Comment by louthy | Hacker News Reader

Comment by louthy | Hacker News Reader

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My father died when he was 36. I was 11 years old at the time. I am the complete opposite to these people. I believe life is for living, now, not later, because who knows even if you'll get there.

I always had the 36 figure in my head: "I will enjoy life as much as possible to 36 and then calm down". Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on how you look at it) I have trained my brain to enjoy life to its fullest as much as possible, I can't snap out of it.

I suspect that these people who forego living to put cash to one side with the premise that in the future they'll be able to live the good life will find they are mentally unable to make that switch too.

I am now 44 and can say that my 20s were amazing, my 30s even better (because I understood myself much more), my 40s have been pretty good, but it's clear I am slowing down a touch - the motivations to live every moment are fighting with the slight loss in energy as I age.

Why anybody would think it makes sense to put the best years of their lives (in terms of physical fitness) to one side in the promise of some later payoff is beyond me.

This kind of comment confuses me. I know I cannot speak for everyone, but I want to make sure I get as much out of life now and in the future. I just understand the law of diminishing returns. I enjoy a new gadget and a vacation and a delicious coffee. I enjoy them as treats and get great joy out of them. I do not need to buy a new gadget every week or month or year. I do not need ten trips this year. I also can ride my bike to work, save money and have great physical fitness right now (and in my future!)

And after all that, because I spent less money with only a very minor decrease of lost "living" in the form of extras that don't give me lasting joy, I also gain decades of autonomy where I decide how to use my time.

the point of early retirement is to have more time to do what your want, to live the life you want

calming down does not mean not living life to its fullest potential.

> the point of early retirement is to have more time to do what your want, to live the life you want

Pretty difficult to do if you're already dead, right?

It comes down to probability. Let's say we want to maximize the total hours of time enjoyed living before before dying.

Let's say we know we're going to die in a month with 100% certainty. We might liquidate all of our assets. Go into debt. Pay to fly loved ones from all over the country to spend time with them. Spare no expense.

On the other hand, let's say instead we know we're going to die when we turn 100 and with 100% certainty. In that case, it makes sense to delay gratification, invest more, and get the benefit of compounded returns. We might aim to have enough passive income coming in at around 60 or 70, and then we can quit working and slowly spend it all so that our the last check we write before dying bounces.

Since we don't know when we die, the best strategy is somewhere in between these two extremes. If the actuarial tables say we have 50 years left, I'm more inclined to believe the better strategy is likely to look like the second scenario.

@defertoreptar reminded me of this: Rich, Broke or Dead? https://engaging-data.com/will-money-last-retire-early/

Calculate the odds your early retirement plans succeed, fail, or you die and it doesn't matter.

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