Too Frugal - Anybody Else Struggle Spending Too LITTLE?

[NW-Bound]

^^^ Where are you going to hide all that cash?

Is it safe to put that much cash under the mattress of your nursing home bed? Don't you think they would be suspicious seeing your mattress 6" higher than its normal height?

 

[street]

^ Lol. That is a good question! I might start digging that hole up high in those rocks this spring.

I'm thinking I might get by cheap for LTC with no money. I'll just bury it and leave a map to the kinfolks. Lol

 

[Sunset]

We just heard this story from our friends. His mother lived to be 92 and on $900 in SS monthly checks and always had enough. When she died 3 years ago, she had envelopes made out in cash with names of each children and grand children. They added up to $70,000, all in $100 bills. When she was alive, she always had $20,000 in her checking account as emergency funds. Whenever SS checks came in, she took out the amount in cash immediately. The joke was that these were counterfeit money, but no, they were real money. She stuffed the cash away through decades.

Sad.....
She could have have had a better quality of life spending some of it.
Plus all those envelopes didn't earn anything, in the 20 years or so that it probably took her to save it, it could have been worth nearly double that just by buying CD's.

 

[RobbieB]

To keep score.

I know you like to keep score. Options, eye on the market every morning, it's your hobby.

I like to go fishing -

 

[NW-Bound]

Ugh. Eying European markets and the US futures, I can see that everyone's score will be quite a bit lower at market close today.

 

[Music Lover]

We just heard this story from our friends. His mother lived to be 92 and on $900 in SS monthly checks and always had enough. When she died 3 years ago, she had envelopes made out in cash with names of each children and grand children. They added up to $70,000, all in $100 bills. When she was alive, she always had $20,000 in her checking account as emergency funds. Whenever SS checks came in, she took out the amount in cash immediately. The joke was that these were counterfeit money, but no, they were real money. She stuffed the cash away through decades.

A former co-worker passed away at age 59 this past summer. I'd known him for 30 years and was familiar with his financial situation. He retired early taking a pension penalty at age 50 but had about $500,000 in savings. He also owned a paid off house worth about $300k.

He lived comfortably off his reduced pension because he had very few hobbies and no expensive tastes. He could have enjoyed some of his money but chose to let it sit there. His sister and her husband are the beneficiaries of his frugal lifestyle.

 

[VanWinkle]

I know you like to keep score. Options, eye on the market every morning, it's your hobby.

I like to go fishing -

I'm with you RobbieB on the fishing!!! Maybe a round of golf thrown in.

VW

 

[street]

I know you like to keep score. Options, eye on the market every morning, it's your hobby.

I like to go fishing -

Keeping score puts my mindset in competition mode. I'm done competing and I have won the game competing against myself.

I will admit that I like to see where I stack up at but when I retired, I knew my score wouldn't be as good as the ones still working and saving.

I would think if my main goal was to have more than everyone else, I would be very miserable in life.

 

[NW-Bound]

Keeping score puts my mindset in competition mode. I'm done competing and I have won the game competing against myself.

I have observed that successful investing is mostly about overcoming greed and fear. I think I can learn to do this better with time, and it's still about competing with myself.

I will admit that I like to see where I stack up at but when I retired, I knew my score wouldn't be as good as the ones still working and saving.

I definitely gave up a lot, when I quit my part-time work where I earned a 6-figure each year. Active investing is my new part-time work to keep my mind active.

I would think if my main goal was to have more than everyone else, I would be very miserable in life.

No way you can have more than everyone else. There are so many billionaires and centimillionaires in the world. I am not even at 8 figures, and I am not miserable.

 

[Music Lover]

I would think if my main goal was to have more than everyone else, I would be very miserable in life.

The happiest people are those who know the difference between "more" and "enough".

 

[NW-Bound]

I never enjoy fishing, and definitely not golf. Fishing is too idle, and golf is too competitive.

I like gardening and planting. And I still like to tinker with electronics. These are my pastime, other than travel which I cannot do now due to Covid and make up for it with active investing.


PS. I forgot that fishing can be a competitive game too.

 

[street]

The happiest people are those who know the difference between "more" and "enough".

Oh, that is fact.

 

[NW-Bound]

Ah, I don't know anybody who does not want more. The truth is that we all want more but vary in the effort we want to expend to get it.

And the effort depends on our skill, knowledge, and personality too. When I was still working, I knew I did not have the knack or personality to be a successful manager, so never threw my hat in the ring for such a job despite being encouraged to. And technical guys don't climb the corporate ladder as high as managers, nor make as much money.

Yes, a guy has to know his limits. Trying for the impossible will lead to failure and unhappiness.

 

[Turbo29]

The happiest people are those who know the difference between "more" and "enough".

At a party given by a billionaire on Shelter Island, Kurt Vonnegut informs his pal, Joseph Heller, that their host, a hedge fund manager, had made more money in a single day than Heller had earned from his wildly popular novel Catch-22 over its whole history.

Heller responds,“Yes, but I have something he will never have — ENOUGH.”

 

[razztazz]

Piling on with the aphorisms: "There is no dignity quite so impressive, and no independence quite so important as living within your means." Silent Cal Coolidge. Widely practiced by millions a few years later when The Depression happened, and the only way anybody on this forum got here.

 

[Andre1969]

A former co-worker passed away at age 59 this past summer. I'd known him for 30 years and was familiar with his financial situation. He retired early taking a pension penalty at age 50 but had about $500,000 in savings. He also owned a paid off house worth about $300k.

He lived comfortably off his reduced pension because he had very few hobbies and no expensive tastes. He could have enjoyed some of his money but chose to let it sit there. His sister and her husband are the beneficiaries of his frugal lifestyle.

That is a sad story, of someone's life being cut short at a young age. But, I guess the silver lining is that, at least he retired when he did, and at least got nine years of retirement in before he died. I'm hoping they were nine good years, at least!

 

[Major Tom]

Ah, I don't know anybody who does not want more. The truth is that we all want more but vary in the effort we want to expend to get it.

I think that's true, in the sense that few folk would turn down more if they were offered it. Many of us are happy with what we have, but we wouldn't say no to a little more. We say it would be good to have a house with just a little more room, to make more money, to have a better job, or to have more savings. How many are motivated to actually do something to make that a reality though? That's where the second part of your statement comes into play.

To me, that's the test of whether somebody really wants something - whether they are prepared to do what it takes to get it. I mean, I would quite like to have $100M in the bank. Heck if I'm going to do what it takes to get there though

 

[street]

At a party given by a billionaire on Shelter Island, Kurt Vonnegut informs his pal, Joseph Heller, that their host, a hedge fund manager, had made more money in a single day than Heller had earned from his wildly popular novel Catch-22 over its whole history.

Heller responds,“Yes, but I have something he will never have — ENOUGH.”

That is good! Thanks for sharing that.

 

[street]

I think that's true, in the sense that few folk would turn down more if they were offered it. Many of us are happy with what we have, but we wouldn't say no to a little more. We say it would be good to have a house with just a little more room, to make more money, to have a better job, or to have more savings. How many are motivated to actually do something to make that a reality though? That's where the second part of your statement comes into play.

To me, that's the test of whether somebody really wants something - whether they are prepared to do what it takes to get it. I mean, I would quite like to have $100M in the bank. Heck if I'm going to do what it takes to get there though

Some more great words of wisdom.

 

[NW-Bound]

I think that's true, in the sense that few folk would turn down more if they were offered it. Many of us are happy with what we have, but we wouldn't say no to a little more. We say it would be good to have a house with just a little more room, to make more money, to have a better job, or to have more savings. How many are motivated to actually do something to make that a reality though? That's where the second part of your statement comes into play.

To me, that's the test of whether somebody really wants something - whether they are prepared to do what it takes to get it. I mean, I would quite like to have $100M in the bank. Heck if I'm going to do what it takes to get there though

I don't even know what I can do to get $100M. Banks don't keep that much in cash at their counter registers for me to rob.

 

[Music Lover]

That is a sad story, of someone's life being cut short at a young age. But, I guess the silver lining is that, at least he retired when he did, and at least got nine years of retirement in before he died. I'm hoping they were nine good years, at least!

Another friend and I did discuss that...at least he got 9 years of retirement by retiring early. He could have stayed until 55 and cut his retirement in half.

 

[NW-Bound]

A former co-worker passed away at age 59 this past summer. I'd known him for 30 years and was familiar with his financial situation. He retired early taking a pension penalty at age 50 but had about $500,000 in savings. He also owned a paid off house worth about $300k.

He lived comfortably off his reduced pension because he had very few hobbies and no expensive tastes. He could have enjoyed some of his money but chose to let it sit there. His sister and her husband are the beneficiaries of his frugal lifestyle.

That is a sad story, of someone's life being cut short at a young age. But, I guess the silver lining is that, at least he retired when he did, and at least got nine years of retirement in before he died. I'm hoping they were nine good years, at least!

Another friend and I did discuss that...at least he got 9 years of retirement by retiring early. He could have stayed until 55 and cut his retirement in half.

But such is life's uncertainty. There's no guarantee of anything. Will we say that people who died young could have retired at teenage years and not bother to go to school at all. Sure, they should but who knows exactly when his life is going to end?


My wife quit work at 50 because her job was so stressful. I started working parttime from 47 and continued till 55 because we still had two college-aged children. It would be stressful during the Great Recession if I had no earned income, and my stash was only 1/3 its size now.

Boom, 6 months after quitting work, I was diagnosed with a life-threatening disease. Of course, I survive it with surgeries and treatments, and am still here, but the risk of not making it was 1/3 and I might just be that 3rd guy.

Anyway, I had enjoyed life enough till then, and if I had to go, would not regret not quitting earlier. You make decisions knowing what you know now, and there's no point in second-guessing yourself later.

 

[teetee]

That is a sad story, of someone's life being cut short at a young age. But, I guess the silver lining is that, at least he retired when he did, and at least got nine years of retirement in before he died. I'm hoping they were nine good years, at least!

You assume that he didn't plan to die that young. Maybe after 9 years of retirement, he thought he better not to waste ant more time...

Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using Early Retirement Forum mobile app

 

[Graybeard]

I like these threads, I know I'm not alone! In many posts I read a sentence or two that described me to a tee. It's late and time for bed, if this is still running tomorrow I may add my 2 cents, plus or minus a few dollars!

 

[GravitySucks]

^ Lol. That is a good question! I might start digging that hole up high in those rocks this spring.

I'm thinking I might get by cheap for LTC with no money. I'll just bury it and leave a map to the kinfolks. Lol

Start digging now.
I hear that Medicaid 5 year look back is quite thorough!