I'll go with vanilla. I used to see ads for Twinkies, Hostess Cupcakes, etc in American comic books when I was a kid. When I came to the US, one of the first things I did was buy a selection of treats from the grocery store so I could try them out.
I've run all the simulators, and they say our plan has a 99% success rate even with markets heading down for ten years straight. My fallback is Social Security. Even taking it at 62/63 would cover our monthly expenses, and if we wait until age 70, it would give us a comfortable lifestyle. There's also the house, which will be paid off in less than five years after we retire. Worst case scenario, we sell it all and move to Europe :)
My parents, who are in their mid-eighties, never shared anything about their finances. We knew my father had a decent pension, my mother had a miniscule pension from a part-time job, and they got whatever the Irish system pays out to OAPs (Old-age pensioners). We also knew that the house they paid $8000 for in 1973 was long paid off, so if they really needed money, it was there. This year, a series of health incidents has left them barely able to manage alone. My brother and sister have had to deal with a lot of paperwork to get power of attorney set up, manage medical bills, and figure out how to make the house more livable for them. We don't see them being able to stay in the house. Luckily, the Irish system will pay for them to move into assisted living by taking 21% of the value of their house as compensation. The break even point for that would only be three years, so we think it's a better option than selling the house, which they don't want to do anyway. The 21% due to the government is only paid when the estate is settled. It would have been a lot easier to get through all this if they had shared information in the past. With my mother in rehab and my father with dementia, tracking down all the necessary paperwork took months.
That's how I feel about it! My wife sometimes says my mother-in-law should cut back on <whatever> food, and I say "She's going to be 97 next month, let her eat whatever she wants".
Except for things that aggravate her diverticulitis - last episode was like a scene from a horror movie in her bathroom. We don't need more of that :)
Does that mean I shouldn't have bought two 17.6oz bars of chocolate at Trader Joe's last weekend? I don't spend much on eating out, but when it comes to chocolate, I tend to splurge. Every time I go to Ireland I come back with a carry-on filled with chocolate - it usually weighs 35-40lbs. It's a good thing they've never weighed it :) Our household (of three) spends roughly $700 a month on groceries.
We wanted to have a child, but it wasn't easy. We had to go through IVF (in-vitro fertilization) multiple times. We had gotten to the point where it was our last attempt - it either worked or we got a dog :) It did work, however, and I'm glad. Yes, we're lucky, our daughter is currently in college and is just a nice human being. We never had any major issues to deal with, just the usual (mostly middle school) kid stuff. We certainly have no regrets, but I also think we'd have been happy not having kids - it wasn't something we felt we had to do. Would things have been different financially? Sure, but not that different. I remember daycare cost a total of $65k or so. College is just over $90k so far. We'd probably have spent a lot of that on more vacations or nicer cars if we'd been childless, but I think we'd have spent it either way. We have friends our age whose kids have basically failed to launch. Does that make a difference to how they feel about their kids? Probably not, but it's definitely more of a financial hit. I respect people's decision to not have kids, whether based on their own upbringing, financial choices, or otherwise. As long as they feel they made the right choice, that's all that matters.
Lol, that makes me feel better! Hershey's chocolate tastes like plastic compared to Galaxy or Cadbury's. Hershey bought the rights to the Cadbury name in the US a long time ago, so the Cadbury's chocolate we get here isn't much good either. I'll have to look out for Tirma - doesn't look like their milk chocolate is available here.
I'm sorry, Mark, but as a fellow chocolate lover I have to take umbrage at "I’m eyeing up a Hershey bar with genuine lust". That stuff barely qualifies as chocolate. I won't eat it even if there's nothing else left in the house. My local British goods store is fully stocked with Easter Eggs and other goodies, and I've managed to stay away. I brought six months worth of stuff back from Ireland in December and it was gone by the end of January. Time for me to lose a few pounds!
We have a friend who worked as a bartender in London for at least 35 years. His employer told him he was putting part of his pay in a savings/retirement account (no idea what kind). The pub ended up going out of business, the owner took off for parts unknown, and if there ever was any money put aside for our friend, it was gone now. He is completely financially illiterate, but luckily lives in a country that provides housing and free medical care. He gets a small state pension. We have no idea how much money he lost over the years, but it would certainly have afforded him a much more comfortable retirement.
Comments
I'll go with vanilla. I used to see ads for Twinkies, Hostess Cupcakes, etc in American comic books when I was a kid. When I came to the US, one of the first things I did was buy a selection of treats from the grocery store so I could try them out.
Post: Would You Be Miserable?
Link to comment from June 10, 2026
I've run all the simulators, and they say our plan has a 99% success rate even with markets heading down for ten years straight. My fallback is Social Security. Even taking it at 62/63 would cover our monthly expenses, and if we wait until age 70, it would give us a comfortable lifestyle. There's also the house, which will be paid off in less than five years after we retire. Worst case scenario, we sell it all and move to Europe :)
Post: Would You Be Miserable?
Link to comment from June 8, 2026
My parents, who are in their mid-eighties, never shared anything about their finances. We knew my father had a decent pension, my mother had a miniscule pension from a part-time job, and they got whatever the Irish system pays out to OAPs (Old-age pensioners). We also knew that the house they paid $8000 for in 1973 was long paid off, so if they really needed money, it was there. This year, a series of health incidents has left them barely able to manage alone. My brother and sister have had to deal with a lot of paperwork to get power of attorney set up, manage medical bills, and figure out how to make the house more livable for them. We don't see them being able to stay in the house. Luckily, the Irish system will pay for them to move into assisted living by taking 21% of the value of their house as compensation. The break even point for that would only be three years, so we think it's a better option than selling the house, which they don't want to do anyway. The 21% due to the government is only paid when the estate is settled. It would have been a lot easier to get through all this if they had shared information in the past. With my mother in rehab and my father with dementia, tracking down all the necessary paperwork took months.
Post: Time to share our financial info with children?
Link to comment from June 7, 2026
That's how I feel about it! My wife sometimes says my mother-in-law should cut back on <whatever> food, and I say "She's going to be 97 next month, let her eat whatever she wants". Except for things that aggravate her diverticulitis - last episode was like a scene from a horror movie in her bathroom. We don't need more of that :)
Post: Shopping carts again…but not what you think
Link to comment from June 3, 2026
Investments were up $76,994.87 for the month of May. I think I can afford some goodies :)
Post: Shopping carts again…but not what you think
Link to comment from June 3, 2026
Does that mean I shouldn't have bought two 17.6oz bars of chocolate at Trader Joe's last weekend? I don't spend much on eating out, but when it comes to chocolate, I tend to splurge. Every time I go to Ireland I come back with a carry-on filled with chocolate - it usually weighs 35-40lbs. It's a good thing they've never weighed it :) Our household (of three) spends roughly $700 a month on groceries.
Post: Shopping carts again…but not what you think
Link to comment from June 2, 2026
We wanted to have a child, but it wasn't easy. We had to go through IVF (in-vitro fertilization) multiple times. We had gotten to the point where it was our last attempt - it either worked or we got a dog :) It did work, however, and I'm glad. Yes, we're lucky, our daughter is currently in college and is just a nice human being. We never had any major issues to deal with, just the usual (mostly middle school) kid stuff. We certainly have no regrets, but I also think we'd have been happy not having kids - it wasn't something we felt we had to do. Would things have been different financially? Sure, but not that different. I remember daycare cost a total of $65k or so. College is just over $90k so far. We'd probably have spent a lot of that on more vacations or nicer cars if we'd been childless, but I think we'd have spent it either way. We have friends our age whose kids have basically failed to launch. Does that make a difference to how they feel about their kids? Probably not, but it's definitely more of a financial hit. I respect people's decision to not have kids, whether based on their own upbringing, financial choices, or otherwise. As long as they feel they made the right choice, that's all that matters.
Post: Financial regrets about parenthood?
Link to comment from April 5, 2026
Lol, that makes me feel better! Hershey's chocolate tastes like plastic compared to Galaxy or Cadbury's. Hershey bought the rights to the Cadbury name in the US a long time ago, so the Cadbury's chocolate we get here isn't much good either. I'll have to look out for Tirma - doesn't look like their milk chocolate is available here.
Post: Lent, Chocolate, and the Art of Retirement
Link to comment from April 3, 2026
I'm sorry, Mark, but as a fellow chocolate lover I have to take umbrage at "I’m eyeing up a Hershey bar with genuine lust". That stuff barely qualifies as chocolate. I won't eat it even if there's nothing else left in the house. My local British goods store is fully stocked with Easter Eggs and other goodies, and I've managed to stay away. I brought six months worth of stuff back from Ireland in December and it was gone by the end of January. Time for me to lose a few pounds!
Post: Lent, Chocolate, and the Art of Retirement
Link to comment from April 2, 2026
We have a friend who worked as a bartender in London for at least 35 years. His employer told him he was putting part of his pay in a savings/retirement account (no idea what kind). The pub ended up going out of business, the owner took off for parts unknown, and if there ever was any money put aside for our friend, it was gone now. He is completely financially illiterate, but luckily lives in a country that provides housing and free medical care. He gets a small state pension. We have no idea how much money he lost over the years, but it would certainly have afforded him a much more comfortable retirement.
Post: Debriefing
Link to comment from March 28, 2026