How long can you live after retirement?

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removed - Jennylives

[kibbs]

I know. I think Kibbs was trying to find another hook-up.

If I ever needed it again there is no problem finding a grower on this forum. I was just thinkin you worded it that way intentionally .
How many do you think are lining their retirement nest maxing out their rrsps and tax free savings with the proceeds of basement gardening?

[Hassel99]

If I ever needed it again there is no problem finding a grower on this forum. I was just thinkin you worded it that way intentionally .
How many do you think are lining their retirement nest maxing out their rrsps and tax free savings with the proceeds of basement gardening?

I was actually shocked how hard it is to find a grower since coming back to the OK a few years back.

RRSP from proceeds heh, perhaps if they are paying income tax on said proceeds =p Will be interesting how growers move into retirement age heh.

As for myself plan for my future based on living to 100 =D Scares me to death (lol?) thinking of outliving the money. My occupation does not provide me with a pension and i wont count on the government. I am 30 years from retirement and i have been planing for years already =p I am pretty risk adverse, and want to error on the side of caution, which may explain my first comment.

[Jonrox]

Oh, and if your plan is to work forever, that's a big gamble 'cause "stuff happens". Age discrimination is alive and well in the job market, so if your employer sells and a new owner starts the downsizing thing...it can get dicey. And you never know when something unforseen crops up on the health front that cuts you out of doing certain jobs. If you want to work forever, fine, that's a valid choice - but I would suggest that you have a plan where at least your minimum acceptable lifestyle can be covered. You don't want to be 58 with no fallback and not able to find a job because of a combination of physical limitations and age discrimination.

And if you save your entire life and "stuff happens" rendering you incapable of enjoying your savings or, even worse you die, then you may have missed out on many years of enjoyment of your money. Spending the fruits of your labours as you go is a perfectly valid way of maximizing the enjoyment you get - and you can enjoy your money in a much different way when you're young than when you're old.

There's no one correct answer that suits everybody, even though the financial would have you believe there is.

[hobbyguy]

It is a matter of balance. If a person chooses to spend ALL of their disposable income on having fun etc., then if economic "stuff happens" who is going to support them? And if health "stuff" happens when they get older, who is going to pay for a scooter, or a power wheel chair, or other things to make life a good as can be in the circumstances? I'm simply pointing out that it is prudent to have a back-up plan, even if it's just enough to share a basement suite, pay bus fare, and put some food on the table.

Spending the fruits of your labours as you go is a perfectly valid way of maximizing the enjoyment you get - and you can enjoy your money in a much different way when you're young than when you're old.

And WHAT money are you going to enjoy when you are old?

I didn't sacrifice enjoying life to put my nest egg together. Just avoided the "instant gratification" traps of "fly-now-pay-later" etc. as best I could. Didn't mean I didn't fly, just saved the money first. Didn't mean I didn't have nice vehicles - just bought used so that somebody else paid the initial depreciation. Didn't mean we didn't enjoy nice restaurant meals - just not every day - and took cooking courses so that everyday meals were better. Didn't need to buy and pay for a gym membership, went backpacking instead.

I agree that living a miserable life so that you can "whoop it up" when you retire is out of balance. But so is "whooping it up" all your life and spending your retirement years with no options. As my gramma taught me, "everything in moderation".

On the other hand, saving a "nest egg" gives you a fallback throughout your life. You never know, maybe an opportunity arises to start your own business - but you need a little cash to get it going, or your child turns out to be musical prodigy and needs money for special musical school, or whatever opportunity arises. It is an investment in making your own life fuller.

It doesn't have to be honerous, and the more you try, the easier it gets. Heck, I started with a whopping $25/month.

There's a balance for everyone, but just "whooping it up" has a low probability of being the right one.

[Jonrox]

If someone plans on working until they die (maybe because they love their work), then saving for retirement is saving for the worst-case scenario. Really it comes down to how risk averse this person is. I'm not saying I don't save for later in life... I don't consider it saving for retirement though. But if someone chooses not to save, I don't judge them at all. We all have different goals and desires and I can't say mine are any better than anyone else.