Is everyone here lucky or something??

[brewer12345]

I've eaten squirrel but I have trouble eating something that looks like a skinned rat. The amount of meat is also pretty meager. Rabbit is the way to go IMHO. You get more meat and I think tastier meat than squirrel.

We've started seeing black squirrels in our back yard. I've not seen those before.

I like rabbit, too, although the biggest Fox squirrels approach the size of mountain cottontails. More to the point, I am a mixed bag hunter. If it is legal game and looks tasty, I will try to bag it. I draw the line at skunks, coyotes and weasels, but the raccoon I saw last week was lucky he was not in season til November.

 

[brett]

Hard work is not enough. You also have to work smart

 

[marko]

We have an entire population who have been trained to believe that if you're successful, you're either lucky or crooked.

 

[Amethyst]

Eesh, Brewer, our local vet informed us that all raccoons in the U.S. carry rabies. But he is on the East Coast, so maybe it's not true in your area?

Amethyst

the raccoon I saw last week was lucky he was not in season til November.

 

[kcowan]

I'd say the people on this Board made their own luck.

I would agree if they are FIREd. Hard work, good planning and taking advantage of opportunities...

 

[Donzo]

I've had acquaintances tell me (always in front of others) that I am "just" lucky to have ERed. I usually just smile and say....you have no idea how lucky I am! But in reality my luck was fear. I was afraid my employer at my career job would figure out I was unworthy and started saving as much as i could right away (just in case) and the habit stuck.
But, I also always worked hard and watched my back carefully...in mega pharma management you better watch your back - there is always a line of stabbers behind you! It's not paranoia if it's true !

 

[brewer12345]

Eesh, Brewer, our local vet informed us that all raccoons in the U.S. carry rabies. But he is on the East Coast, so maybe it's not true in your area?

Amethyst

They cannot all have rabies or there would be no raccoons left. They are carriers in general, though, as are skunks, coyotes, dogs, foxes, etc. If I get a raccoon, the meat would just be a bonus to the hat I would have made.

Then again, supermarket chicken is loaded with salmonella and campylobacter, pork carries trichinosis and a virus wiped out enough piglets to impact pork supply, and Gawd knows what is in feedlot beef (I can imagine). I will take my chance with raccoons, squirrels, rabbits, etc. If I am lucky enough to bag a deer this winter there is a chance that it could have CWD, but at least I can get it tested before I eat it. Try that with whatever you get at your local supermarket.

 

[eta2020]

I've had acquaintances tell me (always in front of others) that I am "just" lucky to have ERed. I usually just smile and say....you have no idea how lucky I am! But in reality my luck was fear. I was afraid my employer at my career job would figure out I was unworthy and started saving as much as i could right away (just in case) and the habit stuck.
But, I also always worked hard and watched my back carefully...in mega pharma management you better watch your back - there is always a line of stabbers behind you! It's not paranoia if it's true !

+1
Fear has lot to do with it....we may be ashamed to admit it....

 

[kaudrey]

I do consider myself lucky!

I am lucky my middle-class parents taught us LBYM and staying out of debt.
I am lucky to have my parents and aunt as examples of how to retire early.
I am lucky that my parents, with help from grandma, were able to put my through college without any debt.

But then:

I started investing the max in my 401(k) the minute I got a job, and have been doing that for 23+ years (not to mention other savings)
I have never had a car that cost me more than $25K
Although we travel and enjoy eating out nicely once in a while, everything we do is under the LBYM mantra.

I am lucky that we are able to do all of these things, but discipline and a plan are necessary too!

 

[2B]

+1
Fear has lot to do with it....we may be ashamed to admit it....

I was hungry once and don't intend to be again. I also came close to losing my house in foreclosure. I don't intend to go there again. I've not had anything really bad actually happen. My financial difficulties all were cleared up relatively quickly but they definitely scared better financial behavior into me. I describe the house forclosure that I avoided as my "Scarlett O'hara Moment." After that, I vowed to never be poor again. That was safely over 30 years ago and I haven't been since. I'm not afraid to admit I was scared. I haven't been since then despite losing several jobs unexpectedly.

 

[brewer12345]

+1
Fear has lot to do with it....we may be ashamed to admit it....

In my case, a lot of the motivation was simply an acknowledgement that as we age our stock of human capital depletes over time. If you do not efficiently convert some of your human capital into financial capital as that happens, you are potentially up the proverbial creek.

 

[ERD50]

Originally Posted by eta2020 View Post
You don't need to retire at 80. Statistically you are dead.

You stole the words right out of my mouth.

But many posters here plan on living until 100.

This re-statement of what 'many posters' say is a pet-peeve of mine.

Please note, there is a BIG difference between 'plan on living until 100', and 'having a plan in case we live to 100'.

What you are saying is akin to saying that wearing your seat belt means you plan to get in a crash on that trip, rather than you wear it in case you get in a crash on that trip.

So, some of these 80-year old retirees still have 20 years of kicking in them. No? ...

Yes. According to this LE tool:

https://personal.vanguard.com/us/insights/retirement/plan-for-a-long-retirement-tool

an 80 YO couple has a 7% chance of having one live to 100 (and 6% for the female alone). A much higher chance than getting into a crash on an individual trip, yet you don't laugh at people who wear seat belts, do you?

-ERD50

 

[eta2020]

There is nothing wrong with having financial plans to live till 100.

But don't wait till 80 to retire unless you love your work.

I have few things in my life I want to try out before I am 80 and they don't include working......

 

[Amethyst]

LOL

If I get a raccoon, the meat would just be a bonus to the hat I would have made.

 

[Chuckanut]

Please note, there is a BIG difference between 'plan on living until 100', and 'having a plan in case we live to 100'.

The solution is obvious. When one reaches 80, stop using seat belts. Between the diminished driving skills and the unfastened seat belt, the chances of reaching 100 are greatly diminished, so no planning needs to be done.

 

[Cobra9777]

Squirrels aside...

IMO, these articles are not helpful. They validate a sense of hopelessness... "America's middle class knows it's facing a grim retirement, but can't do anything about it." Anyone "struggling" to save for retirement, will read that and at least feel better that they're not the only one, and it's not their fault. It's the "evisceration of defined-benefit pensions" and the "huge decline in home and stock market values." Leading to the "inescapable solution" to expand social security.

Bull. It is their fault. But it's rarely too late to re-group and change course.

What WOULD be helpful are more articles about people who were struggling and then turned it around and retired early. Success stories. Positive, motivational, how-to LBYM stories. Stories that gave hope and a path instead of validating hopelessness.

I realize that negativity sells in the media business. But considering the author is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, I would have expected a little less advocacy, and a little more balance and objectivity.

 

[SVHoper]

Definitely lucky....

except apparently in TV and sports. Turned on TV last night about the first time since superbowl :-( caught the 6th innings and with 5 KC runs... turned it off... mebe I should try again next year.

 

[Elbata]

Cobra:

I realize that negativity sells in the media business. But considering the author is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, I would have expected a little less advocacy, and a little more balance and objectivity.

You have far more faith in media than I. Status quo rules supreme.

BTW Cobra, don't mean to sound like I'm trolling. I absolutely agree with your comment.

 

[sengsational]

I'd like to be lucky enough to limit out on squirrels for the day within the next few weeks.

I didn't know there was a limit. Do you need a squirrel hunting license? No, don't answer that. Of course, unless you want to

IMO, these articles are not helpful.

I can think of one positive...

If "everyone" believes this to be true, there will be less motivation to start increasing taxes on us "poor" retirees.

 

[Mulligan]

I do not think a retiree staying home watching TV and taking a walk out in the neighborhood is all that bad. It could be a lot worse, as in other countries.

Yes, I don't think it sounds that bad considering I do them both all the time. And lack of money is not the reason! It certainly beats the hell out of what project I just completed; installing a new floor in a bathroom.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[NW-Bound]

Please note, there is a BIG difference between 'plan on living until 100', and 'having a plan in case we live to 100'.

What you are saying is akin to saying that wearing your seat belt means you plan to get in a crash on that trip, rather than you wear it in case you get in a crash on that trip.

No, I did not say that an 80-year old shouldn't wear seat belts!

I said that she should be driving less at 80, or have a plan to drive less back when she was in the 60s (thinking of my own mother as I write this).

 

[NW-Bound]

... there will be less motivation to start increasing taxes on us "poor" retirees.

You are counting on luck again.

 

[brewer12345]

I didn't know there was a limit. Do you need a squirrel hunting license? No, don't answer that. Of course, unless you want to

You need a small game license in just about every state. In my state, the daily bag limit is 5 fox squirrels, 5 pine squirrels, and 2 Abert's squirrels.

 

[pb4uski]

A common quote, attributed to various people with several variations, is "The harder I work, the luckier I get."

The hardest working people I know are dirt poor with jobs that rarely pay more than $10 an hour, with little chance of ending up on this forum.

I guess that one needs to differentiate hard physical work from long hours and stressful work.

Many low wage earners work in jobs that are physically demanding. For example, DS currently works in a factory and is on his feet eight hours a shift and moving all the time.

By contrast, the work I did was not physically demanding but could be stressful (with lots of work needed to meet important statutory deadlines) and long hours (often late into the night, sometimes into the early morning and occasional all-nighters).

Most low wage workers can leave the job behind after their busy shift ends and not have deadlines hanging over them continually and rarely have to work double-shifts never have to work all-nighters.

 

[sanfanciscotreat]

I have a buddy who was lucky to get a job as a dishwasher.
Worked his way up to manager.
Then managed a chain of restaurants.
Then owned his own restaurants.
Sold out and is now retired at 50.
Lucky because he was willing to work his A$$ off for thirty years.