$1 million is still the sweet spot

[bbbamI]

I echo what everyone else has said FIREdreamer...don't go.

This is a discussion forum. Thoughts and experiences are shared here so that we may have a better chance of fitting all of the pieces of the puzzle together. Some pieces fit nicely...and others can be discarded. The last remaining piece has to be created by each individual as no one knows us better than ourselves.



Shhhh...don't tell anyone this, but I'm an old phart. I need new ideas and optimism from you.

 

[oldtrig]

Not really depressed, wrong choice of words. What I really like about being 62 is that I can leave work if I want. SS and State pension will be enough ?? Who knows how much is enough. Also I have a little stuck back in case the RV breaks down. For now I continue to work and take everyday one day at a time. When the time is right for me to start the RV up I will know it. You people that say a million is not enough to live on then just send it to me, I will show you how to live like a king. I got to put the wine away before I type the wrong words by mistake.
By the way, a co-worker of mine told me his mother lives on $900 a month and is happy. Go figure

 

[NW-Bound]

Sounds like you have an RV already! Gee, you are ahead of me. I am still looking for that smokin' deal.

 

[haha]

Sounds like you have an RV already! Gee, you are ahead of me. I am still looking for that smokin' deal.

Hey, you got it wrong. You are supposed to buy one that is not smoking.

Ha

 

[NW-Bound]

But it matters not, if it ain't running. Who says I might have money for gas?

 

[youbet]

Sounds like you have an RV already! Gee, you are ahead of me. I am still looking for that smokin' deal.

Here ya go! Act fast, they don't get much more smokin' than this........


Want to roast some hot dogs over this burning RV? | Motor Homes On Fire

 

[NW-Bound]

Eh! I said smoke. You show a lot of fire there!

 

[youbet]

Errrr....... sorry.

Here's some smokin' RV's. The action doesn't start until half way in. Skip ahead.
You can really negotiate some sweet deals on this babies right after the race.

YouTube - Extreme motorhome racing - Top Gear - BBC



Edit: My apologies to OP (easysurfer) for this inappropriate diversion from the discussion topic.......
Please carry on with the intended discussion.

 

[unclemick]

Layed off 1993, age 49, maybe 250k in resources(counting 50k rental duplex). Hindsight says I'm extremely happy it pissed me off(losing my job) so much I became an ER - cheap SOB with a personal best one yr never to be repeated 12k/yr budget. Love when we repost Monty Pythons Four Yorkshiremen - myself having attained the Zen of cheap bastardhood.

It was really painful suffering thru 1999-2009 with that 1 mil(give or take) portfolio gritting my teeth forcing myself to spend that 4% 40k give or take in ER.

Along the way a tiny non Cola pension(age55) and early SS(age62) and the fact I'm not getting any younger just forces me, I say forces me to endure the pain of spending all that money.

heh heh heh - Snow forced me to 'visit' New Orleans for 4 days - put on 7 lbs in three days of eating and they had unseasonable cold. 15 degrees yesterday morning when I left Bush La to drive back. And yes I stayed with friends and only picked up the tab for dinner twice - 23 mpg on the ole Chevy. I did splurge and take the Kansas turnpike(toll road) around the storm on the way down. .

 

[NW-Bound]

heh heh heh - Snow forced me to 'visit' New Orleans for 4 days ...

You cheated! I remember your post saying you would stay up "north".

 

[unclemick]

You cheated! I remember your post saying you would stay up "north".

Hmmm - how about I rationalize it as 'a long drive to go out and eat?'



heh heh heh - oysters on the half shell, fried catfish and crawfish tails, french fries with cheese, baked macaroni, sausage jamabalaya, crawfish pasta and ouie gooey for desert. And then the day I left we went to the Chinese buffett and ate shrimp - garlic, fried, boiled and in cold salad, baked catfish, etc - the usual New Orleans Chinese stuff except for Gina who ate Sushi.

 

[harley]

I read this differently. Yes, having less than $1M can decrease satisfaction in retirement due to increasing financial worries. But if you remove the financial worries, you're still not going to find more than ~80% of people being able to be satisfied. In other words, 20% of people are always going to be dissatisfied, and money is neither the cause nor the solution.

 

[haha]

I read this differently. Yes, having less than $1M can decrease satisfaction in retirement due to increasing financial worries. But if you remove the financial worries, you're still not going to find more than ~80% of people being able to be satisfied. In other words, 20% of people are always going to be dissatisfied, and money is neither the cause nor the solution.

Admit it Harley, wouldn't you rather be a rich pissed-off-old-phart than just a pissed-off-old-phart ?

Ha

 

[kyounge1956]

Admit it Harley, wouldn't you rather be a rich pissed-off-old-phart than just a pissed-off-old-phart ?

Ha

Not if I can be just pissed-off in three years but it would take me ten or twelve to be pissed-off-and-rich!

 

[My Dream]

Ok, let me come out of my shell and put my 2 cents worth and it's not comming out of my $1 M either. I would and did retire on $1 M and yes it did worry me. Would I have done it again.............yes but with the same reluctance since I am....who I am. I'm no where near as worried as I was when I retired several years ago and I won't be as worried years down the road. I've learned to adjust to it.

FIREdreamer, I know exactly how you feel, as a matter of fact I've been in the same situation and left for couple weeks on end but I've always come back.........so far. I value your posts even though I may sit on the side lines. Keep them comming and don't worry so much about how much you have, rather what fun you'll have while it builds to $2 M........then....$3.....ha.....ha..!

 

[audreyh1]

Hmmm - how about I rationalize it as 'a long drive to go out and eat?'



heh heh heh - oysters on the half shell, fried catfish and crawfish tails, french fries with cheese, baked macaroni, sausage jamabalaya, crawfish pasta and ouie gooey for desert. And then the day I left we went to the Chinese buffett and ate shrimp - garlic, fried, boiled and in cold salad, baked catfish, etc - the usual New Orleans Chinese stuff except for Gina who ate Sushi.

Cut it out!!!

Yes, anytime I spend a few hours in southern LA I go crazy with the food too and put on pounds. Although it's usually the Cajun area that pulls me in.

Audrey

 

[Midpack]

I agree! Lots of "pension" envy around here. Hey, it's compensation in benefit form not $$$. Same with my retiree health care benefit, part of compensation. It was not a gift. Simple.

Envy? I don't remember anyone suggesting pensions and/or retiree health care are gifts. The only things that make any difference for each of us, are our own assets and benefits.

Generous SIRE involves less risk than pure FIRE. Hopefully you'll concede that someone with a COLA'd pension and lifetime retiree healthcare has significant less risk than another person with neither.

But the point was, because the article did not quantify the extent of secure income/retiree health care at all, all we can conclude is there is a point of diminishing security/happiness (surprise). The $1MM threshold is meaningless as a "sweet spot for satisfaction and retirement" without quantifying SI.

 

[Bikerchick]

I hit $1MM a year ago and will retire with a small pension shortly. At 58 I could keep working in the boiler room but my peers are looking tired and out of shape, so I figured it was time to leave before it happened to me I'm nervous about inflation and taxes, and there's no family or SO to rely on.
But I'd rather risk the unknown than die younger than necessary. That made the decision to leave easier to make, and I've come to feel like I will have enough, whatever that turns out to be.

 

[jdw_fire]

But the point was, because the article did not quantify the extent of secure income/retiree health care at all, all we can conclude is there is a point of diminishing security/happiness (surprise). The $1MM threshold is meaningless as a "sweet spot for satisfaction and retirement" without quantifying SI.

as i said before i think more can be concluded based on the percentage of people with satisfied retirements and the smaller percentage of people with significant DB pensions (as i said in earlier posts http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f28/1-million-is-still-the-sweet-spot-48169.html#post893126 and http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f28/1-million-is-still-the-sweet-spot-48169-2.html#post893233) especially since the very high satisfaction level actually starts at $500k and across the board the satisfaction level is higher than the those with DB level.

 

[NW-Bound]

One can certainly be happy with the income from a portfolio of $1M or less.

The reason that many of us, myself included, fail to attain that happiness is called "hedonic adaptation".

 

[unclemick]

One can certainly be happy with the income from a portfolio of $1M or less.

The reason that many of us, myself included, fail to attain that happiness is called "hedonic adaptation".

Riiiight! It's in our Declaration of Independance - 'Pursuit of Happiness' - we're not supposed to catch it or at least practice catch and release if we do.

Besides nobody is going to cheat me out of the shear joy of whinning - after all I have this Curmudgeon certificate downloaded from this very forum suitable for framing.

heh heh heh - although in ER sometimes it's hard to take oneself serious.

 

[NW-Bound]

Riiiight! It's in our Declaration of Independance - 'Pursuit of Happiness' - we're not supposed to catch it or at least practice catch and release if we do.

I like it! "Catch and release". I have done that so many times myself.

I feel that I should have a curmudgeon certificate too, being a genuine grouch.


PS. Being grumpy does not have anything to do with taking oneself seriously. In fact, I do not take ANYONE seriously.


PPS. In school, I occasionally got into trouble for not taking the teachers seriously.

 

[Gumby]

Riiiight! It's in our Declaration of Independance - 'Pursuit of Happiness' - we're not supposed to catch it

Ah, but a man's reach should always exceed his grasp, or what's a heaven for?

-- Robert Browning

 

[bosco]

A phrase that always pops into my mind in these sort of discussions is "consumption smoothing." I think it was Burns and Kotlikoff. In my case, DW and I have some fairly decent pension income streams kicking in over the next 10 years. We also have investments that total less than $1m. The income streams are either not COLA'd, or are imperfectly COLA'd. The challenge is to figure out how to make it all last without doing with significantly less while we are younger and hopefully more able to enjoy it.

I have been retired since 54 (I am very nearly 57). DW and I plan to mostly live off of these income streams that kick in at various points for the next 10 years. But they are from 2 countries, imperfectly or non-COLA'd etc. Hopefully, the investments at that point will be able to provide inflation-proofing, if not even a bit more. But there are so many variables--market returns, inflation, currency exchange rates, change in tax laws in 2 countries, etc. etc.

I don't think that I particularly feel any more financially secure than I might feel with far less pension income and a much bigger portfolio. If anything, I may have less control over where I am in 30 years than if I had more retirement savings and less pension.

 

[WhoDaresWins]

In my case, I keep working because I like my job(most days) and the Monday-Friday routine gives structure to my life. I have the amount in question several times over plus real estate on top of that and could quit work and collect a COLA'd government pension now. The day I walk is the day I get fed up with the winters and bureaucracy, and also have a definite activity I want to pursue. If I disliked my job and it was stressing me out overly, I would now at 55 of course. I am also cheap in some respects and am seduced somewhat by the fully paid health benefits. It is nice to know I have the option to walk anytime on those infrequent days when the job is a PITA. Calms me down a bit for awhile and by then the crisis has passed.