It sounds like you don’t have a compelling reason to retire. You like the your work and its flexible schedule, and it enables you to make occasional splurges without concern.
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I wouldn’t retire if I had a fabulously flexible job that I really liked!
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Retirement is an option, not a requirement. If you like what you do, no reason to quit. I know several people who have no plans to retire. Why stop if you don’t want to?
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I’m retiring at the end of this month for many reasons. I love a lot about my job — especially relationships with vendors. I’m tired of (staff) people-issues. I no longer love the challenge and at a point I’m resentful.
As you all know, I was widowed last year, so all decisions are now my own.
I’m ready to retire, planned it for summer, so I would be immediately busy. I feel strongly that I have to make this change in order to figure out what’s next.
I have a goal list so I’m excited and my first bucket list trip— to Alaska— is coming in July.
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Sounds like the right decision for you to retire. And gotta say… retiring at summer is a nice way (lol, but not as nice for me in summer 2020… early days of Covid). Looking forward to hearing about the Alaska trip in various threads here on CC, the social group we never outgrow 
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No idea who this guy is or why this video was suggested on my YT algorithm.
I thought it was a pretty interesting take on lifestyles by asset ownership and income stream. I certainly didn’t agree with all of his characterizations - especially as the related to food (personal chefs???), but I thought much of it was accurate. I especially liked his point that some people are solidly in the middle buy still engage in some Level 1 and Level 6 activities.
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Really interesting. I do think you need significantly more assets than$3 Million to spend in the way that is set forth in the “Affluent Retirees”. I think that $3-4 Million would only afford the spending discussed in Level 4 with very occasional exceptions.
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They are assuming income revenue streams during retirement, rather than just withdrawing from net worth. For example, for level 4 they mention having income from rentals. $3-4M was also level 5, rather than 4, which adds in things like income from business interests and annuities, in addition to rentals.
I find these types of groupings near useless beyond amusement, as they aren’t personalized to your particular financial situation and goals. I expect hardly anyone is going to fit in any grouping for all categories, and many will be far off.
For example, my clothing may be level 1 (lowest level), which is described as functional and inexpensive. I typically wear jeans and a t-shirt. With the warm summer weather, this may soon switch to shorts and a t-shirt. My nutrition is probably closest to level 3 (middle) – solid and nutrition. I rarely get organic (level 4) and have never considered getting a personal chef (level 5 and 6). My education may or may not be level 6 (highest), depending on if you count Stanford as in the “Ivy League” grouping.
I have no idea what level best describes me across all categories, and it doesn’t really matter. Far more relevant for retirement is whether the assets I may utilize in retirement and retirement income stream can support my desired retirement spending/expenses. I meet this type of criteria by a wide margin, with spending that is <1% of assets.
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So funny. I almost posted this yesterday or the day before but got distracted. Are we the same person?
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This, for sure
Meaning - do YOUR assets line up with YOUR spending.
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Great minds think alike…and so do ours! 
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It’s an interesting video, though he certainly makes assumptions. I think some of the levels could be adjusted for regional preferences. For example, many people I know would be a “Seattle level 5 or 6”, which would mean matching most categories but doing home work for themselves, a personal chef would be laughable, and clothing would be from thrift stores or the sale rack at REI and well used.
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Yes, I really agree with this. It’s arbitrary that he separates LL Bean and Lands End into two different categories (!) and I don’t think I would ever want a personal chef as a daily thing.
But what hit me the most is that we do such a crummy job of feeding (!) people in this country and providing any kind of healthcare. How could there be two “levels” of people, just la-di-dah this is how it is, who struggle to afford these bare necessities? I don’t think anyone needs to be sitting on tens of millions of dollars while that’s the case.
And before anyone says that’s “political” -
“When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a communist.”
― Dom Helder Camara, Dom Helder Camara: Essential Writings
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As I listened to the video, W and I clearly have different spend habits that go across all the listed levels. Many for us are imprinted from how we grew up (lower middle class for much of that time). So some “fun” penny pinching habits for me.
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At the grocery store, I still calculate/compare prices by unit (weight, volume, count) even if the difference is less than $1. This is a habit developed with my Mom when I went shopping with her – Dad was in grad school and had to support 2 kids on a limited stipend.
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Have a couple hundred new top line golf balls in my golf room, most were given to me as part of events or tournaments. I also have at least a hundred prime quality golf balls I picked up on the course. Besides my score, I also count as a successful day, netting more balls than I lost. As a young golfer, my primary source of good golf balls were what I found on the course or retrieved from water hazards.
Love to hear what other habits people still have rooted in the past.
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A bit of wisdom and irony having someone successful enough to have a “golf room” discussing ways to be thrifty😀
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I didn’t watch the video - but for new england rich folks those are very different brands/categories:)
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I liked the video. The problem I see with his categories is when he talked about net worth. It seemed he talked on the lower categories with including one’s home in net worth. ‘Stable but limited’ net worth might be that on income and net worth he stated w/o home included. Same with Comfortable, Upper Middle Class, and Affluent. I consider DH and I between Comfortable and Upper Middle Class - with being ‘solid middle class’ and still careful but also strategic. In some areas, what he states as Affluent Retirees would need to have more in net worth and income to live an affluent lifestyle there.
I do like the six points he made in summary. I plan to watch the follow up video but need to step away from the computer to do some flower bed maintenance with DH.
Since our parents are all deceased, we see with siblings who are doing well enough in retirement, a few doing better than others. My sister is dealing with her aging husband (she is 16 years younger, and he is turning 88 next month) - he lives at home with her, and she has been his needed caretaker. Without her, he would not be living alone and probably wouldn’t make the cut for Assisted Living either. She did take a 2 week trip a few years ago and her two sons ‘stepped up’ and each came for a 4-day or 5-day weekend to get all the groceries/cooking/laundry done and also worked some remotely with their busy jobs/careers (one is a DA). It stretched out making sure he was cared for in addition to the help sister lined up to come in on the other days. Sister was 25 and her husband was 41 when they married - and I don’t think my sister thought about his aging. He is doing better than many men - he has well outlived life expectancy.
“Invest in relationships and community” - that can be difficult because if you are in a community with similarly aged people, they die off and you are left with little community when you may need community more. This tiered system was talking about age 65 -74. We are in that age range (both turning 69 this year).
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On what sort of products? As I have grown older, I have found that I like what I like. There is one brand of certain things I like. I am not interested in having the others to save a few pennies: toilet paper, foil, plastic wrap and sandwich bags, soup, chocolate chips, cheese etc…
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A big food company is going after Aldi due to lower cost of similar goods and saying their packaging is deceptive. Some may not have Aldi in their area, but while we don’t do all our grocery shopping there, we do buy a number of items there and the store is convenient to where we live.
I agree about having a certain quality level on a number of household products. DH loves the Nutter Butter knock off Peanut Butter Creme - the cookie IMHO tastes the same, but the cookie is a different shape - it remains to be seen what happens in court.
“Snack Maker Sues Aldi Grocery Chain Over Look-Alike Product Packaging
Mondelez International, a corporate giant behind the name-brand versions of many snacks, contends that Aldi is mimicking its packaging to dupe customers.” Suing in IL.
I’m an Aldi shopper, and I know the difference between the name brand and the Aldi brands. Frankly, some of the Aldi brands are better.
Their chocolate sandwich cookies are more like the old Hydrox, which were our family preference over Oreos. Hydrox are no longer made.
I have the money to buy the name brands…we included groceries in our planning. But we buy what we like.
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