So who was responsible ?

[Frugality_of_Apathy]

My current Boss. He's 53 and still a long way from retirement. He was telling me one day how he never thought he'd be working this long and he thought he'd be a millionaire 20 years ago. So later that day I ran the numbers and figured out with the way I was living I could be retired before him.

That and I'm fairly certain my Dad's plan is to either die working for the insurance money, or at least work into his 70's to get the house paid off.

 

[Eagle43]

Great thread idea, Freebird.

I'd have to say my parents were. We ate every nite but didn't have much extra cash for anything else. My father had to put up with a lot of crappola, as he came thru the depression when times were really bad, and a job was not readily given up. I learned LBYM and still practice it.

When you turned 60 years old, MegaCorp had a nice retirement package. I debated, but, I took it. A very good decision, I think.

 

[NW-Bound]

My parents were frugal. However, I am not sure that's the factor as all my siblings are bigger spenders than I am.

My brother recently bought his wife a "diamond ring upgrade", which they were too abashed to admit about the price (we did not ask). However, we overheard that it cost as much as a new car!

 

[Rambler]

Frugal parents, now in their 70s, spent less than 20k last year. Dad is especially frugal, and all the points in Goonie's post above were the principles we were taught. Dad has the same poem from Khan's post, stuck onto his refrigerator so my siblings see it when they visit:

Use it up
Wear it out
Make it do, or
Do without.

We all grew up with the same training, but while all my sibs are in debt to their eyeballs, we have none, and have had none for over 15 years (before that only a mortgage on the house).

R

 

[kcowan]

He understood the "life is short" aspect. He gave notice for ER from his job to help care for my mother as she struggled with breast/bone cancer. She died a couple days before their 25th anniversary and the week before his ER started.

Wow! Mom died of breast cancer one month after Dad retired. I swore I would not take the chance. Mom was only 57.

6.5 years after ER - so far so good!

 

[Nords]

Wow! Mom died of breast cancer one month after Dad retired. I swore I would not take the chance. Mom was only 57.
6.5 years after ER - so far so good!

She was diagnosed at age 40 and fought for nearly a decade, dying a few months before she turned 50. Breast cancer treatment in the 1970s/80s was primitive by today's standards but apparently the women in my family tree are genetically predisposed. My daughter (born five years after my mother died, barely a day shy of her birthday) is the spitting image of my mother's childhood photos, perhaps my mother's way of avenging herself from the grave.

I started terminal leave in Feb 2002-- hard to believe it's been nearly seven years!

 

[FinanceDude]

My brother recently bought his wife a "diamond ring upgrade", which they were too abashed to admit about the price (we did not ask). However, we overheard that it cost as much as a new car!

Did you ask what he did that required such an "upgrade"??

 

[laurence]

My step-grandparents, who were children of the depression and saved every penny. Drove a early 60's Dodge Dart until 1990. My grandpa was a state business tax auditor (franchise tax board?) and really good with numbers. He had piles and piles of papers on stocks and bonds and quotes and company info in his garage. I remember that his best investment (according to him) was something called a___ express (somebody fill that in for me?). Grandma was a stay at home and he retired at 55. Unfortunately, he had a stroke only 9 years later and was severely disabled until he passed a few years after that. But grandma never had to worry about money, and while she still calls the telephone company to argue about 15 cent fees, she's been to Iceland, Thailand, and a dozen other places in the last decade. They went everywhere when they were married, including the Soviet Union and China back when it wasn't exactly easy to get in.

Second is DW, she saw her parents blow it financially and all the stress they had. She is so good with money and is always pushing us to be frugal. I had to beg her to stop taking the recyclables to the redeem center instead of using the blue bin they picked up (without paying you). She only relented when she started her own business and saw the logic of her hourly consulting rate vs. time spent going to the recycling center. If it was left to me we'd probably only be saving about 10% per year due to my lack of skills.

 

[Nords]

Did you ask what he did that required such an "upgrade"??

Maybe it's what he didn't do, or what he shouldn't have done...

I remember that his best investment (according to him) was something called a___ express (somebody fill that in for me?).

American Express in the early 1960s when they were recovering from the salad-oil scandal?

 

[hankster]

Although I'm not FIREd yet, I've drawn a few lessons from watching my parents' situation. Dad retired from law enforcement in 1970 at the age of 49. Unfortunately, the modest state pension that looked adequate in 1970 soon met the inflation monster of the 70s. He ended up working another job full time starting a few years later until age 62. Mom worked part time until about age 65.

Their story will probably influence me to err on the safe side and be prepared for negative events in the early years of retirement. I may end up playing it so safe that I work longer than necessary. I just want to make sure that I don't end up back in the workplace because I have an inadequate cushion.

 

[laurence]

Maybe it's what he didn't do, or what he shouldn't have done...


American Express in the early 1960s when they were recovering from the salad-oil scandal?

It was something like Ampco Express (but I know that's wrong) some early precurser to a mutual fund...

 

[calmloki]

Dad worked. Lots. He was a skilled machinist and would frequently have several jobs, as well as working toward creating a cattle ranch. He owned his own shop several times and treated people well and with respect. The money and the skills he brought were magnified by the thrift and caginess of my Mom, who roamed about finding property deals, freight damaged foods from the railroads, auction cattle and other goods. Being quite a bit less work ethic driven and skillful than my Dad i lean more toward my Mom - more the spend less than the work more type.

 

[Bimmerbill]

My mom and dad were always savers, and HARD workers. My dad was a well known cheapskate in the family. Mom always made me save 75% of my job money while in high school for college. "Pay yourself first."

Plus, I'm naturally conservative and responsible. It was easy not to overspend (well, too much that is) and keep the financial house in order.

 

[NW-Bound]

My brother recently bought his wife a "diamond ring upgrade", which they were too abashed to admit about the price (we did not ask). However, we overheard that it cost as much as a new car!

The purchase was actually made in 2007. They would not do it now. As they did not drive fancy cars, I interpreted the comment "same as a new car" as being "less than $30K".

Did you ask what he did that required such an "upgrade"??

No, but I knew the situation.

Maybe it's what he didn't do, or what he shouldn't have done...

He has a well-paid hi-tech job that requires frequent domestic and world-wide international travel. When he is home, much time is spent reading and keeping up with technology. Wife stays home, taking care of young kids (he's a late starter), and also of their McMansion. I have seen her taking care of the pool, mowing the lawn, replacing plumbing fixture, etc...

He got big stock grants last year. So to make up to his wife, he wanted to indulge her, who was into jewelry. It was really a joint purchase. I would salt the money away for rainy days. They probably thought they had saved enough. YMMV.

 

[kcowan]

She was diagnosed at age 40 and fought for nearly a decade, dying a few months before she turned 50. Breast cancer treatment in the 1970s/80s was primitive by today's standards but apparently the women in my family tree are genetically predisposed.

Same - a successful mastectomy then a recurrence 10 years later which spread and it was the early experimental days of kemo. Took nearly 3 years to the final act.

I had 2 boys but I am watching my 2 granddaughters.

 

[harley]

Not sure if there's any one person. I think it was more a combination of growing up dirt poor and also being a major attitude case. I started working as close to full time as I could at age 12 in order to be able to buy anything. I walked my paper route until I could buy a bike, cut lawns with a push mower until I could buy a power mower, etc. Truthfully, if you count collecting bottles for the deposit money, I probably started when I was 6.

I wasn't really all that interested in retiring early most of my life, but I always hated being under anyone else's thumb, so I strove early on for FI so I could tell the Man to p!ss-off if I felt like it. By the time I was getting fairly close to FI I wandered into TMF and the ERHP. So I guess they get some credit for pointing the way to my current position as a post-career slacker.

 

[Meadbh]

Same - a successful mastectomy then a recurrence 10 years later which spread and it was the early experimental days of kemo. Took nearly 3 years to the final act.

I had 2 boys but I am watching my 2 granddaughters.

Some good news:
1. The prognosis of breast cancer is improving.
2. There are certain families who have breast cancer genes. Testing is available.
3. Vitamin D and healthy lifestyle help to prevent breast cancer.

 

[Khan]

Some good news:
1. The prognosis of breast cancer is improving.
2. There are certain families who have breast cancer genes. Testing is available.
3. Vitamin D and healthy lifestyle help to prevent breast cancer.

But don't let them keep you from testing and treating.