Haha hey Connie – I DO remember that convo actually :) I tend to jump into things full throttle once they “sink in,” and the idea behind early retirement is slowly sinking in more and more as the weeks pass. I’m learning so much about it all and excited to get my $hit together!

Also, that “estimate retirement money needs by expenses, not by income” is freekin’ genius. Totally adopting that from now on! !! Keep rockin’ it, J!

connieK., age 44, who’s just OBSESSED with [early] retirement planning :)

Very cool! I’ve heard of Jeff before (and believe we’ve corresponded?) but haven’t checked out his book yet. All I know is that there’s one main variable with retirement that’s pretty much in our control more or less. And that’s with our “expenses.” A million dollars can last a lifetime, and more for the more frugal, and it can be frittered away within years if your lifestyle is high. So I never pay too much attention to those retirement calculators either other than just for pure entertainment (they are fun to take, if you’re a financial nerd like us :)). I plan on having much lower expenses during retirement age if I can help it – though of course not everything’s in our control as you mentioned with life.

Agreed 100%! And it also helps you *emotionally* too than just financially. It’s amazing how nice it is to not have to worry about money as much when you’ve got a little stockpile going… Gives you mad confidence too!

You can’t always predict what will happen to you in life. But what is the alternative? My alternative is to either save/invest or do nothing.

It helps to be prepared, having a safety cushion of some kind can help you bounce back from whatever life throws at you. It also helps you to be an educated consumer, that is why I still continue to read personal finance books and pf blogs, even though most are repetitive.

One of the reasons why I became very interested in PF is because I was DISGUSTED at the banking industry for how they deceived people. Yes I know people acted irresponsibly before the great recession, but at the same time it didn’t help when the banking industry goaded them and misled them. To most people going and learning about pf is like learning a foreign language.

I know that is how it was for me, but you take one small step at a time. Let’s say tomorrow Jane Doe tomorrow needed an expensive life or death surgery that costs $40,000 (yes there are surgeries that are this expensive) and Jane Doe has $60,000 in emergency savings. Jane has her surgery, pays her medical bills after whatever her insurance pays out and still has enough savings.

Her savings helped her from becoming bankrupt. Honestly from what I have seen in most of my friends and my parents friends lives, the people who are usually broke are broke from not having a safety cushion and ignoring financial advice and from spending their money foolishly, and from not carrying insurance.

You also don’t know how the work world will treat you. Many employees have been made redundant once they reach their fifties. Ageism is an ugly thing but its real and it happens. Sometimes people are forced into retirement because of a disability. Life is very beautiful but life can be also very cold and cruel.

Having a safety cushion can help ease the cruelties of life.

These numbers just are very overwhelming and make me want to throw these books across the room. I mean I don’t do that obviously but its how I sometimes feel. These numbers are huge and scary. It makes me wonder if other people put off saving for retirement because they feel the same way that I do.

I have been reading some books about people that criticize that you need a million dollars to retire. The critics say that this million dollar idea if a sham for people to keep working longer than you should and that the people who truly benefit from it is the financial industry and government (because the more you make, the more you get taxed).

I read how the Canadian prime minister retired this year and died in less than a month. What really helped me is reading Jeff Yeager’s “How to Retire the Cheapskate Way” and he asks you to do an exercise of EVERYTHING that you like to do, then attaching dollar signs to it.

You can get fancy by adding “Dollar Store cheap” or “Saks Fifth Avenue” expensive, or you can come up with your own system. I did this exercise and it was eye opening. After doing this exercise, I felt absolutely RELIEVED. I have read MANY books on PF from famous authors.

This exercise from Yeager’s book has helped me more than any other books have. I don’t work for the guy, I’m not his friend or anything. I only know of him from reading his book. Anyway, that bit of advice helps keep my momentum to save and invest for retirement.

@Will, what about the added tax burden? Not only will you lose your ability to write off up to 17500 or your income, you’re now taxed more and it *can* lead to less cash in your pocket each month.

The hardest part to FI is being able to bloat your taxable accounts. The government does not really make ER that easy!

Thx for the links!

The short answer is, you can’t know for sure. But it’s a good guideline. Check out Modigliani’s “Life Cycle Hypothesis,” which won him the Nobel Prize in economics — the gist is that our consumption patterns generally go down as we age.

http://www.investopedia.com/terms/l/life-cycle-hypothesis.asp

Scott Burns, in his blog over at http://www.assetbuilder.com has also discussed this several times in the past.

Oh wow, you’re the queen of maxing! Work it, girl! :)