A lot of people have their own ideas about retirement and savings. There’s also plenty of discussion whether people are saving too much or too little for the future. My mind changes almost everyday on my view on retirement. Should people spend what they have and make the best of their present lives or should people scale back and try to have fun when their old and fragile? I know so many people my age that can’t even plan for their weekends let alone plan for their retirement. Are people that worry about retirement not living their lives to the fullest potential? Maybe a little, but forward thinkers usually plan for a reason. I think retirement is just a proper risk management tactic. People invest to gain wealth so they limit their possibility of having to work till the day they die and ultimately have the financial flexibility to do what they want.
But in defense of the “present day thinkers,” they have the ability to go out one to two more times a week, have a few more drinks at the bar, buy the newest version of the iPod, and maybe order Grey Goose instead of Smirnoff. Having fun and living each day likes it’s your last is a motto most people try to live by, but saving for your retirement contradicts the very essence of the saying. If you save 15% of your paycheck, you are cutting your spending power by 15% too. For example- if you make $3000 dollars (after tax) a month, you are taking away $450 of spending power. That’s the price of two kick ass weekend with your friends. Why would anyone want to do that? Have less fun now to have more fun when you are sixty? That doesn’t sound appealing to me at all.
Is there a common ground on this discussion? Should people save more now or worry about it later? I mean we can’t really forecast the future. What if you saved up a million dollars by the time you were fifty then suddenly died? Was it a waste of money to live below your means? Would you regret living a life of frugality? These are probably some important questions that financial planners probably never talk about. What do you think?
My personal answer is that I don’t define my quality of living by the things I have, and I don’t need spend money to live life to the fullest.
Maybe the issue with the live-in-the-moment folks (I’m biased in the other direction) is that they tend to define the quality of their lives by purchases.
There’s certainly a balance. Don’t live uncomfortably in the name of saving - you should always enjoy life. But for me, I enjoy knowing that I can handle an emergency with my stowed away funds. Security is an important part of making my ‘moment’ better!
I agree with you, but can you really put a price tag on having fun? Many will argue that if you don’t spend your money now, when will you have the time when you are working in a full-time job and have real responsibilities?
I’m now living more in the moment instead of living for the future. That said, I won’t stop saving and investing for my future, but I just won’t worry about it as much as I always have.