Comments on: Financial Planning: Don’t Be a Tool

By: J. Money

J. Money — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 15:28:15 +0000

Oh yeah, those retirement calculators are all kinds of “interesting.” The thing that drives me crazy is that they rarely incorporate your *lifestyle* into it. Some of us only need $2,000 a month to live a decent life, while others might need $10,000. How could both of these people be okay w/ $2.3 million? It doesn’t make sense. And it IS totally daunting. Though I will admit these calculators are good for getting people started and thinking about it as most people DO need a lot more money to retire than they think…. and if they’re at least playing around w/ these calculators, at least they’re trying to do something about it :) Now if only we can convince them to lower their daily expenses while at the same time enjoying life!

By: Jaime

Jaime — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 20:07:20 +0000

My mom retired in her late 50s and I have a plan for early retirement. I think it’s awesome you were able to retire at 53. Way to go. I used to get really overwhelmed when retirement calculators spat out that I needed 2.3 mil. for retirement. That number is just so overwhelming that I almost wanted to abandon planning for retirement.

I knew deep down I didn’t want to be working in my 70s. You just don’t know what the future will bring. I started reading finance books and blogs. I learned people do retire on normal incomes and quite a few retire early. What really helped me is to practice conscious spending. I don’t feel deprived. I feel liberated. :D

By: J. Money

J. Money — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 22:14:32 +0000

Thanks again Babs! You killed it as always! (Or else I wouldn’t have posted it up, haha….) Appreciate you responding back to everyone too – that means a lot to me, and I’m sure them as well :) Don’t you just love our little online family here?

Hope you all enjoyed the guest posts while I was away!

By: Babs

Babs — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 02:08:43 +0000

Jen and Tamara: thanks for the kind words!

Sarah: cutting yourself some slack on EVERYTHING is one of the life lessons we all need to learn. There’s practically never a right or wrong answer to any situation, the point is making choices that are authentic and then being happy with what we choose. I’m jealous, grad school is a great choice.

Heather: now you’re talking! If your money and effort isn’t giving you a little fun in your life right now, what’s the point?

Bergie: it makes my day if my experiences can help others think things through a little differently. I learned a long time ago to put a value on aggravation. Stress can do some serious damage to your physical and mental health and no bargain or income source is worth that.

By: Bergie Powers

Bergie Powers — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 00:40:34 +0000

I love how you talk about making your values a priority. I have been learning this lesson the hard way recently as my husband and I struggle to make ends meet. It is a relief to hear your experience! I started living a life that was completely wrong for me and stressful on my family, all to make a few extra bucks to pay the mortgage.. The funny things is, the extra bucks weren’t even enough to do that! So, we need to figure out a new plan for how we can afford to live in the future. I will keep in mind focusing on our values so that we can enjoy our lives and pay for our needs. Thank you for the good advice. The dramatic list was funny and certainly brought some good points to light!

By: Heather

Heather — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 12:43:55 +0000

Thanks for sharing this article. I’m very much a planner and budgeter but lately it’s been driving me crazy. My husband and I are trying to dig our way out of credit card debt while building a 6 month emergency fund. I run the finances and I find that while we’re paying off cards at a good rate, we’re also adding debt to one card in particular to pay for our entertainment that I didn’t leave enough room in the budget for, like a spur of the moment dinner out. And it’s driving me crazy. What’s the point in paying off cards if we’re still ADDING to the debt?!

I’ve decided to leave us more room in the budget to still enjoy our lives (hey, we’re both 26 with no kids, we want to ENJOY this time while we can). Of course, we’ll still be paying our credit cards down and putting money in savings, but maybe not as much. We just need more freedom because I literally stare at the budget for HOURS trying to come up with ways to create more money and it’s super stressful.

By: Sarah

Sarah — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 02:11:04 +0000

Thanks so much for the guest post! I think focusing on values is something easy to lose sight of, at least for me. I’m the kind of person whose default is to go by-the-book and follow the rules. It’s like instinct for me. It’s good to be reminded that my hard work has to have a value-driven end goal, though; especially if it means I can cut some slack on myself and enjoy the life I’ve both been blessed with and am working on (graduate student). Thanks again!

By: Jen @ Master the Art of Saving

Jen @ Master the Art of Saving — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 07:38:55 +0000

Everybody is different and their finances should reflect what’s really important to them specifically. Great post Babs. :-)

By: Darcy

Darcy — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 21:48:31 +0000

Babs ….being told your budgeting on a website called eliteedgemoney is a complement lol

By: Babs

Babs — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 18:11:54 +0000

Darcy: first Roger calls me a planner, now you tell me I’m budgeting. All my dirty little secrets are out for the whole world to see!

Retirebyforty: I’ll be retired in the next few months, just wrapping things up. My husband has been a full-time homemaker for 18 years. We’ve lived well below our means for a long time, so our retirement income (a combination of pension and investments) will be the same as our working income was after subtracting the savings. My husband and I waited till our 30s to grow up financially, and we weren’t interested in sacrificing the present for the future, so I’ll be retiring at age 53. As you’re well aware, if we’d started even a few years earlier, or saved a little more agressively we’d be much younger now. Still, 53 isn’t exactly decrepit. I’m happy with our choices, but you can bet I’ll make sure my sons understand the many ways they could beat mom and dad to the finish line!