Meet the oversavers

Yes easier to see in retrospect. Hard to know how things will work out.

But we always prioritized vacations and such while in accumulation years. Saved by not spending pointlessly but did not deprive ourselves.

Now, plenty and oh here comes this SS thingy. But having more than you need is a high quality problem and allows you to gift more to family and to charity.
 
Yeah, the illness shortly after retiring always really gets me (in terms of sadness, regrets and what a bummer/bad luck).

DM was diagnosed with a fatal illness shortly before DH retired at the standard age as expected with his pension. This definitely inspired me to retire shortly after I became FI.

DH lived another 25 years as a widower.
Sorry, that was supposed to be DF, not DH!
 
I read the article yesterday. We are over saved but are nowhere near the examples in the story. One guy waited until 70 and then got cancer right after retiring. We started upping our travel at age 50 and I RE'd at 57.
 
I don't have much of a bucket list and I enjoyed my time w*rking (until I didn't and then I FIRE'd.) SO, if I die tomorrow, I'll have few regrets - at least in terms of over saving.

And I'm with Stormy Kromer. I enjoy helping people with my excess. I hope to keep helping long after I'm gone.
 
Probably us, but DW enjoys the new 4 day WW and the travel/nicer meals thing too. I'm ok with my 6+ years of self employment too, making stuff.

We have a good bit of balance.
 
So many article these days do not want you to have peace of mind :).

I have zero regrets being a likely "oversaver". Even though the numbers said I would have retirement success at age 54, I still feel blessed and very fortunate to have been able to retire at age 60. One cannot put a price on contented peace of mind. I have a family and a few causes that I love, and am happy to leave anything I or DW cannot spend to them.
 
Compounding is the 8th wonder of the world.

People who are intense about driving income and diligent about investing often look up to discover that their long term efforts have built a situation where the last few years are MUCH better than they ever really thought would happen ... so they "overshoot". I know many people who trapped by that outcome. They can't imagine walking away when they are making so much money. One more year ensues.

The trick - for everyone - is to know when to use the word "enough".

Enough consumption along so you can LBYM.
Enough money in the bank to allow one to walk away and get to the next stage of life.

The definition "Enough" varies for everyone ... but its the only path to FIRE ...
 
I look at this slightly differently. I definitely over saved for my current lifestyle, but under saved for my "ideal" lifestyle, which mostly includes real estate I'll likely never be able to afford at this point. I decided to quit my job at 54 because I saw my father die at 69, just as he was getting started in earnest as a retiree after a long career supporting our family on a teacher's salary. He had a fantastic pension and a little chunk of money invested for "fun money" despite being the sole breadwinner. Sadly he only got to tap a tiny fraction of it all. Mom benefited however and, while on a tight budget, has enough for her needs.

As it stands I have trouble spending what I'm "allowed" from my portfolio, but I'm working on "dying with zero" so open to ideas!
 
My kids think I oversaved, but they don't know the cash flow picture...

when I turned 58...
two kids finished college - no more tuition
paid off house - no more house payment
reached maximum retirement benefits
got a very big bonus

so retired! a year earlier the cash flow was much different.
 
My kids think I oversaved, but they don't know the cash flow picture...

when I turned 58...
two kids finished college - no more tuition
paid off house - no more house payment
reached maximum retirement benefits
got a very big bonus

so retired! a year earlier the cash flow was much different.
You won the game. It takes about 40 years of being a responsible adult. Good for you!

By chance, does sdtech mean you're in South Dakota ?
 
Compounding is the 8th wonder of the world.

People who are intense about driving income and diligent about investing often look up to discover that their long term efforts have built a situation where the last few years are MUCH better than they ever really thought would happen ... so they "overshoot". I know many people who trapped by that outcome. They can't imagine walking away when they are making so much money. One more year ensues.

The trick - for everyone - is to know when to use the word "enough".

Enough consumption along so you can LBYM.
Enough money in the bank to allow one to walk away and get to the next stage of life.

The definition "Enough" varies for everyone ... but its the only path to FIRE ...
I agree completely. Determining that I have enough "stuff" was/is pretty easy. It took longer to come to the conclusion that I have (had at the time) enough savings. Now 19 years on, I feel convinced I have enough (of everything.)
 
We could spend more, my health isn't so good so I don't really feel up to traveling, I encourage my wife to go do stuff with her friends but she's kind of a homebody too. I might splurge and have the deck rebuilt, add one of those long aluminum wraparound wheelchair ramps instead of stairs, just in case. That's 5 grand already! Geez. I wonder if it would make the house worth more, or less?
 
I over saved? Maybe. Over planned? for sure. Have not touched the IRA and Roth over the past 12 yrs.
Just conversions. Might not need them at all. Maxed out both every year for 30 years. No interest in travel. Have seen enough. :LOL:
 
I saved and spent and traveled while I worked. The transition to retirement was, as a consequence, made easy. I continue to save, spend, and travel, though ltravel less due to age.
 
Didn't read the paywall article, & I'm scratching my head on whether we oversaved. That may sound weird, considering that DW & I live in one of the most-expensive COL states. I was happy to turn over the money to DW, when we married 46 years ago, & she ran with it!

We owned a computer consulting company, which I ran, while she kept her j*b as an engineering manager, & maximized her company's 401(k) matches. We also bought two rental properties, even before we moved here, but that's about it, for planning. Now, we own the paid-off rentals, & our home (total equity is about $4.1 million), with another $1.5 million in Vanguard, etc. She's been pulling out about 8%/year, but the $$ are growing faster than we can spend it, not including equity growth!

So does that mean that we oversaved, or that we're just lucky? :unsure:
 
Didn't read the paywall article, & I'm scratching my head on whether we oversaved. That may sound weird, considering that DW & I live in one of the most-expensive COL states. I was happy to turn over the money to DW, when we married 46 years ago, & she ran with it!

We owned a computer consulting company, which I ran, while she kept her j*b as an engineering manager, & maximized her company's 401(k) matches. We also bought two rental properties, even before we moved here, but that's about it, for planning. Now, we own the paid-off rentals, & our home (total equity is about $4.1 million), with another $1.5 million in Vanguard, etc. She's been pulling out about 8%/year, but the $$ are growing faster than we can spend it, not including equity growth!

So does that mean that we oversaved, or that we're just lucky? :unsure:
Unfortunately we only "know" we over saved when we're dead! Who knows what life has waiting for us. I could imagine a situation where I'd be happy to have extra money to afford round the clock nursing care AT HOME instead of in "the nursing home."

Of course, I'd rather leave money on the table than to end up with that scenario. YMMV
 
Fortunately "Be Prepared" was drummed into me by the Boy Scouts so once me and the DW got past the early earning years we jumped on the IRA/403b/401k bandwagon. However, the future will be calling the shots and we can only hope we did enough.
 
Fortunately "Be Prepared" was drummed into me by the Boy Scouts so once me and the DW got past the early earning years we jumped on the IRA/403b/401k bandwagon. However, the future will be calling the shots and we can only hope we did enough.
I've forgotten whether you have run FIRECalc. It's a pretty good tool to let you know if you're in the ballpark for early retirement. Looking back at your first post, I would have some questions about your readiness but don't mean to be a downer. Someone on that thread suggested you calculate your expenses. That's critical. Best luck!
 
I didn't over save but I did "under enjoy" my life during w*rk. . .
 
If I over saved, I'm blaming the last two years of the stock market.

We lived a great life pre-retirement anyway. Decent amount of travel, good cars, bought a home we love, etc.. So, no regrets.
 
Over saving is one way of looking at it. Another way of looking at it is that it is the price you pay to sleep better. When you have a mil extra in the savings, you know you can handle a few unfortunate events if they come your way, god forbid. Health stuff, well that you can't do anything about. Control what you can and then just live I guess.
 
Over saving is one way of looking at it. Another way of looking at it is that it is the price you pay to sleep better. When you have a mil extra in the savings, you know you can handle a few unfortunate events if they come your way, god forbid. Health stuff, well that you can't do anything about. Control what you can and then just live I guess.
It's sort of the equivalent of an insurance policy. You hope you don't need it, but it's nice to have if you do need it.
 
Compounding is the 8th wonder of the world.

People who are intense about driving income and diligent about investing often look up to discover that their long term efforts have built a situation where the last few years are MUCH better than they ever really thought would happen ... so they "overshoot". I know many people who trapped by that outcome. They can't imagine walking away when they are making so much money. One more year ensues.

The trick - for everyone - is to know when to use the word "enough".

Enough consumption along so you can LBYM.
Enough money in the bank to allow one to walk away and get to the next stage of life.

The definition "Enough" varies for everyone ... but its the only path to FIRE ...
This is me. Compounding these days has yielded outsized gains. I'm retiring later this year, with many times beyond what is necessary. We did oversave but the wife and I have many discussions about what peace of mind is worth, especially compared to friends and family who hint at not having peace of mind, financially. The "one more year" thing happened to me because I truly enjoy my job and I also enjoy being at peak earning power at my advanced age. I am very proud of that personally and it is tough to give up.

We are planning a remodel of a home we are closing on next week now with no budget. I made it clear that this is the last time she will be able to plan this out so make sure to enjoy it and have no regrets because she is not constrained by the right side of the menu and should order whatever she wants from the left side of the menu and don't be concerned about the cost. I have no worries about waste or extravagance because we have lived so far below our means for our entire lives together that it just can't happen that way. There should be no go-big or go-expensive because it doesn't matter. All finishes will be scaled to our tastes and the neighborhood we live in. There will be no flashiness or gaudiness, just high quality finishes that match the norms of the neighborhood (upper middle working class but no extreme wealthy neighbors). These are all one-time expenditures and I expect our recurring expenditures, with the exception of property tax to not be much different from where we currently live. Once we finish and sell the current house things should normalize nicely except we live in a nicer neighborhood in a slightly bigger home. Our current home has been remodeled and furnished/finished very nicely so we are not really stepping up in that regard.

That said, our investable assets will take a hit because of selling off LTCG but we have plenty of buffer to absorb that, too. I do look forward to having a big pile of cash instead of being so heavily in equities my entire adult life. I told her we are done with saving and accumulating. We have plenty.
 
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