When is enough (money) enough?

[ronb]

When you reach FI? When you can afford to have all bills pay and still have some fun?

What I'm realizing is that no amount of money seems like enough. I have no end goal. I have no... 'once I reach x number of dollars, I'll stop working so hard and start spending some money'.

Do I have a problem? How much money would you want before you stopped really worrying about it?

[Weird Tolkienish Figure]

When you reach FI? When you can afford to have all bills pay and still have some fun?

What I'm realizing is that no amount of money seems like enough. I have no end goal. I have no... 'once I reach x number of dollars, I'll stop working so hard and start spending some money'.

Do I have a problem? How much money would you want before you stopped really worrying about it?

You can always make more money, you'll never make more time. If being frugal is causing you to miss out on worthwhile life experiences, you will never get those moments back. I turned 38 in May. I know I'm young by the standards of many in here, but time is flying by. No matter how much money I make I will never be 37 again. And there are some things that money cannot buy... it's a cliche but it's true.

Youth is wasted on the young!

[avil_saver36]

When you reach FI? When you can afford to have all bills pay and still have some fun?

What I'm realizing is that no amount of money seems like enough. I have no end goal. I have no... 'once I reach x number of dollars, I'll stop working so hard and start spending some money'.

Do I have a problem? How much money would you want before you stopped really worrying about it?

You need to rephrase your question.

The real question is: "have I reached the ceiling of my money making?".

A secondary statistic I would consider is if your net worth is 10X the "peak gross annual income" you have ever made.

Also, I am assuming you are 40+. Retiring before 40 has a lot of risk and I don't recommend it.

Possibilities:

1) You have not reached your ceiling (i.e. you still have untapped potential) and your net worth is not 10X the peak annual gross. In this case, not only your peak gross will increase in future, but you also haven't saved enough. Keep working.

2) You have reached your ceiling but your net worth is not 10X the peak annual gross: You haven't saved enough in my view. The work might suck, but still consider working. It's really a numbers game here. If you are 60+ and if the net worth factor is close to 10X, maybe you can still retire.

3) you have not reached your ceiling but your net worth is 10X the peak annual gross. Well, you are an exceptional saver/investor, but your peak is yet to come. If you keep working, you will go in a different stratosphere. You might do well in retiring, but again, you might want additional riches from the untapped potential. Think about what's your personality type and take action.

4) You have reached your ceiling and your net worth is 10X your peak annual salary. Pack the bags and hit Vegas. Well done, you deserve all the fun. Me, I would probably still consider "light part time working" so I can pay essential bills and use my savings just for fun vacations.

[ua_guy]

When you reach FI? When you can afford to have all bills pay and still have some fun?

What I'm realizing is that no amount of money seems like enough. I have no end goal. I have no... 'once I reach x number of dollars, I'll stop working so hard and start spending some money'.

Do I have a problem? How much money would you want before you stopped really worrying about it?

If you don't have a goal, then I think you have something to think about. Goals for things you want to do, goals for how and when you want to retire. Do your best to come up with a cost estimate for each. Then, alter your money strategies to accomplish those goals, and actively track progress.

[corn18]

When you reach FI? When you can afford to have all bills pay and still have some fun?

What I'm realizing is that no amount of money seems like enough. I have no end goal. I have no... 'once I reach x number of dollars, I'll stop working so hard and start spending some money'.

Do I have a problem? How much money would you want before you stopped really worrying about it?

I'd stop saving if I had $5M in retirement savings and no debt. I'd stop working if I had $10M in savings and no debt. Can't get there from here. I can get to my retirement goal at age 62 while funding all the other stuff along the way and maintaining my standard of living and income. A lot of variables to get there, but I have a plan.

[Petunia 100]

Life is short. What do you want from your life? There is no right or wrong answer; but you do want to maximize your life by getting the most from it you can. One person might be very happy with a modest home and little spending money, but lots of free time. Another person might be miserable with that lifestyle.

Evaluate what really matters to you.

[MakeAStash]

50x annual expenses would be a nice place to stop

[amarowsky]

I would like to think when my dividends/earnings after tax roughly equal my active income after tax.

Assuming pretty decent returns (8-10%) mine will equal what I'm living off of after long term capital gains is taken out right around the 400-500k range. I wouldn't stop working, I would just dramatically change my saving strategy and start working moderately less. Or possibly restart a new career in a more fulfilling and less paying field.

[Jovanny]

The more you convert desires (what might be called “nice to haves”) into needs (“must haves”), the more money you will need to support that lifestyle. Thus, enough money can never be enough.

[ronb]

The more you convert desires (what might be called “nice to haves”) into needs (“must haves”), the more money you will need to support that lifestyle. Thus, enough money can never be enough.

It's about reducing your wants. I used to want a sports car but now I realize how stupid it would be. This, I don't need to budget for an extra $2k/year for insurance/maintenance on a toy.

[97guns]

retiring early isnt about having a large amount of money its about having a nice monthly income produced from that large amount of money

[Drake3287]

I can totally relate to this question and have asked it myself to online forums. For me, I retired at 55 with a pension that pays me 100% of my final salary (including COLA) and over the years I've saved a ton of money in both cash and investments. At this point my house is almost paid off and I not only live comfortably with my pension check, I still have a couple of thousand dollars left over every month that simply goes into my never ending savings.

For me I find it hard to spend any differently now vs when I was working. I think a lot of people like myself that are savers have this problem. A few months ago we needed to buy a new car and could have afforded any car out there, but for me just buying an Acura was big deal.

Even though I'm "technically" well off, I'd make a terrible millionaire! To answer your question "when is it enough money"? I wish I had an answer.

[tripods68]

At certain point when you've achieved your peak FI, depending what is your real passion in "life" or "work", even "charity", there is a greater need in society our and time pressure within ourselves to find true passion that fulfills our daily lives. I'm no where near retirement, but when I do reach that ideal number/age, my wife and I will spend a great deal of our time doing some 'charity work' and helping family. At some point, building wealth becomes (I presume) less important and most people lack passion becomes 'wonderer in life' without a compass. Having some kind of purpose will fill that void a great deal. So I've read.

[FLA]

It's funny, I've always felt like I have enough money, even when I went a few months with no income while waiting for disability. If I'm satisfied, everyone's happy and healthy, that's enough.

I paid diligently into my 403B and Roth, starting at 22. Stayed with same company for 23 years, planned to retire at 62. The calculators and advisors said I would be way more than fine if I just kept doing what I was doing since I did not plan to change my lifestyle to something more lavish when I retired. Both advisors suggested retiring at 55 now that we have Obamacare. 55??? That had never occurred to me and I didn't bank on it. They told me not to worry, I would have more than I should ever need, so I didn't, I diligently plugged along.

Now I am 45 and bam, got suddenly ill a year ago. There went that feeling of financial security. So I spoke with them again and I could be ok if I start even now taking monthly money out of my retirement, the principle would remain untouched. I am not doing this, it scares me. I plan to try really hard to live on whatever disability turns out to be. I'm leaving everything as aggressive as it is because I am willing to take on risk to earn more in 15 yrs and now I really will need that interest money. But I've had time to let this float around my brain, I think I can get by even if the illnesses are permanent.

But one part sucks, my kids. They don't take from your retirement accounts to pay for college. And that's where my money is and I don't think I should risk taking money out for college. But the guilt is HUGE. And I wanted to leave them a decent inheritance. So for the first time, what I have probably won't be enough for all of us.

When I feel better and in 16 months I'll have an SSDI hearing so I will finally know what I will or won't be making, then I have to talk to the Vanguard planner (should be free again because I will be transferring a large amount from my 403B to them). And then I will probably feel that I have enough again, they are extremely helpful. But 16 mos of limbo really blows! I get that they do that to discourage people from applying but come on, a total of 2 years of waiting is a lot and many people have no income during that time.

so yes, today what I have is enough

An aside, get private own occupation long term disability insurance. That was my mistake, it always seemed too expensive. Living without it, is more expensive. That will help you feel like you have enough even in the midst of a crisis.

[jeromanomic]

There's always a next level...

you can be independent then you can start wanting to fly private, then you can start wanting to buy an island etc etc