Originally Posted by Boomer
I remember when I was still working. We would get bonuses some years and they were paid out around March. Some years they were substantial, amounting to about 15% of your annual pay. Mine always went right on the mortgage and I paid off a 30 year mortgage in 9 years. What always amazed me was that within a week, the number of new Benzs, BMWs, Caddies and other pricey cars in the parking lots shot way up. Nothing like "investing" in a depreciating asset. A few years later, some of these people were retiring and complaining that they : 1) didn't have the savings they wanted to have, 2) still had a mortgage payment that would go on for years in retirement, and 3) they did not know how they were going to make it in the long term.
The desire for instant pleasure is strong and many people cannot fight it. They will not see the advantage of saving for something that is 10, 20 or 30 years in the future. Somehow, there seems to be the idea that the Money Fairy is going to come along and sprinkle magic dust on them!
I find it interesting to read that the number one reason that people don't save for retirement is that the amount of money they are told they will need is so large that "why even bother!"
Many of those figures are ridiculous. The calculations say I'll need $4M to $5M to retire and maintain my lifestyle. There is a lot I can cut out if it stands in the way of retirement and the math they use has many incorrect assumptions. Just SS should keep you afloat. More than that is good and you can get a part time job for pin money if it's not enough. Might need to get a job on a golf course to support my golf habit or work another year. LOL.
I remember when I was still working. We would get bonuses some years and they were paid out around March. Some years they were substantial, amounting to about 15% of your annual pay. Mine always went right on the mortgage and I paid off a 30 year mortgage in 9 years. What always amazed me was that within a week, the number of new Benzs, BMWs, Caddies and other pricey cars in the parking lots shot way up. Nothing like "investing" in a depreciating asset. A few years later, some of these people were retiring and complaining that they : 1) didn't have the savings they wanted to have, 2) still had a mortgage payment that would go on for years in retirement, and 3) they did not know how they were going to make it in the long term.
The desire for instant pleasure is strong and many people cannot fight it. They will not see the advantage of saving for something that is 10, 20 or 30 years in the future. Somehow, there seems to be the idea that the Money Fairy is going to come along and sprinkle magic dust on them!
I find it interesting to read that the number one reason that people don't save for retirement is that the amount of money they are told they will need is so large that "why even bother!"
Many of those figures are ridiculous. The calculations say I'll need $4M to $5M to retire and maintain my lifestyle. There is a lot I can cut out if it stands in the way of retirement and the math they use has many incorrect assumptions. Just SS should keep you afloat. More than that is good and you can get a part time job for pin money if it's not enough. Might need to get a job on a golf course to support my golf habit or work another year. LOL.
