What % is really money?

[GTM]

We know that in order to have a happy retirement there are a number of factors.

For you what % of being happy in retirement is based on dollars and cents?

 

[Patrick]

Are you going to start a poll?

 

[SteveR]

I am 100% sure that I could be at least 50% happy with 75% of my current income.
I am 50% sure that I could be at least 100% happy with 90% of my current income.
I am 100% sure that I could be at least 100% happy with 200% of my current income.

However, I am 75% sure that I will only need 70 % of my current income to be comfortable in retirement. That may not make me 100% happy, but there is a 50% chance that I will be happier than I am working 100% of the work week.

I guess my answer would be that I am 100% sure that I will have an earlier retirement than 80% of the people I work with today.

That makes me 100% happy.

 

[Patrick]

I am 100% sure that I could be at least 50% happy with 75% of my current income. 
I am 50% sure that I could be at least 100% happy with 90% of my current income.
I am 100% sure that I could be at least 100% happy with 200% of my current income.

However, I am 75% sure that I will only need 70 % of my current income to be comfortable in retirement. That may not make me 100% happy, but there is a 50% chance that I will be happier than I am working 100% of the work week.

I guess my answer would be that I am 100% sure that I will have an earlier retirement than 80% of the people I work with today. 

That makes me 100% happy. 

 

Ever consider writing tax publications for the IRS?

 

[Mr._johngalt]

We know that in order to have a happy retirement there are a number of factors.

For you what % of being happy in retirement is based on dollars and cents?

Close to -0-.

JG

 

[MJ]

I am 100% sure that I could be at least 50% happy with 75% of my current income.
I am 50% sure that I could be at least 100% happy with 90% of my current income.
I am 100% sure that I could be at least 100% happy with 200% of my current income.

However, I am 75% sure that I will only need 70 % of my current income to be comfortable in retirement. That may not make me 100% happy, but there is a 50% chance that I will be happier than I am working 100% of the work week.

I guess my answer would be that I am 100% sure that I will have an earlier retirement than 80% of the people I work with today.

That makes me 100% happy.

I'm 90% confused. Perhaps you can put 100% of the above in a simple spreadsheet.

 

[RockMiner]

I can't comment about post-retirement yet, but I do know that right now money does a poor job of making me happy.  Sure, money can buy all manner of toys or fancy vacations, but these things are mostly just a way to escape the negative sensations that the work routine generates. Maybe it's a sign of age, but lately I find that simple activities are plenty enjoyable as long as I don't have to face the same old office crud the next day. So, I would guess that as long as we have enough $ for a middle class life style and some time to enjoy it, that should get us to maybe 90% content.    8)

 

[EricMD]

money DOES NOT bring happiness. I am facing the reality right now. yes i am.

my wife and i (age 38 & 40) got +/- $1.3 million networth. i would say at least 70% of the people that i work with got less than we do (i am just guessing). yet i hate my job. i am going bald, high cholestoral, low testorene level, and facing a MRI scan on my head to find out if i got any "bad" stuffs in there.

you see. Health is HAPPINESS.

anyone want to argue with that?

 

[retire@40]

Money is like a car.  It's a tool.  You use it to get to where you want to go.

You don't pray to it and you don't fall in love with it.

I like money and I would like to have more of it (but not too much), but it comes after things like health, family, and friends.

Another thing I am learning from watching others is that having little or no money is a factor in causing problems within the family because the family can't have what it needs at a basic level.  Look at ghettos as an example.

But having lots and lots of money also tends to create problems when one has too much.  Look at wealthy celebrities gone wrong (even some that may have come from the ghettos) as an example.

 

[Mr._johngalt]

money DOES NOT bring happiness. I am facing the reality right now. yes i am.

my wife and i (age 38 & 40) got +/- $1.3 million networth. i would say at least 70% of the people that i work with got less than we do (i am just guessing). yet i hate my job. i am going bald, high cholestoral, low testorene level, and facing a MRI scan on my head to find out if i got any "bad" stuffs in there.

you see. Health is HAPPINESS.

anyone want to argue with that?

Not me.

 

[Telly]

But having lots and lots of money also tends to create problems when one has too much.  Look at wealthy celebrities gone wrong (even some that may have come from the ghettos) as an example.

Can't argue with that! 

Hmmm... I'm thinking......yeah!  For the good of humanity, I could insert a financial Spinal Tap into people like that, and relieve some of the pressure!  I think we'd all feel better then! 

 

[Andre1969]

While the old cliche says that money can't buy you happiness, it can remove some stress from your life. If your life reads like the theme song to "Good Times" then yeah, having the money to get out from under will certainly remove some stress for your life and give you some stability.

Still, there are more important things, like your health, both physical and mental, family, friends, and so on. And I think that when you get to a certain point, there IS such a thing as having too much money. If you obsess over it and let it consume you, you're going to be miserable.

As long as you have enough that it keeps you comfortable and gives you freedom, that's all anybody really needs. Just don't let it get to the point that it consumes you and you become a slave to it.

 

[TargaDave]

money DOES NOT bring happiness. I am facing the reality right now. yes i am.

my wife and i (age 38 & 40) got +/- $1.3 million networth. i would say at least 70% of the people that i work with got less than we do (i am just guessing). yet i hate my job. i am going bald, high cholestoral, low testorene level, and facing a MRI scan on my head to find out if i got any "bad" stuffs in there.

you see. Health is HAPPINESS.

anyone want to argue with that?

Me neither. Good luck on the MRI.

 

[tryan]

I imagine satisfaction to be be a bell curve as $$ increases. Early on "more" helps live a better life. Then satisfaction peaks - at some amount of $$ - when all the comforts are obtained; then drops as more $$ corrupts yourself and/or family members.

We have not peaked ... yet.

 

[tryan]

Health is HAPPINESS.

... when you don't have it.

Unfortunately, there are many healthy unhappy people.

 

[Arif]

I agree with Tyran. When I was 20 I had saved up $6000. Before I got to that mark I thought I would feel really good. While I was proud of my accomplishment I quickly realized that watching it grow brought me joy not the actual amount simply because I didn't want to spend it so it didn't change my day to day life at all. My grandfather always tells me that I am the most down to earth millionaire he knows : I told him that although I like watching it grow I just can't bring myself to go overboard on a spending spree so there really is no change as my networth goes up.

 

[Texas Proud]

But having lots and lots of money also tends to create problems when one has too much.  Look at wealthy celebrities gone wrong (even some that may have come from the ghettos) as an example.

I will disagre on this from a different perspective... the celebrities are weird and would be having problems even if they were poor.. it is their personality.

My example is from a long time ago... I was a 'service guy' and one of my clients was this old man who owned a 'little company'. I would go to his house which I thought was big (4,000 sq ft or so). He wore coveralls most of the time. He would do some of his own work (I saw him changing a tire on one of his cars one time)... Always nice etc... Well, one time he wanted me to do my work on his beach house and drove me to it... while driving there he pointed out some land that he owned... said, can you belive that someone offered me $20 million for that piece of land over there ... so, I now am wondering how much this guy has....

Well, a few years later I see that he sold his 'little company' for over $200 million... and this did not include his land and other investments..

And this man was kind enough to go to court for us when my dad died to testify that he knew my dads handwriting and the will my dad had written was valid... so, the money did not make him strange and you would never know he had that much money.

 

[Nords]

I will disagre on this from a different perspective... the celebrities are weird and would be having problems even if they were poor.. it is their personality.

"It's tough to handle this fortune & fame... everybody's so different, I haven't changed."

-- 20th-century philosopher Joe Walsh.
"Life's been good to me so far."

 

[shiny]

I can't complain, but sometimes I still do.

Same Joe Walsh song, that's excellent!

 

[Nords]

I can't complain, but sometimes I still do.

And let's not forget the corollaries:
"They say I'm crazy but I have a good time."
"They say I'm lazy but it takes all my time."

Much of my face-to-face ER vocabulary has been reduced to a classic rock soundtrack with "Saturday Night Live" & "In Living Color" comedy routines. It drives my kid crazy...