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I’m Retired and Regret My Frugal Retirement — Here’s Why
GOBankingRates ^ | June 30, 2024 | Laura Beck

Posted on 06/30/2024 10:20:03 AM PDT by where's_the_Outrage?

Agnes P. saved every penny she could for retirement. Now at 78, she’s got more money than she knows what to do with, but fewer happy memories than she’d like.

“I was so focused on saving that I forgot to actually live,” Agnes said. Her story shows why being too frugal can backfire.

Her entire life, Agnes watched what she spent. Growing up without a lot of money instilled the idea that she had to save every penny. She packed lunches, kept her old car, and rarely took time off. While her friends were taking vacations, Agnes put every extra dollar into her retirement accounts.

“I thought I was doing the right thing,” she said. “But I gave up too much of my life for a future that wasn’t guaranteed.”

Agnes shared that probably the number one thing she missed out on was fun with friends — even into her retirement. She said no to spendy dinners, Broadway shows, and trips (even to nearby locales) with friends to save money.

“I lost touch with a lot of people because I always said no,” Agnes shared. “Now I’m retired with fewer friends and not many good times to look back on.”

Agnes now has a problem many retirees would love to have: more money than she needs. Years of saving and compound interest left her with a huge nest egg.

“I’ve got plenty to live on for the rest of my life,” she said. “But I can’t buy back lost time or missed chances.”

(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Chit/Chat; Health/Medicine; Society
KEYWORDS: lifefullfillment; liveenrichment; retirement
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To: marktwain

Great observations about the toys.

Several of my friends at one time owned horses. They always complained: the horses ate while we slept!


101 posted on 06/30/2024 12:46:36 PM PDT by Maine Mariner
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To: JoSixChip

I volunteer.


102 posted on 06/30/2024 12:47:55 PM PDT by TheConservator (To bar Trump from the presidency, libtards are happy to trash 235 years the rule of law)
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To: PGR88

In other words, be a burden to someone else and rely on the dole to get you by. Be irresponsible. Laugh, love, live and be happy for tomorrow we die? Sounds like a great plan.


103 posted on 06/30/2024 12:54:07 PM PDT by Sequoyah101 (The Government that got us in this mess is not the Government that can get us out of it.)
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To: RoosterRedux

I think being frugal is fun.
********
Me too. It’s like a game. And I like to play it and win.


104 posted on 06/30/2024 12:55:19 PM PDT by yldstrk ( )
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To: marktwain

Absolutely correct. I had a sailboat once. The best part of it was looking forward to getting it. It sat too much, I didn’t have time for it. Simple pleasures are the very best. I have not been as rich as Solomon but I have had the same experiences of having lots of things that didn’t make me happy or accomplish much. Not everything is for everyone. You have to do what makes you happy. I see retirees that seem to do what is expected of them and they are not any more happy for it. Actually, some find it uncomfortable and too much work. I don’t need or even want to be on the go all the time or much of the time for that matter. The best part of any trip is coming in the front gate, parking the truck in the barn sealing myself away. My style, my choice. It might be different if I had not already seen most of the world but I rather doubt that.


105 posted on 06/30/2024 12:59:41 PM PDT by Sequoyah101 (The Government that got us in this mess is not the Government that can get us out of it.)
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To: marktwain
I see those $150K+ RV driveway sitters all around here.

Someone here posted a youtube video where the guy basically said you can rent those things.

...for the few times most actually use them...that makes a lot more sense.

106 posted on 06/30/2024 1:07:03 PM PDT by RckyRaCoCo (Time to throw them out of the Temple...again)
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To: Lazamataz

😄


107 posted on 06/30/2024 1:08:00 PM PDT by Bigg Red (Trump will be sworn in under a shower of confetti made from the tattered remains of the Rat Party.)
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To: Sequoyah101

Learn everyting that you can. Learn how to build. Learn how to invest. Learn how to fix things. Learn how to detect horse exhaust.

Debt is a self inflicted and often fatal wound. Don’t do it.

Learn the difference between I want and I need.

Don’t buy things in a mad panic.

Don’t buy overpriced anything. Things have a certain intrinsic value. Don’t pay $50,000.00 for $10,000.00 wirth of stuff.

There is nothing like the comfort of a good wife and a comfortable debt free homestead. There is nothing like the feel of living in a home of one’s own making.


108 posted on 06/30/2024 1:16:18 PM PDT by FrozenAssets (You don't have to be crazy to live here, but it helps)
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To: RckyRaCoCo

“Someone here posted a youtube video where the guy basically said you can rent those things.”

I looking into renting one, just want a 3-4 person towable RV, they run about $120 a day. I’ll stay in a hotel for that.

https://rvshare.com/


109 posted on 06/30/2024 1:19:09 PM PDT by where's_the_Outrage? (Drain the Swamp. Build the Wall.)
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To: Governor Dinwiddie

Hey! Cat food is a LOT better today than when I was kid.


110 posted on 06/30/2024 1:20:33 PM PDT by SomeCallMeTim (C)
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To: FrozenAssets

*Learn how to invest.*

Put half of your savings in an index fund or the S & P 500. The other half in a conservative one. There’s not really that much to know.


111 posted on 06/30/2024 1:27:18 PM PDT by DIRTYSECRET
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To: where's_the_Outrage?
There's literally like 10 of those things around here, they take up their whole driveway. I never see them move.

Maybe their kids are living out of them...in Biden's great economy.

...or waiting to be squatter Motel 6's for Biden's illegals.

112 posted on 06/30/2024 1:31:04 PM PDT by RckyRaCoCo (Time to throw them out of the Temple...again)
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To: where's_the_Outrage?

Just need to find some balance point. Live on a budget, save some funds for the future and spend some in the present time. Some people don’t require a lot of social experiences nor an abundance of material things to be happy.
Having a surplus in retirement while living debt free is an advantage preferred vs the opposite. Ok to be frugal but not a fearful miser either. Miser as in miserable!


113 posted on 06/30/2024 1:35:22 PM PDT by tflabo (Truth or tyranny)
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To: where's_the_Outrage?
I looking into renting one, just want a 3-4 person towable RV,

Smart move renting one.

9 Purchases Retirees Often Regret

1. Boat

2. Resort living

3. Recreational vehicle(RV)

4. Dream house

5. Giving to adult children

6. Time-share

7. Fancy cars

8. Pricey musical instruments

9. Impulse buying online

114 posted on 06/30/2024 1:36:46 PM PDT by tlozo ( Trump: "As everyone agrees, Ukraine Survival and Strength...is also important to us!" )
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To: EvilCapitalist

Wifey and I returned from a week at the shore, where metal detectors had been in use on the beach. Driving down a rural road, a guy with earmuff hearing protectors was weedwhacking around the end of his driveway. As we passed him, my missus spoke up, “What does he think he’s going to find around there?!” After a few seconds I realized she’d mistaken the guy’s weedwhacker for a metal detector! I nearly wrecked my car trying to see through the laughter and the accompanying tears. When I explained her mistake, she cracked up, too. 🤣


115 posted on 06/30/2024 1:38:46 PM PDT by Tucker39 ("It is impossible so to rightly govern a nation without God and the Bible." George Washington )
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To: Lazamataz

Sounds like a plan…


116 posted on 06/30/2024 2:29:58 PM PDT by smokingfrog ( sleep with one eye open (<o> --- )
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To: EvilCapitalist

A relic hunter has had a great time with my front pasture. Found lots of interesting artifacts - including a Union army belt buckle in pretty good condition. Plus of course a lot of scrap metal!


117 posted on 06/30/2024 2:32:16 PM PDT by AnAmericanMother (Ecce Crucem Domini, fugite partes adversae. Vicit Leo de Tribu Iuda, Radix David, Alleluia!)
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To: where's_the_Outrage?; srmanuel
I know what you mean, I was a senior engineer and I miss fixing problems.

What about solving new problems to help the family? As a quasi-retired software engineer in my 50's, I made it my project to make my home more energy efficient, add on a small solar system, study it for a year (including importing the telemetry recorded in 5-minute candles into a SQL Server DB to analyze the trends), convert my 2 natural gas appliances, since it was time to replace my wife's gasoline crossover anyway I replaced it with an EV crossover that both of us mainly drive, and add onto the solar.

All of that took a detailed study on whether or not to go solar, if it was worth it for our area with our energy consumption habits, would an EV be worth it, during the upgrade which components were worth upgrading and how much to take advantage of the economies of scale, but didn't want to try to fight the law of diminishing returns, could I get a loan to pay for all of that and would the loan payment + tiny power bill be less than the energy costs I was avoiding, what about inflation for future energy costs, what about reduction in throughput from my solar equipment or my hybrid water heater, etc.

Tons of details. A fun math/data nerd project. And after I've had it about 10 years to make sure it works well I'll teach how to do it to my family and church members so they can avoid the Dims' warmageddon cult energy costs and the slowly creeping control over our lives with their energy price policies.

Every now and then I re-study the numbers to make sure the throughput of the equipment is still good, I do tweaks to the configuration -- especially with changes in the seasons.

Maybe us FReeper nerds should make it our patriotic mission to help citizens be more self-reliant from things the political class over-regulates. Perhaps things like water capturing, growing our own food, or tutor home schoolers in math so the parents aren't tempted to send their kids to indoctrination schools.

118 posted on 06/30/2024 2:34:22 PM PDT by Tell It Right (Galatians 6:14 -- May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ...)
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To: Bobbyvotes

I need to find more of those senior discounts (besides the ones in the clickbait ads).


119 posted on 06/30/2024 2:40:57 PM PDT by smokingfrog ( sleep with one eye open (<o> --- )
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To: tlozo

I am zero for nine on the list—I guess that me too frugal.

:-)


120 posted on 06/30/2024 2:45:02 PM PDT by cgbg ("Our democracy" = Their Kleptocracy)
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