How much money is "enough" money?

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Soi Dog
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Re: How much money is

Post by Soi Dog »

Bitte_Kein_Lexus wrote:Ah ok, so aiming for a 45-50 year-old retirement age. Yeah definately need a bigger cushion then. Why not aim for 1 million then? Then you can tell every you used to be a millionaire :-D

Nah, I'm guessing the extra years of work just wouldn't be worth it?
I can't imagine, on my deathbed, to be lying there thinking "I wish I worked another 2 years before retiring."

Unless, of course, I am laying there dying as a result of not having saved enough for emergency medical attention. :|
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Cowshed Cowboy
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Re: How much money is "enough" money?

Post by Cowshed Cowboy »

My own philosophy was 20 years education, 30 years work and 20 years retirement. Anything else is a bonus depending on health. So financially for me that equates to a minimum of 20 * £15,000 = £300,000 in today's terms and for my own personal circumstance. I'm a slow learner because it's taken me 20 years to realise that happiness is the key to whatever you do, so whatever it is you enjoy doing, do it while it lasts but make sure you have enough cash to do it.
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Soi Dog
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Re: How much money is "enough" money?

Post by Soi Dog »

Cowshed Cowboy wrote:My own philosophy was 20 years education, 30 years work and 20 years retirement. Anything else is a bonus depending on health. So financially for me that equates to a minimum of 20 * £15,000 = £300,000 in today's terms and for my own personal circumstance.
What if you last beyond age 70, though? Outliving your savings and trying to gain income at that age is can be a tough proposition. Hence, my stupid spreadsheets.
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Cowshed Cowboy
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Re: How much money is "enough" money?

Post by Cowshed Cowboy »

Soi Dog wrote:
Cowshed Cowboy wrote:My own philosophy was 20 years education, 30 years work and 20 years retirement. Anything else is a bonus depending on health. So financially for me that equates to a minimum of 20 * £15,000 = £300,000 in today's terms and for my own personal circumstance.
What if you last beyond age 70, though? Outliving your savings and trying to gain income at that age is can be a tough proposition. Hence, my stupid spreadsheets.
I've always ignored my pensions in my calculations, the law and UK govt regulations change too much, the longer I can hold off drawing the bigger the pot will be. My target is to ensure the pensions will guarantee the same figure per year. Once it reaches that level I'm fine.

If it's any consolation I update and refine my spreadsheet annually, nothing stupid about it. Are you from the UK Soi Dog ?
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Bitte_Kein_Lexus
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Re: How much money is "enough" money?

Post by Bitte_Kein_Lexus »

Is 15000 pounds/year enough to live comfortably in the UK if you don't own your own flat/house? I assume it all depends where you live... I like Cowshed's calculations though. Fairly simple and straightforward. The big "if" is inflation and returns on those investments. I'm thinking of telling my parents to put some of their cash here. Returns in the west are crap and my parents aren't exactly well-off. Both are around 66 and nowhere near retirement I'd think. I once managed to peak at their savings/investments and although they were (more than I expected, and I didn't expect much!), they weren't that substantial. Returns have been crap for nearly 10 years. Even if they were to only put in 10-20k or something, I think they'd be happy with the return. Wouldn't want to make them put too much though n case one of these MFI's goes belly up. I'd feel bad forever if my advice led to them losing a substantial chunk of change. I've borrowed money from them before by offering them a good return (vs what banks/mutual funds returns) though, and I think they'd be open to the idea of sending me cash here to help them get better returns.
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phuketrichard
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Re: How much money is "enough" money?

Post by phuketrichard »

god, to be young an have dreams of having enough money to retire

as one that appears to be older than 85% of those posting here

Work as much as you can, enjoy your life, save what you can, DON'T make plans ( yea knock it all you want but why bother with it)
I came from a different generation.

I never saved, I made tons of money, i lost tons , i spent it, what i have I have and if it lasts, great, if not..... i will live on the land we own and let my gf work an provide :-)

Things work out, Que Sera, Sera

In a nation run by swine, all pigs are upward-mobile and the rest of us are fucked until we can put our acts together: not necessarily to win, but mainly to keep from losing completely. HST
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Re: How much money is "enough" money?

Post by EdinWigan »

I think it is a scale running from the basic sustenance to the reward based lifestyle. So, maybe $1200 to $2200 a month ( yes, I know you can live on less but can you 'live' on less? ) Therefore $144k to $264k for a 10 year adventure.
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Cowshed Cowboy
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Re: How much money is "enough" money?

Post by Cowshed Cowboy »

Bitte_Kein_Lexus wrote:Is 15000 pounds/year enough to live comfortably in the UK if you don't own your own flat/house? I assume it all depends where you live...
My own calculations are based on Thailand living with an owned property. That budget would work for me in Cambodia as well. I don't think I could live on that in the Uk especially if you had to pay rent as well, if I could my standard of living would be a lot less.
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General Mackevili
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Re: How much money is "enough" money?

Post by General Mackevili »

If I had $300,000 in the bank right now, I'd attempt retiring here this very instant! (Which is probably also the reason I DON'T have $300,000 in the bank right now....)
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Bitte_Kein_Lexus
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Re: How much money is "enough" money?

Post by Bitte_Kein_Lexus »

So you'd live off 500$/month? ;-) I doubt even Vlad could do that. Just to clarify: I'm not the least bit worried about retirement. I live my life as I please, trying to maximize and accumulate life experiences. I'm mostly interested in human capital/cool experiences than saving money. I'd rather have tons of cool stories to tell when I'm 80 sitting in a rocking chair than having lots of money but having led the most boring life ever. Still, my parents are approaching retirement and I've come to the realization that the longer I stay in Asia, the more unconventional my approach to retirement will need to be, but I'm with the General and Richard here in that I'm not preoccupied with it.

Though maybe my opinion will change when I end up a broke meth addict on the streets of Poipet in 40 years...
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