Why you may not need as much as you think (federal, retired)
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without lifestyle and location in the mix all these articles about how much is enough are just meaningless as any kind of statement . we don't hear all this bull when we all were working and earning different incomes in different areas and different lifestyles .
just more nonsense that sounds great but means ,little . .
We are retired in an HCOL area in the NE. Seems pretty accurate to me. Maybe even less.
Everyone always want more. There is a point of diminishing returns at some point. If you're netting $20,000/month, does an extra $1,000/month move your needle much? Not really.
If you are young, married with young kids, yes. In retirement, with medical expenses taken care of, no.
I really like and appreciate Clark Howard and the advice he gives to consumers. So, when I saw a hyperlink in the article to his "research", thinking is was Clark's research, I clicked it and it took me to an external web site. The whole page is set up to sell his, (Wes Moss), book. Uugh! "Bait and switch", I first thought. My mistake for assuming the author was Clark and not somebody else.
Yes I noticed the author immediately, even before reading the article. That was a clue.
Kind of a silly article. While it makes perfect sense that there is a "sweet spot" for spending/happiness, that level is totally different among different people and situations. Articles like this are just written to get a hit on a website.
I think you are right.
It boils down to doing whatever floats your boat. I happily live on less than the monthly spending amount mentioned in the article in the place where I always wanted to live. I have a small mortgage at a very low rate. I still salt way a little into savings and don't touch the nest egg except for extraordinary home maintenance costs. There's only so many hours in a day and weeks to a year. I have a hard time scheduling trips and vacations and having more money won't add days to my year or hours to my day. If I had an extra $1,000 a month I might hire a weekly housekeeper and somebody to manage my yard and my goldfish pond. Then what?
It's been my experience that money can by allegiance for a time. At some point, quality of life, like PTO and a good corporate culture, account for more than more marginal dollars.
The head of my department was reviewing a recent project of mine and a propo of nothing took the time to tell me how much he appreciated the work that I do. I respect the hell out of the man and we have always gotten along well, and let me tell you it was a huge boost to my day. I'd rather have a raise of course, lol, but it seriously made me happy.
I have good bosses and wonderful coworkers. That matters a lot. But what perhaps matters more is the decent pay and the fact that I can work from home. Those are ALL part of the equation.
A lot depends on where you live and just what the opportunities to spend money there are. Being married makes a difference and as we have aged our clothing per item costs gone up. Even having two places will of course increase costs and depending on the couple double some costs. Our average costs per meal home/out has and continues to increase.
The sweet spot for a Happy Place is $4000-$5000 a month? Who knew?
Oh Howard Clark, why did you have to tell me this? Here I was going along minding my own business thinking I was happy. I guess ignorance really is bliss.
Always viewed it as fixed vs variable/discretionary expenses. If almost all of your money is already spoken-for each month, no matter how much you make, that is a tough way to live.
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