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The reader supplies the tone and will always select the tone of the voice in their head that matches how the message makes them feel.
This is true. And sometimes posters have the courtesy to point out directly that they are just referring to themselves and their own lifestyle choice. But some posts do go on where it's hard to imagine they aren't using the haughty *I*.
The reader supplies the tone and will always select the tone of the voice in their head that matches how the message makes them feel.
This is very true, as the post above by atlguy44 demonstrates. I’m simply not seeing the boasting and preachiness in this thread that he claims to see.
This thread now seems to be made up of two groups. One, condescending, preachy and boastful to others about their lifestyle, defending their position because they worked hard for it. The other, enjoying average retirement and asking the other to let up on the boasting and constant preaching. A few of the posts come across as very defensive, as the posters try to justify, and drive home their points of view. Will this lead to any winners or just become a stalemate, and ultimately a boring and useless discussion?
This post speaks volumes. According to him, he sees only that anyone with a more than average income/lifestyle is preachy and boastful. And all those with an average lifestyle are just asking to have less preaching and boasting. So you read no one that has a higher income as providing any helpful advice or flexible in opinion and no one with a lower income as rude and uninformed? Interesting.
The posters there would immediately notice the lack of details on expenditures and state of residence in the OP’s post and asked the OP questions to fill in those blanks, then would have done some actual number crunching before giving an answer. Much less shooting from the hip in that forum!
So people expect internet strangers to crunch numbers for them? Also, the OP could have added more information in the OP. I would assume we were told all that the OP was willing to share.
IDK. My retirement is more than a decade away and I already have reasonable estimates for my expenditures and such. I would assume people are running their own numbers.
This thread now seems to be made up of two groups. One, condescending, preachy and boastful to others about their lifestyle, defending their position because they worked hard for it. The other, enjoying average retirement and asking the other to let up on the boasting and constant preaching. A few of the posts come across as very defensive, as the posters try to justify, and drive home their points of view. Will this lead to any winners or just become a stalemate, and ultimately a boring and useless discussion?
It will hopefully lead those with a few years until retirement or just starting out to ponder:
What group do I want me and my family to be in when We are 70. I know many that has motivated including me.
Many are driven by statistical comparisons to help us in establishing personal goals. Hey it goes hand and hand with playing and watching sports. Applying to college get ready for data comparison.
Sales performance and evaluations is a data measurement. Very normal pattern for many including schools and school systems where your success and failure is published.
Not unusual for folks to share/mention directly or indirectly the results of those efforts. It is common for organizations to recognize and reward statistical success.
Hey trophies and plaques are awarded for. MathJak was awarded/rewarded by the forum for sharing his thoughts and data outcomes.
Reality is that much of life is a comparison and half of us will be in group and half in another or a third or a fourth etc. Break it down however you want. Life results in distinctions. My advice has always been to learn that early and decide where you want to end up.
So people expect internet strangers to crunch numbers for them? Also, the OP could have added more information in the OP. I would assume we were told all that the OP was willing to share.
IDK. My retirement is more than a decade away and I already have reasonable estimates for my expenditures and such. I would assume people are running their own numbers.
like i said , it is done all the time by people on other forums who want constructive advice
We’re back to that broken record again. At what level does a want become a need or a need a want?
I realize this is the Retirement forum rather than the Economics forum, but a fundamental lesson of Econ 101 is that there is no such thing as a need -- only wants & desires. Collectively we have unlimited wants and desires in a world of limited resources. In a retirement context, I think we would all be better off banning the use of the word "need" and always instead use "want & desire."
Quote:
Originally Posted by Perryinva
It is this judgmental rendering from the peanut gallery that I find the most distasteful from the posters that denigrate anyone that expresses that their higher level of retirement is a need for them, should be taken down a few notches and accused of bravado and bragging. And even pride of accomplishment is to be disdained as a sin? Such arrogance!! And it is typically exaggerated to a point that anyone with a modicum of sense and financial experience would know that the costs of what they state are indeed absurdly out of that income range. No one here is flying everywhere internationally First Class, and staying at $1000/night hotels for months on end while traveling. There is a HUGE disconnect between that life style and retiring on a $150k/yr income.
I think I’ve figured out what future pre-retirement posts on this forum should look like:
“I am planning to retire sometime before age 100 (although I am open to working longer if necessary). I plan to live somewhere on planet Earth. My annual income in retirement will probably be more than a homeless beggar in India makes, but less than what Jeff Bezos earns. I’m a bit afraid to give details about my estimated monthly budget because half of the posters will claim I’m humblebragging and the other half will claim it’s simply not possible to survive on such a paltry sum. I plan to do many different things in retirement; some will cost an unspecified amount of money and some will not. What do you think of my plans?”
People think differently about these matters. I have zero interest in working toward ending up in some statistical group. That means nothing to me. Instead, I look at the future expenses for my own particular situation and work toward accumulating the assets and future income streams that will allow me to retire in comfort. Whatever I learn in this forum that will help me toward that end is welcome.
I don't care to criticize and blame those who have less in retirement, nor do I care to snipe at those who have more. It would, however, be nice if there were less insensitive boasting in this forum, just for the sake of civility.
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