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Rich Retirees Are Hoarding Cash Out of Fear

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Re: Rich Retirees Are Hoarding Cash Out of Fear

#91

Post by RangerScience »

Artlav wrote: post #76
RangerScience wrote: post #10

Fuck. I'm 30, and I just went through this. I quit a bad job to try to do my own thing; after a few months without a paycheck - despite having plenty of saving six ways from Sunday - I clammed up almost completely, not wanting to spend a dime. I was miserable. It's the same feeling as item hoarding in CRPGs. Seems like I either need to never retire, or set up a trust for myself so I have a guaranteed allowance. (Or d…

That is familiar... I'm 30 and i tend to think of my savings in terms of lasting the rest of my life, even though i don't plan to live on them. I quit a falling apart job a year ago, and was staying above break even on odd opportunities and contracts. At first i pretty much stopped spending anything extra at all, and it was rather unpleasant. A few months in, it kind of passed - as an engineering person it was quite…

This is enheartening. I got a job again (a cushy Rails job), but I'll keep this attitude in mind if it comes up again.

Re: Rich Retirees Are Hoarding Cash Out of Fear

#92

Post by RangerScience »

blhack wrote: post #55
RangerScience wrote: post #10

Fuck. I'm 30, and I just went through this. I quit a bad job to try to do my own thing; after a few months without a paycheck - despite having plenty of saving six ways from Sunday - I clammed up almost completely, not wanting to spend a dime. I was miserable. It's the same feeling as item hoarding in CRPGs. Seems like I either need to never retire, or set up a trust for myself so I have a guaranteed allowance. (Or d…

This is tough, man. Some things I did when I was younger that helped me with this: 1) Go for a period of time (I did a month) living off of rice and beans (as far as I can find, the cheapest way to get close to a complete meal)[1] 2) Pare down everything in your life that isn't absolutely necessary. I put my bed in storage and lived in a hammock for a year. Cut out hot water for a period, stuff like that. Once you do…

This is pretty brilliant. Definitely part of my stress was my rent; and I never felt bad spending money on groceries.

I'm always tempted to do something like this anyway; the minimalist approach really appeals to me.

Re: Rich Retirees Are Hoarding Cash Out of Fear

#93

Post by FabHK »

ransom1538 wrote: post #81
dsmithatx wrote: post #61

My grandfather worked at Exxon Mobile for 60 years and retired around 1988 with a few million dollars in stock. I remember my dad saying he had about 3 Million in stock he purchased as his retirement plan. He built a house and bought a couple of nice cars living on about 100,000 a year. About 12 years ago he had a heart attack and stroke and was bed ridden. 12 years of doctor bills and hospice ate through almost ever…

Whatever you save with your blood, sweat and tears (if you are lucky) will be blown on medical expenses. The trick is to convert to cash (literal), then give it to your wife, convert medical expenses to debt and die.

Note that what you say applies mostly in developing countries and maybe the USA, not in other developed countries, as far as I can tell.

Re: Rich Retirees Are Hoarding Cash Out of Fear

#94

Post by RangerScience »

zeroer wrote: post #28
RangerScience wrote: post #10

Fuck. I'm 30, and I just went through this. I quit a bad job to try to do my own thing; after a few months without a paycheck - despite having plenty of saving six ways from Sunday - I clammed up almost completely, not wanting to spend a dime. I was miserable. It's the same feeling as item hoarding in CRPGs. Seems like I either need to never retire, or set up a trust for myself so I have a guaranteed allowance. (Or d…

I've thought before that CRPGs are decent training for how to handle money (emotionally speaking).

Maybe they could be, but for me, I don't think they were. I'd avoid spending any and all money.

Part of this was definitely the issue that the items for purchase were either so hugely out of budget, or so very much not worth it, that there wasn't any point to spending the cash.

Re: Rich Retirees Are Hoarding Cash Out of Fear

#95

Post by FabHK »

ChuckMcM wrote: post #49

As your parents age you get a chance to see how they handle retirement. You may also get to see their critical thinking facilities deteriorate which, I can tell you, is very sad. One of the things my parents get exposed to fairly heavily are stories that our entire financial system is teetering on the brink of massive depression. Often times it comes with an offer for a 'sure fire' investment that will ride out this…

> still getting returns that could have supported 7%

That would have to be a couple of very old bonds, now approaching maturity. Don't think this is a big factor (or is going to continue to be big factor, at any rate :-)

Re: Rich Retirees Are Hoarding Cash Out of Fear

#97

Post by Artlav »

stupidhn wrote: post #58
Artlav wrote: post #13

Why is it painted as a problem? Why should you spend more than you need? Why is "enjoying a retirement" supposed to only be achieved by spending more money? I don't get the point of the article.

Why should you save more than you need? What good does it do?

Why are buildings built with 3 times the structural integrity than they need?

Why are wires several times thicker than they need to carry the power the house needs?

Why are hammers much harder than nails?

It's called redundancy - you can never predict exactly what the needs would be, so you leave a healthy safety margin.

Re: Rich Retirees Are Hoarding Cash Out of Fear

#98

Post by draw_down »

charlieflowers wrote: post #6

> "As a result, millions of Americans are living too frugally" WTF, really? Reminds me of Edward Bernays [1], the "father of public relations", who set out to help Americans become materialistic (and succeeded!). If someone is enjoying their life without blowing all their money, that person is BETTER off. It's just corporations that want to suck the money away from them that need to "train them to spend." [1] https:/…

We built a consumer economy so now we need people to be consumers to keep it turning. We also spent decades transferring wealth to older generations from the younger ones and of course now we want to talk frugality.

Re: Rich Retirees Are Hoarding Cash Out of Fear

#99

Post by kolbe »

charlieflowers wrote: post #6

> "As a result, millions of Americans are living too frugally" WTF, really? Reminds me of Edward Bernays [1], the "father of public relations", who set out to help Americans become materialistic (and succeeded!). If someone is enjoying their life without blowing all their money, that person is BETTER off. It's just corporations that want to suck the money away from them that need to "train them to spend." [1] https:/…

Shouldn't that also indicate there's a misalignment between how hard you're working to earn so much money, if you have no intention of ever utilizing it?
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