@M_Smart007 wrote:I love Horses, I own three Quarter Horses, Chocolate, Speedy & Chief.
My Uncle Has some acreage in Lovelock Nevada
Been thinking of purchasing that from Him. It has been in The Family for Decades.
@M_Smart007 wrote:
Hobbies are Cars, Fishing, Ham Radio & Shooting (guns)
Aspire to travel to certain destinations. Especially places on the ocean.
Those are some great places to start with enjoying the fruits of your labors! 
As you look at retiring (I assume?), you might consider how each of those favorite pass times can be incorporated into your life in an orderly manner and to accomplish some long term dreams, especially the part about traveling. Having a plan for achieving goals can be helpful. I have heard some people enter retirement and find themselves rather lost, but if you already have a plan you would know your goals. For example, some people make a list of places they want to travel and start making dreams a reality by scheduling a trip or two every year. You could make lists for the short - medium - long term, and fill in more details as each trip gets closer. Something similar could be done with other hobbies to reach goals related to each one and to make sure you're spending time on each of them.
@M_Smart007 wrote:Legit Question .. I am beyond the point where I need to work, save, add to 401K, IRA's and such.
Just want some input on how you are spending your wealth?
(I understand wealth to some people is Health, Family & Friends)
Even though I'm in my late 50's, I'm still in the midst of accumulating wealth instead of wondering how to spend it. My primary focus is retirement. Not that I haven't tried to prepare better but life has a funny way of changing and turning out differently than we expect.
I am approaching what should be the end-stretch to retirement in a few years yet feeling inadequately prepared. I already have much more saved and invested than most Americans, yet I also know what I have or will be able to finish saving will at best only make for a reasonably comfortable middle class retirement. As some have said, it takes a LOT of money to create a retirement fund that will generate a steady income stream. My savings won't leave me wealthy by most standards. Hopefully, there will be some left to my children and grandchildren one day, but that is not my primary focus as much as a by-product of my work to provide a comfortable life for my wife and I.
Actually, just a few years ago, I could not even have imagined being as financially-sound as I am today. I'm blessed to be in the highest-earning years of my life (by far), and I'm taking full advantage of them by living well below my means. My IRA and 401K continue to be fully-funded (including the over-age 50 catch-ups) and I'm paying extra on my mortgage so that my house will be paid off by retirement time. I'm also saving and investing aggressively in non-retirement accounts. At least for now, I've made plans to continue to work until my late 60's if not even age 70 to delay tapping into my savings. If all that comes together, I will be very secure in retirement and probably have the means to enjoy some travel and leisure activities, but it won't be a high-rolling jetset lifestyle. 
My parents lived into their 80's so that should leave me some time to relax and enjoy life.
Having security has always been a high life goal for me. I grew up in a lower-middle class family with a father who worked hard at his blue-collar job and a mother who stayed home to raise the kids. They were thrifty but due to their limited resources and a corrupted investment company that literally stole some of their money, they were unable to have the kind of stable retirement they had dreamed of. I'm determined not to let that happen to me. Unlike some, my family wasn't able to leave me any inheritance other than a few mostly nostalgic possessions. The wealth I've accrued has all been up to me.
Touching on the second part of the question, I agree that true wealth is much more than money but also health, family, and friends. The old saying "If you've got your health, you've got just about everything" is spot-on. Likewise, a life without the love and support of family and friends is empty and purposeless. In those respects, I have a rich life and I know it's important to focus on those good things in my life, to be grateful for them, and to stay humble realizing they are gifts from above that we could lose at any time. If I sound a little deep and introspective, my family just buried a cousin of mine who died suddenly last week. He was in apparent good health and within six months of my age. Life is a gift that is not to be taken for granted.
@M_Smart007 wrote:
@importxpresions wrote:Whatever makes you happy is what I'd say from knowing family and friends in the slowly fading greatest generation.
To some that was leaving behind college funds for their family. To others that was seeing the world. To a few it was buying corvettes and Lexus LC500s and going to cars and coffee meets. Many people end up working so hard they retire only to find they no longer have hobbies, be it fishing , hunting, cars, etc. What are your hobbies and aspirations @M_Smart007
Hobbies are Cars, Fishing, Ham Radio & Shooting (guns)
Aspire to travel to certain destinations. Especially places on the ocean.
Similar here with cars , hunting , firearms and traveling. None of which are cheap 😂
@simplynoir wrote:
@iced wrote:
@simplynoir wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@tehdrizzle wrote:I grew up extremely poor, to the point where we would just have bologna, mustard, cheese, and a few other things in the fridge, no phone, no tv, etc. My Wife and I are now bringing in over 10k per month after taxes and expenses. We plan to stockpile our cash for the rest of our lives, and only use what we need. I never could understand how people could save all their lives only to spend it on things like cars, huge houses, expensive vacations, etc. We plan to only purchase what we need, and live like we still only bring in 1-2k per month outside of expenses.
But what's the point of working so hard if you don't get to enjoy it?
I agree with you on this here. I think this is a life choice one has to make for themselves and their situation. If someone is waiting til retirement before enjoying the fruits of their labors more power to them but I want to enjoy life while I can while working, and some experiences are better while you still have youth on your side because it won't get easier the older you get. Outside influences such as medical needs, children, portfolio/investments and so on need to be accounted for but live at least some of your dreams out while doing so
I actually just discussed a similar question with my SO, and we came up with 2 reasons why we personally chose to save without spending.
1. We cannot depend on others. For us, and especially me, having to rely on financial assistance of any kind is one of the greatest personal failures I can imagine. So, we save so that we don't ever have to rely on assistance. We don't want to need a job to pay the bills, we don't want to have to ever accept a single unemployment/welfare/disability check, and don't want charity. We feel obliged to go the other direction - we should be leaving enough behind when we die so that nobody has to foot any expense on our behalf. It's far more responsible to die with a pile of money remaining than to have indulged selfishly and left our descendents footing our final expenses. I don't even really want Social Security, but I concede it's at least a gray area because I do pay into it each year.
2. We dislike showing off wealth, which wipes a lot of ways to spend money off the table. My SO strongly disappoves of driving flashy cars or having the latest/greatest gadget or wearing fancy clothes, so we drive an 8 year old car, watch the news on an old TV, I have a rather old phone, and so on. Other than travel, that doesn't leave much for us to splurge on. We still live by "use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without."
We discussed it as well and the reasons for us enjoying it are basically based on opportunity and health. Opportunity because at some point we'll start a family and then every decision from then on will account for the children we'll have like a future home. So while we're still free we plan to take advantage of the extra income to do the activities and buy the things we want; once kids enter the picture that will change accordingly. This is based on my parent-in-laws' experiences which we took to heart as well as my own parents. With health it's a good stress reliever more or less. We both businesses so between that and the hours put in it's nice to take a long vacation or a weekend getaway every once in awhile to keep things fresh. Allows some decompression before any type of burnout comes in which is a plus
I don't quite subscribe to that full philosophy but I am starting to see your last point.
I have been WFH for most of the last two years, but I am really really starting to drag lately and nowhere near my usual performance. In trying to analyze what is different now than before I am coming to the conclusion that I went elsewhere for work every so often and therefore had a bit of a change of scenery in a new locale for a few days at a time.
It's a little awkward right now given COVID but I may just drive to some random spot that has a place to stay and WiFi for a week. Not sure still trying to troubleshoot and admittedly just trading my 4 walls for 4 different ones doesn't seem awesome, but I am just off my game. In another month moving to half time at the second gig maybe that's when or I could perhaps use the LA Condoectemy to serve that purpose.
@iced wrote:
1. We cannot depend on others. For us, and especially me, having to rely on financial assistance of any kind is one of the greatest personal failures I can imagine. So, we save so that we don't ever have to rely on assistance. We don't want to need a job to pay the bills, we don't want to have to ever accept a single unemployment/welfare/disability check, and don't want charity. We feel obliged to go the other direction - we should be leaving enough behind when we die so that nobody has to foot any expense on our behalf. It's far more responsible to die with a pile of money remaining than to have indulged selfishly and left our descendents footing our final expenses. I don't even really want Social Security, but I concede it's at least a gray area because I do pay into it each year.
Knock it all you want, but I requested to be furloughed because of my MIL's health, and while I didn't need unemployment to ride it out, I would have been stupid to not take the $4k a month. It's more than I take home normally. I'll be returning to work in the next week or so and will have not touched my savings to pay my bills. In fact, I've put even more into investments and savings than I normally would have.
