Retirement. Check. What now?

[jteezie]

LivingAlmostLarge - I pay $500 rent. Altogether my monthly fixed expenses are 750-800. That leaves a lot left over. I think the $500 is cheap for what I'm getting (I have a big room and an entire floor). I have some fairly strict requirements for a place, but it's possible if you find roommates. Given my luck with such good rentals (way cheaper to rent than to own), I don't see a reason to buy a house.

There's a chance that a relationship can change that, but I don't plan on it anytime soon so I'll keep renting.

I find this vodka discussion in my post a little odd, but I'll throw in my two cents. Cheap vodka is noticeable, but there's not much difference between the normal and the $500+ bottle service (or perhaps by that point in the nights I'm too drunk to notice the difference).

[Mr Nice Guy]

You should write to Money magazine or Kiplingers about your situation

[jteezie]

Hmm. That's an interesting suggestion. Do you think my situation is noteworthy and unique enough to receive a response? Maybe this could be the start of my personal finance writing fame . Jk, but it's an interesting idea.

Thanks.

[Mr Nice Guy]

Heck yeah your situation is noteworthy. Actually there are a couple profiles of people who are young and well-off financially in this month's current issue.

One dude has saved like $25,000 at age 27, and another dude is making it through college debt free. Thats where I got the idea from!!!

[jteezie]

Thanks for the encouragement. Please let me know if my question shows up on either of these publications. This is what I wrote:

---------
I am a 26 year old graduate student and full time professional. Saving from age 19 to now, I recently reached a $100k savings (and retirement) goal and am not sure what to do next. I am fairly good with personal finance, investments and am well insured, but am struggling with the fundamental philosophical shift that is now needed to reduce my savings rate, "enjoy life more", and focus on entrepreneurship.

People suggested that I write to get advice because I am an interesting case of "self made success," and they would like to read about my story with expert analysis [in Kiplinger, from Money]

Thank you for your help,
----------------

I'm actually kinda proud of myself this weekend. I spent about $450 and cringed at the idea of having no contribution related growth in my accounts this month. I'm still contributing at 25% to my roth 401k, so it's not like I am really not saving, but it is sad to see no activity in my other accounts . I feel like I am living paycheck to paycheck. Is this how most people live? No surplus savings after their 401k contributions? It feels so strange; I feel like I am going broke.

In reflection, I think this is a great trait to have as an entrepreneur because my focus will always be on retained earnings and positive cash flows.

[Mr Nice Guy]

I dont subscribe to either periodical, but I try to read them in the library or at Barnes every month if possible. If I see it ill let you know

[walker.kenny]

It’s funny, no one’s asked OP how he has managed to save so much in such little time. I am curious and more than a little envious

[jteezie]

Hi Walker,

I think I was somewhat lucky. I grew up in what the government would define as severe poverty, but I somehow fit in with my schools' predominately middle class classmates. This was important because I had learned values, saw possibilities and had the freedom to explore my options. By luck I discovered the power of compounding around the time I started college. I'm very future orientated so it made sense to me to start saving all the excess money I received through the GI bill ($4k/yr = rent), Marine reserves ($5k/yr = roth IRA), financial aid (paid for school), and a fairly well paying job (for my age and experience. I think it was around $11.50 at the time.)

My lifestyle didn't change much after I started my first job so that allowed me to up my Roth 401K contribution to 50%. A year deployed in Iraq with very minimal spending also increased my savings.

Overall, a substantial amount of my savings comes from free money from going to school (I don't mean loans). From GI Bill to grants, scholarship and employer reimbursement, school's been a great way to keep me busy, pursue learning, raise my income and save for retirement.

I hope that sheds some light on my money experience.

I wanted to re-ask my question from earlier:

I'm still contributing at 25% to my roth 401k, so it's not like I am really not saving, but it is sad to see no activity in my other accounts . I feel like I am living paycheck to paycheck. Is this how most people live? No surplus savings after their 401k contributions? It feels so strange; I feel like I am going broke.

[Shewillbemine]

Makes sense ^^^. Some of my deployed friends (special forces) not only receive well-deserved bonuses and combat pay; they get ridiculous daily food stipends ($100+ per day) in countries that charge $1 - $2 a meal.

[Bella Blues]

100K is nothing by the time you retire, you will need millions.

[Mr Nice Guy]

100K is nothing by the time you retire, you will need millions.

Thank you for your valuable input

[BuckyBadger]

I'm still contributing at 25% to my roth 401k, so it's not like I am really not saving, but it is sad to see no activity in my other accounts . I feel like I am living paycheck to paycheck. Is this how most people live? No surplus savings after their 401k contributions? It feels so strange; I feel like I am going broke.

I know how you feel. I've posted about it before.

My husband and I are in a very fortunate position. We max out our 401k's and a non-deductible IRA. We are putting aside into savings an additional $1,000 every two weeks. With company matches, we are putting away over $50k a year into tax advantaged accounts and with our additional investments we put away a total of nearly $80k a year for the "future." Our only debt is a mortgage and a HELOC that is getting paid off in June.

The way we think of is is like this: we pay our bills and we pay ourselves first. And we make sure to pay ourselves generously. Everything else is there to be spent. I mean, I suppose you could sacrifice everything in your life and put every penny into trying to retire as soon as humanly possible, but we work hard and if you don't enjoy your life while you're living it, then what's the point? We could sacrifice everything the the world for some hypothetical future and then get hit by a bus or have health problems that prevent us from enjoying our retirement. We enjoy our jobs as much as anyone can, but we need to enjoy the rest of our life, too.

It's a balance. As long as you are putting away enough so that you can retire at a pleasant age and have enough money to do the things you want to do, spend the rest to live your life.

So my point, I suppose, is that once you pay your bills and pay into your accounts for the future, you SHOULD spend the rest of your money. There have been a lot of threads about what "living paycheck to paycheck" means. It feels weird to see the balance of my active checking account get low before payday, but you have to remember to look at those other accounts that are growing. Joining Mint has helped me a lot because it shows your assets and net worth, so even when my "cash" balance seems low I can see all that money working away in my other accounts.

Of course, things change and some day we may have kids to support, but that's just a readjustment of funds, and we'll never get back the benefit of the time that we're utilizing right now.

[jteezie]

Badger:
Thanks for the perspective. I realized there are other "living paycheck to paycheck" threads. After reading some, I decided that I need to continue to change my mindset. Not only will it prevent me for saving for the sake of saving (which is pointless), but I may feel more (or a different kind of) freedom. I'll eventually get over the repulsive feeling from spending "too much".

I've been joking that I'm just trying to find ways to burn money, just short of giving it to people, but I think just trying to change the mindset to one where I want to minimize growth on my checking account is a positive start.

Just checked my 401k and it just keeps going up at a surprising rate. I was actually at 25% contribution (and for some reason I allocated 5% to a pretax account). The continuing growth made me sad. So, I reduced it down to 15% total Roth. Now that the markets are likely to slow down, I feel OK with investing less in the future and I will invest more in enjoying the present. I am proud to report that I am spending money on professional services like life coaches, professional photographs, eating out daily and tipping extremely well, large bar tabs, etc. No plans for big ticket items because that would suck into too much of my assets, but I don't need them.