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I turned 60 recently, and it has me thinking about wealth and retirement. What role does wealth/money play in your life? When is unhealthy to pursue wealth? What role does wealth play in your life in terms of bringing you peace (if it does)?
I am extremely frugal. My mother recently apologized to my wife for how frugal I am (thanks Mom!). I think that some experiences in my formative years that contributed to this are:
1) the fact that my dad worked far from home for weeks and later months at a time and I internalized the idea that if I could spend less then he could be home more.
2) church leaders preaching self sufficiency and the evils of debt/need to get out of debt quickly.
My wife and I do have disagreements about major purchases (particularly car purchases). However, we have a comfortable nest egg and don’t have to worry much about finances in the day to day. I am the breadwinner in our home and I am almost 45 years old.
SD asked: What role does wealth/money play in your life?For me, money, honestly earned, is a resource that needs to be managed & used like another blessing God
provides. I don’t accumulate it for the sake of power or prestige or position in a community.
When is it unhealthy to pursue wealth?When you neglect family, friends or the needs of the poor. What role does wealth play in your life in terms of bringing you peace (if it does)?First of all, we (as a family) are not wealthy by any means monetarily. We were raised middle class. We worked
in the middle class. And, we are now retired middle class. Our physical & monetary needs are met. We have
very few outstanding debts. We are prepared as best we can for what the future will provide. We give to our
family, friends, community & the needy. We don’t make it any more complicated than that.
Very interesting questions.
The only reason I’d want to be wealthy is to completely eliminate all of the anxiety associated with meeting current and anticipated future financial needs. I’d like to hope that coming into a lot of wealth wouldn’t change my lifestyle; I’d just view it as a safety net against losing my job or some other unanticipated event. In other words, I wouldn’t suddenly start living high on the hog, I’d just worry less. What role does wealth/money play in your life?I’m descended from peasant stock and blue collar workers. My family of origin were “genteel wannabees” that prioritized learning and education, but not necessarily money. I have a sister who was born with a genetic anomaly that caused her to have 5 open heart surgeries, so I have lived my life poor and with disability. I work as the sole breadwinner in a family with divergent disabilities. Money is a really, really nice thing to have – and I will be spending my life balancing raising money in employment and taking the time to care for my family.
When is it unhealthy to pursue wealth?I am having a hard time answering this question because it’s where the growth mindset of “possibility” and “what could be” meets the actual reality of concrete resources (which is what the “zero sum game” is based on). My experience with money has been that people saw the need my family had of it and were generous with us – and it was a trust I take seriously in how I spent that resource and that trust.
What role does wealth play in your life in terms of bringing you peace (if it does)?Money is means to an end to buy access to services like the dental work my husband had done this week, and goods like school supplies and a nicer form of food/snacking goods.
I retired near the end of 2022 just before turning 63. I get a state retirement benefit which is not taxable in my state. I also took social security early, reduction be damned. Social Security is also not taxable in my state. I don’t want to get on a soapbox or go into too much detail, but with the reduction over the period of time I really don’t have to live very long to get the same payout I would have gotten had I waited until full retirement age. And, I have seen so many people slightly older than me wait to retire/collect and die in their mid 60s. I’m living the good life while I can. DW is a bit younger and is still working but plans to retire early as well. I chose a pension option that allows her to make the same amount I currently get in perpetuity, and she will set hers up the same way. If I should happen to outlive her my pension actually bumps up to a higher amount. I am not a believer in the prosperity gospel, and I don’t believe there are any real blessings by paying tithing (but we do pay tithing). Our house is paid for and our expenses are relatively low. We honestly have more money to burn than we have ever had and I bring home very close to what I made while working. And if I desired I could still make $22,000 without penalty if I choose ( I don’t choose to right now). I am very much at peace and virtually stress free regarding our finances – and I like it.
Honestly, none. I would like to have some more, but I am not willing to do what it would take to have it.
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