Anyone ever consider if ER is worth it?

[Music Lover]

^ Nobody seems to like posting anecdotes about others who are doing better than they are. It’s always other people doing worse lol

Must be in our psyche to avoid feeling inadequate

One of my long time friends and his wife paid off their house before they were 30. He's still working but will retire in 2 years at 55 (pension vested) and they will probably have at least double the monthly retirement income that we will.

Another friend and his wife downsized from 1200 sq ft to 800, bought 2 rentals, and save a lot but still enjoy vacations and their lives. He's a decade younger (47) and when he retires at 57 (vested pension) they'll probably be taking home 3 times as much as us.

That being said, I know several people who are scraping by. Us and our friends are the outliers, not the norm.

 

[lostinneverland]

As mentioned, balance is the key.
I was lucky to be a high earner, so always LBYM but didn't do it to the extreme, as was never thinking about FIRE in my 30's.
I would have invested and saved differently had I known all the things I know now.
So again balance is the key.

DT

Would you be able to expand on a couple things you would do differently?

 

[Dtail]

DT

Would you be able to expand on a couple things you would do differently?

A couple of things as follows:
1) Invest/save monies in a Roth account versus mostly saving in a TIRA.
2) Build a Taxable account with stocks vs. only using the TIRA account to achieve better tax placement efficiencies.
3) Max out the 401k savings account vs. just deferring some monies to achieve the match plus a little.
4) DIY investing - never paid FA fees, but was invested in higher ER and load fee type mutual funds.
5) 401k rollover - I have a really good Stable Value fund currently in my 401k account. Had I realized the value of this fund, I would have moved some other IRA rollover funds into the 401k fund (I think this was possible).
6) Retirement Plan - never really had a definitive retirement plan. Would have been more focused on the end game, which would probably would have allowed me to retire at least 2 years earlier (57 vs. 55).

 

[lostinneverland]

Good insight

 

[winyaz]

I worked for a large company that laid off large numbers of people in the US (while hiring overseas). I know so many people that were laid off and wound up in jobs that paid much less than what they were earning before. When my time finally came, I was glad for the change. Unlike many of my counter parts I was unworried because I had money in the bank and a paid off home.

Certainly life is a journey and should be enjoyed along the way, but it doesn't always go the way we plan. Live for today but plan for tomorrow.

 

[ugeauxgirl]

I had lunch with my girlfriend today- one of the very few people I've confided in. I've been telling her about my retirement plans for years. She's been telling me how much she likes her job. I liked mine too when I was the OP's age. But I'm now 48 and burned out. She's a couple of years younger than me and now she's starting to get burned out too. She thought she'd love her job forever, so she didn't plan for ER. She confessed today that she's a little envious that I get to retire.

I'd go for balance. Loosen up the purse strings a bit but prepare for the possibility that you might get tired of your job at some point. Money=options.