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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Anyone read this book? I just listened to a couple of podcasts about it and found it really thought provoking. The premise is that once you've saved enough to fund your retirement, you should start focusing more on generating memorable life experiences. The author says that your NW should peak between age 45 and 55, and that people slow down after that and most people die with too much money.

"If you spend hours and hours of your life acquiring money and then die without spending all of that money, then you've needlessly wasted too many precious hours of your life. There is just no way to get those hours back. If you die with $1 million left, that's $1 million of experiences you didn't have. And if you die with $50,000 left, well, that's $50,000 of experiences you didn't have. No way is that optimal. The question we all must answer is how to make the most of our finite time on earth."
- author Bill Perkins

I have always been a disciplined saver, maxing out my retirement plans from my very first job in my early 20s, and working to build after-tax savings, too, as my income grew. I didn't move up to a bigger house as our HHI moved higher and higher (HHI now over $1M and we still live in our $700K house), and as income grows, I feel more internal pressure to build my after-tax investments. But honestly, reading about this philosophy (haven't actually read the book yet) has me thinking, hmm. Why am I feeling so conflicted and stressed about spending more of my money, especially now when our kids are young and these are likely going to be our most healthy and active years? I really do feel like my thinking has been a bit transformed. Like, why not renovate my house while the kids are still young and raise them in something much more beautiful? Why not take massive trips now? The author also talks about "memory dividends" that are more valuable than stock dividends.

Anyway, I promise I'm not a promoter for this book. I'm a longtime reader and poster on this board and I relate to many here who feel pressure to save, save, save and invest and who look upon people's NW relative to HHI and think "Why is it so low? You're not saving enough!" I've been on the receiving end of those comments, too (HHI $1M liquid NW of $4M, but HHI hasn't been in this vicinity very long) and honestly they make me feel a bit ashamed and putting more pressure on myself to save. But the thought of just...continuing to max our 401(k)s and save $5k/mo to nonqualified savings and then just...blowing the rest...feels a bit revelatory to me. Exciting and like it makes sense. At least that's how I'm feeling after a weekend of listening to some podcasts about this book. Talk some sense into me, or tell me why you agree with the book's premise. Thanks![/quote]

I mean, duh. Yes, people ridiculously oversave. Thrift is a virtue, but so is living in the moment. But denying yourself EVERYTHING IN THE MOMENT for the sake of saving that extra $1,000 in your 401K when you already have like 3 million in it is stoopid.[/quote]

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