So true.
When I remarried 17 years ago I got a hard working business woman for a bride who does have her hobbies but she can be fiercely regimented about knocking down bills and expenditures. She retired early but only after we paid off our principle residence.
We probably could have bought and lived in a home three time the cost of what we had, we certainly would have “qualified” for it in the 90s. We kept the one we had, kept it up and had all we needed for a nice suburban newer home.
The key to our retirement will be that we both put away in 401k and other savings over ten percent of what we made and I still do that today even in my last year of work.
It took a long time for me to develop that discipline — I was a guy who needed a choke chain and a leash in my youth, new sports car at 22 — party animal. But doesn’t life have a way of showing us our errors?
Not sure if you know, but once you've passed your 50th birthday, you can sock away up to $22,500 a year PRE-TAX towards your retirement. The money simply has to go into a retirement account (401k, Roth IRA for example.)
The benefit is that if you can sock away $22,500/yearly it greatly reduces your tax burden. Next year my wife turns 50, so in addition to the $22,500 I can sock away for me, I can do the same for her.
Since our home is paid off and we literally pay $0 in interest on anything, that tax deduction has come in very handy.