Guess we're doing ok?

[street]

You have done well and being where you are at doesn't come by accident. Nice job and you should enjoy your wealth.

[Fedup]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sanfanciscotreat Re post #8, I do not mind spending more if there is an added benefit, but there is no difference in brown and white eggs. Retired poultry scientist.

The organic eggs in Hawaii taste a lot better than the ones from Costco. You just have to find the right ones to buy.

[Spanky]

Quote:

We were told that we really need to spend more, given that our goals are to spend everything down.

Only if you want to and feel comfortable of doing it. In the interim, enjoy your retirement.

[Danmar]

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Originally Posted by jonat Did I say I had an issue? Lots of us here share stories of how we're doing, not everyone is in trouble. Sometimes a success story is of interest. As for "very lucky", I prefer to assign it to making good decisions and sticking to them. Yes, luck was partially involved in my career path, but I know many who had the same path that made different choices and are struggling. Indeed, several of my colleagues who were made the same buyout offer said they couldn't afford to accept it.

Ok, so just looking for some feedback then. You are doing more than OK, great in fact. But I suspect you knew that? Congratulations.

As to the role of luck? We have had this debate several times. I certainly agree that good decisions play a significant role but also think that luck does as well. What I do know is that if you credit your success more to luck, you will have more friends. You don't actually have to believe that but as I have aged I find myself thinking that luck played a bigger role than I had originally felt. Maybe getting more humble or mellow in old age?

[Surewhitey]

Luck is for Vegas...every crossroad in our life is thought out to benefit our family / friends in the best way we can foresee. So far, we feel pretty blessed in the outcome of most decisions. I do think age, humility and giving back helps you make better, well-thought decisions. Principles guide our decisions and LBYM is one basic one and happiness in giving is another...

[jonat]

Around here, brown eggs tend to come from more local farms than white eggs, and are fresher. My experience also is that the shells of white eggs tend to be thinner. I agree that, nutritionally and taste-wise, there is no difference.

[MRG]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sanfanciscotreat Re post #8, I do not mind spending more if there is an added benefit, but there is no difference in brown and white eggs. Retired poultry scientist.

How bought green, blue and gold? Retired chicken farmer😁

[Shanky]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Danmar Ok, so just looking for some feedback then. You are doing more than OK, great in fact. But I suspect you knew that? Congratulations. As to the role of luck? We have had this debate several times. I certainly agree that good decisions play a significant role but also think that luck does as well. What I do know is that if you credit your success more to luck, you will have more friends. You don't actually have to believe that but as I have aged I find myself thinking that luck played a bigger role than I had originally felt. Maybe getting more humble or mellow in old age?

I think being thankful for what good fortune we have and a sense of humility about it are in short supply. I also feel it is fine to ascribe some portion of your success to the choices one makes. Where it gets off track is when people start judging others who may not as "virtuous" as they. (Note - OP was not being "Judge-y"

[jonat]

In everyone's life, there are things we can control and things we can't. I am absolutely not one of those people who say that everyone can be successful if only they try harder. And I wasn't offering myself as an example of that (see "selection bias").

In general, I don't comment on my financial status to anyone except those who need to know, even most family and friends. But this forum is where we share stories of where we are, where we'd like to be, and our feelings about that. I understand that those who are not yet in that comfortable place and are anxious about it may feel that such a post is, in some way, "about them". It certainly is not. The main thing I wanted to get across was the change in how DW felt - all of us with partners know that their attitude towards finances affects our own.

Yeah, luck played a big part in my life. In particular, I happened to be in the right place at the right times in my career that I didn't get laid off (while thousands of my colleagues did), and was "rescued" as part of an acquisition which, had it not happened, I would have been out of a job a dozen years ago. I was lucky to have met and married my second wife, who was a "thrifty Yankee" at heart and she helped me get my finances in order after we married.

But I also made choices that had a big impact - buying a smaller house than everyone was telling me we could afford (and staying put), keeping cars 10+ years, and maxing out my 401K contributions every year.

I'm not looking for affirmation - I have all of that I need.

Another forum I frequent has a thread "49% of Americans have nothing saved for retirement". That's scary. I like to think that the ER forum provides good advice and examples for anyone who would like to do better than that.

[kcowan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Danmar As to the role of luck? We have had this debate several times. I certainly agree that good decisions play a significant role but also think that luck does as well. What I do know is that if you credit your success more to luck, you will have more friends. You don't actually have to believe that but as I have aged I find myself thinking that luck played a bigger role than I had originally felt. Maybe getting more humble or mellow in old age?

When preparation, hard work and risk-taking meets opportunity, some call it luck. If that works, great. Funny how the harder I work and the more preparation I do, the luckier I become.

But yes, it is probably best to assign it all to luck and timing...

[ndnguy822000]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jonat Had our annual review with our Fidelity managed account portfolio manager (and earlier in the day our account manager). Many of you know that Fidelity currently offers a Retirement Preparedness Measure (RPM) score, based on your input of planned expenses, assets and income over retirement. The portfolio manager said that in the many years he has been doing this, ours is the first time he saw the RPM score peg the meter at 150+ (it doesn't go higher than that.) Our account manager ran analyses that showed us croaking with $10-15M in assets (I think that's in future dollars, maybe $4M in today's) assuming a "significantly underperforming" market. DW has been, historically, much more conservative and worried about risk than I have been, but she is finally relaxing and coming around to the view that we probably don't have to worry about running out of money. I am 62 and retired earlier this year, DW is 65 and retired in 2004. We have lived below our means for decades and saved, but we live comfortably. We were told that we really need to spend more, given that our goals are to spend everything down.

This is where I want to be when I get your age , i too would like to give as much as I can to a good charity who will help others in need. Currently 35 with about 575k in investments. You seem like a good person, it's motivating to hear good people . Thank you for sharing your info

[kcowan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jonat Yeah, luck played a big part in my life. In particular, I happened to be in the right place at the right times in my career that I didn't get laid off (while thousands of my colleagues did), and was "rescued" as part of an acquisition which, had it not happened, I would have been out of a job a dozen years ago. I was lucky to have met and married my second wife, who was a "thrifty Yankee" at heart and she helped me get my finances in order after we married. But I also made choices that had a big impact - buying a smaller house than everyone was telling me we could afford (and staying put), keeping cars 10+ years, and maxing out my 401K contributions every year.

You are far too humble. But that is a good thing! I remember being asked about many tough decisions. Why are you leaving your first wife and half your wealth? Yes it was a tough, life-changing wrenching decision! Why are you taking voluntary early retirement? I need a change and it was a tough life-changing decision! In hindsight, it seems to have been very lucky. It sure made a difference. But at the times, it seemed to be the worst of choices. None of my friends would not have done it. And many of them told me so.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jonat Another forum I frequent has a thread "49% of Americans have nothing saved for retirement". That's scary. I like to think that the ER forum provides good advice and examples for anyone who would like to do better than that.

I think there needs to be some articles that describe reality to the 49%. You are going to have to work until you can't anymore, either because you are worn out or because you were fired. Then you will have to adopt a lifestyle that you can afford, maybe a rental trailer park not on the lake. Take Uber or transit to go anywhere. Buy whatever you can with food stamps. etc. Live in SS if it still exists. Lots of older generations got by on very little.

[Meadbh]

Our poultry scientist is correct. There is no nutritional difference between brown eggs and white eggs. It's just personal preference.

For the record, I buy brown free range eggs from presumably happy hens, but not the organic ones, because the organic eggs have pale yolks and I prefer bright yellow yolks. That's just me.

From Today I Found Out:
https://youtu.be/je44qy-_MHY

[Mdlerth]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Danmar As to the role of luck? We have had this debate several times. I certainly agree that good decisions play a significant role but also think that luck does as well. What I do know is that if you credit your success more to luck, you will have more friends. You don't actually have to believe that but as I have aged I find myself thinking that luck played a bigger role than I had originally felt. Maybe getting more humble or mellow in old age?

I credit my successes to DW. She says "Aw, shucks" but it is mostly true!

[Fedup]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Meadbh Our poultry scientist is correct. There is no nutritional difference between brown eggs and white eggs. It's just personal preference. For the record, I buy brown free range eggs from presumably happy hens, but not the organic ones, because the organic eggs have pale yolks and I prefer bright yellow yolks. That's just me. From Today I Found Out: https://youtu.be/je44qy-_MHY

I thought free range is the same as organic, I think what I had in Hawaii, brown free range eggs, taste so good. They are both brown Btw. But the organic brown eggs from Costco taste meh.

[Danmar]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jonat In everyone's life, there are things we can control and things we can't. Yeah, luck played a big part in my life. In particular, I happened to be in the right place at the right times in my career that I didn't get laid off (while thousands of my colleagues did), and was "rescued" as part of an acquisition which, had it not happened, I would have been out of a job a dozen years ago. I was lucky to have met and married my second wife, who was a "thrifty Yankee" at heart and she helped me get my finances in order after we married. But I also made choices that had a big impact - buying a smaller house than everyone was telling me we could afford (and staying put), keeping cars 10+ years, and maxing out my 401K contributions every year. .

Sounds a lot like my experience. While I was working it was hard to tell how much might have been luck and how much was due to my hard work and ability. But now that I have been retired for almost 11 years, and reflect back on it all, it just seems that the luck part played a bigger role. Right place, right time, during a merger. Amazing opportunities that popped up. Great people that took me under their wing. etc.

Agree that some good decisions were made but some bad ones too. The good ones just seemed more important looking back. Having a supportive, frugal spouse is a huge factor. So in the overall scheme of things best to have both, luck and smarts. Impossible to determine the proportions, but if the two ends of the spectrum are "master of the universe" and "lucky schlub" I'm leaning more to the latter self description at this point. When I was younger it would have been the former.

[Danmar]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mdlerth I credit my successes to DW. She says "Aw, shucks" but it is mostly true!

That old quote comes to mind. " behind every successful man there is a very surprised woman".

[Car-Guy]

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Originally Posted by Surewhitey Luck is for Vegas...

Not in my experience. I probably know better than most on this board why they use the slogan, "What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas". Everyone thinks they are talking about the unspoken "adult adventures" and while that may often be true, it's your money that "stays" in Vegas. You may get lucky on a few trips but just keep going and see what happens.

[Bestwifeever]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jonat Around here, brown eggs tend to come from more local farms than white eggs, and are fresher. My experience also is that the shells of white eggs tend to be thinner. I agree that, nutritionally and taste-wise, there is no difference.

I like this, that you're paying a little extra and buying eggs from local farms, it sounds like. That's one thing you can do, if you like your area: support the locals (not that you aren't already doing this. My own area offers little opportunity for this ).

Not at your level by any means but as we get older and it seems we won't outlive the nest egg, we have stopped taking price into consideration for the most part when deciding if we want something. And we decided to support a charitable cause that is near to our hearts, both in being a bit more generous now and also in our estate planning, and that's been rewarding for us.

[Ed B]

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Originally Posted by Fedup The organic eggs in Hawaii taste a lot better than the ones from Costco. You just have to find the right ones to buy.

My late father used to keep a couple of chickens around the dog kennels to help clean-up after his hunting dogs. Chickens will eat what a pig will refuse. Anyway, their eggs had an off-putting twang to them. I only tried them once.... unknowingly. I think the chicken's diet plays a part.