Anyone ever consider if ER is worth it?

[marko]

I have several friends and acquaintances who I thought were doing better than me. Much better than me.

Right up until the moment the Feds raided their homes and hauled them off.

Great anecdotes though!

^ 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

 

[NW-Bound]

^ 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

I am sure that there are a lot of people doing way better than I do. I just don't get to know them. I don't get invited to their yacht, nor to the party at their mansion.

 

[target2019]

We've always been big savers, but I've recently started considering whether it's worth it or not. We are in our early 30s, have $250k saved for retirement in a mix of accounts, and no debt other than a 15-year mortgage (14 years left). Two kids (1 and 10). We have about $45k in our emergency fund.

My wife only works part-time weekends so she can care for our 1-year old. I currently max out my 401k, HSA, and push hard to max out my Roth and my wife's spousal Roth. Plus $1-2k/year in a 529. We even managed to squeeze $6k into a new taxable account that we opened last year.

Sometimes I'm tempted just to say "screw it" and reduce my 401k contribution to the match minimum, max out the HSA, put less money in Roths, and refinance to a 30-year mortgage. That would free up probably an extra $1500-2000/month which would increase our QOL by an insane amount - 2 nice vacations a year, a new car, less stress when eating out or dealing with unexpected expenses. All without any debt. Maybe I could even cut back to 80% time until my 1 year old is off to pre-school.

Chances are we'd still have a lot of money left over.

There's always the thought in the back of my mind that maybe the stock market will encounter a Japan-like situation, or health issues crop up just as we're getting ready to retire. It would suck to think that we spent our prime years scrimping for nothing.

Anyone else have any doubts like mine?

Thanks for your time.

Sometimes less is more. I scaled back work when my kids were in grammar school.

After that I had to catch up, meaning 25% saved into 401(k) for a while.

You're not scrimping for nothing, really. The biggest part of your piggy back will likely turn out to be your contributions.

 

[NW-Bound]

And I have often told the story of how my brother-in-law does better than me. Here it is again for people who miss it.

He transferred his entire 401k into his company stock when the company had difficulties, and its stock was in the mud. The company recovered, and he made out well. Recently, he hinted that his 401k account alone was around $4M. And there are still other accounts and my sister's 401k.

They are frugal though, so would do well even if he did not take the above gamble. And it helped further that both of them have pensions, while we don't.

 

[travelover]

^ 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

Well, that's because those people don't post here on the ER forum. They post over on the "my house is bigger / my Porsche is nicer than yours" forum. And they pity us poor losers that couldn't hack it and quit the game.

 

[JoeWras]

Well, that's because those people don't post here on the ER forum. They post over on the "my house is bigger / my Porsche is nicer than yours" forum. And they pity us poor losers that couldn't hack it and quit the game.

And if you don't have a Porsche, you install straight pipes on your Corolla, just to let the world (apparently) know that "mine is better than yours, look here." Doing so is more cost effective than buying the Porsche or yacht, I have to admit.

 

[travelover]

And if you don't have a Porsche, you install straight pipes on your Corolla, just to let the world (apparently) know that "mine is better than yours, look here." Doing so is more cost effective than buying the Porsche or yacht, I have to admit.

The straight pipe people are annoying, but I think they are yet another strata of society.

 

[Dawg52]

I had a friend many years ago that cashed out of his 401k plan and stopped contributing. He certainly took the 'screw it' attitude and never looked back. He's 65 now and working with no end in sight. But he seems content so who am I to judge....

 

[daylatedollarshort]

Another thing to do is to try to live well for less - look for expense cuts that either increase or at least don't lower your quality of life - LED bulbs, low flow shower heads, weather stripping, cooking as a hobby, herb gardens, annual park passes, free concerts in the park, low cost college events, etc. Hundreds of little expense decreases can really add up, especially multiplied by 20 or 30 years.

We went to a music venue the other night on seat filler tickets for under $10 for two tickets while the at the door price was $82 for two. I'm pretty sure we had just as much fun, maybe more, as the $82 people. For us LBYMs doesn't mean deprivation - it just means getting good value for the dollars we spend.

 

[nancyfrank232]

Well, that's because those people don't post here on the ER forum. They post over on the "my house is bigger / my Porsche is nicer than yours" forum. And they pity us poor losers that couldn't hack it and quit the game.

You just described *this* forum

Haven’t you browsed through some of these threads? Everybody is amazing and everybody they know is a spendthrift knocking on the door of poverty [emoji23]

And if anybody cares, the Lambo forum actually has way less bragging than these ones

 

[Gumby]

You just described *this* forum

Haven’t you browsed through some of these threads? Everybody is amazing and everybody they know is a spendthrift knocking on the door of poverty [emoji23]

One of life's fundamental rules is that we all get to be the hero of our own story.

 

[Callitaday2022]

It doesn't have to be all or nothing.
Stationed in Germany 1990s and was saving over $1000 a month. Thought what the hell am I doing saving all that so I can travel when I'm old and retired??
Stopped everything except $166 to IRA and took every day of leave I got and spent all my pay having a blast.
Do I regret it...no.
What's the big item you desire? New car? Stop saving, pay cash for it, and resume.

 

[RobbieB]

As Carlin observed;

Anybody driving slower than you is an idiot and anyone driving faster is a maniac.

 

[HFWR]

Early retirement is terrible. Keep working. [-]Keep contributing to my SS check![/-] Save yourself while you still can.

Having $300,000 in savings and emergency funds in your 30's doesn't strike me as being in a stellar position.

That’s about $300k more than I had...

 

[marko]

You just described *this* forum

Haven’t you browsed through some of these threads? Everybody is amazing and everybody they know is a spendthrift knocking on the door of poverty [emoji23]

Ok. I'll go first.

My former boss is worth about $300MM. Now that we're both RE'd to Florida, every winter he picks me up in his gigantic Rolls and takes me to lunch at his club (The Everglades) in Palm Beach.

He's doing alright for himself. He's legit and not among the aforementioned friends for whom the Feds have come for, nor will they ever. He's smarter, better looking and richer than me.

I feel better just getting that off my chest! Happy New Year.

 

[HI Bill]

G
I worked with a guy at the last j*b that took the "screw it" approach and lived pretty large. Just before I told him I was doing ER at mid 50s, he was telling me how much he was enjoying driving his Porsche. (I drove a Jeep at that time by comparison. I "could" have probably also had a Porsche if I cared about such things [I don't], but to me that was a huge waste of $$ and I was happy socking it away for ER instead)..

He's still working, and we're roughly the same age. Very likely he not only has no plan for ER (or even retirement in general), but he sure has a nice Porsche. That said, I'm guessing that's not going to pay his bills when he finally no longer has regular paychecks coming in.

Ha, reminds me of a fellow project manager who liked to buy exotic cars. He pulled down a salary of the mid- $150Ks at most, but still owned and drove Lamborghinis. I was frugal enough that I never owned anything north of an RX8. Funny thing is now, he's still w#rking, and I can afford to RE and buy a Ferarri, if I didn't want to travel so much. Priorities!

 

[NW-Bound]

Well, that's because those people don't post here on the ER forum. They post over on the "my house is bigger / my Porsche is nicer than yours" forum. And they pity us poor losers that couldn't hack it and quit the game.

Definitely, not all rich people are braggarts.

On the other hand, we all remember a lawyer who dropped in a few years ago, and called us the residents of the lumpen slums of cyberspace.

One of life's fundamental rules is that we all get to be the hero of our own story.

I am often amazed that I survived reasonably well when I quit my secure job at a megacorp with both 401k matching and pension because I was bored, joined two different groups of friends to found two start-ups that went bellied up. Ended up working without pay for a few years before doing part-time contracting work for a few more years before quitting for real.

I could have been in really bad shape. Had I stayed at megacorp, I would do a lot better financially, I am sure of that. Hero? Hardly.

I was arrogant to think I could be a successful entrepreneur like those you keep reading on the Web. They are far smarter than I am. I am a lot humbler now.

PS. I often think I do OK now despite my business failures because of my good karma. Has to be. I never cheated, stabbed any friend in the back, kissed *sses to get ahead.

 

[Big_Hitter]

^ 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

i played golf a few years ago with a guy in his 40s that lives in bend and does nothing but hike, climb and golf - he used to work for amazon

but I rarely encounter another person who is or has retired that young or anyone who retired near age 55

there ya go

 

[travelover]

.............On the other hand, we all remember a lawyer who dropped in a few years ago, and called us the residents of the lumpen slums of cyberspace................

Man, I sure miss that guy.

Blast from the past

 

[REWahoo]

On the other hand, we all remember a lawyer who dropped in a few years ago, and called us the residents of the lumpen slums of cyberspace.

He left me a sig line...

 

[Aerides]

^ 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

I know plenty of folks who are "doing better" than me by a multiple measures. Better home, better title, more career accomplishments, nicer cars.

But - they are still working, I'm not.

 

[imoldernu]

I never cheated, stabbed any friend in the back, kissed *sses to get ahead.

+1 Well said!

 

[Offgrid Organic Farmer]

Anyone ever consider if ER is worth it?

Not if a person is going to 'retire' at 60.

For me, the effort was well worth it.

I still have a few regrets though.

 

[HI Bill]

I still have a few regrets though.

Me too.

1) Not buying the condo in Mission Bay, CA for $66K
2) Not investing in Snapple when it was first introduced
3) Not buying a house in Maui when I had the chance (lost appreciation)
4) Not ever owning a dog in my adult life
5) Not finding my wife till later in life
6) Not taking a few more dive trips along the way

Other than that, all's good...looking forward to the next decade in FIRE-ville!

 

[JoeWras]

He left me a sig line...

Yeah, after I asked ya'll what that was about, I figured it was worth adding my first sig line ever. Took me 6 years before I was inspired enough.