[doganjo]

Can I throw something else in the mix?
As you get older and nearer the time of departure  without knowing exactly when  , how much should one keep in a savings pot - a years income, 2 years income, 3 months income?  Or should one give a sum to one's lovely children and greatly enjoy their happiness in receiving a gratis pay out, knowing that if you were destitute they would look after you?

I say this in the an#bsolute knowledge that my kids would most definitely take care of me whatever I did - even if I got another dog lol

[Womble]

My personal philosophy has always been to aim to balance the efforts & pleasure of the present with the needs and pleasures of the future. 

Yes, absolutely. As per my other thread about work / smallholding balance, I currently have a decision to make. Vastly oversimplified, this is would I rather cut back on expenses, work five days a week and try to save two day's worth of income for the future, or would I rather work three days a week and then have four off, starting now?
 

I'm coming to the conclusion that I'd rather work three days a week until I drop - it just seems more balanced than saving like crazy for an unknown future.
 

BTW, I do know how smug that must sound to anybody with too much month left at the end of their money, but it does need to be read in the context of us having a fairly simple lifestyle and also no children. (I remembered asking that question of TAS at the time too, and lo and behold, here it is..... from ten years ago!  ).
 

Quote pharnorth (sorry, I'm having trouble with formatting today): "But these FIRE dialogues need some awareness that saving is addictive."

This is actually what's fascinating about reading some of the FIRE blogs. Many of the folks writing them started off ten or fifteen years ago with "right, I hate my job, I'm going to save like crazy, achieve FI and then travel the world" (etc). However, read on to what they've *actually* ended up doing and plans have invariably evolved. For every blog that ends with people achieving FI as per their original plans, there are several more which just fizzle after a few years or take a very different direction. Several for example met new partners and had kids which were not in the original plan. Another couple sold everything and bought a campervan, only to find travel intensely dull after a few years. To quote the Mad Fientist:
   
   
“Once I reached financial independence, I realized money wasn’t very motivating anymore, which was surprising”. “So now it’s more about being an artist than an entrepreneur. It was never about not working — I get a lot of happiness from working. It was just about having the freedom to work on exactly what I wanted to work on, regardless of if it meant earning money from it or not."
   
   

I think what I find most interesting is the idea that we don't have to follow the crowd if we don't want to, and that we can make an alternative future for ourselves. But I guess that's not big news to most smallholders, is it? 

[pgkevet]

DoganJo that's got to be a terribly personal dilemma tied up with a guesstimate of one's health, legal limits to passing on money (not that that need stop one), whether kids will fritter it or use it wisely, whether they should be brought up to be self-reliant, alternatives of trusts  and other death duty avodiances if appropriate and ones need to either have an 'easy out' or private geriatric care - 'cos with the best will in the world looking after an old person, or beng looked after by one's kids can be demeaning and wreck their lives. With my mum the last year was hell for her and the level of support from social services was pathetic. She was fortunate to have a nurse helping her out with general housework for her last few years (as a second job 'cos nurse pay is crap) and that lady carried on doing her best with my financial assistance and even so towards the end I had to hire two full-time carers which took a great chunk out for any possible inheritance (not that i was needing it).
One thing that really should be done is to organise a lasting power of attorney (can do it online) 'cos otherwise dealing with stuff on the senile person's behalf is a nightmare. Fortunately my Mum was pragmatic and amused (while still competely with it) when i got her to help me fill in such power of attorney's and a specimen probate form. Even with that planning we had some issues 'cos the solicitors lost her deeds she'd lodged with them. At least mum had carefully filed duplicate wills and stuff.
My kids get help with soem stuff - paying for a training course, riding lessons for granddaughter, perhaps a bit towards a holiday - but they do need to be able to manage.
I have no idea how long I'll go on for. I doubt I'll make a healthy 80 but mum made 98. It's impossible to plan everything.

[pharnorth]

Having worked in a similar field to yourself [member=2128]Womble[/member] (no need to excuse the pun) I suspect that you can ramp your work up and down rather than make a single one time decision. The start ups are very hungry for your time and I found it hard to say no too. But it gets easier with practice!

[Glencairn]

My wife and I were discussing this when it was featured on moneybox a couple of weeks ago.

We commented how its a funny coincidence that the people who manage to retire early using FIRE are either landlords or have at least £500k worth of savings beforehand.

There doesn't appear to be many success stories of people who started with little or nothing, so much so that the people featured on the radio were going to spend their new free time sailing around in their yacht!