What do you say to someone who asks about how much money you have saved for retirement?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why would anyone share personal financial information with anyone other than your banker or broker???


Anyone who asks about your money has poor intentions.

I’m very wealthy and I don’t even tell that to my banker or broker. I don’t keep all my money in one place so they’ll never know which is how I want it. I’m a huge believer in stealth wealth.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If it's a co-worker and they want to know if they're on the right track, then I might answer their question.

I like coming on here and reading about how much other posters have and how old they are. It helps motivate me and gives me an idea on how bad or how good I'm doing.

I wouldn’t believe most of the posts on DCUM about people bragging how much money they have.

[Anonymous]

I know someone who asks everyone how much money they have, how much they earn and how much debt they have, like student loans, mortgage, etc.I think she uses it for gossip.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m a firm believer that talking about money is important, especially for those who don’t come from it. We shouldn’t have to come to a private forum to write out our numbers. If anyone asks me I’ll tell them what I’ve saved and what my pension will give me. Maybe it’s easier because I’m not uber wealthy financially. I would be hopeful a conversation about retirement with my friends mostly in our 40s would do nothing but to motivate others or myself to save and plan more and share ideas on how to build wealth.

For posters saying it’s fodder for gossip that’s a super boring convo, wow - did you know Larla has y amount saved in retirement? I mean where does it go from there?

I'm with you. I want to talk about money, because it gave me my freedom from work. My friends are all tired from work, but they don't see how personal finance can help.
I built a very nice nest egg making minimum wage. I learned to invest at some point and retired in my mid 40s while still making minimum wage. I love to talk about money, but I do run into difficulties, because money seems to be a dirty word.
People want money, but they are not interested in math, economy, markets, retirement accounts, taxes.
I had been homeless and nearly homeless a few times. Money would have fixed that problem for me. I remember counting my money even as a kid. I just never knew I could become a banker or investor as an adult. We didn't even have banks in the old country.
Imagine moving here and discovering that there are books about money. Millionaire Next Door is one of the first ones I read.
My have awesome money skills now. I'm not frugal or cheap, but I do get dopamine from buying a new stock rather than shopping.
I can only have so many couch pillows in my house. There is not maximum amount of stocks I can own.
Money is my hobby and money gave me back my time. I don't have to work the 10-12 hours shifts ever again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m a firm believer that talking about money is important, especially for those who don’t come from it. We shouldn’t have to come to a private forum to write out our numbers. If anyone asks me I’ll tell them what I’ve saved and what my pension will give me. Maybe it’s easier because I’m not uber wealthy financially. I would be hopeful a conversation about retirement with my friends mostly in our 40s would do nothing but to motivate others or myself to save and plan more and share ideas on how to build wealth.

For posters saying it’s fodder for gossip that’s a super boring convo, wow - did you know Larla has y amount saved in retirement? I mean where does it go from there?

I'm with you. I want to talk about money, because it gave me my freedom from work. My friends are all tired from work, but they don't see how personal finance can help.
I built a very nice nest egg making minimum wage. I learned to invest at some point and retired in my mid 40s while still making minimum wage. I love to talk about money, but I do run into difficulties, because money seems to be a dirty word.
People want money, but they are not interested in math, economy, markets, retirement accounts, taxes.
I had been homeless and nearly homeless a few times. Money would have fixed that problem for me. I remember counting my money even as a kid. I just never knew I could become a banker or investor as an adult. We didn't even have banks in the old country.
Imagine moving here and discovering that there are books about money. Millionaire Next Door is one of the first ones I read.
My have awesome money skills now. I'm not frugal or cheap, but I do get dopamine from buying a new stock rather than shopping.
I can only have so many couch pillows in my house. There is not maximum amount of stocks I can own.
Money is my hobby and money gave me back my time. I don't have to work the 10-12 hours shifts ever again.

Is the government sending checks to you?

[Anonymous]

Holy moly. Not enough. More than us, we are worried about our children. They are living in a hopeless world and I wonder if they will survive in this world.

[Anonymous]

I'll tell them. Same as if they asked how much money I make or how much I pay for my mortgage, car, or anything else.

The taboo against talking about money is ridiculous and outdated at best and at worst is an intentional method from the ruling classes to divide and conquer in order to prevent workers from realizing they're being underpaid and collectively organize.

[Anonymous]

I don't say how much I have saved, but I've shared before that I started maxing out my retirement contributions since age 30. And that as long as I'm still working my retirement savings are 90%+ in ETFs. I don't think the result (how much money I have or don't have) matters as much as the how part of it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why would anyone share personal financial information with anyone other than your banker or broker???


Anyone who asks about your money has poor intentions.

I wouldn’t share that info with my banker or broker (if I had one) either. None of their business. And I don’t keep all our retirement money in one place so they would never know.

[Anonymous]

I don't mind posting anonymously here, but I don't tell anyone in the real world, not even my spendthrift spouse. The power of an early start, consistency, and compounding started showing up when I hit ~40.

[Anonymous]

I’d say “not enough” and “it’s a work in progress.” If they pushed, I’d say I wasn’t sure of the exact amount but not enough to feel comfortable retiring and I’m hoping to substantially add to it.

[Anonymous]

Enough. How about you?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have tried “enough” and “why do you ask?”.

Why would people be so bold to ask about your money?

Your answers presuppose a level of social savviness that will make the person realize it’s an inappropriate question. They don’t have enough social skills to get it.

Try the truth, said without rancor: It’s personal; we’d rather not say.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'll tell them. Same as if they asked how much money I make or how much I pay for my mortgage, car, or anything else.

The taboo against talking about money is ridiculous and outdated at best and at worst is an intentional method from the ruling classes to divide and conquer in order to prevent workers from realizing they're being underpaid and collectively organize.

You don't realize that nothing positive is going to result from sharing private information. Stop doing that you fool

[Anonymous]

“Why do you ask?” That covers inappropriate questions— and allows me to better understand the goals of someone who genuinely has a need to know this type of information.

No one other than a financial advisor has ever asked me this question.