Enjoy life while you can.

Yellowvest23

Arthurian said:

Frugal habits save the planet. 

Just knowing you have a good safety net of money tucked away gives incredible peace of mind.  You don't have to spend it to have a smile on your face.

He could have spent and enjoyed £300,000 and still had a safety net and piece of mind far greater than most.
Why accumlate it if you are not prepared to spend it? i dont think you are being truthful in saying you dont spend to save the planet thats just an excuse you dont spend.
Its obvious seeing a bigger bottom line in the bank account makes some smile more than actually enjoying their money thats what he meant by wealth accumlation becoming a disease in some,after years of saving and scrimping they cant get out of it ,only to die and leave it to someone else and the state.

hugheskevi

He was telling me his biggest regrets in life was 1. Not retiring earlier 

I've mused on this over the years. I think a good starting point is to target retirement at minimum pension age. That gives big tax efficiencies whilst avoiding the higher levels of saving needed to fund years prior to minimum pension age from money that does not benefit from tax advantages of a pension. As time passes, plans can be refined and may be earlier or later.

3.Thinking that wealth accumulation was important,after getting a good rainy day fund of a couple of years salary. 

Very much agree. And so hard to avoid. There is always another target to achieve.
One of the things I came to believe was that once you have a certain level of income post minimum pension age, putting more into a pension is just a tax-efficient waste. If you do not need something, it has no value (acknowledging that things like mortgages, etc can be used to change this). If you instead use the money earlier in life, it is useful in enabling higher consumption or earlier retirement.

4. Not realising when he was much younger how much more money can be enjoyed when young and fit as opposed to old and restricted.

Very much agree. There are some things you only enjoy when young (eg spending all night at a Full Moon party would be my personal idea of hell now, but 15 years ago it was good fun).
I see the balance of not being hesitant to indulge in good value things, even if they are expensive, but always ensure that value is there and you are not being wasteful. So happy to spend money on holidays that give a great experience, but turn down coffees on the way to work - the holiday is a life experience, the coffee is just consumption I'll have forgotten about within an hour or so. 
If you consider the 'cost' of spending when young in terms of the lost future value with compounded investment returns. spending is an expensive business when young, hence the emphasis on getting value.

He just couldn't get out of "saver" mode and into "spender" mode. I guess with my wife now inheriting the estate, we may be more in the spender mode because it isn't "our" saving, if that makes sense.

I am very glad that one of the unexpected benefits of travelling extensively when young was that I have far less concern than most about not having a regular income. Even so, that is still a concern, but having the experience of running down limited resources with no income when travelling was good preparation for doing it again in later life.

Yellowvest23

hugheskevi,great reply
especially  "if you do not need something it has no value"
just like if you are never going to spend it  or use,it has no value to you also.
Thank you.

Anonymous101

It occurs to me that life is all about achieving the right balance for oneself. Your neighbour sounds like he has reflected on his and decided that he's not lived the right balance for himself.

I agree that beyond a certain point having more money is wasteful, particularly if it cannot do some good when you're gone. Equally spending for the sake of it is wasteful. I do intend on building sufficient wealth that can sustain me and my family indefinitely, including after I'm gone. That's not wasteful to me but other may think so.

I don't agree with a few of his other points on spending though. Spending doesn't make you happy unless you're living a life that is too restrictive, which it sounds like he has and he's now over compensating by thinking spending all of his money would have made him happy. I doubt it would.

Bobziz

Will it make me happier is a question I find useful to ask myself before buying most things. My wife enjoys the experience of recieving a parcel of new clothes through the door. Thankfully, she recognises that the happiness that it brings is temporary, and she then sends most of the clothes back. 

michaels

Unless you have a DB pot, sequence of return risk means you are highly likely to die with a large asset pot (nothing to do with whether you have 'over accumulated and under spent in life') - by the above theory you are best off buying an annuity to avoid that risk?

shinytop

Yellowvest23 said:

Not sure if this is the correct section but had a thought provking conversation this morning with a neighbour.
Hes 77, worked all his life until 65,paid off his house about 30 years ago and has large small risk savings / investments around £400,000,no children and just a sole brother who moved to Australia and done very well for himself many years ago
He was telling me his biggest regrets in life was 1. Not retiring earlier 2.always living within his means and not spending more than came in each year.3.Thinking that wealth accumaltion was important,after getting a good rainy day fund of a couple of years salary. 4. Not realising when he was much younger how much more money can be enjoyed when young and fit as opposed to old and restricted.
Number 3 after a life time of thinking it was he says becomes very hard to get out off and it becomes a disease in some who never end up enjoying the fruits of their labour.
His last comment to me was spend,spend,send and enjoy it while you can.

I don't necessarily agree with every one of your neighbour's points but do agree with the overall message. 

barnstar2077

I second the retiring earlier if you can idea, but not the spend, spend, spend.

My mum passed away at 69 having only retired the year before.  She wasted so much money, it used to run through her fingers like water.  If she had been better with money and retired at 59 instead she would have had ten years of doing whatever she wanted, and her husband would now have ten years of retirement memories to look back on.

Personally I like being frugal, it makes me feel good knowing that I will be able to retire early and that I am not a weapon of massive consumption.  I keep my monthly expenses low so that I can splash out on things that I really value without it affecting my long term plans.  Time is the only true commodity in my opinion.  I exchange my time for money, and eventually I will exchange that money back for time.  One day I will decide what I do and when I do it.  I am not a number, I am a free man!

Albermarle

Arthurian said:

Just knowing you have a good safety net of money tucked away gives incredible peace of mind.  You don't have to spend it to have a smile on your face.

Lack of a good financial cushion can bring a lot of  worry and stress . Not just to the poor in society but plenty of older middle class people approach retirement with debts, mortgages, no savings or significant pension provision ( I know some , or my more accurately my wife does) 
I would rather be in the OP's position than theirs.

Langtang

hugheskevi said:

He just couldn't get out of "saver" mode and into "spender" mode. I guess with my wife now inheriting the estate, we may be more in the spender mode because it isn't "our" saving, if that makes sense.

I am very glad that one of the unexpected benefits of travelling extensively when young was that I have far less concern than most about not having a regular income. Even so, that is still a concern, but having the experience of running down limited resources with no income when travelling was good preparation for doing it again in later life.

Indeed. In my late 20's, pre-marriage, I'd had enough. I packed in my job and backpacked round the world. The life lessons that experience gave me are still with me today. One of my favourite phrases is "first world problems" when faced with difficult decisions in my life.