How to maintain lifestyle in retirement?

Reader says...

My friend each month spends about $2k on tuition for her only child! 😮

4 tuition each cost about $500!! 😱







Money is a scarce resource for the vast majority of us.

What do we do when a resource is scarce?

We try to conserve it.

That is what the government keeps telling us when it comes to the use of water in Singapore.








We should have the same attitude towards money.

Of course, if you are very rich and have money sloshing around, ignore this blog.

I believe that for the rest of us, we can easily strengthen our balance sheet just by reducing unnecessary expenses.






A reader in his 40s who makes more than $8,000 a month told me that he used to save about $500 a month of his take home pay but now he saves $2,000 a month.

What motivated him to save more money was my blog on how we can save 100% of our take home pay.

$2,000 is not 50% of his take home pay but it is already a vast improvement from $500.








Some of the changes he made:

1. He downgraded his car and although not what I would advocate, has a much smaller car loan to service.

2. His family eat out less often and he was very impressed by how much money they could save by not going to restaurants.

3. Extra classes for their two children were reduced to only what they thought were essential.

He also decided not to upgrade to a condominium but will continue to stay in their HDB flat.

Becoming a better saver is the first step towards a financially secure retirement for him and his wife.






What kind of lifestyle we can have in our golden years, to a large extent, depends on the kind of lifestyle we have today.

Don't want to downgrade our lifestyle in retirement?

Don't upgrade our lifestyle too much before our retirement.

Quite simple, really.






Related post:
Saving 100% of our take home pay.

"Should I give up on my husband?" (Warren Buffett's late wife saw him as a challenge.)

Reader says...

I simply LOVE your blog!

However, reading your blog makes me a bit regretful.

I got married a year ago to a very kind and loving man.

He is very obliging and we never had an argument, ever.

I decided he was the one after a short courtship.

He is not rich and doesn't make a lot of money at work but it doesn't bother me because I earn my keep.

I did not think that it could be a problem until a few months into the marriage.





He is very caring and sweet but he doesn't seem to know much of anything and doesn't seem interested in learning.

A big problem is his inability to understand basic money management.

I thought he understood budgeting but had trouble with impulse buying but by now I don't think he understands.

I feel bad for flaring up but he would literally spend the very last dollar of his salary by end of each month.

When I tried to show him how bad his financial situation was, he would hug me and said I was worrying too much.

I love him but I am also thinking of giving up.







AK says...

Welcome to my blog. :)

First, I must say that I mostly blog about personal finance matters.

I am definitely not an expert on relationship matters and I am definitely not an expert on marriage.

So, based on this, I know if I were in your shoes, instinctively, I would dump that guy like a sack of rocks.

Too heavy a burden to be carrying around for even a moment, I would not dream of dragging the sack around for life.

Yikes!

Who threw a shoe at me?

Who? Who?





Let me continue.

However, there is a Chinese saying:

爱屋及乌
"Love the house and love the crows on the roof."

It is about taking the good with the bad.

So, although, instinctively, I would dump that guy, rationally, I would urge you to consider the big picture.





If not being financially prudent is his only shortcoming, maybe, you shouldn't give up.

"Love the house and love the crows on the roof."

As long as the number of crows are not too many, it isn't too bad unless you care about appearances.

However, if the crows are so numerous that the roof might collapse under their weight, you should run for the hills.





I always tell people that investing in stocks is a little like getting married.

We could also say that getting married is a little like investing in stocks.

There is bound to be some rough patches.

For example, Warren Buffett's late wife, by his own admission, saw him as a challenge. ;)

I am just borrowing someone else's wisdom here.

I don't have any in this area.





Related post:
Scolded by wife!