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Thursday, February 21, 2019

I Saved Too Much for Retirement

I don't hear this statement much - "I saved too much for retirement".  However, I am beginning to think this way due to recent experiences.

We followed all the best advice on saving for retirement:

  • Live below your means
  • Save 10% of you income, spend 4% of your savings per year in retirement
  • Use tax deferred retirement plans
  • Invest in a diversified portfolio of low cost index funds or ETFs
  • Have a plan - ensure you can support yourself until you are 95 
  • Be lucky
So when we retired, we basically kept living the same way as when we worked.  We had no worries if we lived until 95 or more.

Then I got to see what life is like for people who live into their 80's.  Very very few people that I see in their late 80's are of sound mind and body.  Rather, your body goes and you cannot get out much.  Your mind goes and you are not yourself anymore.  You become a burden to your family and friends.  The only happy seniors seem to be those who are in a retirement home and like people.  That does not apply to me since I am not really a people person.  Your savings do help with these problems, if you are aware enough to spend money on a retirement home or home help to be less of a burden.  Basically, from what I can see, there is not much quality of life beyond your early 80's, if that.

So my plan is to live an unhealthy lifestyle so I don't live too long and spend more now.  There is no point in living to a ripe old age with plenty of money, losing your mind, and being unhappy.

1 comment:

  1. Very funny assessment Mark, to justify a few excesses. Today I run onto the following note, and I thought you would enjoy the read, at least the notion that there are other people out there thinking the same way:
    https://getpocket.com/explore/item/why-i-hope-to-die-at-75

    ReplyDelete

Comments are not moderated prior to posting. Mark