[quote=flu]…And more importantly… don’t be so goddamn uptight about being a miser today and penny pinching today..Enjoy life a bit for christ sake today, because you really might not be able to 10/20/30 years from now…Work/save, get hit by a bus or random act of god, surprise you’re dead (or better off dead), and your nest egg you worked so hard to goes to your kid at best (and at worst goes back to the government and redistributed)…Personally, I think I’ll be happy making to 65 without an unduly financial expense. So that’s my target. Beyond which, I don’t give a crap.[/quote]

You make excellent points flu about unexpected medical/healthcare problems. I think it goes without saying that any major medical problem can totally throw your retirement plans into chaos.

I also strongly agree with your “enjoy life” comment. I do think it’s GREAT to save up and live within your means. But as I mentioned, I will have no guilt if my adult kids (by the time I die) get some big inheritance.

I’ve known several people that don’t do really anything at all. Some have never gone outside of their state their whole adult lives. They penny pinch their entire lives and then they die and you find out they had millions and millions of dollars. And sometimes they don’t even have kids.

My philosophy is to enjoy life. We travel quite a bit around the world, we take tons of vacations, we dine out quite often. Absolutely I think you need to live within your means but I also think you have to “live” and enjoy life as you mentioned.