: All my sibs, cousins and children somehow got lucky! I go with the definition of luck as the intersection of attitude, preparation and hard work....

Amen Brother Bob.

 

[dtbach]

This seems to be a double thread. One about being lucky or not in life, and the other about squirrel hunting LOL!!


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[foxfirev5]

Certainly life is not fair. But if you don't apply yourself the outcome is certain.

 

[robnplunder]

This seems to be a double thread. One about being lucky or not in life, and the other about squirrel hunting LOL!!


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Well, you need to be lucky to hit that squirrel from 50 yards away with a rifle of your choice.

 

[timo2]

+1
Fear has lot to do with it....we may be ashamed to admit it....

For me it was fear of being broke when I was old. This was inspired by seeing relatives who were broke when they were old. And now that I'm on the verge of being old, I'm not broke. (not rich either, but so what).

From what I have witnessed, health issues (physical and mental) are the number one reason people end up old and broke, as those affect many different choices one makes. In that, I am lucky.

 

[RetireBy90]

A thread like this is a main reason why I keep returning to this forum. You guys are crazy, and I love it!!! Most of my thoughts already made. If any of you looking to hunt weasel, there is this guy here... :')

 

[purplesky]

Squirrels aside...

IMO, these articles are not helpful. They validate a sense of hopelessness... "America's middle class knows it's facing a grim retirement, but can't do anything about it." Anyone "struggling" to save for retirement, will read that and at least feel better that they're not the only one, and it's not their fault. It's the "evisceration of defined-benefit pensions" and the "huge decline in home and stock market values." Leading to the "inescapable solution" to expand social security.

Bull. It is their fault. But it's rarely too late to re-group and change course.

What WOULD be helpful are more articles about people who were struggling and then turned it around and retired early. Success stories. Positive, motivational, how-to LBYM stories. Stories that gave hope and a path instead of validating hopelessness.

I realize that negativity sells in the media business. But considering the author is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, I would have expected a little less advocacy, and a little more balance and objectivity.

These type articles scare me into saving even more. I love them for the fear factor.

Also the whole point of these articles is to report the reality of a retirement crisis in America. It can't be ignored.

Its just like the student loan debt crisis. Somebody has to report the story.

I don't think the millions of Americans who will retire eating squirrels are going to find comfort in articles like these.

 

[ziggy29]

My favorite definition of "luck" is "where preparation meets opportunity." Yes, sometimes there is *pure* luck, but I think most of what people call "luck" isn't pure luck but rather involved at least *some* prior planning and readiness to seize upon good fortune.

 

[Walt34]

Also the whole point of these articles is to report the reality of a retirement crisis in America. It can't be ignored.

Its just like the student loan debt crisis. Somebody has to report the story.

I don't think the millions of Americans who will retire eating squirrels are going to find comfort in articles like these.

I'm not convinced that millions will be eating squirrels or that it amounts to a crisis. On top of SS alone there are other social welfare programs that many if not most will qualify for such as heating costs assistance and SNAP.

I do think that millions will find retirement much more difficult than they had envisioned, will have to downsize and not by choice, will have to do with one used car or no car, and will not be eating any filet mignon and more tuna. Whether that constitutes a "crisis" is debatable.

 

[ziggy29]

I do think that millions will find retirement much more difficult than they had envisioned, will have to downsize and not by choice, will have to do with one used car or no car...

The problem with "no car", of course, is that decent "walkable" neighborhoods that don't require a car tend to be quite expensive.

 

[Walt34]

The problem with "no car", of course, is that decent "walkable" neighborhoods that don't require a car tend to be quite expensive.

Quite true in the major cities of course but doable in small towns. My paternal grandparents didn't have a car for as long as I knew them and were poor, or at least an extra two dollars was a big deal in 1970. But they had a paid for house, a lot of borrowed furniture, to my knowledge never went to a restaurant, and the like. They lived in Tyrone, PA and could walk to a small grocery store. In fact one could walk the width of the town in about a half hour or forty-five minutes.

 

[purplesky]

I'm not convinced that millions will be eating squirrels or that it amounts to a crisis. On top of SS alone there are other social welfare programs that many if not most will qualify for such as heating costs assistance and SNAP.

I do think that millions will find retirement much more difficult than they had envisioned, will have to downsize and not by choice, will have to do with one used car or no car, and will not be eating any filet mignon and more tuna. Whether that constitutes a "crisis" is debatable.

I hope you are correct. Either way its definitely going to be expensive for taxpayers .

 

[tuixiu]

I guess that one needs to differentiate hard physical work from long hours and stressful work.

Yep. I worked as a software dev in a company where offices were attached to the warehouse, got so many half-joking comments in the break room about how nice it must be to be sitting there in the air conditioning. They had no idea the additional shitty things that come along with that desk job.

 

[tuixiu]

Then again, supermarket chicken is loaded with salmonella and campylobacter, pork carries trichinosis

I remember growing up always being warned about undercooking pork because of trich, but it is my understanding it is extremely rare now just a handful of cases each year almost all from eating wild game or home-reared pigs.

So go treat yourself to a nice medium rare pork chop from the grocery store.