Would you spend $1000 on a very special dinner? If not, how about on some other luxury one-time event other than a vacation? Let us know!

@BrianBernardEngineering

7 ай бұрын

I'm not sure I could tell the difference between a $200/person dinner and a $1000/person dinner so this might be totally wasted on me. But an upgrade from a $200 upper deck Wrestlemania ticket to a 3rd row ringside $1000 ticket ... now you're speaking my language. Can't justify it on the regular, but for a very special celebration - yea, I could see that.

@annahimes830

7 ай бұрын

Heck yeah!

@wineguy2246

7 ай бұрын

yes, I've been thinking about getting tickets to U2 at the Sphere in Vegas...that will be well over $1000. Just need to convince my friend to fly out with me.

@NorthernSunflower

7 ай бұрын

Absolutely! One of the things my husband and I do is include a splurge fund in our FIRE planning. That gives us a place to tap into for the experiences we want without guilt or worry.

@lisadee1623

7 ай бұрын

I wouldn’t spend that much money on a fancy meal but once a year we spend a similar amount to get club-level seats for my husband’s favorite football team. It makes him happy which makes me happy :-)

There's nothing wrong with spending money, period, it's about having the ability to do so 👍

HBD! That dinner looked amazing. I feel that occasionally spending crazy amounts of money on a unique experience, shared with good friends, is what makes life worth living. You create memories that you will always cherish.

Food is by far our largest expense, way higher than housing or travel, since our house is paid off. We don't even eat at expensive restaurants, just a lot of $10 meals out per person and groceries add up for sure.

Happy 50th to you two! I just turned 60 yesterday.

@TwoSidesOfFI

7 ай бұрын

Thanks, Pete! And happy birthday to you, too! 🎂

@ph5915

7 ай бұрын

@@TwoSidesOfFI Thank you kindly, guys! A former teammate/buddy of mine surprised me with a group call of about a dozen other former work-buddies, most all of which are also retired by one means or other now. What an amazing, talented bunch of friends, it was great to hear their voices again. My manager (also retired) was on vacation but also called me later in the day and we caught up as well. I was in a national team so they were all spread out across the country. It was an amazing surprise! I'm a hermit/recluse so that counted as a great day for me! 😂😊

I'm SO glad to see you both back at it! Happy birthday! I think I would have spent that when I was younger but I am finding it harder and harder to spend money. I wanted to upgrade my kitchen countertop but all I can think is... that will take SO much off my retirement nest egg! I had a flood in my basement this week and nearly had a panic attack over the costs! I decided to do the work myself versus hire a restoration company to save some money. I definitely wouldn't spend $1,000 on a dinner but that doesn't mean I don't think anyone else should. Experiences over things! That's a memory you will have for a LONG time versus buying something that may sit in the corner after a year.

Great episode - can totally relate to Jason's mental block and hesitance to spend money despite being below his target withdrawal rate...

Great topic for this podcast. I like it

Great to have new content and to hear summer was good for you both. Happy 50th! While I wouldn’t spend that much on dinner, I would on some other experience…maybe premier concert tickets. Experiences are the way to go.

Price is what you pay. Values what you get. Just got back from Acadia National Park visit. Stayed 4 days, rode my bike everyday on the carriage trails living off protein bars and an Air BnB 30 minutes away. All in (with gas money both ways) under $600. It’s all about values and relative scale. Nothing wrong with going “big” as long as you are not trading control of your time for it. I also wondered what I’d say if I bumped into Eric on MDI or on the trails while I was there. Lol.

Love watching your shows. 👍 Thank you for the interesting conversations and Happy 50th to both of you! I retired early this year and just wanted to add that making the mental shift about spending post-RE (that Jason refers to) is a very real thing. It catches everyone by surprise, to one degree or another as to just how challenging it is, once they are actually living it. Please keep the shows coming...I look forward to seeing how Eric will react to this when he is finally post-RE. 😊

@TwoSidesOfFI

7 ай бұрын

Thanks so much, Susan! Any big lessons learned from your first year of retirement?

@susans6951

7 ай бұрын

@@TwoSidesOfFI Yes, definitely. A few years leading up to RE, I followed a wide-ranging list of KZread channels, including your channel. I found the content very helpful in preparing for retirement, not only the financial aspect, but also the interpersonal and emotional aspects. But even still, no matter how much planning you do and how prepared you think you might be, the lived experience is still somewhat different than whatever you possibly anticipate. From the financial standpoint, I am a spreadsheet nerd and had accumulated all kinds of data, looking at it from so many different angles (ad nauseum), in addition to trying out different types of financial planning software. However the tool I liked the best, that gave me the most confidence was Karsten's ERN spreadsheet. Up until that time I was still feeling a little uncertain about my withdrawal rate. But seeing the results in Karsten's spreadsheet, on a month to month level was just so helpful and really helped me to remove that concern. Thank you so much for introducing us to it, and doing the tutorial!👍 Moving through the non-financial aspects of retirement is most assuredly a process and a journey that I'm sure will quite literally take me the rest of my life. At this point I'm still taking some time to think about what I would like to do next, such as things I'd like to study, or new experiences I would like to try. I'm feeling excited about simply having time now to truly think about it. Before retiring, I felt too overworked and too tired to really consider it. Now, I have the time and I want to be more intentional with it. But one thing that does surprise me is just how much I really enjoy being able to do everything at a more relaxed pace, rather than rushing to accomplish so many tasks in my previously limited free time. I still feel amazed whenever I think to myself that I really don't need to work on a particular task that day afterall, if I don't really want to, or if I decide it's more important to spend that time differently. I'm loving that kind of flexibility and freedom. I knew I would feel it, but experiencing it is way more awesome than I expected. 😊

Good to see y’all back at it.

Happy Birthday guys. Money well invested to have unlimited memory dividends for life. Happy for you guys. Keep rocking and keep sharing your amazing content with us. 🎉🎉🎉🎉

Amazing experience - great meal, great wine - key point - spending it with people you know, love, and enjoy. Worth it.

The entire purpose of financial independence is to occasionally spend and enjoy. Saving until we die just means we die covered in unused paper. I would rather die with $1 and a lifetime of memories.

@TwoSidesOfFI

7 ай бұрын

Well put!

Great post guys, many thanks! Glad that you decided to have a great meal - it‘s really an amazing experience - awesome food and friends to experience it with - what a wonderful match! My brother‘s a chef - the places we‘ve been…. It is sometimes hard to impart the value between a really expensive restaurant and a super really holy cow expensive restaurant. Sometimes its smoke and mirrors. But when the whole experience: food, service, ambience just clicks and you are blown away heading back to your car - you know it was worth it. It‘s also a once in a lifetime experience, ain‘t like you’re going there monthly on the corporate credit card. Funny, you got yourself a job and you splurge over your budget, you say fogetaboudit, I‘ll work longer. In retirement you‘re doing mental backflips! Guess that you really do need to have enough to spend with ease on stuff you may later really want/need. A new guitar, a trip, health issues, that kitchen renovation maybe. Guess I‘ll be working another year or three which I hope I can hack. It’s not like we‘re spendthrifts either. Just getting the needed dough together for a somewhat nicer life in retirement is a big challenge (Just put an extra 100k in Carsten’s spreadsheet - the dial hardly budges!). I could probably step out now but we‘d be living quite the frugal existence from here on out. I’d like to continue to be able to travel to family and friends if needed be, without the, „Oh, we can‘t afford this.“ I need to be careful with that RE date - be flexible. Oh yeah, and I‘m 57 - LOL!

@TwoSidesOfFI

7 ай бұрын

Thanks for sharing, Sean. It sounds to us like you're weighing the right factors and making good choices. Flexibility is indeed essential! Best wishes to you

Come to Costa Rica for great and 1/4 to 1/2 expense including air fare and lodging and a beautiful country to see. I’ve been welcoming dental tourism guests for years!

The thing about luxury experiences like this is that if you have enough money to indulge regularly, without a care, it risks making the event become pedestrian to you. And I wouldn't want that. My desired lifestyle demands enough money to indulge in these sorts of things *occasionally* - not to preserve money per se, but to preserve the specialness of this type of experience. I want to be able to afford it without worry, but I don't want to make it commonplace. It's the fine line of wine and dine, if you will.

@TwoSidesOfFI

7 ай бұрын

No disagreement here. Neither of us are in the position to do this kind of thing regularly nor would we want to.

Congrats! I never got into French Laundry but was lucky enough to eat in Meadowood in the kitchen with my sister. For my 50th I’m planning on La Maison Lameloise in Chagny, Burgundy.

@TwoSidesOfFI

7 ай бұрын

Jason here - Lorri and I went to the Meadowwood some years back - but not in the kitchen, which sounds amazing. But your latest plan sounds even more exciting to me! Please do report back :)

Well guys, I'll have to join you in the exiled FIRE ranks... I started a consulting business and work 10-12 hours a week. Oh the horror! 😄

@TwoSidesOfFI

7 ай бұрын

congrats! sounds positively awful 😂

Happy 50th Birthdays! Glad you guys dropped another video.

@TwoSidesOfFI

7 ай бұрын

Thanks! More to come...

Was on the first floor corner, all in all it was well worth it for the experience! Watching this makes me feel hungry 😋 I'm so glad that you all enjoyed it!

@TwoSidesOfFI

7 ай бұрын

Awesome! So glad you got to experience it as well. It was really great. I got hungry rewatching it as well -J

Great video, great topic about the French Laundry... The name seems kinda odd for a 5 star Michellin restaurant ... As for me, I think that if your net worth is at least $ 1 Mill, it would be justified in spending $ 1000 on a special dinner... For me, the most expensive dinner I had was $ 250, for 2 people, and my date was impressed. You could buy a brand new laptop for around $ 1000, for me, seems a little much for a meal that is going to last you only one day... I feel the same way about going to a Taylor Swift concert and spending $ 1000 for your ticket. I suppose its more about the experience than the food or the music...

@TwoSidesOfFI

7 ай бұрын

Thanks! Definitely about the experience as a whole. Memories can be priceless, right?

As they say, "You can't take it with you," so you might as well make enjoyable memories!!

@TwoSidesOfFI

7 ай бұрын

Exactly!

Hello guys! Welcome back

@TwoSidesOfFI

7 ай бұрын

Thanks! Great to be back

Where can we find updated values for Karsten’s new CAPE value? Also for the CAPE calculator is 1.75% intercept and 0.5 slope the consensus in this forum?

I wouldn’t spend on a restaurant, but I agree that money spent on experiences is the best money spent in life. Doing the West Highland Way next year!

@TwoSidesOfFI

7 ай бұрын

Agreed re: experiences! Have a great trip

Fine-tune the creativity with a brief hiatus, and your content is greatly appreciated!

Such a great talk. Jason, do you think that because you have this podcast in which the dinner and cost could become a talking point is part of the reason you were able to mentally justify the expense?

@TwoSidesOfFI

7 ай бұрын

Thanks! That’s an interesting idea, but I don’t think so. In fact I wasn’t at all certain that we’d end up talking about it on 2SFI. -J

Happy birthday, gents. Right behind you, age wise. Now is the time to make experiences count.

@TwoSidesOfFI

7 ай бұрын

Thanks, Jeremy! 100% agreed

I suppose I can understand the big splurge, but I don't think that's what I would splurge on. I have had Kobe beef in Kobe Japan. The experience of going to Japan was much more important to me than the beef (though it was good), and I enjoyed the rice balls from 7-11 too. But, then, I'm not a "foodie."

@TwoSidesOfFI

7 ай бұрын

It’s tough to beat the rice balls (and other snacks) from 7-11 and Lawsons in Japan, right? -J

I feel better about my once a year or two fancy steakhouse dinner with my wife for $200-$300 haha. Fun listen.

@KetchumAllCollectibles

7 ай бұрын

19:50 The comparison/tradeoff is always something I come back to. A $300 steakhouse dinner with my wife vs $50 pizza and wings or mcdonalds or something with the kiddos in tow. Doing the former once vs the latter six times I would always choose the latter. But aside they are entirely different experience and both can be justified too on occasion and the latter comes more than 6 times as often but the former happens every so often too. (I need to get more active in the discord I am sure I miss tons of great conversations)

Booooh FI equals eating at Fridays 😅 jk the entire experience of FI should yield more opportunities to live the life you want. Can’t wait to try the next Michelin experience in Argentina and Brazil later this year.

@TwoSidesOfFI

7 ай бұрын

Ha! Be sure to report back on your experiences!

How about putting 1k on black at the roulette table in Vegas?

@TwoSidesOfFI

7 ай бұрын

An amazing experience with friends vs. a 1/37 (or 38) chance for a payout? Easy choice for us.

Not my speed but good for you there's other things that I would spend $2,000 on like a new bike😊

@TwoSidesOfFI

7 ай бұрын

exactly! whatever floats your boat

Glad you enjoyed the experience and you both deserve it. Now if I hear that you guys are buying Lamborghini’s, you definitely need to be kicked out of FIRE

@TwoSidesOfFI

7 ай бұрын

Thanks! Ha! That’s totally fair

We’ll need the FIRE mmmembership card back now.

@TwoSidesOfFI

7 ай бұрын

😂

Spend it! What's the downside of a $1000 once every few years... an extra 6-months of work? I feel so often we lose sight of the FI part and focus too heavily on the RE part of this journey. $1k for a memory that you both will share for (hopefully) decades to come. Seems miniscule in the grand scheme of life.

People and experience over money and things. We just gave our nanny holiday bonus money early, because she had an emergency dental issue. It costs us some money, but she was extremely grateful and it made us feel good. Congrats on your mile stone of 50yo. Don’t forget to get your colonoscopy and shingles shots x 2, as you are now due for it. (I’m in health care.) I enjoyed the episode! Thank you.

@TwoSidesOfFI

7 ай бұрын

Sounds like you did a really nice thing for someone and made real impact on their life. You'll be happy to know I'm very diligent about healthcare. I had my first colonoscopy already and just finished my shingles vaccine series last week :) Thanks! -Jason

@Deltron6060

7 ай бұрын

Nanny 😂

$2,000 a couple; did that include the tip?

@TwoSidesOfFI

7 ай бұрын

Yes. It was a rough estimate of the all-in cost per couple. Some people / couples spent less as well.