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The week's question
In December 2024, in the thread "Re: BRK: Why Not XOM?", BreckHutHigh asked the members: "What about the long road trips with kids?" This week it is put to everyone again. The button below opens the small thread re-asking it - read what others have said so far, then give your own answer as an ordinary reply.
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Personal Finance / Retirement Investing
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Author: ajm101   😊 😞
Number: of 1281 
Subject: Re: From broke to $23 MM net worth w/ index funds
Date: 01/20/26 4:09 PM
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No. of Recommendations: 12
Respectfully, I'm not quite in the author's position, but it is important to not lose sight of the fact that $10k/mo is living extremely well. It is worth quoting more of that post:

- I did not feel that we missed any experiences that were important to us; I don’t believe that having great experiences requires spending a lot of money.

- We took vacations; but, not expensive ones. We liked hiking and exploring state and national parks, which don’t cost a lot of money. We also enjoyed skiing, which was not nearly as expensive as it is now.

- I enjoyed working and had new challenges as I progressed into my 50’s. I became regional medical director and chief of staff which were very interesting jobs. My final 5 years I worked internationally.

I think the author is *far richer* than the $27M savings suggest. Enjoying your work, enjoying the small things, and not needing material things to be happy are goals often left unspoken, unfortunately, in investment discussion. They seemed satisfied with life. One can be poor and happy, one can be rich and miserable, but it is nice to be well off and happy if you can swing it.

The only thing I agree with is doing more charity while you're still alive instead of waiting until leaving a charitable bequest.
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This community has written 1,207 posts about Retirement Investing. The article-length ones it recommended most:
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(nearly) year one of retirement has been good · 11 recs · 2026
Buying Treasuries Via Vanguard · 10 recs · 2023
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