Minimize vacations to retire early?

[2177V]

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:

 

[braumeister]

She also claims that at age 40 or 50 she will be "too old" to enjoy these things in early retirement.

Don't give her a hard time; I'm sure she really believes that.

 

[38Chevy454]

Retiring early is a matter of math and economics. Save more earlier and you can retire earlier. People can make the choice.

 

[FUEGO]

There is some merit to the "can't/won't be able to do this in my 40's or 50's" even if you're living healthy. Some things just happen. We're very close to that age range and the ole bones are starting to creak more than when we were 20-something (though yesterday's trek up the side of 3rd largest pyramid in the world was the easiest I've ever experienced - must be all the biking I've been doing in ER!).

That said, it's a compromise between spending now and deferring the spending for even more spending later. Or retiring even earlier to do even more traveling.

I personally see not merit in something like spending money to jump out of a perfectly good airplane but might drop the dimes to see Dubai in other forms. We certainly spent on travel while we were saving for ER but not that much due to raising 3 kids and being busy with work.

All the saving and investing certainly paid off though. In the past 5 years of early retirement we've probably spent close to a year vacationing around the world. But I'm thinking my interest level in traveling will decline as I get older and the bones start creaking even more.

 

[Sunset]

It's her choice.

I would actually be concerned that she should save the sky-diving until she is 50, when she is soooooo old it won't matter if she goes sPLat
Tell her that, and see she what she says.

I'm serious in reality, I know a fellow who was in a group of 5 skydivers, over about 5 yrs, 2 went splat, my fellow quit, and just the weekend before I talked to him, the 3rd member of the group went splat.
So 1 still dives, and my fellow quit. Pretty bad odds.

 

[Aerides]

Your 25 year old daughter may change her mind, but it won't be because of you pushing her one way or the other. So I would not even mention this to her again. She's living her best life, and if she can afford those things at that age she's already successful.

That said, I'm a believer that taking time off, and having good vacations and experiences while working enabled me to work better/longer. I needed breaks. I need to recharge. Some of my best memories are vacations I took in my 20's and 30's, and I still ER'd in my 40's.

 

[Philliefan33]

She’s 25 and enjoying life. Can’t say that I blame her.

Both my DD’s spend more on vacations than we do. The oldest and her husband take ski trips, multiple moderate cost weekends and a big one once per season. The younger DD and her fiancé take many long-weekend trips to US cities and usually one international trip per year.

But they are not even thirty years old yet. They all make good money. No kids to tie them down. They like expensive travel and now is the time to do it! Things are likely to be different in five years if they start having babies; there will be less free time/money. If no babies, then they will likely have enough time and money to continue traveling while saving for retirement.

No sense in living a boring life to retire at 40, if you can have a full life and retire at 50-55.

 

[imoldernu]

At age 25, we had two children.
No advice...
At age 25, we wouldn't have taken advice anyway.
Don't worry... be happy!!!

 

[LOL!]

I'd spend the days and money now since it will be cheaper. Plus the math is commutative anyways.

 

[RunningBum]

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

 

[HI Bill]

Balance in everything. I took moderate vacations, diving around the world, probably more than most. But I didn't take them every year, more like every several years. So, now that I'm 53 and retiring in a few months, I have 50% of my annual retirement budget set up for EXPERIENCES. Ask your daughter how she'd like to be able to spend $50K or more annually in retirement on travel, beginning at age 45 or 50!

Starting serious accumulation for me didn't start until age 33. Had I started at 25, I might have retired at 45 or 47! At age 23, I didn't save at all for retirement, as I thought I'd never live to see 50!

 

[joeea]

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?

She's an adult, she gets to make her own mistakes.

I think you presented a false dilemma. There's no reason she can't enjoy herself and still save for her future at the same time. Instead of presenting an either/or scenario, you could help her through the math that lets her achieve her goals. Then she could see the consequences of her decisions along the way.

While saving for our first home, we took no vacations and never ate out for two years. Totally worth it!

I've always believed that it's important to enjoy your life at every stage. But my wife and I never felt the need to take expensive vacations.

If she plans on being "too old" at 40 or 50, I feel sorry for her. Some of the most enjoyable days of our lives have been on this side of 40.

 

[ponyboy]

She also claims that at age 40 or 50 she will be "too old" to enjoy these things in early retirement.

She's not wrong. A 50 year old isnt going to keep up with a 26 year old...thats just father time at work. Are there exceptions to the rule, of course. There are super athletes out there.

Also, interests change over time. Im 36 now...a lot of things I enjoyed when I was in my mid 20's...I have no interest in now.

If she's paying her bills and enjoying herself..more power to her. There are pro's and con's to retiring early.

I hope none of us kid ourselves...you're not going to make up for lost years. If you have the pocket, pay your bills, and want to travel and live it up...go for it.

 

[tb001]

Personally, at almost 50, I’m a lot less interested in traveling the way I would have at 28. Throw in a couple of kids and no way am I jumping out of a plane or taking other risks I would have loved before kids. So I think she has a point.

I am continually amazed at the vacations (and cars, but that’s another thread) that people seem to be able to take on a regular basis. DH and I make good money and have a nice nest egg, but just can’t imagine spending what some of our peers seem to spend for 3-4 vacations a year!

 

[foxfirev5]

I have yet to regret any vacation i took. Fortunately my families wants were not as high flying as the OPs daughter. To each his own.

 

[mystang52]

If she is saving for retirement, at whatever amount, then she's ahead of the game already and should enjoy herself (if that's her choice). The only caution you may want to offer is if she is borrowing to cover the cost of these vacations. If she is paying for the vacations with her discretionary cash, no harm no foul in my opinion.

 

[Mdlerth]

Our journey to Walley World was particularly memorable

I chose option 1. DW chose option 2. So we acted on option 2.

In hindsight, I chose rightly, because so many of our vacations involved trips to emergency rooms, visits with the constabulary, and unbudgeted damages. I think I enjoyed about 5% of all our vacations.

In hindsight, DW chose rightly, because she enjoyed all of them. And why not? After all, she had a DH to deal with the problems.

 

[2177V]

My daughter was an nurse intern at a hospital and she got to know many patients in their final days. Some of these patients mentioned to her that they regret not doing things that they should have done...such as taking expensive vacations.

To her, it does not matter whether you retire early or retire late or whether you are rich or poor. What matters to her is that she does NOT go through her life without similar regrets. She stated that the skydive was $800 including the cameraman and the video edits. She doesn't regret spending the $800 of her hard earned money because she shared that experiences with many of her friends and family.

She also knows she will have to save money for retirement eventually but retirement for people in their 20's is just not a high priority. She just got married so I believe having kids may comes next. It does not look like she on a path to FIRE although that may change.

This brings up another interesting question:

Which life stage that you decide to start planning and working to become FIRE?

 

[Sprink-Fitter]

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

Option 2 for us also.

 

[CRLLS]

As a teenager, I used to waterski. My Summers were spent on the lake. Life happened. At the ripe old age of 64, we bought a (used) boat. I had to go waterskiing again! While I actually did ski, my capability was way (way!) diminished not to mention my stamina. OP, there is a lot to say about the value of experiences while one can still do them. Perhaps somewhere in between the opposing points of FIRE or Experiences, there is a compromise to be found. Tread lightly. It is her life.

 

[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]

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]

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

+100