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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]People really don't know what they are doing with money. My MIL just told me this weekend that she needs to work a few more years to hit her retirement goal $$. A bit later she told me she cashed out a pension that was more than expected so she could redo her home office with nice built ins, French doors, wallpaper, etc. And she told me she sold some company stocks, bought a bunch of Pharma stocks hoping they would increase more quickly, but now they have gone down a bunch. She also just bought a new car with her savings, so she needs to build that back up. So basically, she is using retirement/emergency money to fund her lifestyle, and the goalpost keeps moving because she won't stop touching the funds. This is a college educated person who spent her career working in finance.

I think people do save. But they end up tapping into their savings over the years for various things. They justify it by saying they need the car, the home renovation will increase their home value, etc. But treating retirement funds like this does not help.[/quote]
But statistically retiree's expenses will drop the older they get. What good will it do her to have a pile of money later she won't use? [/quote]

As long as you can afford to manage retirement yourself (without asking ANYONE else for help), then spend how you want.  But memory care/assisted living/nursing care is expensive. And while stats say most are only in 6-18 months, I have personal stats that say otherwise.  Aunt and uncle who both lived to 90/91.  One was 7 years in memory care, the other was 3.5 years in nursing care.  Those run 8-10K+/month.  And neither case would be cheaper to manage at home (unless you want to quit your job and be a 24/7 nurse and are capable of lifting a 200lb man).

So I'd rather take more moderate vacations and be prepared for $500-750K+ in LTC later in life, so I can live comfortably.  Both of those relatives where aware of their surroundings and mentally sound until near the end (even the memory care, they were advancing in dementia, but still "recognized" family and could recall their early years in great detail).

So point is you might need to use it later.  Also, I'd rather be able to travel and enjoy life once we are empty nesters.  I find trips with our 20 somethings and their SO much more fun than traveling when the kids were younger....KISS when they are younger and enjoy more once they greatly appreciate it.

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