How much to live on

helensbiggestfan

LL_USS said:

Interesting discussion regarding risks...

It is indeed a culture-bound attitude. Chinese, South East people tend to take the golden middle point, not showing anything extreme especially in public, and call it "playing the stock market". Americans have higher percentage of their assets in stocks and shares whilst British favour a higher percentage in property (well, let's see how much this trend will change after all the tightening rules for the BTL sector).

Whilst I am risk-adverse in general, I still think if I don't try lots of things when I am still quite young then I will never experence these when I am older. I cycle to work even when I am warned our roads are not cyclist friendly. Scared at first but I thought "little kids could go so why not me", so I then went on all the most "scary" roller coaster rides when I took my children to Disney Land/ Alton Towers/ Thorpe park.... I ride a moped (only with a bit of hesitation ) when I travel in Asia. Perhaps still not skiing though :-).

My husband  and I used to go to a casino sometimes. I know, I know.  My poor dad was horrified,  but my husband and I enjoyed it.  We were sensible, we gave ourselves a budget and stuck to it. If we lost our stake we quit.  If we did well we quit whilst we were ahead.  Oddly enough our track record was pretty good.  Obviously the only real "winner" in the long term is the house , same with bookies.  

As an aside I once made a killing at Ascot on Ladies Day and all for a £1 stake. . There were 5 ladies in our group.  So for the first race we put £5 between us on no 5.  It won. Not knowing how to play the game properly we put the lot on no 5 for the second race. It won.  After that we did change our numbers but we just kept letting the winnings ride.  We kept winning.  By the 4th race we had attracted quite a crowd, cheering, laughing and egging us on. The bookie was looking a bit concerned.  We won again. After winning the 5th race we decided to quit whilst we were ahead and take our winnings.  Beginners luck.  

Casinos and race meetings are fascinating places  to people watch.  You really do get all sorts.  At the casino the most reckless gamblers were the Chinese.  They would lose small fortunes and act as if it didn't matter.  "Keeping Face" lol.  I found the same when we were in China.  They will bet on anything.  It seems to be a macho thing.  

Roller coaster rides.....no thanks. They make me feel ill and give me vertigo.  I once visited a lighthouse in Orkney and passed out.  Not my finest hour.  My vertigo seems to come and go.  Once went for a walk along the cliffs at Lands End. The vertigo was so bad, my poor husband had to practically carry me back to the car. And yet i am fine with chair lifts and cable cars.  Go figure.  Lol. 

Looking back the most reckless thing I did was hitch hiking. Didn't give it a second thought. It was a different matter when I had my own children. I even hated them getting taxis, even when they were with their mates. I much preferred it when they let us pick them up.  

 I was never really happy until they were home safe and sound.......

Savvy_Sue

helensbiggestfan said:

My father was ex military and a "well hard geezer" as the expression goes.  He had more  brushes with death than some people have hot dinners so I was astonished one day when he admonished me for letting my son climb a tree.  I thought he was joking at first.  I looked him straight in the eye and asked "and did you not climb trees as a boy". He muttered "that's different". 

Oh the hypocrisy, lol.  At the time I didn't get it.  However, now I'm a grandmother I finally understand.....

Or, as my father used to say "don't do as I do, do as I tell you!"

helensbiggestfan

barnstar2077 said:

helensbiggestfan said:

Coughing is a perilous activity.  😱.  In the past I have fractured my ribs by coughing.  🤣

I once perforated my eardrum blowing my nose, I didn't even know that was possible!

These are the things they should tell you about in school in my opinion :  )

Good Lord.  Who knew blowing one's nose could be so dangerous. 😱. 😂

helensbiggestfan

Savvy_Sue said:

helensbiggestfan said:

My father was ex military and a "well hard geezer" as the expression goes.  He had more  brushes with death than some people have hot dinners so I was astonished one day when he admonished me for letting my son climb a tree.  I thought he was joking at first.  I looked him straight in the eye and asked "and did you not climb trees as a boy". He muttered "that's different". 

Oh the hypocrisy, lol.  At the time I didn't get it.  However, now I'm a grandmother I finally understand.....

Or, as my father used to say "don't do as I do, do as I tell you!"

Absolutely.  Parenthood makes hypocrites of the best of us.....lol. 

helensbiggestfan

To get back to finances......my formerly spendthrift youngest son who is now a reformed character and is a savvy and committed follower of all things MSE sent me a snapshot of his budget and his investments today.  It seems he was actually paying attention to my homilies and did learn something useful after all. 

Perhaps I'm not such a bad parent and role model after all, despite being a hypocrite. Lol. .  

LL_USS

helensbiggestfan said:

To get back to finances......my formerly spendthrift youngest son who is now a reformed character and is a savvy and committed follower of all things MSE sent me a snapshot of his budget and his investments today.  It seems he was actually paying attention to my homilies and did learn something useful after all. 

Perhaps I'm not such a bad parent and role model after all, despite being a hypocrite. Lol. .  

I tend to have to be a role model for most things that are important that I need my children to know.

Last night I thought I had to push them, to stop procrastinating and start working on a job given by a company through a family member, which is well-paid but rather difficult, riddled with finance and banking terminologies and concepts that are not all straightforward to me myself (we agree they both work on it and I do careful quality control before submitting the work). Seeing that they struggled to start this on their own, I spent last night looking at the materials and today explained to them, discussing how we can deal with the difficult bits. I said I am here to help, but the more percentage they could work on the job, the more of the fee they will be paid. They then perservered, working non-stop and just finished their shares of the task before cooking dinner, AND they say it's interesting and great way to earn money. Yay!

I explained and asked my son to work on the numbers for our mortgages from quite a young age :-) (only very basic I must admit). The girl is not trained yet for this but she is managing her brother's saving within her children's saving account (until her brother sets up his own flexible ISA), only transfering some money back to him when he asks (he's worried he spends too fast).

Still a lot to teach them about how to manage their finances I suppose.

Organgrinder

Apologies for returning to the subject of risk etc, but recently I was on a school residential with activities ranging from raft building to rock climbing and high ropes courses. The instructors asked the students what the most dangerous places were in the centre.

Of course, they all chose things like the climbing. No, said the instructor, they are the safest. The most dangerous place in the centre is the canteen.

Most things, if done well, with appropriate training, equipment etc are very safe. 

And I guess the same is true for many of the things we do to make money. Stoozing for example frightens many, but if managed is very low risk for a nice little bit of extra.

So go on, dive in, you never know, you might enjoy spending the returns! ;-)

helensbiggestfan

I am becoming increasingly wary of eating out. It can be a risky business.  My BIL is a chef. He tells me stories about some of our city's eating places.  No thanks. !!!  I also had a friend who was a food technician.  She wouldn't touch Mr Kiplings exceedingly good cakes.   Lol. You're right commercial  kitchens can be dangerous places.  One of the stupidest things I ever did was eat a donna kebab.  Never again!!!  

I'm definitely going to give stoozing a try this year.  After I have moved house (hopefully March time) I will completely reorganise my finances including changing banks etc to get better deals.  Then once the dust is settled I will start looking at resurrecting my sideline hustles and also be on the lookout for further money  making opportunities.  

Moving house is an expensive business, the fees alone can make one weep.  I want to build up the war chest again with a view to building up generational wealth.  I have already helped my sons, giving them an early inheritance to get them off to a good start.  And of course they can have what's left when I'm gone. But what I really want to do is try and build up extra funds for my grandchildren.  I was never a trust fund babe but hopefully my grandsons can be.  Ha ha.  

And of course I still want to be able to spend on myself, some travel, hobbies, a fabulous wardrobe.  Then further down the line, when I'm really decrepit to be able to afford domestic help so I can remain independent for as long as possible,  

Well that's the plan.........

I think that for many of us traditional retirement is something of an outdated concept.  We may not be in paid employment but that doesn't mean we can't "work".  We can be "senpreneurs". (Senior entrepreneurs). 

There are also many professions where it is not necessary to retire. Just look at how many actors, artists, singers, scientists, lawyers, etc keep going well into their 80s and beyond. Judy Dench who is pushing 90 and David Attenborough who is 98.  Not to forget our old friends the Rolling Stones who must have a collective age of at least 450.lol.   Instead of retiring they just scale back, picking and choosing projects that appeal.

  I once worked for a solicitor who was 82.  He came into the office three days a week.  Arriving at 10, disappearing for lunch with either a client or his cronies at 12, coming back into the office at 3 for a little doze and to sign his correspondence, going home at 4.  He was as sharp as a knife, his intellectual capacity undiminished.  

If you are in good health then there is no need to stop doing what you love. And even those who have health issues can often find a work around.   In professions where retirement is mandatory you can still use your knowledge and skills to create new opportunities. 

helensbiggestfan

LL_USS said:

helensbiggestfan said:

To get back to finances......my formerly spendthrift youngest son who is now a reformed character and is a savvy and committed follower of all things MSE sent me a snapshot of his budget and his investments today.  It seems he was actually paying attention to my homilies and did learn something useful after all. 

Perhaps I'm not such a bad parent and role model after all, despite being a hypocrite. Lol. .  

I tend to have to be a role model for most things that are important that I need my children to know.

Last night I thought I had to push them, to stop procrastinating and start working on a job given by a company through a family member, which is well-paid but rather difficult, riddled with finance and banking terminologies and concepts that are not all straightforward to me myself (we agree they both work on it and I do careful quality control before submitting the work). Seeing that they struggled to start this on their own, I spent last night looking at the materials and today explained to them, discussing how we can deal with the difficult bits. I said I am here to help, but the more percentage they could work on the job, the more of the fee they will be paid. They then perservered, working non-stop and just finished their shares of the task before cooking dinner, AND they say it's interesting and great way to earn money. Yay!

I explained and asked my son to work on the numbers for our mortgages from quite a young age :-) (only very basic I must admit). The girl is not trained yet for this but she is managing her brother's saving within her children's saving account (until her brother sets up his own flexible ISA), only transfering some money back to him when he asks (he's worried he spends too fast).

Still a lot to teach them about how to manage their finances I suppose.

Sounds like you are doing a good job, teaching them valuable life skills and giving them a good grounding.  Your children will thank you in the years to come.  

Organgrinder

@helensbiggestfan when I fully retire I intend carrying on doing everything I enjoy and fully intend trying new experiences.

I hope to carry on tutoring and exam marking to supplement my pension along with taking advantage of "free money" eg stoozing, bank switching etc.

Some argue that I don't need to but as much as I want to spend my retirement (and pensions) on new experiences, I also want to leave money to my children. Hence I intend to maximise as much as I can. 

So here's to new adventures, new experiences and so on. Life's too short to be be boring!