Quote:
Originally Posted by Vegas69
It's a delicate balance. Many Americans are a slave to money and their careers. They wake up 65 ready to retire with poor health and not much life left to live. That's when money doesn't mean much. As I approach 40 I'm quickly learning that life is a short adventure. You sure as hell better make the best of it, today. That doesn't mean you should live like a drunken sailor. I've over corrected and made life no fun working towards financial independence not so long ago. We need a solid plan and wise choices. But I have to say, live it up because the wick is short and their are no guarantees you are crapping in depends.
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Wow! I've never looked at life as a ticking time bomb.... My plan is to live forever!! And have fun the entire f'n time!
In order to do that -- I need a plan!
Life is a gamble - with risks just like everything else we do. Had a buddy retire early @ 58 -- he died 4 months later from a rare form a pancreatic cancer. But on the other hand - my MIL is 89 and has mostly outlived her "decent" retirement stash when my FIL passed away when he was 60. So she's lived basically 30 years -- READ THAT AGAIN -- THIRTY YEARS in retirement. What's happened to her is INFLATION has eaten into her really nice retirement cash flow.... WHY?? Because despite my wanting to put her into some dividend payers -- she wanted a strategy that avoided paying taxes... Meaning Muni Bonds... Guess what -- Bonds SUCK as a retirement strategy. What do you get when you roll your 10 years muni bond that was paying 6% tax free - into a new muni that's paying 3% tax free?? A cut in income by 50%..... and when you hold a bond to maturity - you only just get your money back. ZERO growth. So after 30 years she has the same amount cash - earning about 1/3rd.
What did she need?? A strategy that had her money growing at 3 or 4% to stay even with inflation -- and an income strategy that had her income increasing so she could stay even with inflation. Yeah - she'd have paid taxes along the way -- very very minimal taxes.
I used to ask her -- do you want to earn 25,000 per year and pay zero taxes - or would it be smarter to earn 40,000 per year and pay 15% taxes and have 9,000 more to spend per year. Her answer was always "NO TAXES". Thus her current situation.
Funny --- 30 years ago - it cost maybe 3 grand to paint her house -- but the house has needed painting 3 times in 30 years - and it now costs 10 grand to paint her house. That's almost half her annual income. And that 30 year roof she put on back then - that needs replacing now... and the furnace... and property taxes have quadrupled... and insurance / medical costs. And you know what -- today -- "80's is the new 60's" -- People live a long time these days.