How to Tell If You’re Rich

[paullow]

The key difference is that the money unspent offers you choices.... choice to stop working, choice to spend, choice to help others (charity or close ones),...

For the person who earns $200k and spends only $15k a year, that means a savings of $185k. The frugality would have gotten him used to a much much lower standard of lifestyle than he could have afforded. That means for every year of savings, he can stop working for $185k / $15k ie 12 1/3 years.... He just need to work 5 years + and after that, he can retire, even without the need to invest...

For me, having such choices in life gives me a lot of happiness...

That would be unfair modification of the boundary conditions.

What if they just spend $15k a year until they die, i.e. one ends up with small savings and the other has large savings. In other words, their savings only go to benefit their beneficiaries.

My personal take is that one has to be flexible and adaptable. If I have more, I will spend more and if I have less in future, I can shrink my expenses readily, no sacred cows.

i doubt a single person can just spend 15kpa till they die. 1) inflation would make it quite impossible 20years later to buy the same things for the same amount of money. 2) in the later days, ill health may set in. medical fees are already soaring and will continue to rise.


in today's day and age in singapore average of 15kpa/per person may be realistic for a decent lifestyle. so a family of 4 would need 60kpa. but 20years later, this figure would definitely increase.

going back to the question of earning 200k and spending 15kpa: to earn 200k pa and just spend 15kpa i feel is too miserly to oneself. if the rest of the 185k is not put to useful work, then what's the point of spending so less and leaving the money to rot?

that's my view.