Is everyone here lucky or something??

[Exterous]

Just a quick note on the study- Some of their methodology is odd.

They include only those making $25,000 to $99,999 which is fine but they also exclude people in that income range if they have investable assets in excess of $99,999. Without knowing how many Middle Class people were excluded because they have saved too much the title should be more:
"Study shows people who don't have a lot saved for retirement don't have a lot of money saved for retirement"

As for luck I do think that I am lucky to be born in the US as opposed to many less attractive options and to have parents who cared a great deal about the type of education I was to receive.

[robnplunder]

Anyone here RE'd b/c (s)he won a lotto?

[Walt34]

Quote:

Originally Posted by robnplunder Anyone here RE'd b/c (s)he won a lotto?

No, but I'd like to get lucky and try it.

[Options]

Quote:

Originally Posted by W2R I have been extraordinarily lucky about some things. I have also been extraordinarily unlucky about some things. I suspect that the same is true for many people. Life has a tendency to buffet us about, one way or another. I don't expect that to stop, just because I am retired. I am fully psychologically prepared for anything. Well, cancel that.... I can only say that I THINK I am. I guess it is pretty hard to know for sure, in advance. Life has a way of coming up with an immensely devastating sucker punch, just when we think we have it made.

This!

[FANOFJESUS]

Quote:

Originally Posted by unclemick Watching tv is scary. I never used to watch baseball - but lately a 29 yr anomaly demands attention. S

The giants scare me LOL.

[redduck]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cobra9777 A large pile of unvested stock options and RSUs. And a plan to ER in my early 50s.

Seems like I took another route. I had no plan regarding retiring (early or otherwise). So, I kept on working. Luckily, er, fortunately, I enjoyed the job (although it could be truly frustrating/aggravating at times. Chest pains, anybody)? Anyhow, it turns out that I probably worked about 15 years more than you. I thought the duck was supposed to beat the hare in the race. What about "it's not a sprint, it's a marathon"? Apparently in a sprint, one loses their hair, but maybe that's a small price to pay for retiring early. Either route, you end up with high blood pressure.

note: If anyone is interested in trying to understand what this post is referring to, you might want to read post #129. At least I think it's post #129.

[aaronc879]

Quote:

Originally Posted by robnplunder Anyone here RE'd b/c (s)he won a lotto?

Not yet!

[scrabbler1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by robnplunder Anyone here RE'd b/c (s)he won a lotto?

I sometimes consider the $300k in company stock I cashed out 6 years ago to be like winning the lotto. It was an added benefit to my benefits package so it's the closest thing to free money I ever had.

[brewer12345]

I was lucky enough to bag 8 rabbits and 2 squirrels today, the most rabbits I have ever gotten in a day. If I were better at hitting fast, moving targets I would easily have limited out with 10 wabbits. My favorite honey hole opened up today and it is crawling with rabbits. I nailed two 10 feet apart from each other and a third crawled out to see what all the fuss was about (missed him). There is gumbo in my future...

[Cobra9777]

Quote:

Originally Posted by redduck Seems like I took another route. I had no plan regarding retiring (early or otherwise). So, I kept on working. Luckily, er, fortunately, I enjoyed the job (although it could be truly frustrating/aggravating at times. Chest pains, anybody)? Anyhow, it turns out that I probably worked about 15 years more than you. I thought the duck was supposed to beat the hare in the race. What about "it's not a sprint, it's a marathon"? Apparently in a sprint, one loses their hair, but maybe that's a small price to pay for retiring early. Either route, you end up with high blood pressure.

I was planning for ER even before I started at Megacorp. In the latter years, that continued focus and proximity to FI, plus the retention incentives, made it tolerable. I'm not sure I'd characterize 25 years as a "sprint." Sure felt like a marathon. But either way, once the race starts to adversely affect your health and happiness, it's time to drop out. If the only permanent vestige is my receding hairline, I'll call that "lucky."

[Donzo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by brewer12345 I have actually never hunted grays, since by the time I took up hunting I had moved to a place where they do not dwell. That black squirrels are probably just a color variant of the grays. Abert's are the most interesting. They are only in 3 states in the US and they spend pretty much their entire lives living in and eating Ponderosa pines in foothills forests. Very different/weird looking as well, with their freakishly long ear hair tufts and almost prehensile looking paws.

I grew up in upstate NY (Adirondacks) and hunted squirrels often (at 10-15yo) with a multi pump air rifle (Sheridan .20 cal.) There was an Italian neighbor that would give me $3 for all the squirrels I could bring both grey and red.
I now live in NorCal in the foothills of the Sierra. When I moved here 15 years ago there were very few Squirrels - a virus had wiped them out. In the last few years they have been making an incredible come back(greys). I have about 10 living on my 12 acres now! I don't hunt them, but enjoy watching them gather all the acorns. I have a nest about 40 ft off of my 2nd story deck - lots of coming and going. Prob will have 30 on the property in the spring, they are rodents after all .