tragusa3 wrote:
winnietray, your points expand very well on the thought. I can already feel the aches, the fear factor, etc. :( I would enjoy hearing more of your story.
More directly to the OP's point. If you handle your finances perfectly, you just might miss the whole point. If you handle them poorly, you might not be able to get to the point. There is a fulcrum of sorts. Money on one side and experiences on the other. If it were a see-saw, I hope I finish with the experience side planted firmly to the ground and the money side high in the air!
Well, I appreciate it, and I will expand a bit. With complete discloser , others may feel totally different, and if works for them great. I am in no position to judge.
First full discloser,
1) we never blew every dime, we tried to hit the middle ground
2) At 64 I could retire tomorrow, but personally that is the worse fear I have, I would be bored to tears. I like what I do
3) We are self employed, we have control over our hours and work environment. Lack of that is a huge reason people retire
4)In my profession, I deal with a great number of retired folks. For a great many of them their primary activities seem to consist of watching TV and going out to eat.
5) the above has little to do with how much money they have, many could buy and sell me, but the common themes are health, fear, and the work it takes to travel.
I have spent a least the last 15 years trying to make sense out of what it is, DW and I want to do.
The big picture, in our world view, is clock is ticking, the younger you are the more fun it can be to do stuff. As an example our first trip over seas was 15 years ago. We have always rented a car, driven on the wrong side of the road and had fun. Our last trip was last year. Noticeable change, somehow those plane rides are longer, and driving is a bit more challenging. ( gonna be a cold day in Heck)before you catch me on a bus tour with a name tag.
End of the day I could write a book, on the ageing retirement thing, but I will close with this. My biggest regret is this, we have done a ton with the GD. And we did a bunch with the kids, biggest regret I have is, I wish we had done more with the kids.
Now this is just me, and the DW. It applies to no one else and I make no judgment. But for us, I say saving every dime, waiting for that mythical retirement, where supposedly you are going to have all this great fun is a load of you know what. To old, to sick to fearful, for many of us.