s/o Are you over the TSP/401k?

[Anonymous]

All the recent discussion re the TSP makes me wonder -- anyone else totally over retirement saving, or is it just me? Before people yell at me -- I'm a diligent saver and in my 7 yrs of working, I have been maxing out etc. Yet I am freaking sick of it. I would love to be irresponsible and not bother and take the extra $500-600/paycheck now. I'm at a level where the amount I already have -- if it compounds at just under 6% would get me to a million. I'm not doing this and will still keep contributing the max -- bc who knows whether a million will be enough down the road, who knows what the growth rate will be, who knows what healthcare costs will be etc. But I wonder if anyone has done this or knows anyone who has thrown caution to the wind. Though it seems like this site only attracts people who are able to say -- I saved 3/4 of a million in 5 yrs.

[Anonymous]

What would you do with the money?

[Anonymous]

What would you do with the extra $600 per month?

I don't understand people that want so many things. What do you do with them? Why do you want them so badly?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What would you do with the extra $600 per month?

I don't understand people that want so many things. What do you do with them? Why do you want them so badly?

The same can be said for having a ton of money when you retire. What will you do with it all? You'll be all old and achy and cranky and maybe just want to sit in front of the tv and repeat the same boring stories over and over. I bet I'd enjoy the money more now. Travel, sports, nice clothes, comfy furniture, dinners out, fitness classes, boating, gardening, the theater...it all costs money and I'm in good health to enjoy it. Yeah, I'd have no trouble finding things to spend money on.

[Anonymous]

I often wonder if we save too much. DH has a TSP (maxed) and will have a pension. I also have a TSP (recently maxed, but question continuing that) and will have a pension. We also save outside of the TSP. I've run the numbers several times and I'm confident we will have enough for retirement even if we reduce my TSP to just getting the match. We could use the additional money for house upgrades or vacations - things we can enjoy now - and still be comfortable in retirement. But there is a little voice that says, "No, save while you can!"

[Anonymous]

Not over it, but I do think we're about to a point where we need to start being strategic about how much goes into age-restricted funds and what we can withdraw prior to 59.5 so we can consider early retirement. There are some ways to do a bit of that with the Roth 401k/Roth IRA, so we need to get our act together now that we've hit a few other financial goals.

Yeah, it definitely doesn't get old seeing our savings balance for me though. I guess because I don't ever see the money coming out of my paycheck, there's no real pinch to it. I don't even think about what I would do with the extra money.

[Anonymous]

I think you might find this blog interesting. Start reading from the beginning. It's about a guy who worked for 10 years, saved 80% of his income, and retired at 30.

http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think you might find this blog interesting. Start reading from the beginning. It's about a guy who worked for 10 years, saved 80% of his income, and retired at 30.

http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/

As a frugal person, I hate his blog. I wouldn't want to live like him unless I was extremely poor.

Oh and I'm sure he makes good money now that he has the blog.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

As a frugal person, I hate his blog. I wouldn't want to live like him unless I was extremely poor.

Oh and I'm sure he makes good money now that he has the blog.

Another frugal person here (have our mortgage paid off at 30, live on way less than we earn, don't outsource much, etc), and I am so glad to see you say this. We have been trying to figure out what our next financial moves are, and I keep feeling like I should be inspired by MMM. Instead I always feel depressed. Even with no mortgage and no kids, the idea of living on 24k a year sounds awful to me. I live (what I thought was) pretty simply but the idea of riding a bike most places, changing jobs or homes specifically around a commute (I live in a sprawling area), line drying clothes just sounds like an unenjoyable life to me.

I keep beating myself up because I feel like I don't "get it," but I think I do get it and it is just a bridge too far for me. I like my work though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What would you do with the extra $600 per month?

I don't understand people that want so many things. What do you do with them? Why do you want them so badly?

Maybe it's not for things but experiences?

I get what OP is saying. I am not a crazy saver, but I save enough. Sometimes, when I see the amount people on this board have saved with an income similar to mine, I am envious. I think - why didn't you forgo X, Y and Z and save that money. And what I am about to say is somewhat cheesy, but my younger sister died very suddenly in her 20s. And I think a lot about all the things she never got to do. So I will never assume that if I just save everything possible now, I can retire earlier and fulfill all my dreams then. I am also not assuming I need to do everything I want to do now and that I don't need to save for the future. I try to balance it. But I also feel like even balancing it is overdoing it a little. I probably don't need to save as much as I do, but I think there is a pressure, if you make X, you should be saving Y, even if Y is more than you need.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What would you do with the extra $600 per month?

I don't understand people that want so many things. What do you do with them? Why do you want them so badly?

Maybe it's not for things but experiences?

I get what OP is saying. I am not a crazy saver, but I save enough. Sometimes, when I see the amount people on this board have saved with an income similar to mine, I am envious. I think - why didn't you forgo X, Y and Z and save that money. And what I am about to say is somewhat cheesy, but my younger sister died very suddenly in her 20s. And I think a lot about all the things she never got to do. So I will never assume that if I just save everything possible now, I can retire earlier and fulfill all my dreams then. I am also not assuming I need to do everything I want to do now and that I don't need to save for the future. I try to balance it. But I also feel like even balancing it is overdoing it a little. I probably don't need to save as much as I do, but I think there is a pressure, if you make X, you should be saving Y, even if Y is more than you need.

Well, if you read some of the other threads about how much people will think they'll need in retirement it's a little over the top. Maybe the people posting those threads are currently earning crazy money but for me I'm sure I'd be just fine on a lot less.

[Anonymous]

We save to make sure we don't put burden on my kids when we are old. Probably more than what we need but you never know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

As a frugal person, I hate his blog. I wouldn't want to live like him unless I was extremely poor.

Oh and I'm sure he makes good money now that he has the blog.

Another frugal person here (have our mortgage paid off at 30, live on way less than we earn, don't outsource much, etc), and I am so glad to see you say this. We have been trying to figure out what our next financial moves are, and I keep feeling like I should be inspired by MMM. Instead I always feel depressed. Even with no mortgage and no kids, the idea of living on 24k a year sounds awful to me. I live (what I thought was) pretty simply but the idea of riding a bike most places, changing jobs or homes specifically around a commute (I live in a sprawling area), line drying clothes just sounds like an unenjoyable life to me.

I keep beating myself up because I feel like I don't "get it," but I think I do get it and it is just a bridge too far for me. I like my work though.

Yes! We could be twins. We're 70% paid off on our mortgage at 29 (so we're frugal), but I think life is meant to be lived! His life sounds stingy and unenjoyable. I don't want to retire like him, I'd rather have a job that I love. And he didn't have a 2nd child so he could save more money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What would you do with the extra $600 per month?

I don't understand people that want so many things. What do you do with them? Why do you want them so badly?

Maybe it's not for things but experiences?

I get what OP is saying. I am not a crazy saver, but I save enough. Sometimes, when I see the amount people on this board have saved with an income similar to mine, I am envious. I think - why didn't you forgo X, Y and Z and save that money. And what I am about to say is somewhat cheesy, but my younger sister died very suddenly in her 20s. And I think a lot about all the things she never got to do. So I will never assume that if I just save everything possible now, I can retire earlier and fulfill all my dreams then. I am also not assuming I need to do everything I want to do now and that I don't need to save for the future. I try to balance it. But I also feel like even balancing it is overdoing it a little. I probably don't need to save as much as I do, but I think there is a pressure, if you make X, you should be saving Y, even if Y is more than you need.

Well, if you read some of the other threads about how much people will think they'll need in retirement it's a little over the top. Maybe the people posting those threads are currently earning crazy money but for me I'm sure I'd be just fine on a lot less.

I agree!!! Needing 10 million to retire on is a want, not a need. Most of us would be happy with 100k a year or even 75k and I think that's still a huge number. When your house is paid off and you don't have kids, there's not much expenditure.

[Anonymous]

OP here - for people saying what would I do with the money now - I don't spend extravagantly, yet w an extra 18k a yr (like 12 or so net), I'd travel a bit more, buy a faster car, and maybe pursue an MBA even though I don't need one but want one if I can get into a top 5 school. So I do have wants that won't be fulfilled at age 65. Yet I continue to slog and save bc it's the smart thing.