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U sue to say when I had the money I did not have the time to enjoy it. When I ad the time to enjoy I did not have the money. I am 82 now. I am financially comfortable but I do not have the energy/strength I use to have but so be it.
Hey, you had a good life to make it to 82. Rest and relaxation will get you to 100. No need to over exert yourself in life, as it shortens lifespan anyway.
Couple of big variables are genetics and your lifestyle. If you have terrible genetics living healthy probably won’t help you with your longevity, but if you have decent genetics and a good healthy lifestyle you can be active deep in to your 90s.
My Father snow skied 40+ days/year into his early 80s, and played golf 4+ times/week until he was 94-ish … and like to walk the course until his later 80s, and took one or two big trips (domestically / internationally) each year until he was in his mid-90s. After he gave up golf, he wrote a book (wanted to keep busy and keep his mind sharp).
He started using a walker when he was 96+ but he would still go to the gym and lift weights three days a week & swim three days a week. He died at 99.5 and really wasn’t ever sick until the last 2 month of his life. Didn’t drink very much (occasional glass of wine), never smoked, ate mostly healthy foods and always exercised.
Life gets better with age if you do the self-introspection and learn more about the world you live in.
1. Eating correctly is the most important thing for survival. You must stay away from flour, sugar, and vegetable oils to have good health. Eating more meat and raw dairy products are a must for health. Stay away from pharmaceuticals unless it is for an emergency to keep you alive. This is crucial as you age because without good physical health and mental health (yes food intake impacts both), you are going to live a terrible life.
Usually we have fun but the last couple of weeks have been difficult and makes us introspective. The death of an elderly aunt overseas, not unexpected but sad. The horrific events in Sydney last week, one of which at a location where I go every week, and finding out our closest friend in Sydney has terminal cancer.
Life goes on of course, but even planning an overseas holiday for next year is tempered by remembering all the trips we have done with our friend. It is really sad to see quite a few friends struggle with health issues.
As you get old , you tend to realise what you value. We used a gift voucher for an expensive restaurant last week and were not even tempted by the wine that costs hundreds of dollars (and more) a bottle.
Well, I am off to the dentist, so that will be bound to be fun!
I am 81 and I am stiil having fun.....BUT fun at this age means "good conversations" with kind people, going for a peaceful drive in the country, reading an excellent book, etc. I very much enjoy my life. I spend less money currently because I do not go, go, go to spoon-fed entertainment like movies, trips, and expensive restaurants. I have been a widow for about 8 years. My DH and I saved a part of each paycheck but we certainly spent money on vacations, bikes, canoes, cameras, and all things which brought us pleasure....including the kids. Last Tuesday I shared s'mores with a group of seniors; tomorrow we will picnic at the local park...still having a good time.
Hey, you had a good life to make it to 82. Rest and relaxation will get you to 100. No need to over exert yourself in life, as it shortens lifespan anyway.
Who honestly wants to "rest" for 18 years just to say they lived to 100?
Even the person I know who DID live to 100 found joy in activities, even if they were mild.
Life gets better with age if you do the self-introspection and learn more about the world you live in.
1. Eating correctly is the most important thing for survival. You must stay away from flour, sugar, and vegetable oils to have good health. Eating more meat and raw dairy products are a must for health. Stay away from pharmaceuticals unless it is for an emergency to keep you alive. This is crucial as you age because without good physical health and mental health (yes food intake impacts both), you are going to live a terrible life.
2. Self-introspection. We all have regrets in life, and this includes people that have made all the good decisions in life and have prospered in life, whether it be from having a great career, wealth, or a wonderful family, etc. That is just the way it is. Regardless, people that practice self-introspection and THINK about themselves and the world they live in, are going to have a good time.
3. Remember, the purpose of life is to just live life. There is nothing more and nothing less, in my opinion. Those people with religious views might have other thoughts on this, but I will disagree. I don't think religion brings you closer to the Creator.
Finally, get in nature. Turn off the TV. And, focus on your own development as much as possible. Serving others is fine, from time to time, but if you do too much of that, you will get run down. The best answer in the English language is NO, and if you understand to use that word often, you will have good life. Don't let others sway you into things that are not in your best interests. As you get older, you can smell the bull that people are trying to pull on you more and more, and that is why, as you age, you can do "more with less", and live a wonderful life. Compare that to a younger person who doesn't have the wisdom to make those excellent decisions on a regular basis. Yes, getting old is a good thing. It also shows that you did plenty of things correctly, to still be alive and enjoying things.
Best to you.
Please feel free to live according to your insight. I will stick with mine.
So far still having fun and having saved to the point we can earn from our investment portfolio is very comforting. Not having to worry about the roof over our heads, where our next meal is coming from, and pay for medical was an important goal for since we had no family in the USA.
We live a modest quiet happy life, might seem boring to others but meh!
Woh, I take a break from reading the responses and 3 pages of new post replies come through.
It's interesting how people have different ideas, opinions, and perspectives.
The last time I had money growing in my bank account was during COVID and living in an apartment. It felt nice. Now my focus is on growing my income and lowering my CC debt and putting in some money into a Roth IRA.
But going back to the original topic, it's great to see people in their 60s, 70s, and 80s still enjoying life. I see people in their 60s and 70s still working. It gives me hope that people still have passion for their profession even if they do have the option to retire. I feel bad for those who hated their work and counted the days they had left before they could retire.
The thread title is a bit vague so let me explain....
When it comes to saving money, the common reason is "so you have will have money when you get older and retire". The argument against this is often "why wait to enjoy my money when I get old? why not enjoy it now?"
I'm a young guy and from a young person's perspective (I can't speak for all young people), but we see people in their 60s, 70s, and 80s, and see people grumbling about health problems, getting surgeries, not able to walk around a lot. It's not very inspiring. It makes me think "if I was able to save 1 million dollars until I reach 60 years old, how will I enjoy it?"
Now, I have seen elderly people walking around and enjoying life and it inspires me. Maybe they spent most of their life surrounding themselves with people who also enjoyed their lives.
But back to the topic.....do you enjoy life when you are "older"? Do you enjoy all the money you've spent years saving? Is it all worth it? I want to avoid being that 60-year-old guy who is jaded and gets grumpy about the idea of traveling somewhere or splurging on something nice.
We have a lot of fun while older. I'm 65, hubby is almost 70. We have fun all the time. While home my hubby loves to play pickleball with his friends 3 times a week. I play occasionally. I golf with the ladies league. We live at a golf and lake community. We go out some evenings to hear live music and dance. We love to dine out. I volunteer for a very worthy non-profit one shift a week. We ride motorcycles and e-bikes especially on scenic trails. I love to hike, sometimes alone, or with friends, and with our hiking club, and take nature photos. We have a small travel trailer and go camping. We hang out with friends at the lake, go boating, go to parties, have game nights. Basically, we do whatever we want. Of course, we have to work on our home and yard when it needs it, and I spent lots of time working on our rental cabin, but that sort of work gives you a sense of accomplishment, and something beautiful to enjoy. Together we take cruises or international land trips more than once a year. We travel with friends sometimes, in the US and overseas, and have been to lots of countries. We spent a week in Hawaii for my birthday 2 months ago. This summer we're doing a 16-day cruise to Norway and to about 10 ports in the British Isles. Next year I'm doing a solo trip to Tanzania for a 10-day African photo safari. So yeah, I'd say we have fun.
We can do all this now because we got good jobs (with wonderful benefits) when we were younger and kept them while promoting up the ladder through our agencies. We lived a big notch below our means which allowed us to invest a little every month in a 401k. We avoided debt other than our mortgages and paid off any cars that we bought as fast as we could. We managed to time our home purchases and sales to the housing market conditions as best as we could to maximize the return on that investment. I can't stress enough how important that was to us in being able to build our nest egg. When we were young and just living paycheck to paycheck, we enjoyed the simpler things, hoping one day we'd be able to afford more. I never thought I'd be able to retire and live a better life in retirement than we did while working. I really just hoped we'd be able to pay the bills and have a little left over. I mean I knew not working would be relaxing and a relief, and I'd always hoped to be able to travel internationally one day, but I'm really proud of what we achieved, and I intend to enjoy the fruits of our labors for as long as I can. We're both healthy enough, and if we sit still, we'll rust. Don't be afraid of aging, consider the alternative. You don't have to be that slumped, shuffling, cranky old person. You make your own future every day.
Last edited by TheShadow; 04-23-2024 at 07:03 AM..
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