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A car is not an investment. Buy and maintain cheap cars..
And here is what I thnk:
A life is worth living. You have to ensure that you maintain a balance between spending money to enjoy your life and still putting money away for retirement. One of my most favorite expenditures was buying a brand new Mazda RX-7 sports car in 1982 at the age of 26. I paid about $15,000 for it (a lot for a car back then) when my annual salary was only about $18,000. I had that car for over 9 years and it is still my all-time favorite car. Brings back a lot of fond memories.
I've continued to buy and drive sports cars or convertibles since that time. Would I have had more money in my retirement accounts if I had bought a used Toyota Corolla or similarly inexpensive car instead of sports cars or convertibles all these years? Most likely. Would I have enjoyed driving these past few decades as much and/or had fond memories to look back on? Definitely not.
There is no way that I would trade my life experiences and memories for more money in the bank.
Retirement came crashing down on me suddenly 12 years ago. I hadn't a clue how much I'd get or when. Well it was dicey for a while but I'm doing fine. I gave up on california because of Real estate Prices and Taxes and moved to Arizona. I lived near Phoenix for a while but that was too hot, got out just in time and sold for double what I had paid two years earlier.
Every penny i spent last year came to almost $50K but almost $20K of that was improvements to the house, one time expenses. I figure I could live on $30K, if I had to. luckily i don't have to
Retirement came crashing down on me suddenly 12 years ago. I hadn't a clue how much I'd get or when. Well it was dicey for a while but I'm doing fine. I gave up on california because of Real estate Prices and Taxes and moved to Arizona. I lived near Phoenix for a while but that was too hot, got out just in time and sold for double what I had paid two years earlier.
Every penny i spent last year came to almost $50K but almost $20K of that was improvements to the house, one time expenses. I figure I could live on $30K, if I had to. luckily i don't have to
Came crashing down on us as well. We will survive one way or the other. Baking a lot at home and I am becoming less atracted to store bought bakery goods. We just hope for little works right now to keep us in groceries. One thing this country is good at, and that is adjusting.
Came crashing down on us as well. We will survive one way or the other. Baking a lot at home and I am becoming less atracted to store bought bakery goods. We just hope for little works right now to keep us in groceries. One thing this country is good at, and that is adjusting.
Yeah but after all the hollering and kicking and crying has occurred for some.
They don't go easy but they will go; they will have no choice.
This topic always makes me think of the Rolling Stones song where they sing;
"You don't always get what you want, but if you try sometimes you just might find, you get what you need."
I would love to be able to retire and not have to work at all but that isn't going to happen. So when I "retire" I will be working part-time. It's not exactly what I want but it's what I need and it will sure beat the full-time grind by a mile. I think it's all about compromise. If people are willing to be flexible and not hold onto some pie in the sky dream they will be happy. You can be happy on a little or a lot. It depends on attitude more than money.
As long as you're breathing, you can make things work. The thing to remember is to not cry over what you don't have. Work a little harder, save a little more "get what you need" and be sure to enjoy yourself in the process.
I am just going to have to take the hit. I will be 50 in a few months. My only asset is my home which has a lot of equity in it. I should have started saving when i was in my 20s but I didn't. I live in California and never made a lot of moneyworking for the government but I could have done better with my savings plan. I am not a big spender but i do have a tendency of doing retail therapy and buying junk items. I never had children and no real expenses so i can get by on less.
But I have a VERY high stress job. Fortunately i have been with my employer for 28 years. I will not be receiving a big retirement income but if I sell my home and move back to my homestate of Missouri I can hold on until age 62. I have no real expenses and I can live frugally plus I have a sister who be retiring also and we can pool our resources.
I can always find a little part time job to tide me over. If i continue working my job I will be dead of a heart attack anyway - I work for a taxing agency. I will just have to dive off the deep end and take the hit.
A life is worth living. You have to ensure that you maintain a balance between spending money to enjoy your life and still putting money away for retirement. One of my most favorite expenditures was buying a brand new Mazda RX-7 sports car in 1982 at the age of 26. I paid about $15,000 for it (a lot for a car back then) when my annual salary was only about $18,000. I had that car for over 9 years and it is still my all-time favorite car. Brings back a lot of fond memories.
I've continued to buy and drive sports cars or convertibles since that time. Would I have had more money in my retirement accounts if I had bought a used Toyota Corolla or similarly inexpensive car instead of sports cars or convertibles all these years? Most likely. Would I have enjoyed driving these past few decades as much and/or had fond memories to look back on? Definitely not.
There is no way that I would trade my life experiences and memories for more money in the bank.
YMMV
Everyone is different in what they want and can afford. Can't really say that cars are tops on my memories list.You should be in your mid 50's hardly thniking your past making memories.Persoanlly My fondest memories where not about cars at all.
Minervah - as i read your post, I broke into song....imaginary microphone in hand.........................
and suddenly, i saw this chorus line of aginistas
(we need something funkier than "seniors")
soulfully singing the first lines and then punching out with Mick full-swagger..... :ee k::shock ed::cool :
"YA GET WHAT YA NEED!"
and sheryl crow weighed in with..............
"it's not getting what you want/it's wanting what you've got" -
there are so many things for people to worry about -
i'm running out of worry beads to join them anymore.
thanks for the minervah minute
brought to us all by the "don't worry...be happy" society
Quote:
Originally Posted by Minervah
Experts, schmegsperts, what do they know?
This topic always makes me think of the Rolling Stones song where they sing;
"You don't always get what you want, but if you try sometimes you just might find, you get what you need."
I would love to be able to retire and not have to work at all but that isn't going to happen. So when I "retire" I will be working part-time. It's not exactly what I want but it's what I need and it will sure beat the full-time grind by a mile. I think it's all about compromise. If people are willing to be flexible and not hold onto some pie in the sky dream they will be happy. You can be happy on a little or a lot. It depends on attitude more than money.
As long as you're breathing, you can make things work. The thing to remember is to not cry over what you don't have. Work a little harder, save a little more "get what you need" and be sure to enjoy yourself in the process.
I've continued to buy and drive sports cars or convertibles since that time. Would I have had more money in my retirement accounts if I had bought a used Toyota Corolla or similarly inexpensive car instead of sports cars or convertibles all these years? Most likely. Would I have enjoyed driving these past few decades as much and/or had fond memories to look back on? Definitely not.
There is no way that I would trade my life experiences and memories for more money in the bank.
YMMV
Quote:
Originally Posted by texdav
Everyone is different in what they want and can afford. Can't really say that cars are tops on my memories list.You should be in your mid 50's hardly thniking your past making memories.Persoanlly My fondest memories where not about cars at all.
Yep. And that is exactly why I ended my previous post with YMMV.
Minervah - as i read your post, I broke into song....imaginary microphone in hand.........................
and suddenly, i saw this chorus line of aginistas
(we need something funkier than "seniors")
soulfully singing the first lines and then punching out with Mick full-swagger..... :ee k::shock ed::cool :
"YA GET WHAT YA NEED!"
and sheryl crow weighed in with..............
"it's not getting what you want/it's wanting what you've got" -
there are so many things for people to worry about -
i'm running out of worry beads to join them anymore.
thanks for the minervah minute
brought to us all by the "don't worry...be happy" society
Triciajeanne, I am REALLY enjoying your posts tonight! Can't believe I haven't noticed yours before!
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:ee k:
