NW-Bound
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
- Joined
- Jul 3, 2008
- Messages
- 35,712
Anyone wake up and say "How did I accumulate so much?"
- Thread starter DawgMan
- Start date
gooddog
Recycles dryer sheets
My dad and I were just talking about this very thing last week. Moving from having a net worth of basically zero into the millions doesn't seem possible and kind of crept up. Seems that simply living within our means was the biggest contributing factor. Once there, what does one do with all the cash? Kind of lost on that part of it.
tmm99
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
- Joined
- May 15, 2008
- Messages
- 5,221
I retired right before the dip (Spring of 2015). I got a little nervous, but the market came back fairly quickly, so I was relieved. I was a little worried again when DJIA plummeted to around 18,000 last year, but I had more cushion by then, so I was definitely happy about that.
I don't think I ever woke up and said, "How did I accumulate so much?" The market has been very kind but my asset allocation is conservative (50/50), so when I hear people here talking about a 75% increase in the net worth in the last few years, I'm like, "how did they accumulate so much?"
What I do feel though, is that I have enough money to buy things I need and buy things I didn't allow myself to buy when I was in the accumulation phase. (I am spending more money now than when I was working, by design.) So I sometimes feel a bit bewildered in a good way. I definitely feel blessed.
I don't think I ever woke up and said, "How did I accumulate so much?" The market has been very kind but my asset allocation is conservative (50/50), so when I hear people here talking about a 75% increase in the net worth in the last few years, I'm like, "how did they accumulate so much?"
What I do feel though, is that I have enough money to buy things I need and buy things I didn't allow myself to buy when I was in the accumulation phase. (I am spending more money now than when I was working, by design.) So I sometimes feel a bit bewildered in a good way. I definitely feel blessed.
Sort of. On the one hand, we saved, planned, invested and LBYM, and projected out our potential future states way into the future. Nevertheless (on the other hand), it's pretty breathtaking to see your numbers take off after hitting a "tipping point" of compounding. So for us, it's how much buffer is enough, and I think the "enough" is really close. We were blessed and we really appreciate it and started giving back (e.g., college, kid's schools, orphanages, church, family, etc....)
Rambler
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
- Joined
- Jul 15, 2007
- Messages
- 2,487
For us, the plan was thought out, but things didn’t go like they were planned...because I understood saving at 10% interest rates (when I was 22) but didn’t understand investing. We saved a good chunk early on in our marriage, but didn’t know anything about investing...just saving. As my career grew and things went well for us, I got sent to the Stanford Executive program, and learned a good bit there. The afterburners on my career had been lit off, and I began making more in one year than I had in three or four years, and then that even doubled and tripled, but we kept living like regular folks and saving, and then began investing those funds just after the Stanford program. I’ve now been retired for about 8 years, and the stash has grown well over 50% in those years, even after higher than planned withdrawals for interstate moves, and mandatory deferred comp distributions (ie, lots of tax to be paid).
harley
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
That was the secret for us. When I paid off my first car loan when I was ~25, we just moved the payment amount to savings. When I got into computers and my income took off, we didn't change our lifestyle. When we decided to have a kid we stopped using DW's income so we'd be prepared for her to stay home, and we never added it back in even when she started working again. The investing part for us came from reading, starting with Money [-]porn[/-] magazine, then branching into books. I guess I was lucky by starting reading books like TMND, How to Retire Rich by James O’Shaughnessy, and YMOYL by Vicki Robin and Joe Dominguez. I could have read get rich quick books, but I didn't.
We enjoyed our lives, but I have to admit there where times when I was jealous of other people's vacations and cruises and such. Not so much the cars nd houses, though.
Learning to invest added to our natural inclination to LBOM was the planning part of how we got here. Managing to work through our problems and staying married helped a lot too. But it was a close call a few times. Having good health and stable employment were the lucky parts of life.
It's interesting, having been retired for 15 years and having turned 65, I'm watching a lot of my peers start to retire or be talking about it. I wouldn't trade those 15 years for all the cruises and vacations in the world. So, yes, I do wake up and acknowledge how lucky we are.
Last edited:
The thing that always blows my mind is that I have more money in retirement savings than the total wages I made in my entire career. Fully funded 401k and other workplace saving options from the beginning at age 22. Now age 67 and retired over 10 years. The power of investing, just amazing.
I did that math too, just for fun. Today, retired 4 years, I'm about even portfolio (not NW) to lifelong earnings.
Andre1969
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Sometimes I do have problems wrapping my mind around the idea of "I can afford it". I guess I still haven't totally escaped the mindset of living like I'm poor.
For instance, I'm having a garage built, and want to have a couple of trees taken down that hang over where the garage will be. I figured it's better to take them down now, rather than have Mother Nature do it for me, after the garage is built. Well, I also have a Poplar tree out in the front yard that's been standing at Death's door for years now, but reluctant to ring the bell.
Well, this year, it decided to ring the bell. It looks like it's totally dead. I called a tree removal company, and they sent a guy out. I told him about the trees in back that I really need to have taken down for the garage, but, if it's not too expensive, I figure why not hit that Poplar out in front, as well.
Well, I got the invoice the other day. About $2000 do to the trees for the garage. Roughly another $2000 for the poplar. It's a big tree, easily 80 feet tall, and thick. There was a small part of me thinking, wait, I don't really NEED to have the poplar taken down. But I forced myself to do it. Eventually it WILL come down on it's own, and I'd rather not have it do it while I'm cutting the grass underneath it or something! And, while I could easily chop it down myself (it's way out in the middle of the yard, has enough of a lean you can easily predict where it will fall, and it won't hit anything important), it would take me a really long time to clear that amount of mess out of there. So why not just pay the money, to have it cut down, cleaned up, and free up my time?
Still, old habits die hard, I guess. I have a feeling that once I retire, and have to switch from saving mode to spending mode, it's going to be a rough transition.
For instance, I'm having a garage built, and want to have a couple of trees taken down that hang over where the garage will be. I figured it's better to take them down now, rather than have Mother Nature do it for me, after the garage is built. Well, I also have a Poplar tree out in the front yard that's been standing at Death's door for years now, but reluctant to ring the bell.
Well, this year, it decided to ring the bell. It looks like it's totally dead. I called a tree removal company, and they sent a guy out. I told him about the trees in back that I really need to have taken down for the garage, but, if it's not too expensive, I figure why not hit that Poplar out in front, as well.
Well, I got the invoice the other day. About $2000 do to the trees for the garage. Roughly another $2000 for the poplar. It's a big tree, easily 80 feet tall, and thick. There was a small part of me thinking, wait, I don't really NEED to have the poplar taken down. But I forced myself to do it. Eventually it WILL come down on it's own, and I'd rather not have it do it while I'm cutting the grass underneath it or something! And, while I could easily chop it down myself (it's way out in the middle of the yard, has enough of a lean you can easily predict where it will fall, and it won't hit anything important), it would take me a really long time to clear that amount of mess out of there. So why not just pay the money, to have it cut down, cleaned up, and free up my time?
Still, old habits die hard, I guess. I have a feeling that once I retire, and have to switch from saving mode to spending mode, it's going to be a rough transition.
I hear ya. I too can not break free of my conservative spending. Still always looking for the “best deal”. It’s an addictive habit. Don’t have a clue on how to spend it without feeling guilty.
I totally understand. I've been retired for almost 6 years and our portfolio just gets bigger and bigger. Growing up poor instilled a do it yourself mindset and from car repairs, home improvements, and landscaping & maintenance, I've done it all myself. Now with "Youtube" I've learned how to do things I never imagined.
I have a workshop and I wanted to install a mini-split AC unit to keep me comfortable year round. I could easily pay the several thousand for a HVAC company to install one for me but I just goes against my nature. With the help of YouTube, a DIY mini-split unit and some new tools, I installed it myself for less than a grand. Why? I guess it's just the way I'm wired.
YouTube is an incredible resource for DIY'ers. I have done so many things, replaced laptop displays, programmed a phone, replaced truck ball joints, configured some techy thing in a new vehicle, that I would have had ZERO chance of doing without YT. I have literally gotten stuck trying figure something out, went in the house, washed my hands, went to YT and found several videos showing me in a couple minutes how to get it done.
dheb
Recycles dryer sheets
And I'm over here thinking 'That's good firewood! I could put that in my woodstove and save on the heat bill!'
dheb
Recycles dryer sheets
Now you made me do that math too. I'm not quite there on my retirement savings (but I'm only 54 - give me to 67 and I'll get past it) but my total net worth is remarkably close to the amount of wages I've earned in my entire career.
skyking1
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
I can relate to that. I rented a 65 foot boom lift to take down some hazard trees with the neighbors. They were all junk cottonwoods, absolutely worthless as firewood and we all lamented that!
calmloki
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Feel better - poplar only makes you feel warm because you are up and down replenishing the stove so much. Still better than cottonwood, which i swear takes more good firewood to burn it up than the heat it puts out.
skyking1
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Exactly. the neighbor let it go till it threatened his house and our powerlines, then we went after them. I say them because it had seeded and rooted all over. Now i have a pile of cottonwood logs to cut suckers on for a while as i watch them rot. /derail
Badger
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
- Joined
- Nov 2, 2008
- Messages
- 3,411
+1 I've been retired for about 10 years now with a nest egg considerably larger than anything I imagined and still growing. I do anything I am still physically capable of doing and probably always will although those are becoming fewer as the body is uncooperative.
Cheers!
street
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
- Joined
- Nov 30, 2016
- Messages
- 9,535
Quote:
Originally Posted by Palmtree View Post
I totally understand. I've been retired for almost 6 years and our portfolio just gets bigger and bigger. Growing up poor instilled a do it yourself mindset and from car repairs, home improvements, and landscaping & maintenance, I've done it all myself. Now with "Youtube" I've learned how to do things I never imagined...
... I guess it's just the way I'm wired.
+1 I've been retired for about 10 years now with a nest egg considerably larger than anything I imagined and still growing. I do anything I am still physically capable of doing and probably always will although those are becoming fewer as the body is uncooperative.
Cheers![/QUOTE]
+2 Born poor did everything myself through the years and still do. You just learn how to because it was how you were raised.
Originally Posted by Palmtree View Post
I totally understand. I've been retired for almost 6 years and our portfolio just gets bigger and bigger. Growing up poor instilled a do it yourself mindset and from car repairs, home improvements, and landscaping & maintenance, I've done it all myself. Now with "Youtube" I've learned how to do things I never imagined...
... I guess it's just the way I'm wired.
+1 I've been retired for about 10 years now with a nest egg considerably larger than anything I imagined and still growing. I do anything I am still physically capable of doing and probably always will although those are becoming fewer as the body is uncooperative.
Cheers![/QUOTE]
+2 Born poor did everything myself through the years and still do. You just learn how to because it was how you were raised.
thepalmersinking
Recycles dryer sheets
- Joined
- Mar 29, 2015
- Messages
- 180
Imagine where we would be now if there were discount brokers and the internet in the 80’s! DIY and luck but mostly luck.
Rocky mtn high
Recycles dryer sheets
This thread and all the optimism from investment advisers, does make me wonder if we are not at a high. All the stimulus will end soon I think and then what?
Anyone wake up and say "How did I accumulate so much?"
Yes,I do. It is a surprise.
Yes, we LBYMs for many years.
Yes*, we were lucky that none of our family had any health problems.
Yes*, we had a good nest egg when the stock market had great growth.
But I'm still in awe that we made it to the top 5% in net worth. (if you can believe the internet)
* had to put that in, to satisfy those that say, "you didn't do that".
Yes,I do. It is a surprise.
Yes, we LBYMs for many years.
Yes*, we were lucky that none of our family had any health problems.
Yes*, we had a good nest egg when the stock market had great growth.
But I'm still in awe that we made it to the top 5% in net worth. (if you can believe the internet)
* had to put that in, to satisfy those that say, "you didn't do that".
