Just became a millionaire

Ganga

Albermarle said:

Ganga said:

ex-pat_scot said:

Albermarle said:

jim8888 said:

Having a million in pensions gives fantastic security and choice. For me, that's by far the best thing about it. In my experience of retirement so far, the best things about it are still pretty much free or inexpensive. A walk by the coast with my DOH, a bike ride in the countryside, a coffee and scone in a cosy cafe, a pint or two with friends in the local pub. I think that most of us know that having your health and relationships in a good place is more important than money. But I am conscious that having a sound financial background gives you more space to appreciate the other things in life that you enjoy.

Or to put it another way , you can enjoy life without worrying about money . No panic if the boiler breaks, or the car needs expensive repairs, which is the situation for a lot of people.  Just knowing that it is there is comforting/relaxing even if you don't splash it around .

Probably if you were the type to splash it around , then you would not have a Million Pound pension in the first place !

Exactly:
- money gives you the peace of mind that your costs / bills / unexpected problems can be covered.
- wealth is what you don't see. It's the fancy car you haven't bought, or the exotic instagrammed holiday you didn't take. That's not to say that you should deny yourself everything, but that your spending has a direct consequence on your wealth

Whilst what people spend their money on is their business i can never understand why amassing massive amounts of money and not spending any on the car they want ,holiday they need etc. or are they saving it for a rainy day or hope to take it with them  

I recently retired and bought the car I wanted ( not a Ferrari but still not cheap) . The point is that I could buy it without worrying about the cost so much , as I had a saved a lot for a rainy day !

Exactly , whats the point of having money if you do not enjoy it ,no body is saying go out and blow the lot but no body knows when the grim reaper will be a calling

DoublePolaroid

Bit off topic but…

There is a specific wrinkle with cars and deferring gratification until retirement. 

I’ve always been interested in cars and specifically engines. I’m fortunate enough to be able to indulge this interest without sacrificing my plans for early retirement, which is still 20 odd years away. 

The thing is, if I decided not to indulge now and wait until retirement (if I’m still walking the planet and not ravaged by some horrible degenerative disease, which nobody wants to think about but happens not uncommonly) I wouldn’t really be indulging because I, along with everybody else, will be driving a milk float. That’s if we’re driving at all and not being carted around in autonomous carriages. Call me a biosphere hating heathen, but a proper car has an internal combustion engine and the time for enjoying these is very limited. 

[Deleted User]

We installed a new roof and had two new bathrooms fitted last month. Cost 40K GBP.  Net worth (liquid) went up. That’s kinda cool. Meaningless but cool. 

bostonerimus

Ganga said:

Albermarle said:

Ganga said:

ex-pat_scot said:

Albermarle said:

jim8888 said:

Having a million in pensions gives fantastic security and choice. For me, that's by far the best thing about it. In my experience of retirement so far, the best things about it are still pretty much free or inexpensive. A walk by the coast with my DOH, a bike ride in the countryside, a coffee and scone in a cosy cafe, a pint or two with friends in the local pub. I think that most of us know that having your health and relationships in a good place is more important than money. But I am conscious that having a sound financial background gives you more space to appreciate the other things in life that you enjoy.

Or to put it another way , you can enjoy life without worrying about money . No panic if the boiler breaks, or the car needs expensive repairs, which is the situation for a lot of people.  Just knowing that it is there is comforting/relaxing even if you don't splash it around .

Probably if you were the type to splash it around , then you would not have a Million Pound pension in the first place !

Exactly:
- money gives you the peace of mind that your costs / bills / unexpected problems can be covered.
- wealth is what you don't see. It's the fancy car you haven't bought, or the exotic instagrammed holiday you didn't take. That's not to say that you should deny yourself everything, but that your spending has a direct consequence on your wealth

Whilst what people spend their money on is their business i can never understand why amassing massive amounts of money and not spending any on the car they want ,holiday they need etc. or are they saving it for a rainy day or hope to take it with them  

I recently retired and bought the car I wanted ( not a Ferrari but still not cheap) . The point is that I could buy it without worrying about the cost so much , as I had a saved a lot for a rainy day !

Exactly , whats the point of having money if you do not enjoy it ,no body is saying go out and blow the lot but no body knows when the grim reaper will be a calling

I think my attitudes to money and material things have developed from my Mother who grew up during the Great Depression so thrift was her default approach to life, the Methodist Church, in particular Rev. Donald Soper, and a bit of Chinese Buddhism. Money is a necessary evil, I have more than enough for myself and so I will give the rest away as I get no joy from just spending.

Secret2ndAccount

DoublePolaroid said:

The thing is, if I decided not to indulge now and wait until retirement... I, along with everybody else, will be driving a milk float. ... Call me a biosphere hating heathen, but a proper car has an internal combustion engine and the time for enjoying these is very limited. 

The ship has already sailed, or at least has raised the plank and hauled in all the ropes. Almost anything fast these days is turbocharged. Lift the engine cover, and it's a mess of pipes and heat shields. Good luck finding the cylinder heads.
Maybe a Lamborghini...

marlot

DoublePolaroid said:

Bit off topic but…

There is a specific wrinkle with cars and deferring gratification until retirement. 

I’ve always been interested in cars and specifically engines. I’m fortunate enough to be able to indulge this interest without sacrificing my plans for early retirement, which is still 20 odd years away. 

The thing is, if I decided not to indulge now and wait until retirement (if I’m still walking the planet and not ravaged by some horrible degenerative disease, which nobody wants to think about but happens not uncommonly) I wouldn’t really be indulging because I, along with everybody else, will be driving a milk float. That’s if we’re driving at all and not being carted around in autonomous carriages. Call me a biosphere hating heathen, but a proper car has an internal combustion engine and the time for enjoying these is very limited. 

My neighbour has just traded his 911 (Not sure which model, but recent) for a Tesla.  He's very happy with his choice.  Regrets not doing it sooner.

Meanwhile, I'm quite happy with my 10-year old MX-5.  I've had a few nice company cars over the years, but none of them really made me want to go for a drive just for the sake of it after the first month or so.  If the mazda dies I'll buy something new, but hopefully that's a way off.

DoublePolaroid

Secret2ndAccount said:

DoublePolaroid said:

The thing is, if I decided not to indulge now and wait until retirement... I, along with everybody else, will be driving a milk float. ... Call me a biosphere hating heathen, but a proper car has an internal combustion engine and the time for enjoying these is very limited. 

The ship has already sailed, or at least has raised the plank and hauled in all the ropes. Almost anything fast these days is turbocharged. Lift the engine cover, and it's a mess of pipes and heat shields. Good luck finding the cylinder heads.
Maybe a Lamborghini...

This is true but the used market still offers plenty of opportunities for N/A goodness. Some day pretty soon though unleaded will become so socially unacceptable, scarce and/or prohibitively expensive that even a Sunday drive in a classic ICE car won’t be possible. 

Chickereeeee

Secret2ndAccount said:

DoublePolaroid said:

The thing is, if I decided not to indulge now and wait until retirement... I, along with everybody else, will be driving a milk float. ... Call me a biosphere hating heathen, but a proper car has an internal combustion engine and the time for enjoying these is very limited. 

The ship has already sailed, or at least has raised the plank and hauled in all the ropes. Almost anything fast these days is turbocharged. Lift the engine cover, and it's a mess of pipes and heat shields. Good luck finding the cylinder heads.
Maybe a Lamborghini...

Anything really fast these days is electric....

Albermarle

Alexland said:

Albermarle said:
I recently retired and bought the car I wanted ( not a Ferrari but still not cheap) . The point is that I could buy it without worrying about the cost so much , as I had a saved a lot for a rainy day !

Was it a convertible? Hopefully you should get some long rainy days this winter if that's what you like.

Not a convertible , or even a SUV , but a nearly new estate ( 50 miles only ) , so a bit boring really. However it is very nice to drive and comes with all bells and whistles .
As a dedicated MSE'r you will be pleased to hear that due to the unusual state of the car market , four months after I picked it up ( seven months after the price was agreed) it is worth about 10% more now than it was then. Despite being older and having 3k miles on the clock.

MallyGirl

marlot said:

My neighbour has just traded his 911 (Not sure which model, but recent) for a Tesla.  He's very happy with his choice.  Regrets not doing it sooner.
Meanwhile, I'm quite happy with my 10-year old MX-5.  I've had a few nice company cars over the years, but none of them really made me want to go for a drive just for the sake of it after the first month or so.  If the mazda dies I'll buy something new, but hopefully that's a way off.

I loved both my MX-5s - then went to a Z3 which was much safer on the road (very solid) but not nearly as fun.
Then I had a baby and it was all downhill from there