If You Could Retire In 10 Years Time, But Had To Live Like A Miser Would You Do It?
- Thread starter Watermelon Man
- Start date
As long as the country can get satellite TV, sounds good to me!!
Malaysia has it all.
Dave
Now we're talking!Malaysia has it all.
Dave
And the diving / sailing has to be exceptional too of course which Malaysia has in abundance.
A lot of South-east Asia would make a great place to slow down and enjoy the good life...
Cheers,
Michael.
Keep going hobo-jo....4 more "grit your teeth and grind it out" years and you'll be there.
We are 13 years into the 10 year plan, and I can confirm it doesn't take anywhere near 10 years to be....at a level that most people dream of....
It's also nowhere near as bad as some people are making out. If you have a family and children, just live normally, without being sucked up into the consumerism nonsense vortex that modern life seems to covet.
Stay away from wannabe's (people who spend all their money trying to look and appear wealthy) and it'll happen even quicker.
Hang around people with views typically displayed here on SS and you'll get there soon enough.
Absolutely, and if interested here is a rough budget,
As a rough example, rough costs in Penang/Langkawi area for us in a 50 ft powercat and living for 2 based on research from a recent 3 week stay there.
Diesel @ .70c/l x 600/mth = $420 (friend's on a big trawler up there use less than 1200l/year with similar economy to our boat)
Unleaded 4 Dinghy & Genny @.70c/l x 100/mth = $70
Engine maintenance [ filters and oil ] = $40/mth (doubt it'd cost this with 500hr oil changes)
Bottom clean and antifoul through Thai Yard = $35/mth (Slipping and 2 day's labour/material's)
Eating out for every meal, every day for 2including 12 cans of Tiger beer a day = $500
( this is fairly generous, meal's can be had for as little as .38c beer for .50c a can)
Incidental groceries and mixers for spirits = $100
Weekly half hour massage at $5 each = $40
Laundry, washed and folded = $20
Taxis and transport = $80 (a chauffer driven Limo cost us $10/hour)
Incidental money wasting on DVD's etc = $50 ( 20 new release DVD's for $15 at market's)
TOTAL = $1355/mth
Extra niceties
Car hire and fuel for 2 days per mth = $50 (Last car cost us less than this)
Marina berth for 4 days per mth = $ 50
*** hotel accom for 4 days per mth = $ 130
A flash buffet at arguably the best Hotel in Penang (Eastern and Oriental Hotel)
inc bottomless beer and wine = $ 60
An extra $290
So living well, should cost around $338 AUD/week , let's say $400 AUD/week
going up a peg with the extra niceties every month
will cost about $411 Aud/week , let's say $500 AUD/week
Also note that this is without us catching and cooking, and infact not really getting our hands dirty at all, so we actually can do it a lot cheaper than that I would think.
If we wanted, we can buy 3 bed 2 bath condo's for about $150,000Aud and have a fulltime housekeeper/maid for about $150/mth,.......... if we wanted.
Dave
I still have a malaysian passport yes. malaysia is very cheap but i don't think I could go back there to live. actually not everthing is cheaper than oz. cars are more expensive as with baby stuff and toys!
but maids and nannies are very cheap. it's about 150AUD per mth for a fulltime live in maid/nanny. you can have a freshly blended juice in 5 mins, you room cleaned and bed made, clothes all hand washed, etc even car wash there is only $3 and it's as good as being detailed. It would be nice to have a nanny is on a beck and call for josh 24/7 but gosh, he would turn out a right little king! it's also cheaper to eat out than cook yourself. Supermarkets there are rubbish and for best quality prdocue, meats, fish etc you need to get to the markets/wet markets very early (could get the maid to do that though!).
I believe the standard of living is much higher in Oz even if you were multi millionaire in Malaysia. Also, all the people there are actually trying to get out of the country with the government being very pro muslim and policies unfair. Although better than other muslim countries, the govenrment is still very corrupted. Government contracts are only given to Malay companies etc
I would choose option 2. The reason why I am on this road is so that I can afford to travel often...I love travelling which is why I don't even want a full time job so that I can travel if I want to. The other reason being that I can't imagine retiring in 10 yrs time, I'd be only 38y.o and life would be so boring. I don't mind working until I die if it's property related coz this is where my passion lies. I've also recently discovered a fascination with history, especially asian history so maybe might go back to Uni. However, what job can I get out of a course like that?
But I agree with Lizzie, that it's important to maintain a balance. I don't care to drive a $50k+ car, designer clothes, a 6 br mansion by the river etc I don't mind spending on memorable holidays, things good for the health i.e expensive gerbs, ginseng, birds nest or golf clubs etc
yes. malaysia is very cheap but i don't think I could go back there to live. actually not everthing is cheaper than oz. cars are more expensive as with baby stuff and toys! but maids and nannies are very cheap. it's about 150AUD per mth for a fulltime live in maid/nanny. you can have a freshly blended juice in 5 mins, you room cleaned and bed made, clothes all hand washed, etc even car wash there is only $3 and it's as good as being detailed. It would be nice to have a nanny is on a beck and call for josh 24/7 but gosh, he would turn out a right little king! it's also cheaper to eat out than cook yourself. Supermarkets there are rubbish and for best quality prdocue, meats, fish etc you need to get to the markets/wet markets very early (could get the maid to do that though!).
I believe the standard of living is much higher in Oz even if you were multi millionaire in Malaysia. Also, all the people there are actually trying to get out of the country with the government being very pro muslim and policies unfair. Although better than other muslim countries, the govenrment is still very corrupted. Government contracts are only given to Malay companies etc
I would choose option 2. The reason why I am on this road is so that I can afford to travel often...I love travelling which is why I don't even want a full time job so that I can travel if I want to. The other reason being that I can't imagine retiring in 10 yrs time, I'd be only 38y.o and life would be so boring. I don't mind working until I die if it's property related coz this is where my passion lies. I've also recently discovered a fascination with history, especially asian history so maybe might go back to Uni. However, what job can I get out of a course like that?
But I agree with Lizzie, that it's important to maintain a balance. I don't care to drive a $50k+ car, designer clothes, a 6 br mansion by the river etc I don't mind spending on memorable holidays, things good for the health i.e expensive gerbs, ginseng, birds nest or golf clubs etc
... as well as pirates and crime......(sorry!
Cheers,
The Y-man
And your evidence to piracy against pleasure boat's come's from??????
I think the [land based] crime rate per capita would be on a par or less than Australia as well.
Water based crime in Malaysia against yacht's is negligable.
http://www.icc-ccs.org/prc/piracyreport.php
http://www.noonsite.com/General/Piracy
http://www.yachtpiracy.org/en/
Dave
<on a serious note> Land based crimes in West Malaysia is pretty scary at the moment. Seem to be getting a lot of young knife wielding types running around. We were very tentatively planning for a future visit, but our relo's who have just returned from the area didn't bring back much good news.
Admittedly we are talking residential areas, and the wild west (not the peninsula) at that, so major tourist areas are probably still safe zones.
Cheers,
The Y-man
ps. Good to see yachties are ok there
<on a serious note> Land based crimes in West Malaysia is pretty scary at the moment. Seem to be getting a lot of young knife wielding types running around. We were very tentatively planning for a future visit, but our relo's who have just returned from the area didn't bring back much good news.
Admittedly we are talking residential areas, and the wild west (not the peninsula) at that, so major tourist areas are probably still safe zones.
Cheers,
The Y-man
ps. Good to see yachties are ok there
Yep, all good.
The best part is if we don't like our neighbour's or the view, just turn the key and move to the next island.
Dave
No, cause if I had to live like that for 10 years I would be doing it wrong.
In terms of investment the savings and dipping into your own pocket might be needed to get things off the ground in the first place but IMHO if you are still dipping into your PAYG salary to fund investmenst after even 5 yeasr you haven't structured it right.
Its not a choice between investing and living well. Its a choice between investing well with a structure that works or doing it badly (and having to put money in yourself).
There have been some great stories posted from some very successful members and creative ways to imprive cashflow without high risk. Maybe look at their strategies more closely.
In terms of investment the savings and dipping into your own pocket might be needed to get things off the ground in the first place but IMHO if you are still dipping into your PAYG salary to fund investmenst after even 5 yeasr you haven't structured it right.
Its not a choice between investing and living well. Its a choice between investing well with a structure that works or doing it badly (and having to put money in yourself).
There have been some great stories posted from some very successful members and creative ways to imprive cashflow without high risk. Maybe look at their strategies more closely.
Fair enough GoAnna, but maybe using some of your own dollars might make the difference between a reasonable result and a fantastic result as Y man point's out in his post
"That's really the key to it isn't it. Because you don't mind foregoing things other people consider a "necessity", to fuel your passion. People think your are stingy, when in reality you spend heaps - just on different things to what they do.
I wonder how this poll would have gone if the end result was:
1. moderate for 15 years, end up with $50k pa passive income
2. full on for 10, moderate for another 5, end up with $500k pa income.... "
Cheers,
The Y-man
Dave
No No No........not anymore!!!
I probably have lived like a miser, as some would call it, for a number of years when I first had my children and my husband decided to go back to school and try his hand at something else rather than stay locked into his profession for the rest of his life.
At the time it wasn't too difficult as we just lived within our means and anyway his happiness meant more than anything else.
However, once he had finished study, started his own business (had been in it for a couple of years).....I started wanting more out of life (and I don't mean material things)....I just wanted to be able to retire comfortably down the track whilst enjoying the journey to get there. (eg: TRAVEL one of my favorite pass times).
SO I went crazy for about 4 years investing and NOW I'm living it up, travelling a couple of times a year, drinking only the best wines, not crap anymore, and eating out whenever I want to....BUT my rate of investing has slowed down a little as I probably need to do something about the house I'm living in....it needs work!
sq
I probably have lived like a miser, as some would call it, for a number of years when I first had my children and my husband decided to go back to school and try his hand at something else rather than stay locked into his profession for the rest of his life.
At the time it wasn't too difficult as we just lived within our means and anyway his happiness meant more than anything else.
However, once he had finished study, started his own business (had been in it for a couple of years).....I started wanting more out of life (and I don't mean material things)....I just wanted to be able to retire comfortably down the track whilst enjoying the journey to get there. (eg: TRAVEL one of my favorite pass times).
SO I went crazy for about 4 years investing and NOW I'm living it up, travelling a couple of times a year, drinking only the best wines, not crap anymore, and eating out whenever I want to....BUT my rate of investing has slowed down a little as I probably need to do something about the house I'm living in....it needs work!
sq
I would take the extra time. I wish now I had been a lot more adventurous in my 20s and 30s, I had a good job, good money, but all I did was save most of it for a rainey day, and pay off PPOR, I only ever went on interstate holidays to visit friends. Get yourself financially secure, but still enjoy life, as you only get one chance at it.
Would you live like a miser for 10 years (& pour nearly every extra dollar, etc into investing) if you could retire at the end of that 10-year period??
Now - Choose 1 or the other - there's nothing in between to choose from.
That's where you're wrong, WM. NO one can do the extremes like you're describing. EVERYONE does something in between. One does not suddenly go from miser to spendthrift in a heartbeat. You don't spend 10 years saving every penny only to suddenly realise you've 'made it' and spend everything. That requires change in mindset that simply doesn't happen overnight. More likely, you'll continue your miserly habits and have to slowly retrain yourself.
You'll find that as your investments develop, you slowly move away from simply saving to spending more and managing your investments more. So even before you get rich, you're starting to move away from the habits of the early years. I know that I don't watch my spending as much as I used to, because I don't have to. These days, for example, I spend time dealing with my taxes (PAYG variation will mean a lot more money in my pocket every month earning interest) and so on.
If you believe you can be a miser for 10 years, save and invest money and suddenly start spending after 10 years, you really need to think more about how human nature works. Thinking that way actually makes you less inclined to invest because you're overestimating the length of the sacrifice involved.
Alex
No you're wrong Alex because you've totally misread the point here!!! Geez! If I wanted to be SO SPECIFIC it would've taken a whole page to detail it. I asked for a 1 or the other answer; I didn't want some smartpants saying "Oh I'd go in between in the grey area". That's why there's a poll - one or the other not 10 options to choose from on every possible scenario available. From the above paragraph from you, you've totally misread the point I was trying to make from the thread. The point was if you had the option of either retiring in 10 years (through being a miser with your money & using most of your available money for investing) & after 10 years being able to live comfortably for a happy retirement; would you do it? Yes or no; not in between. You're thinking above says "Oh, I'll be a miser for 10 years, become wealthy, then blow all the money senselessly on living it up!" Totally misread the point! You've been critical on my post & now I'm being critical of yours.
Alex relax, it's a hypothetical. Lighten up. You're taking it too literal.
For the record Alex, where did I say in this thread about becoming a "spendthrift" or "spending everything" after 10 years of being a miser. I DIDN'T - You made that part up! Your words not mine. Furthermore, you're assuming that if one retires after 10 years of being a miser that they're going to "spend everything" - Hmmm...therefore for you retirement must mean "spending everything" as you put it; whereas I thought most people thought retirement (financially-wise) to be able to live off their investments/super, etc for the rest of their lives; without the need to work.
Hi Watermelon Man,
Good to see you stuck around. I chose the former, achieving financial independence asap is most important to me. But my reasons for wanting to do so go further than merely being able to 'retire' early. There are certain goals I would like to achieve beyond financial independence that are more important to me personally (at this point in time) than being able to go on holidays.
Also, I don't live like a miser either. But that may have more to do with my not wanting a lot of 'stuff'. About the biggest spending I do is laying out a hundred bucks a month or so on records.
Mark
Good to see you stuck around. I chose the former, achieving financial independence asap is most important to me. But my reasons for wanting to do so go further than merely being able to 'retire' early. There are certain goals I would like to achieve beyond financial independence that are more important to me personally (at this point in time) than being able to go on holidays.
Also, I don't live like a miser either. But that may have more to do with my not wanting a lot of 'stuff'. About the biggest spending I do is laying out a hundred bucks a month or so on records.
Mark
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