>> a cashier ending up as a multi millionear set for life at 55
Except that the most interesting part of life is over
Except that the most interesting part of life is over
There are absolutely things that you can do when you are younger that you cannot (or are much more difficult) when you are older. It doesn't make then necessarily any more or less "interesting", however - that's completely up to you to decide.
[1] https://www.getrichslowly.org/how-to-take-a-mini-retirement-...
What makes life beyond 55 uninteresting?
Now if you actually step back and move the early part of life where you can't do much you can see it's much closer to middle-age than it is to death.
The context is that we compare a life where
i) you save one third of your income and then start to flash money when you are 55, and
ii) you spend one third (or less) of your income on things that matter like finding significant other, having a family, making trips with your friends and family.
You cannot avoid spending 1/3 of your income without it affecting your life style. In extreme case, one can end up becoming a millionaire no one gives a fuck about.
Yet people live super-fulfilling lives with families making $50k annually. Find a job clearing $75k and you'll be golden.
You're defining the cashier by their job/role, as well as how they spend their money on saving for retirement. Textbook classism.
My anecdotal reply would be that I've made it to this golden age, I've earned far less than the average, saved more than the average, and still have a wonderful, interesting life ahead of me. I've married, raised a family, and had memorable trips with them.
Your last sentence is really indicative of how you view wealth and money; for many, becoming a millionaire is about stability and being able to provide for your loved ones, not to become someone that people "give a fuck about."
I didn't talk about cashier nor I defined any role. What are you talking about?
It looks like you was struggling the whole life and counted every dollar (see "I've earned far less than the average, saved more than the average"), do you manage to "to provide for your loved ones"? People rarely change, greedo.
I think this part is their point. Even you are looking backwards at what you have done, instead of future plans, implying the younger years are the more interesting ones.
I'm still not sure I agree though. I know this sounds lame, but I think creating a stable life with people you really care about is worth a lot more than the memories of traveling all over the world in your youth. my parents lived well below their means for most of my childhood, and they now have a stable retirement with plenty of money to go on whatever trips they want. sometimes they take me with them. as far as I can tell, they are very happy to be able to do this now with their family rather than having the memories of doing it in their twenties.
something else kind of shitty to think about: the real return on a diversified portfolio over forty years is somewhere between 15x and 20x (unless something major changes in the world). $5k spent traveling at 25 could be $100k less when you're 65. depending how much you made later, this could be a meaningful amount you won't have to leave to your children or help them with their goals.
A straw man argument. A) I said "for example". B) I didn't mean "fuck all, I am traveling", my primary message that when you saving all your after-ramen income you are missing things you will not be able to make in your 55+.
>> rather than having the memories of doing it in their twenties
Don't take it personal but how one can compare to something they didn't have? Quite possible that after investing in themselves instead of stocks they would have an even better time right now.
>> something else kind of shitty to think about: the real return on a diversified portfolio over forty years is somewhere between 15x and 20x
something else kind of shitty to think about: stocks grow with the same rate as the total amount of US dollars so in some sense your investments don't grow at all if we talk about the total pie.