“doesn’t travel much”, “He wears clothes until they’re worn, then shops at Goodwill for replacements” “At [65], Bill has $1.3 million in the bank and can do whatever he wants for the rest of his life”(the 15 years or so that’s left of it).

Any point of financial freedom was lost in the ludicrousness as most here would agree (and have agreed) that the above is not financial freedom for *most* people. These are extremes in which, IMO, neither is maximizing the benefits of earning and saving money.

I think the point is that financial freedom is independent of salary, and you don’t really have any if you don’t have savings. That’s it. Full stop.

The company Jim works for goes bankrupt and Jim loses his $100K job. He’s 55 years old at this point and finally finds a job that pays $65K. With no savings, he loses his house, car, expensive vacations, etc. Maybe at this point he runs up his credit cards and winds up declaring bankruptcy. His best case scenario would be to save all he can for the next 10 years so he can have a little nest egg to augment his meager social security check.

It happens.

I would like to be a good enough person to say that I hope you never have such problems, but…

Nice to see you’ve devolved into school yard level of retorts…*sigh*. Politics has nothing to do with this post, at all.

Politics has become a very important aspect to personal finance, especially when the government keeps taking a larger slice of my money to give to other people.

My comments are not meant to be political, I think the Republicans and Democrats are both way off base.

Take your fox news comment and shove it you know where. This is an open forum.

On topic:
I too am a bit concerned that there is no middle man presented in this story. What about Bob, who earns $70,000 a year; saves 10% of his income for retirement, and lives life pretty well while young and still retires young? I don’t understand why the example of extremes has to be used. Either a person is a frugal miser or a complete spendthrift without an ounce of common sense. We’re not all ants and grasshoppers.

And for the record, I’d MUCH rather be Jim. He sounds like a really fun guy.

If you’re really living in California, you of all people should have sympathy on this matter – your state is almost bankrupt, and the rest of America will soon be bailing Cali out.

Nacy Pelosi = California = Scary

“And last of all, I wish to congratulate all the Americans for their new universal health care system! it is the mark of a truly civilized country!”

I think you meant to say – “Congratulations on the new bill you will get to begin paying immediately, but which you will not benefit from for a number of years, and by that time, the governemtn will probably have squandered the money, so you will get to pay for it again!”

Personally I like the S&P 500 as a measure of the ‘market’ rather than the Dow.

I’m sure I disagree with this statement. A lifestyle is not based upon the amount earned — hence the statement “champagen tastes on beer budget”. If Bill earned $100,000 annually, he wouldn’t necessarily rent Lexus vehicles and replace his wardrobe biannually, nor would Jim necessarily stick to a budget within his income.

For example, some have argued that donating shoes to children in Africa might not be all that helpful (google “donating shoes and other aid fads” for an article by an aid worker).

I donate over $1,000 per month to the needy people in the United States (by paying taxes).

I donate another several hundred dollars per month to my church, which is used almost exclusively to help people in need all around the world (all of the church’s normal monthly budget is ran from other private donations).

I also donate several hundred dollars per year to my local United Way organization which helps several local charitable agencies.

I donate physical goods several times per year when my church sends care packages to certain groups of people, such as those in Haiti affected the the earthquake, shoes for children in Africa, etc.

I also donate clothing and other household items to Goodwill several times per year, which helps create jobs locally for mentally disabled individuals, and also creates a cheap place for those less fortunate (and for bargain hunters) to shop.

I would love to donate more for things that truly needy people need to survive.

It is my opinion that the vast majority of people in the US have way more than they really “need”, and giving another handout will do more harm than good. That is my opinion, and I am entitled to it.

I understand from reading your frequent comments on this blog that you believe your opinion carries more weight due to the sarcastic nature with which it is delvered….but it is not.

Good day.

Its hard for me to subsidize others healthcare when they don’t even care about their own health. It is free to go outside and exercise. Nowadays people only want what the government tells them they need and then offers to provide for free. I am not saying people will die without an iPhone, I am just saying, a lot of wealthy people have them, so if someone decides that its a right, poor people will be up in arms until the governement provides them for free.

My works as a supervisor in the local section 8 housing department. Per my wife, 95% of people on section 8 housing are simply too lazy too get a job. Also about 95% of those same people have an iPhone.

You’re telling me these people have a genuine life and death need? BS. People in Africa have life and death needs. People in the US are spoiled and lazy and looking for another handout.