Moving to a spending mindset

Farside71

nobody999 said:

 I think I will be nervous about dipping into the never to be replaced cash that it's taken me so long to accumulate.

.....

destination 3 weeks later when he had a heart attack, it had 500 miles on it and he wasn't able to drive it again before he died.

It's all a balance , one that's probably quite hard to know whether you've got it right, either too much or too little until it's to late.

So I'd say if you can afford it buy the new car now, you can always sell it if your calculations are a bit off!

That is the thing I find difficult, that the money is never going to grow again.  I try to convince myself that I am paying myself for not working.

My parents always saved, and never stopped really.  Like a lot of people, I think that's where I learnt how to accumulate but not deccumulate.  Incredibly useful skill to have whilst you are earning.

Again like many' I've seen parents die young so it's a constant battle to tell myself it's fine to give up on chasing wealth and try to appreciate what I have.

marlot

>> 5) Spending ANYTHING on a taxi where there is ANY alternative - walking, bus, bike, own car, etc..

My mum's driving was always poor.  I encouraged her to give up the car and put the money into a taxi fund.  She gives any residue to charity.  Usually about 50% of the pot. She's still not entirely comfortable 'splashing out' on a taxi though.

>> DBs are rather like continued salary

This is so true.  I've only been retired three years, but I still can't believe that I have salary coming in, when I've not been working that month.

 

sevenhills

I see a 94-year-old relative that is a skinflint and will hardly ever spend, please don't end up like that.

He needed new dentures, as the old one is 30+ years old and broken/poor fitting and needed an extra tooth adding. He settled for a repair and added a tooth, that cost £45 instead of £600 for a new one. He has a growing bank balance, which now stands at £60k

I am 59 with not enough money to bridge the gap to 67, so I am relaxing my saving, but still adding to my SIPP.

Albermarle

I think I will be nervous about dipping into the never to be replaced cash that it's taken me so long to accumulate.

That is the thing I find difficult, that the money is never going to grow again.

If most of the money is in cash then the above comments are true . However if invested correctly and the withdrawal rate is not too high , then there is a good chance that you might even end up with more than you started with , or at least with not much less.
Of course it is not guaranteed and there could be some nerves inducing dips along the way. but over a 25/30 years period it should be OK. 

On a personal note , I have recently retired and after a lifetime of cautious accumulation , I feel curiously relaxed about spending my own money . I put this down to three things 
1) I worked probably two, maybe three more years than really necessary and filled pension to max during them . I did not mind my job so was not that difficult.
2) Very good investment returns over the last few years ( even for medium risk portfolios ) Of course maybe a rude awakening around the corner !
3) Pushing over the pensions LTA limit . So the less I spend the more tax I will pay .

Bought a new car one week after retiring with my own cash, and never even broke into a sweat . Although being an MSEr it was not actually new but an ex demo (  with only 100 miles on the clock ) with 15% off list .

Farside71

Albermarle said:

If most of the money is in cash then the above comments are true . However if invested correctly and the withdrawal rate is not too high , then there is a good chance that you might even end up with more than you started with , or at least with not much less.

This is what projections tend to imply for me but I still feel a bit uncomfortable that invested money can grow more than my actual salaried income - so even though my portfolio can move (up or down) in a short period by more than a month's pay, there is still that feeling that money going into your bank from a salary is more solid in someway than money invested in an ISA or pension.  It's just a mindset thing really, and because I am a bit away from retirement age, I feel like I'm watching something out of my control to some degree.

That's mainly because I am 5 years away from accessing pension benefits at 55 but have given up corporate life and aiming to supplement income with part time work to cover costs until I can start drawing on pension.