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So in my goal to retire before 60 I've been signing up for a lot of different website forums. I've notice (and I totally can be wrong) some thing very specific to the retirement forum here on the C-D. You guys do not seem to like people who are doing well or are wealthy.
Why I find this interesting is that most of the advice to those working or youngsters is to start early, save a lot and prepare. Yet when some one comes back and says that's what they did and ask a very valid questions, boy oh boy does the hate fly.
Why is it questions about living off of social security alone and making ends meet are acceptable? but God forbid say you have a pension (no matter what the amount) and some of the comments are.
1) if you have a good pension, you probably didn't earn it? loved that one.
2) You are an idiot if you can't make that amount work?
and various others.
Is there an income level that is acceptable before you are labeled "bragging".
I do think it's very, very specific to this site. no other retirement forum have I seen this.
the acceptable limits are : anything more than what i have is bragging . less than is always welcome .
you are correct though . there are other retirement forums where discussing actual numbers are the norm and it is just business as usual when the crowd comments.
the retirement forum on c-d is more diverse than the other forums mentioned . these other forums are made up of a lot of successful , well funded retirees who have a big interest in retirement finances .
many in our forum actually enjoy the how bad everyone is doing articles because they either identify or feel better about their own situation . this is a very different crowd then those who are financially successful and have an interest in the planning side .
I think the c-d population is much more income-diverse than what you see at a typical retirement / early retirement /investment website that is geared toward a more affluent crowd. Perhaps because even the "retirement" forum is not specific to investing or finance but to a broad range of retirement issues so attracts a more varied crowd. If you go to the "economics/finance/investment" forum affluent folks likelier feel more welcome.
Also, we seem to get a lot of questions from people who are worried about being able to retire when they are relatively well off - the perception can be that they are humble-bragging. It's one thing to ask for specific advice around an investment strategy - quite another to list off considerable assets and then merely ask if you are good to retire. That is purely dependent on how much they plan to spend which sets off discussions on needs versus wants.
This forum appears to have active participants representing a much broader spread of personal wealth and retirement income than other sites. My situation appears to be somewhere in the middle as there are posters with obviously far more and others with obviously far less.
But isn't that how you learn?? One of the things that is interesting is we all at one time or another have bemoaned the fact that Americans (generally) are not well educated about finance.
If some one ask if they are good to retire, they are a mountain of things that you don't know, you don't know.
for example some of the things I've had to think about. lol TAXES. specifically how spending my assets will effect my social security.
I don't get the need/want hate either. If someone has to have a 3000 square foot home to be happy, more power too them. I admire them for setting a goal and achieving it. so if their retirement budget needs to include that, why can't we tell home how to reach that goal. instead of deriding them because they want the space.
But isn't that how you learn?? One of the things that is interesting is we all at one time or another have bemoaned the fact that Americans (generally) are not well educated about finance.
If some one ask if they are good to retire, they are a mountain of things that you don't know, you don't know.
for example some of the things I've had to think about. lol TAXES. specifically how spending my assets will effect my social security.
I don't get the need/want hate either. If someone has to have a 3000 square foot home to be happy, more power too them. I admire them for setting a goal and achieving it. so if their retirement budget needs to include that, why can't we tell home how to reach that goal. instead of deriding them because they want the space.
many retirees have no interest in learning . in fact they will go in to threads that do not apply to them that are instructional and go out of their way to say how it does not apply to them or someone they know . nothing in this world will apply to everyone , there is usually no need to constantly tell people who are trying to learn that something does not hold true for them , like it is supposed to make what is being disseminated false because it is not for them . .
I suspect many of those same people had no interest in learning long before they became retirees.
And a LOT of people genuinely struggle to understand the situation (financial and otherwise) of other people who are leading very, very different lives than their own. I suspect that's a near-universal human failing, to consider our own personal situation as "the norm," and a tendency we all must learn to guard against.
So in my goal to retire before 60 I've been signing up for a lot of different website forums. I've notice (and I totally can be wrong) some thing very specific to the retirement forum here on the C-D. You guys do not seem to like people who are doing well or are wealthy.
Why I find this interesting is that most of the advice to those working or youngsters is to start early, save a lot and prepare. Yet when some one comes back and says that's what they did and ask a very valid questions, boy oh boy does the hate fly.
Why is it questions about living off of social security alone and making ends meet are acceptable? but God forbid say you have a pension (no matter what the amount) and some of the comments are.
1) if you have a good pension, you probably didn't earn it? loved that one.
2) You are an idiot if you can't make that amount work?
and various others.
Is there an income level that is acceptable before you are labeled "bragging".
I do think it's very, very specific to this site. no other retirement forum have I seen this.
I read the post you are referring to, and in that scenario, if someone said "You are an idiot if you can't make that amount work" (didn't see the comment) - I don't think it is to be taken literally.
The scenario referenced was someone who had a generous pension and yearly dividends - and the amounts were such that you could live "comfortably" anywhere in the U.S. - it is just a fact - nothing to get your panties in a bunch about.
I'm not sure what complaining about being too affluent is going to do for you - making yourself a victim - it seems kind of desperate in terms of drumming up an issue to feel discriminated about.
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is to start early, save a lot and prepare. Yet when some one comes back and says that's what they did and ask a very valid questions, boy oh boy does the hate fly.
