Luxury Retirement Lifestyle

[doug]

Being a newbie - alot of the folks on this board LBYM to get to FIREd....myself included. My question is how many wish to live a luxury retirement lifestyle (definition subjective), so that you can reap the benefits of all the hard earned/years saving/investing, etc.

My idea of retirement is not to just not work, but to live in a standard probably above what one is normally used to during all the saving/working years. Why work so hard then? Also we don't plan on or believe in leaving much if any to any kids, so we are free to spend accordingly. Probably could come up with things to do/see/experience on expenses of $100,000 to $150,000/yr.

Is this realistic given the years and 'habit' of LBYM?

 

[justin]

I plan on spending more during retirement than during working years. Travel or other hobbies (a plane? a boat?) will require money. Currently I have little time to spend on travel or hobbies while working and raising my two young daughters with DW.

 

[haha]

Also we don't plan on or believe in leaving much if any to any kids, so we are free to spend accordingly.

Do your kids plan/believe in helping you to doctors’ appointments when you are old? Looking over your shoulders to be sure you are not being cheated in commercial or investment dealings? Sharing their children with you? Saying good things about you to your grandkids? Attending your funerals?

If so, I find your attitude as put forth above oddly one-sided..

I definitely plan to help my kids or grandkids, depending on my abilities and their needs.

Ha

 

[Nords]

Is this realistic given the years and 'habit' of LBYM?

I'd rather retire ASAP on lower annual spending than to hang on a few more years to support a luxury lifestyle. "LBYM" includes spending your money on the things that add value to your life. Slaving away at a sucky lifestyle to really live it up when you're retired... well that's just crazy deprivation talk. I wouldn't save sex, travel, or ER for old age.

Do your kids plan/believe in helping you to doctors’ appointments when you are old? Looking over your shoulders to be sure you are not being cheated in commercial or investment dealings? Sharing their children with you? Saying good things about you to your grandkids? Attending your funerals?
If so, I find your attitude as put forth above oddly one-sided..
I definitely plan to help my kids or grandkids, depending on my abilities and their needs.

Dang, Mikey, I'd like to think that I helped my kid by giving her my time and my tutelage instead of my car keys and my checkbook. I prefer the Gates & Buffett approach...

 

[tryan]

Probably could come up with things to do/see/experience on expenses of $100,000 to $150,000/yr.

Is this realistic given the years and 'habit' of LBYM?

Only if you plan to work a hole lot longer and spend like heck for a little while ... not my idea of FIRE.

 

[jeff2006]

One of my older friends used to remark that by the time he could afford to order anything he wanted from the menu, he couldn't digest the food well enough to enjoy the meal.

I ithink that there could be many different ideas about what constitutes luxury. $100-150 K is a lot of money, but to many people it might be more upper-middle than luxury. But how do they spend so much? Is a Rolex really all that much better than a Timex, so to speak?

 

[Arif]

I grew up with more love than money in our household, so my son will get the same. He'll learn the value of a dollar and how to be self supportive. As I have said before we'll pay for half his college costs IF his grades are good (Band above).

As far as lifestyle in retirement, I think I'll live at about the same lifestyle. After being in the Army for 11 years I prize quality of life and family more so than things. I've seen people with a tenth of the material things I have that were a lot more satisfied with their lives. That being said I think life requires balance of stuff and happiness. If you're not happy then all the additional stuff won't make you happier.

I do have dream of collecting rare cars but that will be when I'm a multi millionaire

 

[grumpy]

Now that we are retired and no longer have the expenses of college for the kids, retirement savings and mortgage payments to worry about, we can spend more on discretionary things. While we are not actually spending more in total than during our accumulation years it feels like a more luxurious lifestyle. We travel more (and stay in nicer places), we eat out more often, and the biggest luxury of all, we don't really have to worry if we spend on something unplanned.

Grumpy

 

[Cut-Throat]

Being a newbie - alot of the folks on this board LBYM to get to FIREd....myself included. My question is how many wish to live a luxury retirement lifestyle (definition subjective), so that you can reap the benefits of all the hard earned/years saving/investing, etc.

My idea of retirement is not to just not work, but to live in a standard probably above what one is normally used to during all the saving/working years. Why work so hard then? Also we don't plan on or believe in leaving much if any to any kids, so we are free to spend accordingly. Probably could come up with things to do/see/experience on expenses of $100,000 to $150,000/yr.

Is this realistic given the years and 'habit' of LBYM?

No problem for me! - I'm gonna spend as much as I can. If I had a $100 Million, I'd make sure I spent or gave away at least $4 Million a year!

 

[Cattusbabe]

For DH  and I it was more important to FIRE than to work one second longer than we had to.  Been ER since May and love it.  Would not ever go back. We had a good middle class standard of living before we each ER  and our current life style is about the same except we travel more and we have enough money not to worry about making ends meet.  The gift of time is worth everything. So I guess you can say that our lifestyle improved. The techniques that we used to get to where we are maintines our life. LBYM, stay out of debt and forget about what the Jones are doing.  They'er more that likey in hock anyway which is why their behinds are still out there hitting it.

 

[peggy]

My idea of retirement is not to just not work, but to live in a standard probably above what one is normally used to during all the saving/working years.  Why work so hard then? 

My idea of retirement is choosing what activities I want to do and when. I can't imagine what a "standard probably above" what I have now would be, other than not having to work 40 hours a week.

DH and I already structure our lives around what we like to do as much as we can -- we spend evenings and weekends pursuing various interests, try to take at least one long trip each year and a couple of long weekends each year. Expenses for those things we like are already factored in to the projected retirement budget.

What else should / could we be spending on to qualify for "luxury lifestyle"?

I have to admit, I really don't get this.

 

[LRS]

I want to retire with the same standard of living that we enjoy now. We manage to enjoy nice restaurants and travel abroad occasionally now. We have everything we need, plus most of what we want. Granted, our material wants are modest. I could care less about new cars, jewelry, clothes or fancy watches.

I foresee having the same annual income as now, but adjusted for inflation. The luxury part will be the freedom, all the time in the world to spend as we please.

Kids: We are bound to leave the kids the same amount (adjusted for inflation) that our parents left us. Why? Because my father in law asked us to. Because of his thoughtfulness, and because we also lived below our means, worked hard, saved, got out of debt, etc., we are now financially secure and nearing early retirement. We will both have cola'd pensions that will nearly replace our current income. I doubt that conserving a portion of our savings for our kids will deprive us of anything. Will it "spoil" them? Did it spoil us? No, it was just damned nice of the old man to think of us.

 

[HobbyDave]

Being a newbie - alot of the folks on this board LBYM to get to FIREd....myself included. My question is how many wish to live a luxury retirement lifestyle (definition subjective), so that you can reap the benefits of all the hard earned/years saving/investing, etc.

Certainly, I would like to have a lot of money, travel, buy whatever strikes my fancy, etc.

My idea of retirement is not to just not work, but to live in a standard probably above what one is normally used to during all the saving/working years. Why work so hard then?

I believe what you were trying to say in that last sentence was "Why else would you work so hard?". The problem is that if you want to live with a standard above your saving/working years, that means more saving/working years. It's just how money works. I could have an incredibly opulent lifestyle if I continued working until I was 65.. but I have no plans of working nearly that long. It is generally a simple sliding scale: More money = more work, less money = less work.

So no, I don't intend to be rich in retirement, because I plan on quitting as soon as I'll be "ok". Now, if I retire and some hobby makes me a lot of money, I'll just consider it a bonus.

Also we don't plan on or believe in leaving much if any to any kids, so we are free to spend accordingly.

There is a lot written about the trouble that inheritances (and kids who expect inheritances) can cause. I think that helping kids through college is good, but leaving them enough to retire on is not good. Like someone said, "Leave the kids enough to do whatever they want, but not enough so that they can do nothing".

If my wife and I do end up having kids, we'll also plan on leaving nothing for them (except for possibly some vacation property that has been in the family for ~100 years, although currently my parents still own it . I figure parents need to get kids to their adult stage, and kids need to help the parents reach the death stage.. hmm.. not too pleasant

Is this realistic given the years and 'habit' of LBYM?

Are you saying that you might get into a habit of saving? Sure, but habits are easy to break. Now if you're happy taking walks in the woods all day, don't feel like you need to start spending. But if you really enjoy foreign vacations and you have the money, it'll be easy to get into the habit of travel

 

[Nords]

Here is a nice 'little' cabin in Jackson Hole for about $20 Million. On a private trout Stream.

For that price I'd expect the seller to do something about the weather... and the mosquitos!

 

[MasterBlaster]

I thought that I'd upgrade my little shack when I retire.

 

[dumpster56]

I thought that I'd upgrade my little shack when I retire.

Nice..

 

[peggy]

For that price I'd expect the seller to do something about the weather... and the mosquitos!

For that price, I'd expect them to provide my own private trout fisherman....

It must be a sign of how far gone I am that I look at the photo (and the other one posted downthread) and think, "No *way* am I cleaning that house!"

 

[Cut-Throat]

For that price, I'd expect them to provide my own private trout fisherman....

It must be a sign of how far gone I am that I look at the photo (and the other one posted downthread) and think, "No *way* am I cleaning that house!"

They usually get a private guide as well!

And you do know that the people that live in these houses do not clean it themselves, don't you?

 

[peggy]

And you do know that the people that live in these houses do not clean it themselves, don't you?

Yes.

I just am not personally acquainted with such luxuries as a housecleaning service, and therefore didn't immediately think of it. LOL

 

[Caroline]

I'm 49 years old and my friends are dropping like flies. A couple of them had heart attacks in their 50s, one had a stroke, another (big, strong backpacking friend) had an aneurysm and was dead before he hit the floor. (I may have mentioned all of this earlier -- but the reminder seems appropriate here.)

My sister just got whacked by one of those monster pickups -- totaled her little Hyundai and if she'd been one millisecond later into that intersection, we'd have buried her. That brings to four (or 100%) of we siblings who've had potentially life-threatening automobile accidents and lived to tell the tale.

Right now I'm working out in preparation for a trekking vacation -- and the old bones and muscles, while they're doing pretty well for me -- just are not what they used to be.

All of this is a long answer with a short summary: I'm not working for a luxurious lifestyle I may never get to enjoy, either due to accident, sickness, or just plain not having the energy to get out and get movingm because I worked too long.

On the other hand, it IS a matter of taste -- I took my mother on a cruise and, while the food was GREAT and the entertainment pretty good, I was bored silly most of the time. I'd rather eat mac and cheese around a campfire somewhere in the Grand Canyon. Others seemed to really love the whole scene though, and if that's what you like, that's one fo the beauties of investing and saving -- you get to choose!

Caroline

 

[Donzo]

So many good posts.....still, I have to jump in with mine(2 white Russians tonight after a great stress free day)
I retired recently (2 mo.) on about half my take home salary (not counting commisions) and could not be happier.
I am really enjoying my free time and have never gotten along with my DW so well-
I have had the time to plan and surprise my kids with with various trips and "adventures" - I am really getting to know them (used to travel 2-5 night per week).
Tomarrow I am pulling them out of school for the day to go to the state fair -
I sleep .... like my college years (but w/o the "variety" )
I am so glad I pulled the plug when I did - 5 more years of work for what? Another pile of money I would not spend...
You get one shot here - IMO if you stay in the rat race longer that what it takes to produce a reasonable ER, you are caught up in the race.
Get out while you are young/alive and can appreciate the freedom -- not need it.

 

[JonnyM]

ER'd earlier this year, about 5 months in now.

...Time is the ultimate luxury...

...and now we have just about enough... 8) :

 

[Momtwo]

We are spending a lot more in retirement on traveling and vacations than we ever did while working. Lots of luxuries like always flying first class! However I also care a great deal about my sons and their wives so plan on leaving a bit to them too!

Momtwo

 

[haha]

Dang, Mikey, I'd like to think that I helped my kid by giving her my time and my tutelage instead of my car keys and my checkbook.  I prefer the Gates & Buffett approach...

I don't think that being there physically and emotionally for your kids is in conflict with leaving your financial legacy with them. One can do both!

And as to Buffet and Gates, I'll re-evaluate my plans when I put away my first billion. The scraps that fall off those guys' tables would be orders of magnitude more than 100% of whatever I could give.

Plus, since I tried like you do to impart my values to them, who is more likely to use the money in ways that I would like? My kids, or some foundation?

It is also possible that they might consider an inheritance a welcome reward for putting up with me all these years. 

Ha

 

[Billy]

Caroline

I'm 49 years old and my friends are dropping like flies. A couple of them had heart attacks in their 50s, one had a stroke, another (big, strong backpacking friend) had an aneurysm and was dead before he hit the floor….All of this is a long answer with a short summary: I'm not working for a luxurious lifestyle I may never get to enjoy, either due to accident, sickness, or just plain not having the energy to get out and get movingm because I worked too long.

I must say I agree with you whole heartedly on this view. Life is not guaranteed to anyone, and losing some friends at such a young age brings this point home very directly.

We retired in January of 1991 when we were 38 years old. That sounds very young and maybe even foolhardy, however one of my girlfriends (age 41) unexpectedly contracted leukemia and died the Christmas eve before, and another one (age 39) got hit by a truck on a mountainside in Hawaii in a rainstorm, and died that same January.

We took that as a motivational sign…

Best,
Akaisha
Author, The Adventurer’s Guide to Early Retirement