A delusional couple wants to retire

[ExFlyBoy5]

It's pretty simple: Marketwatch=Clickbait=Utter Crap.

[rk911]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MikeWillRetire That's delusional alright. And now on the other side of crazy town, here's a guy with $5 million asking if he can retire. https://www.bogleheads.org/forum/vie...p?f=2&t=283714

is he asking from a $ perspective or a 'my-life-is-my-work' perspective. i get the second. that's not me but i know people who would fit that mold.

[FANOFJESUS]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ExFlyBoy5 It's pretty simple: Marketwatch=Clickbait=Utter Crap.

True but there is a large group of people today that live like that. Reminds me of a woman I know with are large pension. She lives hand to mouth because she will not sell her large home with a mortgage.

[Letj]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ExFlyBoy5 It's pretty simple: Marketwatch=Clickbait=Utter Crap.

Yep! And where can you often find a link to the crap? No other “news” source than the bastion of journalistic integrity - Yahoo.

[tlh908]

There are many Americans like this, good income with little savings and much debt. Actually this person is probably more normal than the people on this forum. So being abnormal is good!

[G8tr]

Agreed. DW and I are friends with a couple who pull down $600k+ a year, but they spend everything beyond 401(k) contributions. They own a nice beach house, two leased luxury cars, take expensive vacations every year, housekeeper/nanny...and are in their early 50s. They're not trying to retire now, but I'm afraid that they'll get a rude wake-up call in another 10 years if they don't pull back a bit now. Then again, it's not our problem so perhaps we shouldn't worry for them if they're not.

Quote:

Originally Posted by tlh908 There are many Americans like this, good income with little savings and much debt. Actually this person is probably more normal than the people on this forum. So being abnormal is good!

[finnski1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by G8tr Agreed. DW and I are friends with a couple who pull down $600k+ a year, but they spend everything beyond 401(k) contributions. They own a nice beach house, two leased luxury cars, take expensive vacations every year, housekeeper/nanny...and are in their early 50s. They're not trying to retire now, but I'm afraid that they'll get a rude wake-up call in another 10 years if they don't pull back a bit now. Then again, it's not our problem so perhaps we shouldn't worry for them if they're not.

Just thank them for stimulating the economy so our investments can grow.

[Koolau]

My friend who is $500K in the hole knows my condo is easily worth that amount. He has asked me why I don't take out the equity and live better. I ask him "And do WHAT?" He mentions all the toys I could buy, all the places I could go, all the stuff I could own. I just sort of shake my head. Still, I know he enjoys his life, so how can I fault him? We just have two completely different ideas of what is "fun." Being out of debt is WAY more fun to me than having boats, wave runners, fast cars, etc. (though, full disclosure, I WOULD love to own a Vette again, but...). YMMV

[Paulz]

I think part of the "problem" is the FIRE movement. It seems that no matter where I go I hear people talking about FIRE'ing without understanding what the FI part of that means. Not being critical of people that FIRE, but it seems it has finally started to trickle down to people that have no business thinking about retirement.

[CardsFan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paulz I think part of the "problem" is the FIRE movement. It seems that no matter where I go I hear people talking about FIRE'ing without understanding what the FI part of that means. Not being critical of people that FIRE, but it seems it has finally started to trickle down to people that have no business thinking about retirement.

FIRE to me was any time prior to "normal" retirement age. I went out at 60.

To think you can FIRE with even $1 million at 35 is just taking a chance.

Some succeed, and some "suck seed" (3 stooges reference).

[steveark]

I guess it worked. We are all taking about it! It smells fishy to me.

[Koolau]

Quote:

Originally Posted by steveark I guess it worked. We are all taking about it! It smells fishy to me.

Heh, heh, not sure that's fish. Smells a bit stronger to me.

[WWDog]

I had to have a conversation with a life long friend one time to inform him he wasn't ready to retire. I was already retired and set for a comfortable retirement. It was difficult in two respects. First the shock that I knew I was giving him was not an easy thing to do. Second I had to deliver that message without revealing what my personal finances were. He was not in bad shape, but not in shape to retire comfortably without fear of going broke. It worked. He got a good job teaching flight school in a foreign country with all taxes paid. Soon after getting that job he realized that his vehicles were on the down hill side of their lives and purchased one good vehicle that was paid for quickly. He paid off his mortgage and put some more money in the bank for retirement. That few extra years with very hard saving made the difference.


Fast forward to today. I see a lot of people that are not cognizant of the economic situation this country could be going through in just a few short months. The message is even more significant than my life long friend got several years ago. The severity of the situation is very much up in the air depending on what happens economically. All I can say is Be Prepared!

[corn18]

I found myself in a worse position. $200k of consumer debt (4 car loans, RV loan, owned a dressage horse and trailer) and a $475k mortgage on a house worth $380k. And I was making $300k a year. Spending $3k more a month than I made. Kids were heading off to college and I was signing up for $50k / year unsubsidized loans. Yikes!

[street]

It would be sad if those scenarios are made up. It sends a bad message for people that are in those same situations and think they can retire safely.

[Vacation4us]

I recently watched a YouTube video on average savings by age. Essentially 46% of Americans die with less than 10k of savings and the average savings for a 60 yo was around 140k.

Clearly the people on this site are the abnormal ones. It’s good to be abnormal.

[RetiredAtThirty-eight]

Quote:

Originally Posted by finnski1 Yeah 7% seems way out of whack especially with excellent credit. New Subaru's can be had right now for 0% for 63 months

Auto loans have interest rates all over the board. A very low rate like 0% is not real because a cash buyer can walk in and negotiate a lower purchase price than a buyer with 0% interest can. There is a cost to that auto loan they have to make up for with the selling price. The 0% is offered because they are having trouble selling all the cars that come off the production line. It's an incentive to buy (and it works). But it should be looked at the same way a discount off the MSRP is looked at. Sometimes you get a discount off MSRP and a 0% rate. This means they really want to move the stock out.

[rk911]

Quote:

Originally Posted by corn18 I found myself in a worse position. $200k of consumer debt (4 car loans, RV loan, owned a dressage horse and trailer) and a $475k mortgage on a house worth $380k. And I was making $300k a year. Spending $3k more a month than I made. Kids were heading off to college and I was signing up for $50k / year unsubsidized loans. Yikes!

so, how did you clean that up?

[corn18]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rk911 so, how did you clean that up?

I signed on to savingadvice.com in Oct 2013. I wanted some advice on whether to pay off my cars with my next bonus. Instead of answering my question, they asked a bunch of questions about my overall financial situation. That really irritated me. I pushed back quite a bit, but for some reason, they felt the need to push harder. I make $300k a year, who are they to say I can't afford 4 cars? Someone recommended I read the book The Millionaire Next Door. I did. That changed everything. My wife read it, too. And we decided to stop the madness. I was very fortunate that my high income allowed us to get it all fixed pretty quick and now we are retiring this Mar thanks to this forum and bogleheads.org

I feel so blessed that the folks on savingadvice.com were willing to help me and not dismiss me. Of course I had to make the decision to stop, but they stuck with me and never stopped helping. I am still active there and try to help other folks if I can.

I will say that spending is a lot like addiction. You have to want to stop before anyone else can help. And denial is a salve that helps you ignore the inevitable bad result.

[rk911]

Quote:

Originally Posted by corn18 I signed on to savingadvice.com in Oct 2013. I wanted some advice on whether to pay off my cars with my next bonus. Instead of answering my question, they asked a bunch of questions about my overall financial situation. That really irritated me. I pushed back quite a bit, but for some reason, they felt the need to push harder. I make $300k a year, who are they to say I can't afford 4 cars? Someone recommended I read the book The Millionaire Next Door. I did. That changed everything. My wife read it, too. And we decided to stop the madness. I was very fortunate that my high income allowed us to get it all fixed pretty quick and now we are retiring this Mar thanks to this forum and bogleheads.org I feel so blessed that the folks on savingadvice.com were willing to help me and not dismiss me. Of course I had to make the decision to stop, but they stuck with me and never stopped helping. I am still active there and try to help other folks if I can. I will say that spending is a lot like addiction. You have to want to stop before anyone else can help. And denial is a salve that helps you ignore the inevitable bad result.

congratulations on taking that first step and for sticking with it! well done, sir.