Quote:
Originally Posted by CliffFletcher
Exactly. When you routinely see professional advice that you need $1 million to retire comfortably in Canada, you can only conclude that either A) Only a fraction of people in one of the richest countries in the world retire comfortably, or B) The person giving the advice has an interest in presenting a distorted picture of what’s normal.
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We all have different ideas of what is comfortable, though. I see some people who are happy living lives that would make me crawl out of my skin. Some people want a more comfortable retirement and it takes a lot of money to fund that - those are the types more likely to be seeking the advice of a financial planner, anyway. And maybe normal sucks, too? Like, I know my one grandpa spent 25 years sitting in the same la-z-boy watching TV in a one bedroom apartment. Once in a while he'd shuffle down the hall to play crib, but that'd be about it. No thanks to that. If that's normal - which it would be on $40k/year - I want no part of it.
I have a really strong pull to make as much as I can to get the kiddy as big as I can get it. The reason for this is money can often buy security for yourself and your loved ones. I don't know what the world will look like for my kids when they're older and I certainly don't know what it'll look like for their kids, whom I'm sure I'll love. So yeah, at this moment in time, my wife and I can make a reasonable amount of money and we don't have tastes that are
too luxurious given our incomes. We save and save and save. Not just for ourselves, but for others coming after us. Maybe they won't have the same opportunities to make money as we've had, so I want to work to help them should they need it.
I don't think these professionals advising on amounts to save are twiddling their moustaches and salivating at the money we're saving. We have goals, we have estimates as to how long we'll live, and it's not rocket science to work back from an expected lifespan, spending requirements, estate goals upon death, and average stock market returns to determine how much you'll need to retire depending on when you plan to retire.
It's way too high risk to leave it too tight because you can't undo that. My actual nightmare is being an old man working as a Wal-Mart greeter or something. Not because I look down on the job, but because I think most geriatrics still in the workforce at that level don't
want to be there, but
have to be there.
I think saving as much as you can is a noble goal regardless of your income. The poster above at 36 with four kids and $250k saved with $400k equity in his home? He's killing it. That's some great savings at that stage and he should be proud. I'm sure he had to sacrifice some short-term gratification to get there with a large family and a relatively young age.
If you spend every penny you make, after a certain income you're just buying material crap, really. I don't think you can get happy doing that. Exceptions would be like a family cabin/legacy property where memories can be made, a family trip to Disneyland, etc. That #### costs money and it's not a waste if you're uplifting all those you love by spending it (and you can afford it, obvs).
Generally, though, I'm happier being a saver than blowing all my money. The diminishing returns of happiness as you get older and have the cool stuff you want is striking. There's really not much I could buy at this point that would put a smile on my face versus when I was younger, had nothing and bought something cool. I do think helping grandkids with university, or paying for braces for a kid, or gifting a down payment on a house will make me happy, though, so I'm looking forward to that and it motivates me to save.