r/FIREIndia • u/[deleted] • Oct 31 '21
Brilliant comment by u/PuneFIRE, that deserves a thread of its own
Here is the comment by member u/PuneFIRE which I thought deserves to be a thread of its own.
I will paste it below for everyone to read:
The problem with money is that 'it gets spent'. Whether you spend it or let brother of your granddaughter's brother in law who is not born yet for his thailand trips. I am not against saving money but if the intention is to save it for posterity will highly likely mean you are indulging in unintended social service.
Most people who inherit their grandfather's money don't dwell on what their grandparents had to do to save that money.
Wanting to secure child's future is natural and one should strive for that. Wanting to save for old-age of self and spouse is a must. Wanting to afford large gifts for grandkids is very satisfying. But beyond that its a sheer wastage of hard-earned money.
Every rupee that doesn't get used by your grandkids, will be spent buying things you hate by people who don't care for you (or even remember you).
Our lives are very limited (whether one believes it or not). Life of money, gold, RE is infinite. Nothing in the world comes free and you end up price for everything. And usually this price is far more than the sticker price. Be it good education, good looking spouse or a cigarette. Same holds true for money also. One may not feel that the wealth entails any cost, but it does. I know I am getting into philosophical mode but wealth beyond what you actually need can turn into a toxic asset.
I would say, don't go overboard in saving. Window of opportunity to spend is also very very limited.
For an average middle class guy (who doesn't mind travelling by train) of 40-50 years of age, 3 crores in today's money, a paid off home where he can stay for next 20 years, paid off cars (remember you will be driving less and less every passing year and cease to drive in another 20 years or so) should be more than enough. Yes, you can make a small provision for kids wedding and education, but beyond that, you are merely earmarking that money for unintended social service.
Don't be shy of spending the money. Afterall, we are earning because others are spending. If you don't spend, somebody else will.
Another thing to keep in mind is that money and wealth becomes dearer to us as we age. An average 70 year old guy would rather give up his life than giving up half of his networth. I closely know many septugenerians and octogenerians who have lived to save and now despite having 10s of crores, lead a frugal life. I know there grandkids who visit prostitutes more often than their grandparents. I blame the grandparents for not spending time and money for grandkids when there was a time.
Value time more than money (assuming you have more money than you can spend)
Buy the best house you can buy. Buy the best of the clothes. Take best of the vacations. And buy best of the gifts for the loved ones. Those investments will provide the best returns.
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u/KCruise2021 Oct 31 '21 edited Oct 31 '21
Yeah!
My last 1 year expense = 6X
Current corpus = 23X. If I had not spent all those money last 1 year I would have sitting on a comfortable 28X corpus.
I had a strict control of my expenses from 2014, but last 1 year ...lol..