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My buddy bought a new boat last year, and we thought it would be fun to take our boats to Flaming Gorge Reservoir and spend a few nights with our families at the boat-in campground.
After several months of planning, my buddy told me that he had decided to stay at a regular campground instead of the boat-in camp. Last weekend at "The Gorge" I found out why. My wife and I joined my buddy and his family at their camp for dinner one evening, and there was a brand new pickup truck and a new 5th-wheel trailer.
The combined length of my buddy's truck, 5th-wheel, and 25-foot boat is 73 feet!
I drive a rusty old '87 GMC pickup, towing a beat-up old '74 tri-hull boat. I sleep in a tent when I go camping.
I've been saving for years, thinking that I'd get a big boat and trailer someday, but now that I've seen my buddy's setup I realize that my values have changed. I don't want a bigger house or a second house either. All that stuff ends up owning you.
So what do with your money when you finally have "enough."
Posts: 2655 | Registered: Feb 2004
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If there's nothing that you want right now, you can always invest! How's your retirement account look?
Posts: 1947 | Registered: Aug 2002
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I need money. Want to invest money in the Jaiden fund? It's for her school books. And tuition. I promise it won't be used on any luxuries like food or housing Posts: 944 | Registered: Jun 2001
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Pay off debts? (That's what I'd be doing first.)
Or go on a trip to someplace exciting - like New Zealand, or Croatia, or Madagascar. (This would be my second choice, if my debts were paid.)
Or if you really don't know what to do with it - donate it to charity. (I'm not selfless enough to make this my first choice. At least, not for all of it.)
Posts: 952 | Registered: Jun 2005
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The problem with sharing is that apparently none of the recipients are as a smart with your money as you are. Fortunately there are a few charities that utilize your money intelligently enough that you get a pretty good feeling from giving.
Posts: 2655 | Registered: Feb 2004
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More seriously, if I didn't have education and bills to pay for I'd buy a few luxury items. Such as a car. After that I'd probably be saving up for a house. Once I owned a house (with no morgage), I'd put money away for future children's education, etc. And I'd travel. Lots of travelling Posts: 944 | Registered: Jun 2001
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If you really want to check, Charity Navigator is a site that has financial breakdown info on several thousand nonprofits so you can tell how effective they are.
Guidestar is an even bigger site - I think they have info on more than a million nonprofits in just the US. You have to register to use that one, but it's free and they don't pester you. There's also a UK version in the works.
Just FYI if you're interested. Posts: 952 | Registered: Jun 2005
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You should start a good retirement account, then give some to charity. Since you don't want the large items you mentioned, you might want to get a smaller item, something you have really wanted, not something that you think would portray a certain "image" about yourself.
My suggestion is a buying binge at a bookstore. I would do that!
Posts: 684 | Registered: Jun 2002
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I like the small item idea: something that doesn't rust away or get trashed by the elements.
My wife loves to travel, but I do it for a living. After accumulating over 700,000 lifetime frequent flier miles all I want to do is stay home.
I also like the idea of helping someone else through school. I know I surely could have used some help back in my school days.
Posts: 2655 | Registered: Feb 2004
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Wow...that's a LOT of flier miles! (Can you share those? ) So even if you were traveling just for fun, experiencing new places and cultures on your own terms with no deadlines or anything, you still wouldn't want to? I'm a travel addict, so that makes me sad.
But the college thing sounds like a awesome idea - maybe you could set up some sort of scholarship essay contest with a local business or organization, like a matching funds thing? No idea on what legal stuff might need to be done with something like that, though. Or if you happen to know a really worthy but poor kid, that'd be really cool to put him/her through a year or so of school.
Posts: 952 | Registered: Jun 2005
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Yah, starting a scholarship sounds like a great idea! And set it up so that you have to complete some wierd, zany requirements to apply - like the "Victims of Amphibian Abuse Scholarship", or "Gigantic Nose-Hair'd Scholars Fund".
(And if you open it to Canadian wanna-be animators, I could even apply!)
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Yeah, don't bother with the big boy toys. Invest, invest, invest.
Part of our investing is paying down our principal as fast as we can so we can own our duplex free and clear in 15 years instead of 30. We figure that has the potential for a pretty good return, especially as rents go up.
We don't have any consumer debt, we're not making car payments, school loans are paid off... (knock on wood) We figure the best thing to do with what we have is save it and earn as much interest as possible.
Posts: 5957 | Registered: Oct 2001
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Ummm, I've already started investing a huge part of my bonuses. I invest regularly into my Roth IRA and Mutual Funds. So* I guess that leaves me with.....saving it up to set a decent monetary foundation for a family, house, etc.
Posts: 2208 | Registered: Feb 2004
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Hope I'm not too direct about this, as I don't know you very well... Do you have children? Or do you plan on having?
Posts: 4519 | Registered: Sep 2003
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Skillery, think of it this way...if you invest it wisely, either in property (as in a house to rent out, or property that will go up in value) you add a lot of enjoyment to your retirement.
My dad just retired last Friday, and while my family never had the biggest or the best of anything, we always had enough to have fun. They bought a little log cabin when all their friends were buying larger vacation homes, and they always had nice, serviceable cars while their friends bought SUV's and 4-wheelers and snowmobiles and BMW's.
Now my dad is retired while some of their friends are still working to pay off all their toys and perks. He invested his money wisely, and it payed off fairly well, well enough that neither he or my mom have to work another day, unless they want to.
Not to say that there is anything WRONG with all those toys and perks...our family friends always shared those with us, as we shared ours with them, that was part and parcel of being friends. My parents have some of the best friends a person could have.....
But my dad was happy just to have things that worked, and to be able to share experiences with his family.
We had a boat...an old wooden Thompson he bought for $300, motor and trailer included. When he upgraded years later, he bought a 16' Mirrocraft..and reused the motor he had bought for the Thompson years before. We had a truck....a Ford F150, no frills, just a radio. We have a cottage....and old log cabin on a lake.
It isn't about having the best, it is about having enough to enjoy it, and making sure that you have enough to continue enjoying life once you retire.
Can't have kids. Too old to adopt. Heard too many horror stories about foster kids and the juvenile justice system.
Posts: 2655 | Registered: Feb 2004
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Thanks for answering, skillery. Maybe you could by a ticket to outer space? Or is that a lil' bit out of range? Posts: 4519 | Registered: Sep 2003
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1. Find a good charity. I like www.donorschoose.com. 2. Pay off all debts. 3. Invest. You do NOT have enough saved for retirement.
Posts: 26077 | Registered: Mar 2000
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You can donate frequent flier miles to Make-a-Wish. It helps them fly families for the kids wishes. If I had extra $$ (after debts paid and retirement savings) I would donate money to Make-a-Wish and to various families raising money for organ transplants. Obviously a segment of the population dear to my heart (no pun intended).
Posts: 1132 | Registered: A Long Time Ago!
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) So even if you were traveling just for fun, experiencing new places and cultures on your own terms with no deadlines or anything, you still wouldn't want to? I'm a travel addict, so that makes me sad. ![[Frown]](frown.gif)
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