A real quandary....how to spend it all

NoOneGetsIt

Recycles dryer sheets
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Ok....we have a quandary
We saved our whole lives and lived beneath our means and retired early 50s. Now...how do we spend it all?
We own our house
We do need a new vehicle so that will be done
But how do we break this tightwad mentality and how HOW can we spend it all?
We like to travel and will but we enjoy doing I “on the cheap”.

Help!
 
Question... did you save all that money to hoard it? I'm guessing not... that you saved it "for your retirement"... if that is the case then go forward use the fruits of your labors and saving to enjoy your retirement! Splurge a little here and there. Read the "Blow that Dough" thread.
 
Ok....we have a quandary
We saved our whole lives and lived beneath our means and retired early 50s. Now...how do we spend it all?
We own our house
We do need a new vehicle so that will be done
But how do we break this tightwad mentality and how HOW can we spend it all?
We like to travel and will but we enjoy doing I “on the cheap”.

Help!
We own our house
We do also

We do need a new vehicle so that will be done
We bought 2 new vehicles last year

But how do we break this tightwad mentality and how HOW can we spend it all?
We give money to our 4 sons on their birthdays. They need it NOW, not when we die

We like to travel and will but we enjoy doing I “on the cheap”.
We gave up traveling "on the cheap". We recently did two tours with Tauck. On our last number of overseas trips we flew Business Class. Our next 2 cruises are booked in suites.
 
Fly business class. Yes, you will puke at the price, but do it anyway.
Schedule a monthly massage. For both of you.
Drink better wine.
Buy better meat. Buy more fish.
Find a great cheese shop.
Join a bread share.
Go to a chocolatier and spend with abandon. Some really good deals this Friday.

Don’t buy a boat as you will have no money left for my list above.

If you enjoy cooking, then upgrade your kitchen. We did. $51K.
Kitchen_20171019_580px.png
 
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Why do you feel compelled to spend it? I certainly don't and we don't have any kids nieces nor nephews that we are saving it for.

I look at it that we have bought ourselves piece of mind.

We did setup a donor advised fund (Fidelity Charitable) so that any excess upon our demise will go to charity.

-gauss
ER'd at 47. DW ER at 53.
 
Ok....we have a quandary
We saved our whole lives and lived beneath our means and retired early 50s. Now...how do we spend it all?
We own our house
We do need a new vehicle so that will be done
But how do we break this tightwad mentality and how HOW can we spend it all?
We like to travel and will but we enjoy doing I “on the cheap”.

Help!

Figure out your priorities.

Take into account how many healthy years you might have left.

Start doing those things you have always wanted to do.

Start upgrading for comfort and convenience and pleasure. Realize time is running short, so don’t put up with extra hassle or time wastage if you can spend a little more to improve the experience.

Travel is one where you can easily upgrade bit by bit and see what personally gives you the most bang for the buck. You can still find good deals - just for a better quality experience.

If you enjoy food and beverages - there is another opportunity to enjoy upgrading quality.

Think about your gifting goals. Maybe you want to get started or do more now. Maybe you want to share more now with your heirs rather than wait until you expire.

Consider hiring for some of the most time consuming or difficult routine chores so you don’t have to do it yourself.

Splurge occasionally.

P.S. we no longer travel “on the cheap”. Been there, done that. Best for younger folks.
 
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You don't have to spend it all.

They point is not spending for the sake of spending. It is to be able to live the lifestyle you want.

You're buying a new vehicle. Relax. Enjoy it. You'll loosen the purse strings bit by bit.
 
Save enough for your final years then spend a small percentage of the rest. I am saving enough my nest egg will pay enough for in home 24/7 caregivers forever. So I figure it cost about 300 a day or 100K a year. A million would pay for 10 years, anything else I can spend. SS covers my cost of living so nest egg is for extras. I would be very unhappy to be 95 and only have enough left for 2 more years when I could live much longer.
 
Buy a boat.
or an RV. :dance:

we have no kids, no debt whatsoever, lived and still live waaaaay beneath our means, FIRE at age 55 (13-yrs ago), net worth is, well, very, very nice. one nephew who will likely be getting some gifts as time goes by. our trust leaves large amounts to family and friends or their decendants and to a bunch of charities. we travel by RV 4-6 months a year, buy what we want when we want, give to charities on each month...in short a very comfy life. we each have our own idea of what makes a comfy, fulfilling life. you'll figure it out.
 
Money can help a lot of people in need. Might be a better reason then buying cheese or a boat.
 
Money can help a lot of people in need. Might be a better reason then buying cheese or a boat.

Oh come on!

How can you compare something so affordable and so good for you like good cheese to a boat that may just get you some headaches? :nonono:

And after spending money on good cheese, you will have plenty of money leftover to buy cheese for the people in need too.
 
Money can help a lot of people in need. Might be a better reason then buying cheese or a boat.

Is that what you saved for retirement to do?

Better to keep working and earning, then you can give even more to help all those people in need.
 
We like to travel and will but we enjoy doing I “on the cheap”.

Help!

I like to travel on the cheap too. I figure I can get that many more trips in. Planning to take a nice (but cheap) trip three times a year...at a minimum.
 
Some travel experiences do not need a lot of money.

Looking for a place to stay to visit the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, I discovered an agroturismo just outside of town. It will be a lot different than staying in the city center in a high-rise hotel.

Why do you have to spend it all? Spend money to give you pleasure, not for the sake of spending.
 
Like others said, what did you save it for if not to use it? The point shouldn’t have been to sacrifice up until retirement then have so much you have to learn how to spend! I saved and invested and work as long as Inhave for specific reasons. Too late now, I guess for the OP. Everyone choses their own comfort level and what is worth what to you as you age. We did what we wanted, traveled comfortably, lived and bought what we basically felt was “us”. I’ve never wanted multiple homes that are 5000sq ft, a boat or horses. I worked longer than I “had” to in order to live the same way I wanted before and after I retire. If I wanted to travel cheap and live in a 1500sqft home, I could have retired at 50. When I was living that lifestyle, I knew it wasn’t what I wanted so I continued on to increase both income and savings. We COULD have remained living that way and saved maybe $5m. But that made no sense to not enjoy now so I would have that much later.

When I was in my 20s & 30s, saving for retirement was sort of an imaginary goal. It went along with saving for an emergency fund and buying what you could afford. But once in my 40s, there was a lifetime retirement income goal and housing expectations which morphed over time. When I reached them, I realized that my naïveté set my standards lower than needed, so I revised them to a better but not extravagant level IMHO, and now that we are there, I’m just OMYing it to nail down a bit more insurance. We don’t eat big or drink wine, or drive luxury cars. But I do love my Porsches, ( but never buy them new), but she does like a new car every 5 years, and business class travel is worth it to us, so it will not be hard to spend $7-8k/mo on average and as long as my income easily exceeds that without having to reduce principal significantly, then we figure we are good. We only get to go around once.
 
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Get some long term hobbies which are fun and eat away at your money. I am also trying to loosen up my spending habit to enjoy life more. But I can't spend fast enough. In fact, in 3 years I've retired so far, my net worth went up quite a bit. I am making a conscientious effort to be more generous to me/DW & others. Even so, my only child will have a comfortable retirement when he decides to retire decades later.
 
It's a good problem to have. It's a good problem to have. It's a good problem to have. It's a good ....
 
Do not think of it as a quandry or problem. Think of it as a challenge or opportunity. To do more for yourselves, for others, or both.
 
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