Don't save money.........just live your life. Tomorrow isn't promised. (account, business)
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Well, more likely than early death, they usually face other declining health related issues that prevent them from enjoying the money they've saved later in life.
Reality is that neither extreme is good. You need to plan for tomorrow, but don't live for it.
Seems kind of depressing and demoralizing to think that each day could very well be our last. I see and hear many people making that claim 'tomorrow isn't promised', but I often wonder how much weight they truly give to that assertion? It seems as if it would make it hard to be productive and happy knowing that I or you or anyone else could conceivably die at any given moment, regardless of age. If I truly thought today was my last day, I sure as hell wouldn't go to work, or pay any bills, or do any of the usual, mundane activities. Rather, I would become a hedonist for a day, satisfying every primal urge and fantasy I could.
I doubt most people really, truly expect to not see tomorrow. I think it would be psychologically damaging to seriously consider that each day might be our last. And why use days as the unit of measurement? If tomorrow isn't promised, what about the next hour, or the next ten minutes??
Seems kind of depressing and demoralizing to think that each day could very well be our last. I see and hear many people making that claim 'tomorrow isn't promised', but I often wonder how much weight they truly give to that assertion? It seems as if it would make it hard to be productive and happy knowing that I or you or anyone else could conceivably die at any given moment, regardless of age. If I truly thought today was my last day, I sure as hell wouldn't go to work, or pay any bills, or do any of the usual, mundane activities. Rather, I would become a hedonist for a day, satisfying every primal urge and fantasy I could.
I doubt most people really, truly expect to not see tomorrow. I think it would be psychologically damaging to seriously consider that each day might be our last. And why use days as the unit of measurement? If tomorrow isn't promised, what about the next hour, or the next ten minutes??
THANK YOU!
well said! that's exactly the reason why i go around every day as a hedonist, satisfying every primal urge and fantasy i can! and my "wife" says she's not cool with it!
THANK YOU!
well said! that's exactly the reason why i go around every day as a hedonist, satisfying every primal urge and fantasy i can! and my "wife" says she's not cool with it!
I posted something similar to this on the parent economic forum about cars.
What good is saving money if you're not going to use it? I'm going to spend a decent chunk of my savings over the past 3 years on a down-payment for a new car this year & keep the payment at a low level. That's what I've been saving for -- to buy a nice car. We could save for another 2-3 years & pay cash but we kind of need a family car now and we want the one that we want.
My wife and I have had these discussions a lot lately. I've been obsessed with savings over the past few years - probably to an unhealthy level. I began saving 10% a few years ago, increased it to 35% over the past couple years. What my wife gets upset about is that it was never enough for me. I pushed the percentage up a point or two every few months and I still felt dissatisfied, to the point that I got mad over my wife buying a pair of jeans from Target I didn't know about. The jeans were something like $40.00 and I blew up.
Bad. Had to stop.
Her words: "What good will a million dollars in the bank do you when you're too old & infirm to do anything fun?" Made a lot of sense, since I had some miser relatives that died cash-rich but life-poor.
I have to accept that I am a normal middle class person with a normal middle class job & no amount savings will put me in the top tier. At least no "healthy" amount of savings.
I still believe in avoiding debt as much as possible. The ~30-35% savings rate still exists, but we use, or as I like to put it, manage, the money in there now.
I posted something similar to this on the parent economic forum about cars.
What good is saving money if you're not going to use it? I'm going to spend a decent chunk of my savings over the past 3 years on a down-payment for a new car this year & keep the payment at a low level. That's what I've been saving for -- to buy a nice car. We could save for another 2-3 years & pay cash but we kind of need a family car now and we want the one that we want.
My wife and I have had these discussions a lot lately. I've been obsessed with savings over the past few years - probably to an unhealthy level. I began saving 10% a few years ago, increased it to 35% over the past couple years. What my wife gets upset about is that it was never enough for me. I pushed the percentage up a point or two every few months and I still felt dissatisfied, to the point that I got mad over my wife buying a pair of jeans from Target I didn't know about. The jeans were something like $40.00 and I blew up.
Bad. Had to stop.
Her words: "What good will a million dollars in the bank do you when you're too old & infirm to do anything fun?" Made a lot of sense, since I had some miser relatives that died cash-rich but life-poor.
I have to accept that I am a normal middle class person with a normal middle class job & no amount savings will put me in the top tier. At least no "healthy" amount of savings.
I still believe in avoiding debt as much as possible. The ~30-35% savings rate still exists, but we use, or as I like to put it, manage, the money in there now.
It should be about balance but a measured balance. I have trouble spending especially when it comes to cars but I have wanted a Jaguar F-Type for some time I just can't bring myself to pull the trigger. I would say it might be reaching if a substantial portion of 3 years worth of savings still leaves you with a note on your car. It might be too expensive at that point
Its all about balance. There is a lot of black & white thinking on most finance boards with regards to saving. I get it. Most people don't save enough. 5% isn't going to be enough for most people and nothing certainly isn't enough. But saving nothing isn't necessarily any worse than scrimping and saving every penny to the point that you are subsisting off rice and beans and haven't taken a vacation in 20 years despite a 200k salary.
Some people have goals of retiring super-early and want to prioritize that - if it works for them and their family then great. My wife and I love what we do and have zero interest in retiring early. Heck, I'd do my job for free if I didn't have that pesky need for food and shelter. We're fairly high earners so can save a good amount for retirement (15% + 5-10% employer match). We'll probably take a 30 year mortgage rather than 15, because the monthly payments on a 15 would be tougher for the kind of places we'd like and it seems a reasonable hedge against catastrophe. We'll pay it off sooner if we can. We prefer new cars to used, but I'd take a Toyota over a Mercedes any day of the week and will drive it til it disintegrates. We'll probably finance our next car just because our nest egg is smaller than we'd like for our age (recently finished graduate school, so our combined income has tripled over the last 3 years and net worth is still catching up).
The keys are that we are putting aside enough to have a healthy retirement and money coming in always exceeds money going out. If that ever changes, we'll rebalance the equation however we see fit. Beyond that, its all about shades of grey, preferences and priorities. If you want a new car, buy a new car. Just buy one that is within your budget. Put aside some money for retirement and recognize that how much you put aside depends on your goals and will dictate your options later in life. Unless you are in the absolute lowest income bracket, it IS possible to live for both today and tomorrow.
I guess I'm lucky cars don't do a thing for me. I couldn't care less about them. So that right there saves me $$. I do like to travel the world and vacation, a lot, but I fly for the airlines so even that is nearly free as well. So I just save and invest. My main concern is cost of health care in the later years for myself and spouse.
It should be about balance but a measured balance. I have trouble spending especially when it comes to cars but I have wanted a Jaguar F-Type for some time I just can't bring myself to pull the trigger. I would say it might be reaching if a substantial portion of 3 years worth of savings still leaves you with a note on your car. It might be too expensive at that point
Yeah the F-type is an awesome car. Although it's one of those that may be better from afar than in reality, boy does it look great (from videos I've seen the interior layout could be better, but who cares about that when your car is so awesome?). Maybe when I'm old.
We could pay for the car she wants outright, but I value liquidity and can make the payment reasonable. We could also get the base model, or we could wait. But you know, I want her to have the up-market version if she wants it and we could use the car earlier than later. If she doesn't, well then we save some money. We have credit scores right at 800 so I think there should be some low interest finance deals available, especially with such a large downpayment. This is all in the realm of affordability; both of us will get raises next year & we have no reason to think our jobs won't be there. I think the note can be paid off in 2.5 years or less. I really don't see it as a bad thing.
I don't regret buying a new car 7 years ago. I paid off the 5 year note on it in about 3.7 years. I like driving the thing to this day and have run the wheels off of it; 120K miles and counting. Buying lightly used is not the same. There's something to be said for buying new and the car being YOURS.
Last edited by redguard57; 06-29-2016 at 03:16 PM..
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