I'm so stupid that I...

I don't know if I will ever be able to retire. We have been doing okay at putting money back. However, all it is going to take is one somewhat serious health issue for my wife or I and it could all be over. Thankfully right now we are both in good health. I have 8 years to go to keep going in the right direction, hopefully.
 
Avoiding the politics: a sound retirement plan has to account for the reality that periodically the economy will turn in an unpleasant direction. Not doing so is...well, see the thread title.
Of course it does. But even stupid people have to make enough money to pull off a plan that accounts for losing 40% of your purchasing power and 1/4 mil from your investments in less than 2 years. So those factors combined, are why I'm a bit off my "plan." :D
:D

So my "I'm so stupid" would be "I'm so stupid I thought I could retired by 2025."
 
I could have been fully retired some years ago. But I was too young when I sold my business (41) and I "was so stupid that I" became a commercial pilot.
What flight schools don't tell you is that beyond minimum licensing requirements ($ minimum costs) is a whole whack of buildup flight time on the appropriate aircraft types to get even a modest position with a small charter company. Then the recurrence and upgrade training on larger/faster/larger planes.
Then, you (smartly?) think that you can use your own small plane to build hours since you (smartly?) bought one anyway. All fun and games until you realize that a fixed gear single engine (Cessna 172) doesn't build multi-engine retact hours that look so great on a resume with the charter base commander. So you fly right seat pro Bono to get at least some co-pilot time and at least get to keep your instrument and multi-engine skills sharp.
Then you also realize you still have to pay out of pocket for your time, fuel and maintenence on said personal bug smasher since you can't charge for flying passengers without a charter certificate and piston single engine ops aren't legal outside of daylight hours either.
So you go back to real work to pay for your now very expensive toy that your mid life crisis told you would be a better choice than a ZR1 'vette. But dayum, it sure is a blast punching holes in the sky...
Seriously, it wasn't as terrible as I just made it out to be. I got most of my money back out of my plane when I sold it, less the upgrades and maintenence costs (don't ask...) I dumped into it. Less of course, the hellish amount of training costs and 1500 flight hours entailed.
Trust me, GAS is cheap in comparison!
 
I used to think of retirement as some far off goal, but I'm at the age (and I guess attitude) that I now aspire to retire. It's become more of a "how soon can I do it" situation (answer: not soon enough - gonna be a few years yet).
As I’ve told everyone. You know when it’s time.
Although my job was dangerous hard labor, and was taking a toll on my body and health, I loved what I was doing. When my body started wearing out, and management personnel changed, it was obvious that my time had come.
 
Once accidentally set fire to a grass field up behind our old house with a branch of dried leaves and a magnifying glass. The 2 neighborhood kids who owned the glass were the ones who tossed the branch into the field.

I took the rap, the desk sergeant knew I was remorseful, and my Dad said, "I think both of us know you learned your lesson." Dad took me home, and I think I was sad for about a week. Dad forgave me as did Mom, but my squeaky clean reputation with my Dad was tarnished. It took quite a while to re-earn his respect again.
Great tale, and most kids have something similar. My son and daughter helped set the town woods on fire when they were about 10 & 7 respectively, but they had the good sense (or luck) to have done it with the police chief’s kids. They were all bagged, but only got the proverbial ‘talking to’.
 
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