4 Big Semi-Retirement Themes To Help You Develop A Viable Personal Financial Strategy
At the end of August we did an installment on the idea and difficulty of saving $1 million for traditional retirement. In it, I present hard numbers to help deal with the reality of falling short—maybe way short—of that psychological benchmark of success. The personal financial orgasm of all personal financial orgasms that—increasingly and thankfully—appears to be falling out of favor due to its lack of utility and much easier and more attractive alternative options.
That was the mostly quantitative look at the issue. Today we take a mostly—though not totally—qualitative perspective. As we summarize key themes that can help you live a semi-retired life, or just organize money and work around your life, not the other way around.
But first …
In that installment, you had the option of answering two poll questions. And these are the results:
76% of subscribers who responded said they do not have $1 million saved.
However, nearly half—48%—said they will, one day, have $1 million in the bank.
What do I make of the data? Same as I always do. A diverse bunch subscribes to this newsletter. And I love it.
Because, 24% of people who replied DO have $1,000,000. And that’s pretty cool.
I’d be a fool to be against saving that much money. My concerns lie around the rough path (the general) you might have to take to get there and the likelihood—given the numbers—that (the general) you will fall short:
When you realize the out-sized effort and degraded quality of life that often goes hand-in-hand with keeping this pace—over long periods of time—you ask yourself, is it worth it? When you see that you need a roughly $140,000 annual salary to be able to afford the median priced house in America today, you ask yourself this question again.
At this point, $100,000 ceases to be a status symbol or rite of passage; it becomes the baseline cost of doing the business of life.
So the key themes that can help inspire and frame alternatives.