You have worked hard all your life. You scrimped and saved. You sacrificed to provide for your family. The kids are out of the house and on their own. You have saved a tidy sum. You do not seem to need all those funds right now. You can live without dipping into those funds, so you do not. You want to keep as much of your savings as you can so that you can leave more to your children or other loved ones.
It would sure be nice to have that new front loading clothes washer and dryer on those risers so you do not have to bend over to get the laundry. They seem so expensive though, thousands of dollars.
You also haven’t had a new car in years. What would it be like to get rid of the perfectly serviceable but 20 year old ride you currently have? If you do, that means there would be $35,000 less to leave your loved ones.
I had one client who lived a pauper’s life. She scrimped and scraped by for years. She sacrificed so that she would not have to spend her savings. She even opted not to have some medical procedures because of the co-pays. She wanted to make sure she left something for her children. She could have afforded it all. Well she got her wish. She did without during her lifetime, so that after she was gone, her kids received her millions.
Your assets and your estate are not your children’s birthright. It’s your money that you have saved. Your children are not entitled to anything. Use it for yourself if you need it. Use it for yourself even if you do not need it. You have earned it. You deserve it.
Now you do not want to spend all of your savings. But if you have substantial savings that you were just holding onto for your loved ones, maybe you should think about having the benefit of your own hard work. Spending a few thousand dollars on something you always wanted to do could make a huge difference in your life. And you still would have quite a bit left over in case you needed it.
Get that new washer and dryer or that new car. You only live once. Do you have a bucket list, the list of things that you have always wanted to do before you kicked the bucket? You may not want to jump out of an aircraft and skydive on your 90th birthday like former president George H.W. Bush.
But you may have a shorter bucket list like 91 year old Walter Thomas of Woodstock, IL. There was only one thing on his list. He was a demolition derby driver in his younger years and liked driving into things. You probably have seen the videos recently of Walter getting his wish of driving through a garage door. A neighbor had a garage that was going to be demolished and a local car shop had a drivable vehicle going to the scrap yard. Walter and one of his grandsons strapped on helmets and Walter drove the vehicle through the garage door. He said it was a thrill.
What’s on your bucket list?
By: Matthew M. Wallace, CPA, JD
Published edited July-August, 2015 in Savvy magazine as: Saving for Yourself