What's wrong with people.

davieg11

Deleted_User wrote: »

Is your assertion based on research and can you provide a link please?

No official research. When I go around my work colleagues and explain that if they increased their pension payments to 5% the work would increase their payment to 10%. More free money. The overwhelming response is 'no way, I'd rather spend what I have now on luxuries' , 'I won't make retirement age anyway' , 'I can't afford it' , etc,etc

fiisch

jack_pott wrote: »

The point is that compound interest works against you when you spend then save, but it works in your favour when you save then spend.

I completely get that - and I have realised that even the small things e.g.: paying insurance monthly - is just giving money away. However, the housing market also moves - had we not got on the property ladder when we did, our first flat would have been considerably (>£50k) more expensive. The mortgage "we" took on our parent's property cost circa £2,500 interest on a £25,000 sum, although we did benefit by paying this off early.

Cars on PCP is an interesting one - I am a sucker for PCP however cars are a passion of mine. There is an argument to say that a cheaper PCP/lease deal is cheaper than an older car owing to the known quantity regarding maintenance costs. Then there's the safety, economy and reliability aspect.

I do question my own logic of spending £500/month on a Honda when my daily commute is a round trip of 3 miles, but I get a lot of pleasure from it, and you do only live once....

I think what I'm saying in a roundabout way is there is a balance, a happy medium - the OP's lifestyle would not suit me, but at the same time living from paycheque to paycheque and not having a buffer is stressful, and removes the luxury of choice.

I'd also add into the mix - as a younger generation, we're taught from an early age that debt is good - to go to university, we're lumbered with excessive debt that is then discretely removed from our wages in "small manageable" chunks (or so we're led to believe when we accept the debt), a system decided by the very people who benefited from free grammar schools and university education in years gone by......

Audaxer

fiisch wrote: »

I do question my own logic of spending £500/month on a Honda when my daily commute is a round trip of 3 miles, but I get a lot of pleasure from it, and you do only live once....

I assume the pleasure is from driving the car in general, rather than the 3 mile round trip commute. One and half miles each way is not even worth getting changed into my cycle gear for, never mind taking the car. That length of commute would be ideal for a brisk walk to work in all but the worst of weather conditions. Think of the health benefits and money you would save.

fiisch

Audaxer wrote: »

I assume the pleasure is from driving the car in general, rather than the 3 mile round trip commute. One and half miles each way is not even worth getting changed into my cycle gear for, never mind taking the car. That length of commute would be ideal for a brisk walk to work in all but the worst of weather conditions. Think of the health benefits and money you would save.

It gets worse.... we have a bit of a dodgy work car park, and I'm particularly fussy, so I drive in 2 hours early every day to get one of 3 wide spaces, then walk across the road to the gym! :rotfl:

In my defence, although distance-wise you could walk it, there's no suitable path (through muddy fields/along main roads with no pathways etc.).

You're right - the enjoyment comes from weekend driving, although after a year I've only managed to clock up 5000 miles. But I'd class cars as a hobby (I know I'm sad), and has been a motivation for me for a very early age (I started saving hard for my first car aged 11).

eskbanker

Anonymous101 wrote: »

I've got several formula's if anyone wants to work it out properly but as a rough guide assuming 5% a year growth an investment will double in 20 years.

That's much too rough as it takes no account of compounding - 5% annual growth would double your money in just over 14 years and even 4% growth doubles a pot in less than 18 years....

adonis10

davieg11 wrote: »

No official research. When I go around my work colleagues and explain that if they increased their pension payments to 5% the work would increase their payment to 10%. More free money. The overwhelming response is 'no way, I'd rather spend what I have now on luxuries' , 'I won't make retirement age anyway' , 'I can't afford it' , etc,etc

That really baffles me, but I'm sure it's quite a common occurrence. Knowing the value of that free money, compounded year after year, total at retirement would probably make them think twice. Also, if they only took a minute to actually work out what that 5% does to their net pay (minimal difference, given the benefits) maybe they would change their way of thinking. I jumped at the chance to up mine when I could, and wish I had gone even higher as who knows then that offer will reduce/cease with job changes, cost cutting etc.

Also, where does this feeling of "not making it until retirement" come from?! Sure, retirement age will be 70 odd but people are generally living much longer nowadays. On the flip side, perhaps the "have it all now" consumerist society we live in will help people die off early - fast food, booze, drugs and the rise of social media giving everyone the "you can have it all" and " live for the moment" outlook on life. Wouldn't surprise me if this was all planned by the powers that be to rinse people of their cash leading them to work until the die, increasing early deaths due to unhealthy lifestyles etc., but that's another debate!

kauto

longleggedhair wrote: »

Under 40. Future plans are to finish work as soon as I feel I have enough money to be comfortable. I "probably" do now, with my frugal lifestyle. But again it's that belts and braces instinct that means I will probably do another 4/5 years. I've reduced my hours to very part time over the last couple of years.

Time will be spent doing the things I enjoy, countryside walking with my partner & my dog, gardening, National Trust properties & spending time with family & friends. It does help that my interests are mostly free/cheap. Which brings me back to my original point about time being more precious than things.

Good on you !! I too hope that I'm in a similar position when I get into my 40's.

Oh and don't listen to the haters,

Haters gunna hate haha!

[Deleted User]

davieg11 wrote: »

No official research. When I go around my work colleagues and explain that if they increased their pension payments to 5% the work would increase their payment to 10%. More free money. The overwhelming response is 'no way, I'd rather spend what I have now on luxuries' , 'I won't make retirement age anyway' , 'I can't afford it' , etc,etc

I don't think I would want to be a customer of a company or organisation which employed a majority of employees with such a blinkered and short-sighted attitude to their own financial well-being. If they don't care about their own futures, why would they care about their customers?

armchaireconomist

Ah that makes sense, a tad misleading that you've "saved 200k on minimum wage" (with only a *small* inheritance of 1/4 of the cash value plus a house)


Good on you having the willpower not to spend it. Not sure why you're making ludicrous claims though, unless this was some form of willy waving exercise...

Dird

longleggedhair wrote: »

The inheritance was a house and cash of around 50 K

Are you including the house value in the £200k though?

People will do what they want, there's no point nagging ultimately. Recently I found this US show about consumer debt: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2xXuxMnupY - hopefully she divorced him. Pay rise = nicer house, nicer car etc. My view is basically pay into company pension but otherwise do what the heck you want to do. 0% credit card is essentially the same as an emergency fund

I briefly had a thought of FIRE which quickly evaporated from the notion of "why bother scraping during the best (healthiest) years just so you can stop working 10 years earlier". Yes you have saved £45k over the last 3 years but was your last 3 years as epic as this guy? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioYqFtr2D0Q - !!!! no it wasn't.

bowlhead99 wrote: »

and that 'changed your mindset' in a positive way.

Similar to me. My mom & dad are both spenders; the £60k debt & not being able to open the front door as a teenager put me off living outside your means. My sister is a shopaholic like them though so didn't have the same effect