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We are comfortable and have attained the ideal retirement lifestyle, as we define it, for ourselves. We never expected that it would be so very wonderful.
I'm curious, did you move to Asheville for your retirement or did you already live there? It looks beautiful, but I don't know if I could deal with the weather.
I'm curious, did you move to Asheville for your retirement or did you already live there? It looks beautiful, but I don't know if I could deal with the weather.
Can't speak for the poster to whom this was addressed, but DH & I love love Asheville, have regularly vacationed there since 1978. The climate works for us but we just can't get past the ridiculous housing costs so we've ruled it out for relocation.
I'm curious, did you move to Asheville for your retirement or did you already live there? It looks beautiful, but I don't know if I could deal with the weather.
We have been vacationing in the general area for 40+ years in all kinds of weather. The winter is mild compared to some places I have lived. I love all of the seasons. Housing prices and taxes and insurance are less expensive for us, but that is relative to where you are from. It is amazing to be surrounded by such ever-changing beauty and kind, friendly people.
Envy is inevitable. The person with $5M is going to envy the one with $50M, even if the former is genteel, restrained, and refrains from any overt remarks.
That may be true for some but it's not true for us.
Honestly, if I had $50 million, what would I do with it? I can't even figure out what I want for Christmas. All that's on my list is a license plate frame for my new Roadtrek.
And I'm not conceited enough to think that a fat bank account makes me capable of solving the world's ills.
Some will not believe this but beyond a certain point, more money creates more problems. I already have enough administrative hassle in my life.
Chains are still chains. Golden or not. Nobody gets 6 figures and doesn't work their butt off. The time, the preoccupation, the priorities....getting those back will mean more the more they've been kept away. I work hard, but I have no doubt that a retiring surgeon is going to enjoy their retirement more than I will enjoy mine.
When I do retire, I'm going to start a rock band. The $2.3M being cited doesn't mean we'll be any good, it just means we won't have to be.
This is a longshot but I think for a lot of uneducated working-class it's better for them to work past 65. Time and again i've seen folks retire from decades of laborious "careers" only to sit at home and veg out in front of a television set. You can do that without a retirement fund. Ask the millions of non-workers on welfare. The ones that aren't okay with TV vegging usually re-enter the workforce part time (and reduce their tv hours significantly, but not completely).
What I think is happening is that decades of repetitive actions (they say repetition is the most basic form of mind control) have basically molded what was once a human into a near robot. Psychologically, these retired folks are experiencing what amounts to a PTSD effect, where they cling to their working ways, because its all they knew, and devoted most of their waking life to. You can ask these retired folk and its clear a lot of them don't even know what to do with the free time they have.
"Work," it's all they know. And with the human tendency to be fearful of change, this culminates into someone trapped by life's calling of necessity--that they had to work most of their life and the feeling won't completely leave their psyche.
This seems very classist! Who cares if they want to veg out in front of the tv? Why should THEY continue to work just because they aren't interested in traveling and going to museums and the opera and otherwise pursuing cultural and intellectual pursuits? Can't YOU do those things while you're still working? Why should YOU be entitled to retire but tv watchers should be satisfied with working until they die? If they can afford to retire and are satisfied with or at least accepting of their lifestyle then what is it to you? I guess retirement is wasted on the laborers?! Get over yourself!
OK, I'll admit it, we are well prepared for retirement, with retirement savings in the multuple-7 figure range.
Did we start our own company? Strike it rich in the movie business? Make a mint feeding at the public trough as a politician? High powered attorney or hedge fund manager? Nope, none of that.
I'm an engineer, and my wife works in IT. I am aware we make well above the average income, but not 1% sort of money. The real secret is we've lived below our means our entire lives, and began saving for retirement in our mid-'20's. A bit of luck, some good sound (and simple) investment strategy, and here we are ready to head off into retirement comfortable that we have enough to last the rest of our lives.
I think most people can achieve an outcome where they can save enough to support themselves in retirement in proportion to the earnings they've enjoyed while working. It takes willpower to save, to avoid the "keeping up with the Joneses" trap, but it can be done.
Dave
I did the same-lived way below my means, saved for retirement since 23. My brother did too ; but a bunch of layoffs and a divorce, health issues-even though he did all the right things his whole life! Sh*t happens at times, put a huge dent in his savings to the point that he's in trouble. Constant restructuring has left him dipping into that nest egg a ton. He even went back to school, moved states, did all the things every "expert" here says you need to do-he did it all. Since he took "safety" jobs to survive,(those 9-10 per hour jobs that the elite here say you should take) his major skills are outdated. IDK what he will do. I did all the right stuff as well, but, sorry, I firmly believe that plain luck is a major factor these days. My brother is smarter, better educated, but a series of bad breaks really hurt him. I get mad when many here assume that a person is a screw up if he is in retirement trouble, because I know first hand, that bad things happen to those that do "everything right"
Chains are still chains. Golden or not. Nobody gets 6 figures and doesn't work their butt off. The time, the preoccupation, the priorities....getting those back will mean more the more they've been kept away. I work hard, but I have no doubt that a retiring surgeon is going to enjoy their retirement more than I will enjoy mine.
When I do retire, I'm going to start a rock band. The $2.3M being cited doesn't mean we'll be any good, it just means we won't have to be.
This thread is suppose to be about success and reaching goals of what we wanted which is a positive thing. I clearly stated positive and why someone else didn't make it is negative and for another thread. Share the success stories even if accomplished without wealth.
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We relocated
