The only thing I regret after ~6 years of ER

[robnplunder]

I've retired ~6 years ago at age 54. It was a great decision although some members here suggested I may not have enough. A bull stock market made me even richer. Looking back, there is one thing I keep regretting.

I was an antithesis of [edited later] a spendthrift. I spent money on cheaper wines, traveled on a budget, didn't donate to charities much, etc.. For what? So that I could have saved 1/100th (guessing) of my liquid/asset at retirement. I lived a Spartan life (moneywise) for what amounts to a few more months at work. If I were to do it all over, I would have "enjoyed" my money more before ER.

Of course, if the last 6 years were a big stock market bust, I would be singing a different tune.

 

[skyking1]

that's the thing. when we are busy saving and working, the idea that we would make the most in our careers in the last few years or even months seems too good to be true. But time and time again, I read stories of people getting more than ever as they are heading out the door. I'm not talking bonuses and the like, just those increases in base pay. So all the spendthriftiness seems silly looking at it backwards.

 

[Telly]

Spendthrift? I'm lost... Maybe Mr. Webster can help?

 

[RobbieB]

Welcome to the "Blow That Dough" club. Never too late to join -

 

[Major Tom]

Spendthrift? I'm lost... Maybe Mr. Webster can help?

Agreed.

The definition of spendthrift, is "a person who spends money in an extravagant, irresponsible way".

We knew what you meant though!

 

[teetee]

I've retired ~6 years ago at age 54. It was a great decision although some members here suggested I may not have enough. A bull stock market made me even richer. Looking back, there is one thing I keep regretting.

I was too spendthrift. I spent money on cheaper wines, traveled on a budget, didn't donate to charities much, etc.. For what? So that I could have saved 1/100th (guessing) of my liquid/asset at retirement. I lived a Spartan life (moneywise) for what amounts to a few more months at work. If I were to do it all over, I would have "enjoyed" my money more before ER.

Of course, if the last 6 years were a big stock market bust, I would be singing a different tune.

When you focus on how much you should not have saved, did you take the compounded interest of the money you have saved into consideration?

Saving $1000 may not look much out of the current net worth, but what if that $1000 actually grew to be $200k over the years? The same spendthrift mentality most likely affect your total saving rate which led to your wealth today and that my friend, should deserve more credits than you tried to convince yourself otherwise.

 

[RobbieB]

Oh yeah the first 10 grand you invest is worth much more than the last 10 grand eh?

Save early and often. Invest early and often -

 

[whatnot]

Great post!
Retired 3 years now, and we have been very cautious with our spending. Irrational fear of running out of money, what if I live to 100, etc. Our investments have grown considerably. Of course COVID-19 derailed spending on travel and entertainment.
I’m thinking it’s time to BTD a bit more.

 

[WestUniversity]

Oh yeah the first 10 grand you invest is worth much more than the last 10 grand eh?

Save early and often. Invest early and often -

+1

The miracle of compounding…

 

[Luvtoride]

Great post!
Retired 3 years now, and we have been very cautious with our spending. Irrational fear of running out of money, what if I live to 100, etc. Our investments have grown considerably. Of course COVID-19 derailed spending on travel and entertainment.
I’m thinking it’s time to BTD a bit more.

Read the book “Die with Zero” (no I’m not advertising for the author). Unfortunately there isn’t much you can change about the past but it will broaden your thinking about how (and why) you spend and enjoy your money going forward.

 

[qwerty3656]

Funny, I regret how much money I wasted and when you factor the magic of compounding it's more than 1/100th (at least for me).

 

[Dtail]

Besides my divorce, I definitely could have saved more with what I earned in my career, but some of the stuff like very expensive concerts, we still talk about in a good way.
Still.....

 

[street]

I never spent money on myself (vacations, luxury items) while I was working. Short few day vacations was about it. We never were much for travel or going out much, so I have not regretted not doing more or seeing more etc..

 

[Mook1e]

I'm a few (2-5) years away from permanently retiring, and I personally regret not investing earlier in life. As for now, since I retired from the military in 2018, we are living well below our means, but splurging whenever we want. That's one thing I don't regret, which is knowing that even though we could have more, we definitely have enough and are in a position to do what we want to do vice what we have to do.

 

[Bamaman]

We are in Berlin spending our kid's inheritance. We only travel in a frugal style, but that allows us to go twice as often. No Business Class air for us.

The wife has a second knee replacement in her future, but we have a travel scooter with a 10 mile range that's doing a great job. We never know how many vacations in our future, so we're getting it while the gettin's good.

Next trip will be with our 10 year old granddaughter who we're raising. It will be either a cruise to Scandinavia and St. Petersburg or to the Greek Isles and Turkey. Both can be taken reasonably.

We never have any retirement regrets for taking a.couple of dozen international trips. But we always have something to look forward to.and.we love searching for the next travel bargain.

 

[pacergal]

I think this is an important part of "saving for retirement"--you still need to live for today!

I am not talking about BTD budget, but I feel it is important to have some fun along the way.
Life is meant to be lived and lived well. You can define that how you wish.

We always saved every paycheck, but made sure we had what we needed, enjoyed nice vacations with the kids (that we budgeted for). We were frugal, but not cheap.

 

[tulak]

Spending money pre-retirement is a good idea. I’m still working and will BTD now and then. I want to enjoy money my entire life, not only post-retirement.

Of course you need to make sure the numbers add up. I still save a good chunk and wouldn’t spend more now if I felt I wasn’t going to hit my retirement goal.

It’s a tough balance though. Retire into a bear market and you might have a bad outcome. It’s all easy when markets keep going up.

 

[RunningBum]

I don't think you can chastise yourself for being cautious with your finances. You had no way of knowing the stock market would go this way. 6 years later, you can adjust since you are now in much safer shape financially. Have fun with it!

 

[finnski1]

I don't think you can chastise yourself for being cautious with your finances. You had no way of knowing the stock market would go this way. 6 years later, you can adjust since you are now in much safer shape financially. Have fun with it!

+1. Better safe than sorry anyway.

 

[brett]

I prefer looking out of the windscreen rather than the rear view mirror.

The only good thing about regrets is that you often have the opportunity to change direction.

Far too busy adapting to the usual changes and moving forward with our lives.

 

[CaptTom]

After over five years of retirement, I can't think of one thing I wish I'd spent more money on. Of course the general consensus here seems to be (correctly) that the key is striking the right balance.

I was going to write that I have everything I want. But I think it's more accurate to say that I've always been able to find plenty of things I want within my long-term budget/plan. Things to buy, things to do, places to go are all unlimited. It's just your own expectations which can limit you. There's an old saying about not being able to change the wind, but you can trim your sails.

 

[athena53]

It helped in my case to have a husband who was 15 years older. We married when I was 50 and he was 65 and I knew better than to wait to realize all our dreams till I retired. So.. we traveled within the constraints of our budget and my vacation days, carefully accumulating and using hotel points and airline miles. I retired at 61 and he died 2 years later, in 2014.

In retrospect, we could have spent more but I'm glad we didn't. While I can take credit for good saving and investment decisions, the overall performance of the market since I retired was just a matter of luck and could have gone the opposite way. I'd rather deal with the "problem" of more money than I need, than not enough. I'm giving more to charity, gifting some to DS and DDIL and buying the occasional piece of serious jewelry. It's enough.

 

[MC Rider]

Not retired yet, but hopefully soon.
No regrets on any of the uncounted thousands of dollars spent on motorcycle and accessories over the years.
What have I been working for anyway?

 

[rk911]

I've retired ~6 years ago at age 54. It was a great decision although some members here suggested I may not have enough. A bull stock market made me even richer. Looking back, there is one thing I keep regretting.

I was an antithesis of [edited later] a spendthrift. I spent money on cheaper wines, traveled on a budget, didn't donate to charities much, etc.. For what? So that I could have saved 1/100th (guessing) of my liquid/asset at retirement. I lived a Spartan life (moneywise) for what amounts to a few more months at work. If I were to do it all over, I would have "enjoyed" my money more before ER.

Of course, if the last 6 years were a big stock market bust, I would be singing a different tune.

we did quite well nest egg wise leading up to ER for me in '05 and '06 for my wife partly because we lived way beneath our means and good investments we still spent money and contributed to charity but our philosophy was to take care of ourselves first. since then our net worth has doubled due to an inheritance and while we still are ensuring our financial future first we are now in a position to be, as Dave Ramsey would put it, outrageously generous. but we have no regrets other than we wished we could've ERed 5-years earlier.

 

[robnplunder]

I think this is an important part of "saving for retirement"--you still need to live for today!

I thought I did my share of living for the day. But in retrospect, I could have lived more. I admit I didn't have the right balance.