How much money is enough for you? - Page 2

[maciascl]

I'd LOVE to have enough to live comfortably but not excessively, buy a house, buy newer cars that will fit our family's needs, have decent heath care, eat the way we'd like to (ie organic, local etc...), save for a ligitimate retirement, travel a little & give to others. As far as what the dollar amount would be...who knows We are in a pretty high COL area, so maybe $100-$150k a year.

Realistically I'd be super happy with about $40k a year right now. That would atleast allow us to live comfortably & pay our bills.

[Belia]

I think $5 million lump sum.

Fix up the house and pay it off....
Maybe even then buy our dream house in our dream neighborhood....
Have more children.....
DH & I could quit our jobs or work less / volunteer....
Travel......
Save up for replacement cars.....
Fund college fully for DS and my neice and nephew.....
Invest the balance and live off the interest.....

I don't think our lifestyle would change that much. It's not like I would stop buying used clothes for DS or clipping coupons. Or that we would buy Jaguars instead of Hondas. But we wouldn't have to worry about scrimping and could just buy what we need when we need it.

And I would love to build a replacement animal shelter for the run-down one that exists in our town!!! That is my DREAM... to be able to build a welcoming, friendly, warm animal sanctuary for dogs and cats before they find their forever homes. Our town's shelter does the best they can with what they have, but it is SUCH a dark and depressing place.

[MsVyky]

5 million is a good number

1 million to buy a nice home where we live (750K will buy you a 2500 sq ft, newer home, but a million will get you a 2500 sq.ft, reno'd character home. WANT.)

50K for renos/redecorating/landscaping of said house

75K for a couple nice, safe new vehicles- I've always wanted to drive a Volkswagen, and I'm SURE my husband would like a nice van to get his band equipment around

100K to put in my daughter's education fund. Maybe more in case she decides she'd like to persue a professional degree. University tuition is ridiculous.

And the rest to keep in a TSFA with annual withdrawals to pay our bills and utilities so we wouldn't have to work!

[BookGoddess]

Originally Posted by MsVyky

5 million is a good number

1 million to buy a nice home where we live (750K will buy you a 2500 sq ft, newer home, but a million will get you a 2500 sq.ft, reno'd character home. WANT.)

50K for renos/redecorating/landscaping of said house

75K for a couple nice, safe new vehicles- I've always wanted to drive a Volkswagen, and I'm SURE my husband would like a nice van to get his band equipment around

100K to put in my daughter's education fund. Maybe more in case she decides she'd like to persue a professional degree. University tuition is ridiculous.

And the rest to keep in a TSFA with annual withdrawals to pay our bills and utilities so we wouldn't have to work!

$1 million is about how much a nice family home here costs. Our neighbor across the street bought that house for $800k.

[momofmine]

How do people retire and live off the interest? What do they have it invested in? I really wonder this, because it seems like people with money keep getting more money, because their money is working for them. But my tiny CD's and etc aren't getting me anywhere. Now that we actually have debt paid off, where do we start to get to that place of being financially independent?

I know a man who got into a business at the exact right time, and they had three kids, and he retired at something crazy like 38 years old. How could you possibly know that you have enough money to take care of you, your wife, put all your kids through school, etc, and have your retirement taken care of, at the age of 38?? I am dealing right now with seeing one of my relatives have to pay over $6,000 per MONTH for her care at the age of 84. And when my grandmother was in the nursing home, towards the end of her life (she had Alzheimer's), her bill was over $9,000 per MONTH. I don't get how anyone has that kind of money. My great-grandmother lived for ten years in a nursing home with absolutely no abilities left, couldn't walk/talk/etc. How does anyone manage to pay for that?

[KellyAnnW]

2 million. I could take care of my family, and my parents.

[carfreemama]

Last year, dh and I earned $94,000 before taxes. We have about $80,000 left of our mortgage at a really good interest rate. We have a decent government retirement plan and extended health coverage (beyond the standard Canada pays). We do not have a car and we budget for everything. Our needs are met with some money to play with (though no fancy vacations; we have money for camping and to save up for the things that matter to us). We do donate monthly, but I would love to increase the amount.

If someone told me we could choose to have what we have now, adjusted for inflation (I guess); but we would never earn anything more, I would take the offer in a heartbeat. I grew up really poor--like food banks, moving a lot because we couldn't pay the landlord poor, and I never thought I would have what I do now financially.

My one dream now is to be able to see the food co-op we helped to start, get set up for life financially. It's had its storefront for over 10 years and is "the little engine that could;" but I would just love to give it a big boost.

My goal now is to take our generous budgets for things like food and make better use of them. I don't want to earn more, I want to spend less. Yes, I would like to give our dd (and hopefully a new babe) a financial nest egg when she grows up; but teaching her about frugality and financial modesty is, I think, is the best gift I can give her.