Are you good with money?

[nala]

If so, how do you define what good is? I'm not referring to making millions, but to making your money seem like it's more than enough for what you earn. Please define good and share tips.

 

[Matata]

I'm very good with money. I have a superb relationship with it. I spend it with ease and lack of conscience or consequence Now for the more serious answer, anyone who spends more than they earn and hasn't been taught to budget and live within their means has a problem. Those who don't fit into that category don't have a problem.

 

[aljdewey]

For me, being good with money means several things:

Managing money in a way that successfully covers your expenses
Consistently treating savings deposits as one of those must-pay expenses
Spending wisely when you do spend

These things are much easier to do when you make enough to do all these things comfortably. My mom was a master with money; she could manage every nickel to extract maximum value from it because she had to as a stay-at-home mom with a husband in a government service job that didn't pay much. They lived very modestly, but we always had what we needed and they always found a way to fund our good educations.

 

[AprilBaby]

It burns a hole in my pocket quickly!

 

[Dancing Fire]

Yes, I'm good at spending it!.. My wife is the saver. I think she spends < $250 per yr on herself.

 

[dk168]

Hopeless, and I learnt my lesson the hard way - the end of the tunnel is in sight so to speak, and I shall not have another credit card again, except pre-paid ones.

DK

 

[smitcompton]

Hi,

My first tip is recognize managing money takes thought. I hear many people who say, "Oh, I don't care about money,:I'm not materialistic as if this gives them a moral superiority over others who do think about it." They are usually those people who can't meet their obligations and are always talking about money-- the fact they need more.

Make a budget each month and consider savings a bill that must be paid--preferably first.

After making your monthly budget , see where you can cut any expense. I just cut my home insurance bill this morning.

Seldom use credit cards. You become divorced from actual money. Using cash makes you aware of spending habits.

Enjoy the process of keeping tabs on your money. I really enjoy doing it. Sometimes, like in this month, I have extra money and treated myself to few luxuries. (a first edition Charles Dickins and a small painting)--

I live below my means and think that is the way to go.

I'm sure others have more suggestions.

Annette

 

[Ally T]

I am honestly RUBBISH with money

My father used to confiscate my credit cards & I always had to use cash. If I didn't have the cash, I couldn't spend. Simple. I had previously run up several credit card debts of which he had cleared for me.

My husband is tight. He is wealthy, but tight! So I am not allowed store cards, I have one credit card which goes onto his account, so he always knows what I am spending & on what. My father, who we lost 13 years ago, would absolutely ADORE my husband!

I have a nice life & we are comfortable, but we are not spend-aholics. We always have provisions in place for the future, for holidays, for new cars... Even my bling for my upcoming 40th was budgeted for. So I do not go without, but I am always on a tight rein. I am happily & thankfully a stay at home mummy with young children, so I DO feel I have to ask before I make any significant purchases, but 9 times out of 10 my husband will ask how much is it, and I have NO idea?!!! I just never look at prices!! Old habits die hard....

 

[jaysonsmom]

My husband an I are good at making money (hardworking) and not frivolous spenders, so we live comfortably and have a healthy savings, so do not worry about not having emergency funds. I cannot take credit because I was a mess when I was single. Spent more than I made, and had to have daddy bailouts once in a while. A lot has changed in 15 years.

Funny story, we recently had a credit report ran because we were financing a new car. Both of our credit scores are >820, and guy who pulled our credit reports said he'd never seen husband and wife's with such high scores combined. Since we have been together, we have paid off a couple houses and cars with no late/missed payments ever.

Oh, and just to clarify the whole buying on credit. We never put anything on credit other than big ticket items such as houses or cars. We do this to build credit only. Everyday spending comes from debit/check cards with $300 daily limit, so cuts down on buying expensive stuff.

 

[random_thought]

So…
It took DH and I about the first 4 years of our marriage to finally get on our feet. We moved to Colorado for a promising job offer for me and I was laid off 2 days later. Spent the next 8 months looking for jobs, receiving help from my parents, not saving, using credit cards for everything and putting all loans in forbearance. We were in emergency mode. As soon as one of us got a job, we would get laid off again. We also faced challenges when I became pregnant with our son and faced 2 months of bed rest with no disability help from the job I had. Went back to work at that job, another layoff. Got another job, 3 months later- another layoff. When all was said and done, we went through 5 layoffs in a 4 year span. It was one of the hardest times of our marriage (next to the infertility journey we are currently on) and the fact that we made it through with our marriage stronger than ever, I think, speaks volumes about our relationship

Anyways, that's the background story haha! We will be married 5 years in November. I've had my engagement ring for 6 years. 3 weeks ago we FINALLY paid that sucker off!! Our loans are consolidated. We are able to make contributions to our savings. We can buy groceries without going paycheck to paycheck. DH has been at his job for 4 years now and I just passed the 1.5 year mark at my job. If C asks for something, I don't have to say no. Yes, our credit is complete crap and we still have a long road ahead of us to pay things off, but we don't suffer from the constant anxiety and stress that we had from lack of money before. We are able to be happy again, life is good. Also, don't get me wrong, we don't spend crazy amounts of money now that we have it. I still have one major obstacle to overcome from that horrible time- I check our bank account multiple times a day expecting the worse. I change our budget spreadsheet if so much as 5 dollars is spent and I adjust everything accordingly. I wish I could get past this ocd type behavior but it's just very hard.
I think this turned into more of a rant than an opinion, oops lol, sorry thanks for reading!

so to answer the question- I would say yes. Given how complex our budget is and managing everything we are paying money on (probably $3500 of our budget is purely for paying off debt, at least 20 different bills currently just in debt, not electricity or anything and it doesn't leave a ton afterwards lol)

 

[Dancing Fire]

Oh, and just to clarify the whole buying on credit. We never put anything on credit other than big ticket items such as houses or cars. We do this to build credit only. Everyday spending comes from debit/check cards with $300 daily limit, so cuts down on buying expensive stuff.

Wish I can afford a $300 per day budget!... that is a $9k of spending money per month..

 

[jaysonsmom]

Oh, and just to clarify the whole buying on credit. We never put anything on credit other than big ticket items such as houses or cars. We do this to build credit only. Everyday spending comes from debit/check cards with $300 daily limit, so cuts down on buying expensive stuff.

Wish I can afford a $300 per day budget!... that is a $9k of spending money per month..

Who spends more than $300 on any given day anyway? I feel guilty if my lunch out with co-workers exceeds $10....Nope, i've learned my lesson and I'm pretty frugal nowadays.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

So…
It took DH and I about the first 4 years of our marriage to finally get on our feet. We moved to Colorado for a promising job offer for me and I was laid off 2 days later. Spent the next 8 months looking for jobs, receiving help from my parents, not saving, using credit cards for everything and putting all loans in forbearance. We were in emergency mode. As soon as one of us got a job, we would get laid off again. We also faced challenges when I became pregnant with our son and faced 2 months of bed rest with no disability help from the job I had. Went back to work at that job, another layoff. Got another job, 3 months later- another layoff. When all was said and done, we went through 5 layoffs in a 4 year span. It was one of the hardest times of our marriage (next to the infertility journey we are currently on) and the fact that we made it through with our marriage stronger than ever, I think, speaks volumes about our relationship

Anyways, that's the background story haha! We will be married 5 years in November. I've had my engagement ring for 6 years. 3 weeks ago we FINALLY paid that sucker off!! Our loans are consolidated. We are able to make contributions to our savings. We can buy groceries without going paycheck to paycheck. DH has been at his job for 4 years now and I just passed the 1.5 year mark at my job. If C asks for something, I don't have to say no. Yes, our credit is complete crap and we still have a long road ahead of us to pay things off, but we don't suffer from the constant anxiety and stress that we had from lack of money before. We are able to be happy again, life is good. Also, don't get me wrong, we don't spend crazy amounts of money now that we have it. I still have one major obstacle to overcome from that horrible time- I check our bank account multiple times a day expecting the worse. I change our budget spreadsheet if so much as 5 dollars is spent and I adjust everything accordingly. I wish I could get past this ocd type behavior but it's just very hard.
I think this turned into more of a rant than an opinion, oops lol, sorry thanks for reading!

so to answer the question- I would say yes. Given how complex our budget is and managing everything we are paying money on (probably $3500 of our budget is purely for paying off debt, at least 20 different bills currently just in debt, not electricity or anything and it doesn't leave a ton afterwards lol)

Since you are working hard at managing your finances well, I just wondered if you had read any Dave Ramsey materials? He has some great suggestions about becoming debt free. Actually, he has good advice about every area of money management.

http://www.daveramsey.com/articles/content-center/category/lifeandmoney_debt/

 

[Dancing Fire]

Oh, and just to clarify the whole buying on credit. We never put anything on credit other than big ticket items such as houses or cars. We do this to build credit only. Everyday spending comes from debit/check cards with $300 daily limit, so cuts down on buying expensive stuff.

Wish I can afford a $300 per day budget!... that is a $9k of spending money per month..

Who spends more than $300 on any given day anyway? I feel guilty if my lunch out with co-workers exceeds $10....Nope, i've learned my lesson and I'm pretty frugal nowadays.

So we are going on a dutch dinner date next week?..

 

[rosetta]

I've been financially independent since the age of 22, never in debt. I know how to live within our means. For me that means saving a lot of money each month (I mean thousands, beyond what we save for pensions) or I'm not happy. Im very worried about getting a mortgage, simply because we won't be able to save the same amount anymore each month. But I suppose it must be done! I'm not the kind who looks at say £20k in the bank and thinks about the bling I could buy with it: our savings are deemed untouchable. Husband and I think hard before spending £2k on a holiday, but we will still go on 2-3 a year, all budgeted for. Because we never talk about money with friends etc, I sometimes worry that we aren't making/saving as much as we should for retirement, and we just don't know it!

I'm not very good at making extra money beyond what we earn though. Investments elude me.

 

[missy]

I think we do alright. We pay for things in full (except for homes), save for retirement first and have paid off the mortgage on our NYC home and on our way to paying off the mortgage on our beach house. We could have already paid off the beach house mortgage but my dh prefers putting that extra money in investments and it is based on sound reasoning so I understand. As much as I hate debt (and I consider a mortgage debt) I get the reasons for having a mortgage so it's OK.

We plan on selling our NY co-op when we retire to help fund our retirement though recently my dh and our investment brokers are looking at possibilities of keeping it for a few years after we retire based on the fact that I love living there. Our neighborhood is fantastic and I am going to be sad to leave. I would go as far as to say it is one of the best neighborhoods in all of NY but I am biased.

We are planners and I think one has to be these days especially if one wants to have the luxury of retiring. Even with being so scrupulous about money and investing you can never plan with absolute certainty because as we all know there are no certainties and the unknown has a way of happening. But all you can do is the best you can and get help in the areas you are lacking expertise in and make sure to live well within your means. And by within I mean well under your means.

 

[NTave]

I think Im decent with it. I'm frugal enough in many ways that my single income makes for a good life for my children and I..I don't have the latest and greatest, but my children have activities and nice clothes, we can afford the occasional vacation and a car and a decent place to live in an area that is safe and they can play. Id like to be better off savings wise, but I do ok for a single parent, keeping credit cards at zero and saving some for retirement. Id like the means to bump my retirement fund and savings, but I'm also going to school, which is a gamble but should give me a decent boost in income once I graduate, which I plan to live in the same means until the loan is paid off for school, and should be able to directly put all car payment money into loans as well as extra. Im hoping to keep the balance together so that I do not have a lot in school loans once Im done, paying down interest now.. The way to save money is not to spend it...and I think that's becomes a lot harder in this day and age with insurance premiums, cost of food and gas and basics. I came out from under an incredible amount of debt left by my divorce, and no child support or help with the children.. Five years later, I still scrape sometimes, but its no where near what it was. I know as a single parent I am in a very blessed situation, but that things crumble in a blink of an eye, so Im trying my hardest to cushion if there is a fall.

 

[random_thought]

So…
It took DH and I about the first 4 years of our marriage to finally get on our feet. We moved to Colorado for a promising job offer for me and I was laid off 2 days later. Spent the next 8 months looking for jobs, receiving help from my parents, not saving, using credit cards for everything and putting all loans in forbearance. We were in emergency mode. As soon as one of us got a job, we would get laid off again. We also faced challenges when I became pregnant with our son and faced 2 months of bed rest with no disability help from the job I had. Went back to work at that job, another layoff. Got another job, 3 months later- another layoff. When all was said and done, we went through 5 layoffs in a 4 year span. It was one of the hardest times of our marriage (next to the infertility journey we are currently on) and the fact that we made it through with our marriage stronger than ever, I think, speaks volumes about our relationship

Anyways, that's the background story haha! We will be married 5 years in November. I've had my engagement ring for 6 years. 3 weeks ago we FINALLY paid that sucker off!! Our loans are consolidated. We are able to make contributions to our savings. We can buy groceries without going paycheck to paycheck. DH has been at his job for 4 years now and I just passed the 1.5 year mark at my job. If C asks for something, I don't have to say no. Yes, our credit is complete crap and we still have a long road ahead of us to pay things off, but we don't suffer from the constant anxiety and stress that we had from lack of money before. We are able to be happy again, life is good. Also, don't get me wrong, we don't spend crazy amounts of money now that we have it. I still have one major obstacle to overcome from that horrible time- I check our bank account multiple times a day expecting the worse. I change our budget spreadsheet if so much as 5 dollars is spent and I adjust everything accordingly. I wish I could get past this ocd type behavior but it's just very hard.
I think this turned into more of a rant than an opinion, oops lol, sorry thanks for reading!

so to answer the question- I would say yes. Given how complex our budget is and managing everything we are paying money on (probably $3500 of our budget is purely for paying off debt, at least 20 different bills currently just in debt, not electricity or anything and it doesn't leave a ton afterwards lol)

Since you are working hard at managing your finances well, I just wondered if you had read any Dave Ramsey materials? He has some great suggestions about becoming debt free. Actually, he has good advice about every area of money management.

http://www.daveramsey.com/articles/content-center/category/lifeandmoney_debt/

Yes, we have a few of his books! The first one was actually a wedding present which I thought was a great idea. We've eliminated a lot of our debt using the snowball method

 

[Laila619]

Yes, definitely. I am a stay-at-home mom of two kids (soon to be four), and DH and I make it work on only one pretty modest salary. We are frugal spenders and save a lot.

 

[Lady_Disdain]

I've been financially independent since the age of 22, never in debt. I know how to live within our means. For me that means saving a lot of money each month (I mean thousands, beyond what we save for pensions) or I'm not happy. Im very worried about getting a mortgage, simply because we won't be able to save the same amount anymore each month. But I suppose it must be done! I'm not the kind who looks at say £20k in the bank and thinks about the bling I could buy with it: our savings are deemed untouchable. Husband and I think hard before spending £2k on a holiday, but we will still go on 2-3 a year, all budgeted for. Because we never talk about money with friends etc, I sometimes worry that we aren't making/saving as much as we should for retirement, and we just don't know it!

I'm not very good at making extra money beyond what we earn though. Investments elude me.

How much you need to save for retirement and how well you are doing has nothing at all to do with your friends but with your own planning. Do you have a good idea of how much you and your husband need for retirement? Once again, this doesn't depend on how much your friends need, but on how you want to live (travelling, hobbies, etc), how much you plan for medical emergencies, whether you want to leave an inheritance or need to provide for a special needs child, for example. Then, have you traced your path to reach that goal? Average interest earned goals, for example, date you want to retire, etc, will show you how much you need to save. Of course, you can always save more but it is very comforting to have mile posts in place (reach $xxxxxx by age 40, have average returns of Z%, etc) and to know how well you are doing for the long range.

 

[jaysonsmom]

One thing I forgot to add, is that you can't spend what is automatically taken out of your paycheck, so both my husband and I maximize our contributions to our retirement accounts, and have automatic withdrawals to 2 college funds for our kids. That way, we don't miss what we don't see, and is automatically saved for the future.

 

[nala]

One thing I forgot to add, is that you can't spend what is automatically taken out of your paycheck, so both my husband and I maximize our contributions to our retirement accounts, and have automatic withdrawals to 2 college funds for our kids. That way, we don't miss what we don't see, and is automatically saved for the future.

This is definitely a great option to save. However, do you or anyone else who follows this strategy, ever wonder if you are not enjoying your money enough, and saving too much for a future that might never come? Or a future that will come and you will be too old to enjoy the trips, the experiences, etc.?

Can anyone chime in and give and answer if there is there a certain percent of one's salary that should go purely to entertainment and frivolous purchases in the here and now?

 

[nkarma]

One thing I forgot to add, is that you can't spend what is automatically taken out of your paycheck, so both my husband and I maximize our contributions to our retirement accounts, and have automatic withdrawals to 2 college funds for our kids. That way, we don't miss what we don't see, and is automatically saved for the future.

This is definitely a great option to save. However, do you or anyone else who follows this strategy, ever wonder if you are not enjoying your money enough, and saving too much for a future that might never come? Or a future that will come and you will be too old to enjoy the trips, the experiences, etc.?

Can anyone chime in and give and answer if there is there a certain percent of one's salary that should go purely to entertainment and frivolous purchases in the here and now?

I actually have a huge issue with this. I grew up poor and there was never really a need to budget or determine what went to frivolous items as we could never actually purchase them anyways. Since working and living on my own, I have been fortunate enough to have an expendable income and I still question this all the time! In the end I settled on what's important to me and have some sort of figure of what I should be saving and then the rest is for fun stuff. I don't really even like to buy things but I do love love to travel, so I spend on the things I love love and if I don't, I don't spend money on it and it goes to savings. That has worked so far but I question how I am doing it ALL THE TIME.

One tip I have not seen mentioned in this thread is housing. I have heard some people spend about 1/3 to half of their income on mortgage/rent, but I try to keep to 20% (take home). Goes into the the things I can live without category & ergo don't spend on category which is square footage, every appliance, etc...

 

[jaysonsmom]

One thing I forgot to add, is that you can't spend what is automatically taken out of your paycheck, so both my husband and I maximize our contributions to our retirement accounts, and have automatic withdrawals to 2 college funds for our kids. That way, we don't miss what we don't see, and is automatically saved for the future.

This is definitely a great option to save. However, do you or anyone else who follows this strategy, ever wonder if you are not enjoying your money enough, and saving too much for a future that might never come? Or a future that will come and you will be too old to enjoy the trips, the experiences, etc.?

Can anyone chime in and give and answer if there is there a certain percent of one's salary that should go purely to entertainment and frivolous purchases in the here and now?

I don't think there is a set percentage that one should save, or that one should put into entertainment and frivoulous puchases. It all depends on your net take-home income. We are fortunately enough at this point in our life that we can maximize 401K contributions, and not let it affect the enertainment/frivolous purchase budget. But if you asked me 10-15 years ago when we young parents, with starter jobs and 2 childcare payments, I didn't contribute to or save towards retirement at all!

 

[Lady_Disdain]

I don't believe that a certain percentage should be allocated to whatever category. There are way too many factors involved. Make your budget, think about your priorities and spend your money accordingly.

I am a huge introvert. When I moved to my first apartment, having a decent place, close to work and where I would enjoy spending my time was my first priority. Saving money was my second. Buying trendy clothing, going to clubs and restaurants, etc, was not. My budget broke all rules: housing was 50%; savings, 15%; food, 15%, discretionary, 20%. I had no car, a prepaid cell phone I never used and very low overhead other than rent. I set myself a book allowance and I would read in the park, perfectly happy. I also didn't have to deal with roommates, loud neighbours or security.

 

[tyty333]

I'm pretty good with money. When I was young and first started to get real paychecks, I always put as much as I could in
savings right off the bat. The thought of not having emergency money really scared me. I've always been that way.
I don't have to have the latest and greatest item on the market. My monthly cell phone is $35 and I hate paying that much
but if you want an andriod that's about as low as you can get. My car is 8 years old and I plan on driving it for another 2
years and maybe longer if its still treating me well. I'm not into expensive clothes (I'm a stay at home mom). Even though
I'm at a point in my life where I'm pretty comfortable, being frugal still seems to run in blood.

I guess one of the biggest things that paid off for me was to live at home and work while I was in school. I managed to get
out of school with only a $5k student loan that I didn't actually need so paying it back wasn't a problem. I know due to
circumstances not everyone is that fortunate.

 

[partgypsy]

I USED to be very good with money. I and my husband are much looser with our money than we used to be (can you say life-style inflation?). We don't go crazy (no debt other than a floating 1-2K on cc that gets paid off every month, and our mortgage) but I feel we can do a lot better. Basically my income has doubled from what it was 10 years ago, but I still save the same percentage of my income. If we could somehow turn back the clock and live like how we did 10 years ago we could do so well! But I guess hard to go back to bean stews 5 days a week when now on Fridays I want steak on the barbie!

 

[partgypsy]

One thing I forgot to add, is that you can't spend what is automatically taken out of your paycheck, so both my husband and I maximize our contributions to our retirement accounts, and have automatic withdrawals to 2 college funds for our kids. That way, we don't miss what we don't see, and is automatically saved for the future.

This is definitely a great option to save. However, do you or anyone else who follows this strategy, ever wonder if you are not enjoying your money enough, and saving too much for a future that might never come? Or a future that will come and you will be too old to enjoy the trips, the experiences, etc.?

Can anyone chime in and give and answer if there is there a certain percent of one's salary that should go purely to entertainment and frivolous purchases in the here and now?

There is a good rule of thumb (still trying to achieve!) http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2008/10/27/the-balanced-money-formula/
No more than 50% of your paycheck should be spent on Needs. Of the remaining amount, at least 20% should be devoted to Saving, while up to 30% can be spent on Wants.

So as long as you keep your needs down, and can maintain a 20% savings rate, then it says the 30% is for wants. As I cannot keep our grocery for example to a low level, about half of our grocery is considered needs, and the rest wants. So your wants may not go as far as you think!

 

[nala]

One thing I forgot to add, is that you can't spend what is automatically taken out of your paycheck, so both my husband and I maximize our contributions to our retirement accounts, and have automatic withdrawals to 2 college funds for our kids. That way, we don't miss what we don't see, and is automatically saved for the future.

This is definitely a great option to save. However, do you or anyone else who follows this strategy, ever wonder if you are not enjoying your money enough, and saving too much for a future that might never come? Or a future that will come and you will be too old to enjoy the trips, the experiences, etc.?

Can anyone chime in and give and answer if there is there a certain percent of one's salary that should go purely to entertainment and frivolous purchases in the here and now?

There is a good rule of thumb (still trying to achieve!) http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2008/10/27/the-balanced-money-formula/
No more than 50% of your paycheck should be spent on Needs. Of the remaining amount, at least 20% should be devoted to Saving, while up to 30% can be spent on Wants.

So as long as you keep your needs down, and can maintain a 20% savings rate, then it says the 30% is for wants. As I cannot keep our grocery for example to a low level, about half of our grocery is considered needs, and the rest wants. So your wants may not go as far as you think!

Thanks to everyone for taking the time to share your approaches to money. It's hard to have this conversation IRL with people I know, so your responses mean so much to me.

Thanks so much for this link! I plugged in my numbers, and it looks like I have already been doing this and I didn't even know about this strategy!!! This was very reassuring to me, especially because I like the philosophy behind it. I know some of my siblings will save every dime and deprive themselves of the joys in life. My friends are the opposite--they spend every dime and have no financial future security. It's hard to discuss with either of them bc money is such a sensitive topic for many. I once heard some good advice from a colleague. He told me to be responsible, but to realize that my daughter will come to a point where she can't or won't want to spend time with me, so money spent on experiences with her all well worth it. I took this advice to heart, and I have realized that following the 50/30/20 budget, I am lucky in that I can afford to vacation with her twice a year and provide both of us with great experiences throughout the year. Even though I am saving for retirement, I also have a pension, so I feel secure about the future. This budget allows me not to feel frivolous or irresponsible about spending my money. So thanks again!

 

[cflutist]

I'm pretty good with money. When I was young and first started to get real paychecks, I always put as much as I could in
savings right off the bat. The thought of not having emergency money really scared me. I've always been that way.
I don't have to have the latest and greatest item on the market. My monthly cell phone is $35 and I hate paying that much
but if you want an andriod that's about as low as you can get. My car is 8 years old and I plan on driving it for another 2
years and maybe longer if its still treating me well. I'm not into expensive clothes (I'm a stay at home mom). Even though
I'm at a point in my life where I'm pretty comfortable, being frugal still seems to run in blood.

I guess one of the biggest things that paid off for me was to live at home and work while I was in school. I managed to get
out of school with only a $5k student loan that I didn't actually need so paying it back wasn't a problem. I know due to
circumstances not everyone is that fortunate.

We were very much like this (I finally got a smartphone 2 years ago even though I was a VP - Information Technology)
although we have loosened the purse strings a bit in retirement. We had a 12 year old car until January this year when it cost
more to fix it than it was worth. Hubby's truck is 18 years old and works fine.

Our plan in our earlier years was to pay off my CA house early so we would not have a mortgage during retirement.
We also put about 35% away in our 401Ks and after tax investement accounts every month while we were working.
My hubby said that the plan was to have our investments generate income for us.

I retired early at age 54 and am too young to tap my 401Ks/IRAs. Hubby is too young to collect social security so we have
been living off of our after-tax investments and a small pension that my hubby gets. We have a very diversifed portfolio at three different brokerage houses which also include some money in Tax Free Municipal Bond Funds. He is older than I am and has a 50/50 mix while I have more in equities (60/40) because I'm younger. We have no annuities (don't believe in them). So far retirement is treating us well, our portfolio is generating twice the yearly income that we made when we were actively working. This is exactly what hubby planned for, delayed gratification for a nice retirement and having our money work for us without us actually working.