That ironic moment when you realize you won't outlive your money

[nun]

As ER'ers we do everything to make sure we have a good chance of living comfortably off our portfolio. Of course there comes a day when you reach the position that whatever the market does you are certain you'll never out live you money, hurrah.......and then you realize just how close you are to your mortality date.

 

[UserRequested]

:Lol, and I also realise that the stress of trying to achieve that outcome has actually taken me closer to the grave. You win some and lose some. At the end of the day it's a zero sum game

 

[heeyy_joe]

This is the day you start investing in horse racing. Problem solved.

 

[obgyn65]

I remember that day a couple of years ago when I started to make FIRE calculations after reading advice here, and realized I was financially safe for the rest of my life. I had real French champagne on my own that same evening, but made sure to keep quiet about it to those around me.

 

[Midpack]

I understand FI and all, but until I'm about 90ish, unless I can predict all the variables - I wouldn't know how to make that determination. How is it done?

 

[obgyn65]

i would start with my floor monthly expenses. Then look at how many years I can fund with my savings. Then look at LTCi, annuities, other insurance, impact of Obamacare, etc. Then plan for all contingencies, even healthcare issues, possible divorce, birth of a child, etc. I would factor life expectancy in.

I understand FI and all, but until I'm about 90ish, unless I can predict all the variables - I wouldn't know how to make that determination. How is it done?

 

[nun]

i would start with my floor monthly expenses. Then look at how many years I can fund with my savings. Then look at LTCi, annuities, other insurance, impact of Obamacare, etc. Then plan for all contingencies, even healthcare issues, possible divorce, birth of a child, etc. I would factor life expectancy in.

I wasn't really thinking of the details here, but the the offsetting feelings associated with FI success and mortality.

 

[obgyn65]

I think this depends more on your mindset. I am pretty comfortable with my own mortality. How you feel about your own is the key question IMHO.

I wasn't really thinking of the details here, but the the offsetting feelings associated with FI success and mortality.

 

[Midpack]

I wasn't really thinking of the details here, but the the offsetting feelings associated with FI success and mortality.

Gotcha...sorry.

 

[W2R]

I wasn't really thinking of the details here, but the the offsetting feelings associated with FI success and mortality.

So now, some of that intense drive to achieve the financial success that you have achieved, will probably be diverted into getting the best use out of the precious time remaining in your life. Do you want to travel? Do you want to spend time with family? What is on your bucket list? All of these decisions come to the forefront. And yes, confronting one's mortality is not always easy.

I joke about how I will be first in line when they come up with an "immortality pill". To be honest, I do not want to die. There is so much left to see, do, enjoy, and experience. Life has been amazing and there is more in store.

 

[Fermion]

I would love to outlive my money. That would be the best problem to have. Some new breakthrough that lets me live to 150 and see things like colonizing the moon or Mars. We have enough of a social net in the USA that few if anyone actually starves.

The sucky thing is not outliving your money. Steve Jobs left a lot on the table.

 

[ERhoosier]

Hate to be a wet blanket here, but not sure anyone should use that "ironic moment" to feel "certain you'll never outlive your $". Comfortably confident, sure. But just a bit of doubt can help keep things on track. As Franklin said- only "certainties" in life are death & taxes. And either can have major impact on whether or not you out live your $$

 

[RobLJ]

I wasn't really thinking of the details here, but the the offsetting feelings associated with FI success and mortality.

See Tolstoy's "How Much of a Nest Egg does a Man (Woman) Need?"
My fraternal twin inherited a congenital disease with puberty onset, so I've always been aware we skate on a very thin sheathe, with the wolf at the door. All our planning to be safe through frugality until we are 95 may turn to ashes, in a twinkling.
Not that being frugal is bad or having a 30 year plan--not my point.
But some, if given the bad news, might have preferred to spend a wee bit more 10 or 5 or 15 years earlier, particularly with family or a significant other. One of the best investments in my life was last summer's hike and bike in Italy with my wife and the two boys, one newly graduated, and the other's girlfriend's family. Florence, Montepulchiano, Assizi, and World Cup Soccer out in the wine-broker's garden in Spoella with my youngest and the proprietor cracking jokes about the Swedish forward. Not a bad investment, despite the expense.
Just a thought. Would that be worth spending 4.2% and a 96% confidence, versus 3% and 100%? Maybe, maybe not.
The insistence on 100% confidence in Firecalc strikes me as a bit obsessive, however; it's just a tool and a 100% doesn't mean your plan will work. For me, 85% or higher is probably enough, on the assumption adjustments can and will be made if things turn out bad, particularly in the first 5 years. That's just me.