Ty Bernicke

[Callie]

Re: vacations

We work too hard not to take them and we can afford them. We will not give these up.

We usually go to the caribbean (or cancun) in the Feb time frame, then we usually rent a nice house on a lake for all the kids to come on vacation - that is not cheap either but worth it.

In our income bracket and area (Boston) it is not uncommon for people to own cottages and my husband used to own one with his ex (she bought us out). So it's mch cheaper to rent than to buy one. Also we can go to a different lake each time.

I grew up camping though (blue collar family). Hub and I have taken the kids camping many times, not to save money, but because they really love it.

 

[Callie]

We did cancel our Europe vacation for October because I quit work and thought I shouldn't spend the money right now.

Once I start working again, we will reschedule. Travel is one of our core values/interests. It doesn't have to be exotic, we love US road trips, etc.

 

[Idea guy]

Look I just don't see what the big deal is about saving too much is. Personaly I don't think you could save too much (unless it's saving to the point where you're not living a fulfilling life now). But if if people started to take some of the money out of cirrculation it would only increase the buying power of consumers and be a positive. One of the many reasons America is entering finicial strife is because our government has been increasing the amount of paper money introduced into the market place, and that causes lower buying power (example of buying power: it takes twice as much money "amount of" money to equal the value of a good or service. our parents, parents wheren't paid as much as we are, and their goods were cheaper as well). When apples are $100,000 money is valueless. this is a good thing, that people are saving.
I much rather have an extra million dollars in my account when I die that either goes to my kids or a well meaning charity than run out of cash right when I die, wouldn't you?

 

[2B]

I much rather have an extra million dollars in my account when I die that either goes to my kids or a well meaning charity than run out of cash right when I die, wouldn't you?

Welcome to the forum since I see this is your first post.

We'd all like an "extra" million. The whole point of Bernicke's work was to show that people think they need more to retire on than they probably really do. The downside of saving too much isn't based on dying with a pile of cash but on delaying retirement for many years chasing a mistaken target portfolio value.

As you hang around here you will find this to be a recurring question. How much is enough?

 

[Idea guy]

Thanks for the invite!!!

It's just I keep running into this idea that money is evil and you're only noble if your poor, that philosiphy is just flawed. So, when ever I see or hear a thread running a similar line I feel it is my duty to step in and support all those who have taken in upon themselves to gain wealth to help others.

"How much is enough?" Well the answer to that question is very simple. How ever much it would take for you to live the lifestyle you desire. thats it.

 

[2B]

Again, the work of Bernicke shows that the lifestyle we desire declines as we age. His work evaluated only those people that had a reasonable amount of assets and were not impoverished/limited in their spending.

 

[d]

not to prolong this, but "The Fidelity Research Institute said Monday ...In addition, retirees are finding they're spending more than they had anticipated. About 34% had expected their monthly expenses in retirement to stay the same, and 48% had thought they would go down. However, reality is paining a different picture: Two-thirds of those surveyed said that their expenses went up or stayed the same."
http://www.marketwatch.com/News/Story/Story.aspx?guid=%7B202FBBA5%2D4CA9%2D4144%2D8248%2DBFD8452CA3DA%7D&siteid=mktw&dist=nwhpf

 

[modlair]

I have run into this just lately and I'm gonna call BS on the whole thing.

First, asking new retirees who are NOT members of this board and not focused on such things if their expenses went up . . . will encounter all those who decide to sell their house and move closer to the grandkids. Well, they spend serious money getting the old house ready for sale. They add that into their calculation and presto, skewed result. Similarly, there's a really good chance they didn't include health care expenditures in their pre-retirement budget because they were payroll deductions and invisible, so now that they pay them out of their visible budget they evaluate it as a new expense.

Asking people who are not focused what happened is not a reliable survey.