You live, you work most of your life, and then you die. Morbid thought, I know, but if that’s how it is then why save money?
I know a lot of people, including close family, that have gone their entire life spending and never even stopping to think about saving. No retirement plan, no cushion in the bank, no worries about being able to pay the bills - just spend. The interesting thing is they seem to have very little stress about it.
Their philosophy - we work to earn in order to have, and you never know what tomorrow will bring. Some people save, save, save, and never get to enjoy anything because they’re too worried about saving.
Savers are constantly concerned about how much they are spending, if they’re saving enough, and when they’ll be able to retire to start living. What a sad way to go about your days.
What if your life ended tomorrow? What if you have enormous medical bills in early retirement that wipes out all of your savings? What if your investments crash and you lose it all? Maybe there’s too many “what ifs” to worry about it and we should all just live for today.
What if you just enjoy the money you have now while you’re young? Why not stop thinking in terms of “when I retire” and have a fulfilling lifestyle now?
Sounds tempting, right? Neither way is the sensible way to go about it. There needs to be some sort of middle ground. There needs to be a strategy to have plenty of money to be able to fully retire and support yourself, yet an ability to live for today.
The last thing you want to do is look back at your life and regret not ever having one, so think about what you want to accomplish today. Then think about what it is that you want to accomplish during retirement, how much it will cost, and how to get there. There is a way to balance the two and enjoy a complete life - not just one during retirement.
Millionaire Money Habit: Saving and managing your money is important, but it is also important to not get too caught up in being overly frugal. Be sure to take care of yourself now, as you never know what tomorrow will bring.
12:21 pm on July 30th, 2008 1
I think most people get enjoying your money mixed up into going in
debt. Yes, there are people that have fun today- buy toys,
luxuries etc. I agree wait to retire to start living is sad. But
most people think like that- save save save then enjoy. Balance it
out, save, spend, give and repeat! But when you’re in debt (or
behind on bills) like most people it’s kind of hard to balance it
all I’m glad I learned early about money, making my life more
comfortable now
1:00 pm on July 30th, 2008 2
Very good post. Certainly there needs to be a middle ground. I
would rather people err on the side of saving too much and being
debt free. It is easier to fix the problem of not spending enough
money than it is to fix the problem of spending too much.
1:10 pm on July 30th, 2008 3
Balance is the key here as you’ve obviously stated. I like to think
of my savings/investments as a means of whimsical living. I’m
always a saver first, but if the desire to hop a flight to the
Bahamas becomes more than just an itch - I’m gone. Being a
successful saver/investor allows you peace of mind, and the freedom
to reward yourself far beyond those people who purchase trivial and
worthless possessions. For me, it’s all about quality over
quantity.
1:19 pm on July 30th, 2008 4
Great post…so true. A lot of times we find out “middle ground” by
Plus, your heart isn’t wrapped up in toys and things that
comparing ourselves with others. I think that is the WRONG way to
go about it. I like you advice; find out what works for YOU. But
man, when the you-know-what hits the fan (and at some point in life
it inevitably does), you will be more than relieved to have money
in the bank. One mentality banks on living and randomly dying some
day (which of course happens at some point), while the other
mentality is that in the stretch of time I live, something horrible
could and probably will happen at some point and if I am not
financially prepared I could go ruined for the REST of the time I
live after that. I would definitely error on the savings side of
life
expire and break. Sometimes the people who spend spend spend are
the ones who have a midlife crisis from focusing on the wrong stuff
in life… Just my 2 cents
2:34 pm on July 30th, 2008 5
I think many of the people who follow this line of thinking are
approaching it from the mindset of saving to become wealthy. And
that’s not likely to happen, so they fail to see the point of it.
On the other hand, if they were thinking about saving money so they
could then invest that money, or buy appreciating assets with the
goal of accumulating wealth, then it’s a whole new ball game. I’d
rather have assets than stuff any day.
11:48 pm on July 30th, 2008 6
Good points. I’m saving all out right now to have a very nice dp
for a house and also have money left over. The other option is to
aggresively save for early retirement and skip the house option.