Comments on: Are We Saving Too Much?

By: Buy that Big Screen TV You Want and You’ll Still be Fine When You Retire

Buy that Big Screen TV You Want and You’ll Still be Fine When You Retire — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 21:31:44 +0000

[...] whether we are saving too much for our retirements again surfaced. While the article, similar to the one appeared on NY Times in late January, used the data from the Employee Benefit Research Institute 2006 Retirement [...]

By: Money Smart Life » Why We Should Save As Much Money As We Can

Money Smart Life » Why We Should Save As Much Money As We Can — Sun, 11 Feb 2007 17:00:26 +0000

[...] could you possibly save too much money? There’s been a good deal of discussion in the last few weeks about whether we’re saving too much money. My take is that you can never [...]

By: Henry @ Binary Dollar

Henry @ Binary Dollar — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 21:07:35 +0000

@Catch a Gideon

Not spending money now doesn’t mean you have to be a sad panda. It just means that you better learn to enjoy cheaper things.

You know…not all people who are frugal are miserable. People can enjoy life with less money than they think…

By: Super Saver

Super Saver — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 04:51:01 +0000

Sun,

I buy into the question of “Are we being ASKED to save too much?” Perhaps, because we think of savings as the major contribution to retirement lifestyle. For some, inheritances, pensions, and future asset reduction (e.g. reverse mortgages) may help reduce the saving needs.

On the question “Are we ACTUALLY saving too much?” For the majority of the people, the answer is “NO.” I think median savings for a 45-54 year old is around $40,000 to $50,000.

By: Catch a Gideon

Catch a Gideon — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 03:25:45 +0000

I don’t think you can really fault the money managers for maybe telling you to save more than you need. Yeah, they might benefit, but it’s better to be on the safe side.

The NYT article also talks specifically about saving for retirement. In the case of many people, their savings are not exclusively for retirement. If you max out your 401k and IRA that’s only about $20,000 a year. Anything you save above and beyond that is usable for whatever. If you want your dream car, sell some of those assets and buy it.

The article really brings up the need for a balance between living well now and living well later. That’s important. You shouldn’t be sacrificing enjoyment all the time for something you may or may not have later.

By: moneysmartlife

moneysmartlife — Sun, 28 Jan 2007 22:21:13 +0000

Good article Sun! It reminds us that we can’t believe everything we read, we have to do our own due diligence.

In this case, even if we are being duped the outcome isn’t so bad. If you save more now then you’ll have more to enjoy later!