Avoid making negative or unhelpful posts, and instead focus on providing constructive feedback and ideas that can help to move the discussion forward.
- Manlobbi
Personal Finance Topics / Retirement Investing
No. of Recommendations: 6
No. of Recommendations: 7
To assist my colleagues in understanding what worked well for me and what ended up as money-losing purchases, I am recounting the lessons that I have learned over the past 42 years—lessons that have allowed me to build a total net worth of $27 million.
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Now we spend about 10k per month (after tax.
The $27M number made me very happy for this author.
The $10k/mo in the comments section made me quite sad.
Everyone values peace of mind and deriving joy from their money/assets in their own way. I personally hope to derive much more joy from mine while mentally and physically able.
Jeff
No. of Recommendations: 12
Respectfully, I'm not quite in the author's position, but it is important to not lose sight of the fact that $10k/mo is living extremely well. It is worth quoting more of that post:
- I did not feel that we missed any experiences that were important to us; I don’t believe that having great experiences requires spending a lot of money.
- We took vacations; but, not expensive ones. We liked hiking and exploring state and national parks, which don’t cost a lot of money. We also enjoyed skiing, which was not nearly as expensive as it is now.
- I enjoyed working and had new challenges as I progressed into my 50’s. I became regional medical director and chief of staff which were very interesting jobs. My final 5 years I worked internationally.
I think the author is *far richer* than the $27M savings suggest. Enjoying your work, enjoying the small things, and not needing material things to be happy are goals often left unspoken, unfortunately, in investment discussion. They seemed satisfied with life. One can be poor and happy, one can be rich and miserable, but it is nice to be well off and happy if you can swing it.
The only thing I agree with is doing more charity while you're still alive instead of waiting until leaving a charitable bequest.
No. of Recommendations: 4
<< I think the author is *far richer* than the $27M savings suggest. Enjoying your work, enjoying the small things, and not needing material things to be happy are goals often left unspoken, unfortunately, in investment discussion. They seemed satisfied with life. One can be poor and happy, one can be rich and miserable, but it is nice to be well off and happy if you can swing it. >>
I agree. I've been early retired for more than 30 years and had a withdrawal rate of 1% of assets or less during most of that time. Spending more money to do the stuff I was already doing wouldn't have made me any happier.
I've found that the biggest luxury in retirement is the fact is that there's nothing I have to do and nobody I have to report to. I'm spending 100% of my time doing whatever happens to interest me at the moment.
intercst
No. of Recommendations: 19
A couple of things.
The author and I had similar career courses, but he has a *few* (not many) multiples more in wealth than I do
I, too, drove used cars, lived in a used house, brought in bag lunches, and did not typically take expensive vacations.
So: why the difference?
- the first thing that pop out is, apparently, the OP had no kids. We had four, and perhaps I/we overcompensated bc of the gawdawful neighborhood/public school that marked my growing up. It certainly added up: Montessori, first-rate private schools, four years at any university at which they were accepted and chose to attend. Net: four successful, happy, employed, stable adults with (counting) four bachelors', one masters and two doctorates to date. Three live locally, one not that far away. Grandchild(ren). Comparing this scorecard with most of my colleagues kids...there is no comparison.
Cost: probably $350-$400K after-tax for each kid. Times four, average of 15-20 years appreciation on that forfeited principal, historical return of 10%: there's seven or eight of the 'missing' millions right there
- my Day Zero debt was substantially bigger than his.
- he's 4-5 years ahead of me by dates (I became an attending physician in 1992, he in 1988).
- I was v substantially underpaid the first 7-8 years in practice, due to a poorly run practice. I tolerated bc: good group; declining parents nearby; good community to live & raise kids
- ten years of a monthly after-tax check to Mom after Dad passed. The survivor's pension she was left with was only ok, and decades of their own suboptimal financial management left her a widow with a mortgage...in a home she had made into a gardening showplace, and which reminded her of Dad. I wasn't going to make her move to a small place until she was ready.
- it sounds like the OP was very aggressive at tax avoidance. I wasn't. The comments about avoiding Social Security, state income taxes etc wasn't something I was going to do. (I also mistrusted 529s, so the boys' education was out of pocket)
- we did dig down occasionally. Kid vacations are cheap when they're little, but peri-adolescence and high school: eh, not so much. (Read: Hawaii, or one year when they were maybe 8-13, a dude ranch). We had fun. Great food. Great pictures. Great memories. So, I dunno: again counting the time value of twenty years of foregone compounding - maybe half a million?
- I've posted here before about reaching way, way deep for a private jet card when, mid-pandemic, our eldest announced we need to meet his gf bc he anticipated proposing later that year. This when we were all pretty much on lockdown. Anyhow, it was a one-time-only of after-tax cash that would have otherwise quietly grown by the mid- to high- six figures by now
- and finally: I happily retired in my late 50s. Had I not done so and hung in for another decade (and survived to tell the tale) then...say, another eight- or more likely nine-plus million, just by keeping my mitts off the savings, and contributing another $50K or more each year
So that's maybe 16-17 of the 'missing' millions. And, maybe if I got another life after this one, I might have made different choices.
But in this world: nope. It's been and is a great ride, and we have more than what we need.
--sutton
No. of Recommendations: 6
So: why the difference?You both seem to have enough saved up and made some incredibly good decisions. Whatever the differences are, you seem to have that very important thing in common. It doesn't sound like you regret any of the money that's not there!
Regret is damn expensive.
I want to particularly say that
- I was v substantially underpaid the first 7-8 years in practice, due to a poorly run practice. I tolerated bc: good group; declining parents nearby; good community to live & raise kidsis a great reminder that we actually aren't paid in money, we are paid in money adjusted to our own, unique utility function (
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utility). Sounds like you actually made an excellent economic decision in that regard.
No. of Recommendations: 5
I was v substantially underpaid the first 7-8 years in practice, due to a poorly run practice. I tolerated bc: good group; declining parents nearby; good community to live & raise kids
There are many reasons someone can be underpaid. Money was never my driving force. I also did not have a family to provide for. For me it was more enjoyment of the job, flexible hours, vacation time and doing things I liked. I tried working for money once and just couldn't imagine getting up everyday not liking where you were so it didn't last long.
People, obviously, are different. My doctor (PCP, internal medicine) finally retired at 74. I'll miss him and the old style practice. He was still sharp and more accurate than my younger cardiologist who clearly made a math error (on one of those cholesterol calculations). He clearly enjoyed his job, stayed in shape. I asked him about part time and he had cut back some hours but said it was about $300,000 just to keep the office open so cutting back too much wasn't possible and I assume he didn't want to bring anyone on board.
We all make different decisions. Some good and some not so hot :)
Rich
No. of Recommendations: 0
@intercst - Nice for the retired doc. But, has the doctor experienced the feel of a fine Vicuna sweater?
Just sayin,
No. of Recommendations: 2
{{ @intercst - Nice for the retired doc. But, has the doctor experienced the feel of a fine Vicuna sweater? }}
Perhaps he tried it on, and decided that it wasn't worth $9,000.
{{ Based on recent content from personal finance expert
Ramit Sethi (specifically his IWT/Ramit Sethi brand), he has referenced owning a $9,000 vicuña sweater.
The Context: Ramit often uses this item as an example in his discussions about "money dials"—the concept of spending lavishly on things you love while cutting costs on things you don't.
The Item: The sweater is made from vicuña wool, known as one of the rarest and most expensive fabrics in the world, often sourced by luxury brands like Loro Piana.
His Philosophy: In a social media post, he humorously remarked, "I bought a $9,000 vicuña sweater but actually, god owns it — im just wearing it".
The "$9,000 sweater" became a prominent topic in early 2024 due to a Bloomberg investigation into Loro Piana's supply chain, which highlighted the high retail price compared to the pay received by indigenous workers in Peru. }}
intercst
