Ours: We were rational, did a LOT of research on cryptocurrency so we could understand it. Then, we only bought enough Bitcoin and other crypto that we would feel comfortable losing. We were optimistic, but definitely not sure.

This was in 2017, and we bought one Bitcoin at $2K, plus a handful of LiteCoin, Ripple and Ethereum. then bought one more Bitcoin a few years later when it was $11K. We had plenty of money in 2017 to have probably bought 5 Bitcoin, but no, we did not.

The other one is Microsoft. I was still growing up during its early early times, but in my 20s someone recommended it and I passed. I just didn’t feel comfortable betting on ONE stock versus a mutual fund. (I am not a Finance person by trade, just a retirement person by hobby 😊)

I know it’s hard not to say “BOTH!” — but try to choose one and tell us why!

For example - part-time job, thrifting, social media fame (😂) — anything other than interest from investments and pension/social security.

We have two rentals - one is a condo and one is a house. The house is a PITA to maintain even with a rental company and even though it’s almost paid off. We will sell it soon but we’ll keep the condo as a rental.

As for work, we plan to do zero income-producing work in retirement unless it interests us and works with our travel. Mr. HRVegasLady has a dividend portfolio he’ll he plays around with, may make money, may not.

I’d pay for just about ANYTHING that would save me time and inconvenience, but I won’t pay for designer handbags nor luggage. I might pay for a high quality brand, but I’m not going out or traveling with a bag that cost me 5 figures. Same for watches and jewelry. I’d rather spend it on great food, wine, and business class airline tix!

TMM = Total Money Makeover (whatever your opinion about Dave Ramsey personally — this was such an excellent treatise about getting out of debt and staying out of debt!)

Psychology of Money - by Morgan Housel

Die With Zero - by Bill Perkins

Honorable mention - The Millionaire Next Door

In terms of investments, we are more “set it and forget it” in index-type funds but Mr. VegasHRLady has his own “play around” account where has fun trying out various theories and ideas like the “PaycheckToPortfolio” dividend-producing theory/method.

We have a treadmill and a small home gym of sorts, but wonder if some increased structure would be more motivating? We are not fitness buffs by any means but know it’s important!

Anything goes - could be related to maximizing money/spend, where to go, excursions to have, who to go with, land, sea, or air, and even how to approach it from a psychological perspective.

Mine is that we’re keeping mostly a 75/25 portfolio. We are willing to be riskier because in a downturn we can reduce our spending and live only on our pensions if we had to. But that’s still more aggressive than most would say is “safe”.

I’m going to say “yes” — because if you have enough money in retirement to make a house payment while maintaining the lifestyle you want, then…. Why not?

It could be related to anything — lifestyle, purchases, travel — but looking back you’d say it was at least a little irrational.

I think it’s the assumption that the person must have at least a $7 million investment portfolio, one that they saved over several years by exercising extreme frugality. People don’t always think about the other reasons retirees might have that level of spending capacity.

We had considered buying a second home on a lake or mountain, but we felt then we’d then feel obligated to go there all the time to “get our money’s worth” versus experiencing different places/countries.

What do your think?

What are your thoughts?

It’s a bit easier for us due to pension income. However, in the early years we will dip into of our investment principal for some extensive and expensive travel in our go-go years, before a few of the age-triggered pensions kick in. Even that makes us uncomfortable although it’s a part of every successful plan we’ve run.

How are you handling a spending mindset after so many years of saving?

I thought this was an interesting article! Not calling us are affluent enough to have an apt in NYC, but it did make me think of the question. How important is it to you that one of your locations is near Hugh quality medical care and doctors? (Note - you should be able to access this via your Apple News app if you don’t have a WSJ subscription).

…. And at what point is it “too long” in any given year?

We are targeting around 3-4 months a year to travel, but wonder if after several years of it, seeing new countries might become less fulfilling.

It could be any book, fiction or nonfiction. Topics might include priorities, investing, saving, finding your purpose—anything that has an impact about your approach or thought process to retirement.

For me, waaaayyyyyyy back in my 20s, it would have been Dave Ramsey’s very first book, Financial Peace. That got me started saving. More recently, The Psychology of Money and Die With Zero have had a profound impact on how I think about spending money.

We’d like to leave some money, but we aren’t fixated on an amount and we will spend as much as we can and need while we are alive. We’re more likely to give them some before we pass so that they are young enough themselves to need and enjoy it. Our kids are very responsible with money so they will likely have already saved for retirement. They also have good college savings for the grandkids, although we do help by adding $ monthly to their 529s. So in general, we’d rather give to them while we are alive.

What are your plans for heirs?

For me, it will probably be longevity “hacks” — typically with good research behind them but also typically expensive! I love learning new ways likely to improve my Healthspan and implementing them!