This first post was really good and resonated with me a lot.
Frugality is great but up to a point. At some point, it’s important to stop scrimping so much and enjoy the money you’ve saved. Success isn’t necessarily leaving a large inheritance, especially if it comes at cost of a big sacrifice elsewhere.
We Need to Talk About Your Retirement ‘Spending’ [Morningstar] – “It’s that the portfolio withdrawal that my parents made in 1994 to enlarge our down payment counted, technically, as retirement “spending” for them. But I would argue that it was legacy planning, pure and simple. That early gift from my parents meant much more to me and my husband than did the inheritance we received from them at the end of their lives, even though the latter was a significantly larger sum. And while I’m sure my parents weren’t thinking transactionally about the down payment gift—they only wanted to help and for us to be close by because we enjoyed spending time together—having us in close geographic proximity proved to be a godsend to them later. We helped them achieve their goal of aging in place.”
Aging at Different Speeds [Next Avenue] – “The difference in our tempos may be a bit extreme, but the fact of an unforeseen divergence in how our bodies are aging is not. More and more often, I hear from friends about a spouse’s illness, need for hip or knee replacement or general slowing down. More and more, I hear about the frustrations and strains that aging at different paces places on a relationship.” Food for thoughts.
I know people who buy stuff off Amazon, use it once, and then return it. They jokingly called it “Amazon Rentals” and it sounded pretty scammy to me. But this last story is waaaaay scammier. (please don’t buy and return stuff to Amazon and call it Amazon Rentals)
How a ‘Refund Fraud’ Gang Stole $700,000 From Amazon [404 Media] – “Court records and online research reveal how a highly professionalized industry uses malicious insiders at Walmart and fake shipping labels to get high-end items for practically free.”
Do you remember Choose Your Adventure books? This game, Arcane Intern, reminds me of it with a few tricks only available on the internet.