Do you regret saving too much?

[NW-Bound]

Hey, I do have running water in my class C RV. I just cannot let the water run while brushing my teeth, or the 35-gal tank will not last long.

And talking about this used RV, originally I wanted to spend more money, but my wife talked me out of it. In fact, she stalked craigslist for me daily, and told me about the posting. After seeing it and agreeing that it was a good buy ("Still, honey, couldn't we get something better? I do have the money, you know."), and buying it, I slowly warmed up to it.

Traveling in this 8'X25' RV awakens me to the fact that I really need very little to have a comfortable life. RV'ers use much less resources like water and electricity, and generate much less waste and garbage. I do burn hundreds and hundreds of gallons of gasoline, but then I am a traveler, not a camper, and my wife still has some commitments, so we have a timetable for returning home. Full-time RV'ers travel more slowly and do not spend nearly as much as I do for fuel. They also pay monthly or weekly rates to park, compared to the daily rates like I do.

Anyway, one can have a good life with less money. It all depends on what one defines as "good". Tough luck if one envies Larry Ellison.

 

[glippy]

Do I regret saving? Not at all. It has allowed me to be retired today. Otherwise I would be heading out to work tomorrow instead of going fishing... the more you save, the earlier you retire.

But if you'd been happy with saving a little less, maybe you could have retired yesterday instead and had a few more days of fishing. You could also think of it as "the more you want to save, the more you have to work."

 

[haha]

No regrets - choices are good.

I have no regrets either, more or less. However, I only wish I could say that my choices were good. I'd say that when examined dispassionately my choice record is fairly spotty.

Ha

 

[unclemick]

No! I didn't save enough(in my mind). Put out to pasture at 49 instead of 63 like my plan. I 'knew' I was in trouble. However my cheap SOB ways(her words) and my agile, mobile and hostile attitude saved my tush via time in the market. Bless the 90's.

Did I really want a Buick or higher standard of living so much that I went back to full time WORK!!



heh heh heh - No and no - neither too much nor too little. And no 1993 -2013 if I make 20 yrs of ER will I buy myself a gold watch and unretire back to work? Dance with whatever you got when the time arrives and make it work.

 

[clifp]

I constantly regret saving too much. Every time I pass a homeless person or hear a friend stress about money worries, I wish I could be less financially secure so I can empathize with them properly.

I think we need a new snarky emoticon.

 

[michelle]

I constantly regret saving too much. Every time I pass a homeless person or hear a friend stress about money worries, I wish I could be less financially secure so I can empathize with them properly.

I think we need a new snarky emoticon.

Interesting replies. It would seem that for some, the mere presence of a sizable bankroll is enough to bring them pleasure.

Perhaps we could take the logic further and suggest that those who have accumulated substantial assets derive more pleasure from their net worth than spending the money on things which naturally makes them LBYM.

Perhaps others derive very little pleasure from money in the bank, and far more pleasure from spending it, and find themselves relying on the government in their elder years.

And many shades of balance in between.

To each their own?

I look forward to the pleasure of a comfortable bankroll myself. Hopefully someday soon.

 

[NW-Bound]

You mean pleasure like this?

It is doubtful any of us here will ever get there (hey Larry or Bill or Uncle Warren, would you speak up), but that would be NICE!

 

[BigNick]

I was at my bank (well, one of them ) this morning, discussing putting some of my payoff into a tax-efficient investment plan. I told the advisor that my payoff had been tax-free and he commented, "Well, where you've been working [an international organisation], you have certain advantages like that". I told him that the main advantage is that it allowed a guy who started from zero out of college and had saved only 30K at age 30 to have more than a million in the bank at age 51, almost entirely by saving (rather than compound interest; most of my capital accumulation has been in the last 10 years).

A typical salary at my soon-to-be-ex-place of w*rk is 100K/year, with no tax to pay. But by the time it's gone on fancy clothes, exotic locations for those 6 vacation weeks a year, and BMWs, it's hard to put much aside. DW and I have been saving an average of 60K/year for the last 10 years, while also putting two kids through college, loan-free. I have (soon-to-be-ex-) colleagues on higher pay grades than me who have taken out loans for their kids' tuition. I genuinely do not know where they have managed to put their salary all this time.

 

[donheff]

We put a ton away and never regretted it but we do find ourselves skimping on some things that we no longer need to. But we are loosening up. Recently we decided there is no reason not to go ahead and pop for custom built light touring bikes with couplers for easy travel. No way I would have bought them ten years ago.

 

[FIREd]

DW and I have always been savers. Some people think that we have sacrificed too much of our quality of life along the way, but we couldn't disagree more. If anything, the great recession has convinced us that we made the right choice. In times like these, financial security is invaluable.

 

[NW-Bound]

... with no tax to pay...

How can that be? I am really envious.

 

[Andre1969]

My opinion on this might evolve as I get older. Right now, at the age of 42, I wish I had saved more, and started saving earlier! And I'll occasionally think back on some foolish purchases that I made in the past, and wish I hadn't. But that's because I'm still in the workfarce right now, and looking at early retirement as a goal.

But, in a few years, when I do (hopefully) retire, I'll probably have a different attitude about it and be perfectly happy.

And, years down the road, if I'm knocking at death's door with a multi-million dollar net worth, I might regret it a little that I didn't spend more. But overall, the fact that I was able to retire early and be free from the rat race would have been the real reward.

 

[Milton]

I bet you're right, Andre. Take a look at Daniel Gilbert's book, "Stumbling Upon Happiness" (2006).

 

[rescueme]

And, years down the road, if I'm knocking at death's door with a multi-million dollar net worth, I might regret it a little that I didn't spend more.

As I always said, "it's better to die with money, than live without it"...

BTW, that "excess" won't be wasted. It will be (depending on your bequests) used by others/organizations to make their life a bit better. Nothing wrong with that, IMHO.

I (along with DW) always thought that if we can help somebody else (in our case, primarily our adult disabled son, and organizations after his passing with the residual estate), than our life had some meaning. Not for ourselves, but for others...

 

[ERhoosier]

Forgive me if this has already been said, but individual answer to OP could differ with economic conditions. I think few believed they had saved too much during depth of '08 crash when no one could predict a financial bottom.
When I started out financial advisors were preaching to plan for ave 7-8% return on investment savings (balanced portfolio) over long term. My current firm suggests planning for 3.5% (down from 4 last 1-2yrs). Under former scenario, I prob saved "too much". Under current conditions, perhaps not.

 

[SJ1_]

Most of us on this board (including me) understand the virtue of LBYM, and the need to save a significant portion of our income during our working years so that we can achieve financial security later in life. However, I fear that some of us (including me) may take this to an extreme, and we might be foresaking some of life's pleasures while we are young enough to enjoy them, only to find that when we are older, we have more than we need or want.

Therefore, my question is, do any of you who are retired regret that you saved too much when you were younger? Do you look back and wish you would have spent a bit more to enjoy your youth, or your kids' youth? Do you now realize that you oversaved and you have more than you need, and you should have spent a bit more when you were younger?

no - not at all I didn't feel like I was foresaking some of life's pleasure.
we pretty much saved 3 of our 4 paychecks and traveled more than most people.
I enjoyed my youth and never fell for the "buy this and you'll be happy"
bull$$#@. I honestly cannot think of anything that I could of bought that
would of added anything of value to my life JMHO

 

[obgyn65]

No, because it's the way I am. I don't like spending money on myself.

Do you regret saving too much ?