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Comment by bungie4 | Hacker News Reader

Thanks HN, I didn't realize this phenomena was named. Learn something new everyday.

I always just said, expenses rises to meet income, + 25%.

..and the “Rat race” I mentioned on a previous comment above is that exactly perpetual effort to cover that +25% as you very correctly stated of “more expensive lifestyle” that we impose to ourselves.

As a counter argument, never forget you can be a responsible saver one day, only to be dead and buried the next.

If you want to guarantee an expensive lifestyle, it’s best to obtain it as immediately as possible.

Thank god somebody said it. We are in the golden age of cheap travel and leisure, perhaps the golden age of all ages (and certainly of all past).

People spend your easy money and enjoy youth IMO.

It doesn't really make sense to say it because it's not as if there's a general cultural tendency towards shrift. Most people aren't saving enough, what's the point in popularizing the message that we should continue on that same course?

Saving never really makes you happy, it makes you feel secure. Seeing a number in an account rise over the years is great, but also a constant reminder of money you’ll never get to touch until you are old and gray, if you even make it that far. And even if you do, what if the world of the future is no longer worth exploring or even living in?

Is it more important for people to feel happy, or secure?

Security is a part of happiness. It is finding the right balance.

Modern medicine is advancing all the time. You could be old an grey for many years. You could live to be 170. If you live to 170 and save well you could retire at 65 and live the last half of your life with more income from savings to enjoy life than if you work until 170 and spend every penny as you make it.

Of course you could also die in the next few minutes. You need to find that balance.

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