Comments on: Question From a Reader: How Do You Know When Enough is Enough? http://allfinancialmatters.com/2008/08/04/question-from-a-reader-how-do-you-know-when-enough-is-enough/ A personal finance blog dedicated to discussing such topics as budgeting, asset allocation, 401K, IRA, cash flow, insurance, financial planning, portfolio management, and other areas in personal finance. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:56:44 -0800 http://wordpress.org/?v=abc hourly 1 By: grumpy http://allfinancialmatters.com/2008/08/04/question-from-a-reader-how-do-you-know-when-enough-is-enough/comment-page-1/#comment-343450 grumpy Tue, 05 Aug 2008 18:55:02 +0000 http://allfinancialmatters.com/?p=2727#comment-343450 So you can't define it but you know it when you see it? So you can’t define it but you know it when you see it?

]]> By: Don http://allfinancialmatters.com/2008/08/04/question-from-a-reader-how-do-you-know-when-enough-is-enough/comment-page-1/#comment-343075 Don Tue, 05 Aug 2008 02:52:29 +0000 http://allfinancialmatters.com/?p=2727#comment-343075 I thought "All Your Worth" by Elizabeth Warren had a good take on this. I thought “All Your Worth” by Elizabeth Warren had a good take on this.

]]> By: muddlehead http://allfinancialmatters.com/2008/08/04/question-from-a-reader-how-do-you-know-when-enough-is-enough/comment-page-1/#comment-343070 muddlehead Tue, 05 Aug 2008 02:11:21 +0000 http://allfinancialmatters.com/?p=2727#comment-343070 i think you'll know. i think you’ll know.

]]> By: Alex http://allfinancialmatters.com/2008/08/04/question-from-a-reader-how-do-you-know-when-enough-is-enough/comment-page-1/#comment-343025 Alex Mon, 04 Aug 2008 22:44:42 +0000 http://allfinancialmatters.com/?p=2727#comment-343025 I think reading Your Money or Your Life may be a great suggestion for the reader. I'm over halfway through and it definitely brings out an internal dialogue with these questions. One of the unanswerable questions it brings up is just that...how do you know when enough is enough. There isn't even a financial word to describe the state of balance between working your way up and luxurious spending. I think the valuable lesson learned is to enjoy financial freedom you need to become psychoemotionally free from money as well. When you have a decent amount of money coming in from passive sources to where you can live a decent life, you have money if something breaks down, and you don't feel compelled to spend for entertainment, what else do you want...for some people this might mean $1,000,000, for others it might $100,000,000...the key is looking at a type of lifestyle you wanna live and figuring out how much money it's going to take to support that lifestyle, no more no less. I think reading Your Money or Your Life may be a great suggestion for the reader. I’m over halfway through and it definitely brings out an internal dialogue with these questions. One of the unanswerable questions it brings up is just that…how do you know when enough is enough. There isn’t even a financial word to describe the state of balance between working your way up and luxurious spending. I think the valuable lesson learned is to enjoy financial freedom you need to become psychoemotionally free from money as well. When you have a decent amount of money coming in from passive sources to where you can live a decent life, you have money if something breaks down, and you don’t feel compelled to spend for entertainment, what else do you want…for some people this might mean $1,000,000, for others it might $100,000,000…the key is looking at a type of lifestyle you wanna live and figuring out how much money it’s going to take to support that lifestyle, no more no less.

]]> By: grumpy http://allfinancialmatters.com/2008/08/04/question-from-a-reader-how-do-you-know-when-enough-is-enough/comment-page-1/#comment-343008 grumpy Mon, 04 Aug 2008 22:18:52 +0000 http://allfinancialmatters.com/?p=2727#comment-343008 I see a sea of economic uncertainty - enough to say that under current economic uncertainty, no amount is enough. As millions of Americans have recently learned, your personal economic position can go south in a hurry. Therefore hoarding is now a prodent defensive strategy. I see a sea of economic uncertainty – enough to say that under current economic uncertainty, no amount is enough.

As millions of Americans have recently learned, your personal economic position can go south in a hurry. Therefore hoarding is now a prodent defensive strategy.

]]> By: ToughMoneyLove http://allfinancialmatters.com/2008/08/04/question-from-a-reader-how-do-you-know-when-enough-is-enough/comment-page-1/#comment-342975 ToughMoneyLove Mon, 04 Aug 2008 20:44:07 +0000 http://allfinancialmatters.com/?p=2727#comment-342975 JLP: I agree with your list of major savings goals. Regarding retirement, however, I would put that at #2 on the list. Why? Because after much study and consideration, I have become a believer in the concept of consumption smoothing as a bedrock financial planning principle. This means that savings goals and levels should be based on maintaining a relatively stable standard of living pre- and post-retirement. This, however renders most conventional "retirement calculators" overly simplistic, causing both undersaving and oversaving in many situations. There is a lot more to this, obviously. I would encourage readers to seek out more resources on consumption smoothing before trying to answer the "how much is enough" question for themselves. JLP: I agree with your list of major savings goals. Regarding retirement, however, I would put that at #2 on the list. Why? Because after much study and consideration, I have become a believer in the concept of consumption smoothing as a bedrock financial planning principle. This means that savings goals and levels should be based on maintaining a relatively stable standard of living pre- and post-retirement. This, however renders most conventional “retirement calculators” overly simplistic, causing both undersaving and oversaving in many situations. There is a lot more to this, obviously. I would encourage readers to seek out more resources on consumption smoothing before trying to answer the “how much is enough” question for themselves.

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