Enjoy life while you can.

Anonymous101

Chickereeeee said:

Anonymous101 said:

Chickereeeee said:

Having retired with a fairly good pot, I still look for the 'value' options, much to the frustration of my wife. I tend to research and make sure the item/service is optimal for my needs, and at the 'right' price, before buying. She is (now) more of the attitude 'if you want it, buy it. If it is not quite right, get rid of and buy the right one. We can afford it'. The time used looking for the best fit being time wasted when I could be enjoying said item/sevice.
I a bit afraid that, if i got used to buying things on a whim, and automatically selecting the 'luxury' options (expesnsive chain lube for the bicycles, business class flights, high end hotels, premium fuel for the car etc.) then expenditure would get out of hand....

I can identify with that. Although I must admit business class flights for any journeys over say 4 hours could perhaps find their way into my budget!

Understood, but its the 'automatic' part that mainly worries me. Fair enough after a detailed cost/benefit analysis, but first it's 'oh, 4+hr flight, that means its business class'. Then it becomes anything over 3.5 hrs, and next thing we know, we are on the streets begging for food.

Absolutely, and likewise even if you did maintain the 4hr rule then where would you draw the line cost wise. 2x the economy price may be worthwhile but 10x or 30x? There’s always a cost benefit analysis to be done.

MallyGirl

cfw1994 said:

& here’s me wondering about cargo ship lowest cost options for exotic travel 

My half brother and his wife tried to travel round the world without air travel and got a cargo ship to Australia from Malaysia. I think it came under the heading of 'interesting'. In the end they liked New Zealand so much that they stayed there so never completed the full circle.

cfw1994

MallyGirl said:

cfw1994 said:

& here’s me wondering about cargo ship lowest cost options for exotic travel 

My half brother and his wife tried to travel round the world without air travel and got a cargo ship to Australia from Malaysia. I think it came under the heading of 'interesting'. In the end they liked New Zealand so much that they stayed there so never completed the full circle.

I can imagine....& I know SWMBO wouldn’t join me on such an adventure
A very good pal of mine & his family are now in Auckland, loving it.  They managed a trip to Antarctica with some working ship: the only person I know to have visited all seven continents!
I do border on the obsessive about evaluating purchase items....I think I gain a strange pleasure in the cost-benefit analysis process, it’s half the fun!

zagfles

cfw1994 said:

MallyGirl said:

cfw1994 said:

& here’s me wondering about cargo ship lowest cost options for exotic travel 

My half brother and his wife tried to travel round the world without air travel and got a cargo ship to Australia from Malaysia. I think it came under the heading of 'interesting'. In the end they liked New Zealand so much that they stayed there so never completed the full circle.

I can imagine....& I know SWMBO wouldn’t join me on such an adventure
A very good pal of mine & his family are now in Auckland, loving it.  They managed a trip to Antarctica with some working ship: the only person I know to have visited all seven continents!
I do border on the obsessive about evaluating purchase items....I think I gain a strange pleasure in the cost-benefit analysis process, it’s half the fun!

I've got half baked plans for a RTW trip, my wife would love some of it but definitely not all, so looking at her flying out to join me for the sections she finds interesting! All theoretical at the moment of course...

DairyQueen

OH and I have experienced too many rainy days not to appreciate the need for savings. Life has a nasty way of biting you on the bum when you least expect it. 

Hindsight is a wonderful thing. Plenty of (bum-bitten) savers acquire the habit to insure against an unknown future. Even in retirement the dreaded adverse sequence of returns is a risk against which you need to insure. 

We are now early 60s and have sufficient guaranteed income and assets to cover the major retirement risks (longevity, care home fees, sequence of returns, survivor income on first death), plus ample to live where we want and how we want. We have a long laundry-list of spending plans and we can't wait for the good times to roll. 

Mr DQ, formerly an adherent of the OMY philosophy, is still working simply because our non-employment income gives him the freedom to do so stress-free. He can pick-and-choose his clients and projects and has the luxury of walking away whenever he wants to. Also, the alternative (retiring into a lockdown lifestyle devoid of fun) isn't that appealing. 

I spent my 20s kicking-up heels and travelling widely. Long-term savings didn't enter my head. I had a great time and wouldn't change a thing. The decades from age 30 were weighed down by responsibility: family, mortgage, career, pensions. I didn't have the energy to enjoy the fruits of frivolous spending, let alone the time.

We believe the next decade will be a halcyon period. We have the money, time and energy to meander down many metaphorical paths. We are seeking adventures. We can enjoy a tasting menu of activities and interests. We can lie in bed until noon or go swimming at midnight. If he wants a home cinema then he can have it. If I want a sporty run-around then that's an option. Do we fancy an extension? Or a garden office? Or a hot-tub (him: "yes", me: "no!"). Do we want to move house: "yes!". 

All those years of spending compromises, responsibilities and foregone treats are now bearing fruit. We will be doing our best to help the UK get back on its feet by choosing home-grown companies, products and services. We have no plans to leave inheritances but the kids (his) and cousins/nephews (mine) will likely benefit from whatever is leftover.

The decades of saving have been worth gifting ourselves the equivalent of a lottery win. It will be that much more pleasurable as the gratification has been long-delayed.

Now, there is just the small matter of a global pandemic to overcome. In the meantime, the house move is in hand, and we will be exploring the far reaches of our wonderful country as soon as we are able.

We have plenty of contemporaries who have been lifelong advocates of spend-as-you-go. Some face working into their 70s as no savings/sufficient pension. Others are turning to kids/siblings to bail them out of late-life penury. Some are relying on inheritances that may/may not be forthcoming. I'll pass on those options thanks.

No regrets. 

Thrugelmir

MallyGirl said:

pensionpawn said:
I'm conscious that my father told me when he retired at 65 that he came into the good money when he was just becoming too old to enjoy it. I don't want that to happen to me and my wife.

The difference is that people in the previous generation or 2 would have had much harder lives than we do with the war and following hardships and then fewer of the gadgets and inventions that make so many everyday things easier. By 65 they were knackered. 

My late grandmother was born in 1898. Died in 1997, 8 months short of reaching a 100. One of 18 children , her father was a docker in Rotherhithe. Back in the days when you turned up and if there was work you got paid. Left school and went to work in a laundry at 13 years old to help support the family.  Lived all her later years in the same 3 bed semi detached house that my grandparents bought in 1932. Took them four years to save the £25 deposit by not taking buses and walking to work everyday. Never learnt to drive. Until 1984 never travelled further than Southend on Sea for a holiday.  Then my Uncle returned from the USA  and convinced her to fly to Florida and stay with him for 3 months. 

Always an inspiration to me as a child as I stayed with her for much of the school holidays. She never grumbled, never complained. Always had a smile. When you survived what she'd been through. Life now seems a complete breeze. 

Albermarle

We have plenty of contemporaries who have been lifelong advocates of spend-as-you-go. Some face working into their 70s as no savings/sufficient pension. Others are turning to kids/siblings/ friends to bail them out of late-life penury, or constantly in contact about  their latest money worry issues.  Some are relying on inheritances that may/may not be forthcoming. I'll pass on those options thanks.
No regrets

Same for me , No Regrets. .

badger09

@DairyQueen
I so identify with your post. My frugal younger self has enabled me to have the luxury of choice now in my 70s. Tiny inheritance, so everything I have, I have worked hard & saved for. Several very tough years as a single mum, balanced by the huge advantage in a DB pension, earned at the expense of a much higher salary in my 30s - 50s. 

I now have (had😢) the luxury of turning left on flights to visit my son in Hong Kong. I wouldn’t have considered doing that 10 years ago but won’t hesitate if/when it’s safe to do so again. Also at the end (hopefully) of a house move which will make life much easier for us. 

Enjoy your halcyon years. 

enthusiasticsaver

smutput said:

Durban said:
A car , unless a classic or rare old car, is very , very rarely an investment.

Enjoyable maybe but not an investment

Not going to start debating classic cars and their merits, or otherwise  . I was just trying to point out that we all might find value in spending money on different things so let us not judge the choices of others based on our own preferences. 

My original quote says "many" buy cars as status symbols and that wasn't a judgement, it was an opinion.  The point was much the same as yours though in that people choose where to spend or save  their money.  We did not constantly move to bigger houses or buy more expensive cars but split our money whilst working between saving for retirement, nice holidays, average cars and home improvements. 

The majority of cars though are not investments in my opinion as they depreciate so quickly. 

enthusiasticsaver

DairyQueen said:

We are now early 60s and have sufficient guaranteed income and assets to cover the major retirement risks (longevity, care home fees, sequence of returns, survivor income on first death), plus ample to live where we want and how we want. We have a long laundry-list of spending plans and we can't wait for the good times to roll. 



We believe the next decade will be a halcyon period. We have the money, time and energy to meander down many metaphorical paths. We are seeking adventures. We can enjoy a tasting menu of activities and interests. We can lie in bed until noon or go swimming at midnight. If he wants a home cinema then he can have it. If I want a sporty run-around then that's an option. Do we fancy an extension? Or a garden office? Or a hot-tub (him: "yes", me: "no!"). Do we want to move house: "yes!". 



Now, there is just the small matter of a global pandemic to overcome. In the meantime, the house move is in hand, and we will be exploring the far reaches of our wonderful country as soon as we are able.

We have plenty of contemporaries who have been lifelong advocates of spend-as-you-go. Some face working into their 70s as no savings/sufficient pension. Others are turning to kids/siblings to bail them out of late-life penury. Some are relying on inheritances that may/may not be forthcoming. I'll pass on those options thanks.

No regrets. 

I would agree with this.  We balanced our spending with saving for retirement and travelled prior to  kids and then again with them when they got out of the baby stage but we also saved into pensions having seen both ends of the spectrum.  Same goes for houses and changing cars in that spending in that area was considered and always with a budget in mind. The YOLO people we know lived for the present and undoubtedly had some great times but are now facing a retirement with no spare money and having to work in to their 70s. The other end of the spectrum were people who saved for retirement but did not live whilst doing it and whilst sometimes that works out we also know people our age who are now in ill health or even dead so even though they have the money they cannot enjoy travel or enjoy new experiences.  We like to think we lived for the present but also had our eye on the future so having retired in our late 50s we have the time, the health and the money to do pretty much whatever and whenever we want. If there is money left it will go to our children.