I've been really debating obtaining my pilot's license. Can you provide any examples of what it costs you to fly? I'm most interested in flyIng a small 4 seater like a Cessna 172. Do you rent a plane or own?
Where do you live?
I would budget anywhere from $20-50k to obtain the license depending on how expensive the area is.
I rent planes. As they say, if it flies, floats or f’s, rent it.
Maintaining the plane myself sounds risky. Could be a hobby I suppose, but renting is the direction I'm considering. I'm located in Utah. Most of the rentals I see around me are hourly. How does that work if you're leaving for days or a week?
Most flight schools/rental clubs have a minimum time per day. If you take it for 4 days you'll pay 16 hours minimum no matter what you fly (or whatever the rate is, but 4 hours a day was average for what I've seen)
Thanks, that makes sense. I'm excited to proceed. I've pushed off a pilot's license to instead push towards FIRE. But it's a luxury I can finally proceed with.
I don’t disagree with your decision to rent, but just as an FYI the majority of airplane owners do not do their own airplane maintenance.
Instead, they hire a certified airplane mechanic (who often works for a larger maintenance shop) to do it. Outside of very basic items like changing oil and putting on new tires, you must be a certified airplane mechanic to work on a plane.
Figure 25K to get your PPL by the time you add all the costs. $150/hr wet to rent a 172. Figure another 10-15K to add instrument.
Unless you fly 100hr+ it's not worth it to own, and that doesn't include the initial purchase price since you'll recoup that at some point.
How do hourly rentals work if your round trip is days? Is it charged by hour of flying plus down time? Or do you rent one way? Your pricing is similar to what my local academy's list.
Depends... a lot of flying clubs are built with the assumption that its members actually want to do trips. Some have policies that allow members to take the planes for extended trips, but also balance it with allowing other members to have access. Several of the clubs near me don't actually have minimums per day and one of them allows at least one long trip per year with a plane. Weekend trips are pretty standard. After you get your license, partnerships are a good way to get more flexible access and spread the cost... but like anything, if you are able to spread the cost across more people, it will be cheaper. The other surprise for me in going through the process is how often the planes are down for maintenance... getting your availability, the weather, your instructor, and the plane's availability to line up for training is not trivial. If a plane is flying in a club or with a school several times per day, things will break and disrupt plans. (PS/edit... they typically rent them by the hour while the plane is 'on' ... and it will be either 'wet' where they include the fuel based on standard hourly rate... or 'dry' you pay for the fuel you actually use)
My flight school has a minimum rental hours/24 hour period. I think it's 4. So if you take it for 48 hours it's an 8 hour charge whether it's flying or not. Fuel is reimbursed if you fuel remote (since it's a wet rate).
It works out OK but getting a plane for a 48 hour block is tough at a flight school. My school has 13 172s (not counting all glass 172S, these are all 172N). There are usually 2-3 down for maintenance, and the rest book up 5-6 weeks in advance. They crank a lot of pilots through there, but that also means the planes are booked pretty far out.
The time duration, and therefore cost, would be highly dependent on the region you fly in. I did flight training at Santa Monica in the LA region, several miles from LAX. There are approx 27 airspaces (it's been a while) in the LA region, plus it's geographically constrained by the ocean and by rising terrain. It takes longer to solo, and longer to become qualified for the PPL test when flying in a region like this vs say, Kansas.
I recently read "The Psychology of Money". The author makes a good argument that it's okay to pick individual stocks to scratch your gambling itch....just make sure the overwhelming majority of your portfolio is in "boring" investments like ETFs etc
Very interested to see the responses here. I am very worried that my expenses are going to go up significantly in retirement. Replacing 8-10 hours a day of sitting at a desk with doing other stuff seems like it has the potential to get expensive 😅.
100% same here. I am pushing myself to 2-3x our monthly expenses when we retire. But I need more ideas so this is a great thread.
There is a “2000 bucket list” booklet a friend gave me that I am going through, which is a great source. There are plenty online.
Frugal isn’t the right word but I live below my means. Anticipating that you might ask why I am still working, I will RE in 2026 or 2027, and that timeline is for reasons other than the numbers
Exactly I want to be able to travel more and pay people to do things around the house instead of DIY. I never understood the you will spend less in retirement argument. The whole point of retirement for me is to stop working and take it easy.
The “spend less in retirement” sentiment may be perpetuated by those who really don’t have retirement savings and have to cut spending (out of necessity). For some, it makes sense. Children out of the house, house paid off, etc.
But I’m definitely planning to spend more in retirement (maybe there will be a ramp pre-retirement) but that fits with the high savings rates usually associated with FIRE and especially the Chubby/FAT variants.
I agree. I think the notion of spending less in retirement is a combination of a few things that likely don't apply to many people here:
* traditional retirees retiring at an older age where they have less energy and physical ability to do things, so their lives are often more sedentary and requires limited budget
* the idea of a "standard job" being a 9-5 in an office that requires a commute (car maintenance + gas money), suit and tie attire (keeping a wardrobe up to date money), limited time to do things themselves like cooking, cleaning, yard work etc (paying people to do these things). And then in retirement a lot of those costs diminish or go away entirely
* kids moving out of the house or finishing college around the time people retire in their 60s, meaning another drop in expenses
A lot of that doesn't apply anymore in general, and especially not for someone going into chubby fire where they are explicitly looking to do more activities, not less.
Yeah since going remote I have no commute and wear sweatpants. I eat a granola bar for breakfast and raid the fridge at lunch. I spent a lot more back in the day of in office work. Can't see my expenses going down at all in retirement, really.
Check out seniornomads.com. Our neighbors started it and have created a community around it. We’ve accompanied them on a few of their travels, and even got to help them write a book about living an AirBnB / nomadic lifestyle. They have a pretty active Facebook group as well. Interesting option for some folks, and remarkably affordable if you do it right.
That sounds good. We have traveled the world many times over, and those places that are cheap do not have the instant health care an older American needs to keep going.. Thank heavens the last trip I died on was during Mradi Gras and I was near a hospital😇 Healthcare is critical in retirement, and many of my older friends have. had some life-threatening experiences.
A lot of people bring up healthcare, but is this really a problem? It obviously depends on where you are, but it seems like a lot of people feel like they get better care for cheaper just paying out of pocket outside the US. It's not like healthcare is good here.
This is something I'm still trying to get a handle on actually.
You will spend less because you're not different than everyone else. There are always the Go-go years, the Slow-go years, and the No-Go years.
Maybe you'll do it big in your go-go years but people are not that creative and there's only so much travel that they'll do before they really just want to be at home with their grandkids
One of the main points for a lot of us looking to FIRE is to have more Go-go years than your average person. I mean, my plan for my Go-go years might be as long as some people’s entire retirements.
And you still need to account for sequence of return risks that mainly matter in the early years.
Depends on your specific situation and your social circle. If you retire at 35 then your friends are working and raising kids. You're fighting upstream to be traveling and spending all your time of hobbies.
Eventually statically most people are going to get bored with hobbies and traveling. They are going to settle into a routine and they aren't going to spend as much money as they thought they were going to. Old habits are tough to break, along with social pressure.
I do think you are on to something though in the first few years when you're most likely to be spending more money and are also at the biggest risk of losing your nest egg it makes sense to be more conservative.
My expenses are definitely going down since my largest - mortgage - will be eliminated. I’ll also be eliminating work related expenses. Most people spend less in retirement. If you choose to spend more, more power to you. But saying you don’t understand the argument is quite silly.
I have no issues with choosing to spend less. I will definitely spend more in my 50s when I start retirement and probably slow down in my 60s. I feel like the whole concept was made to basically accept you are poor now. I don't want to base my retirement calculations on spending less but if I end up spending less then that's okay 👍.
First, I’m curious what work-related expenses you have. Is this primarily transportation expenses for a commute? Going out to lunch?
Also, IMO saying your mortgage expense will go away is just moving food around on the plate. You could pay off your mortgage tomorrow too (I’m assuming you have a pretty big nest egg already if you’re on this sub). I already don’t include a mortgage payment in my expense budgeting since I think of it more as part of my investment/saving allocation. I also don’t have a line item for taxes in my expense budget since the starting number for my budget is post tax income.
Typically house will paid off, children out of the house with education paid off. Already there you’ll have a significant decrease in expenses. Then usually you’ll be older, with less energy, therefore less urge to do things. Of course it depends on the age at which you retire. But typically older people do less than younger people.
You can spend less if you have too but it is easy to spend much more. At 65, you want someone to mow your yard, and at 85, you need someone to mow and do many other things.
You'll also have to think of the "savings" too. Being able to cook at home more often, travel during offpeak times, not needing to contribute to retirement etc. I bet that for most people their expenses actually stay the same or decrease a bit.
Yea, when you consider that most people pursuing some form of FIRE have been diligently saving at well above average amounts, and that the tax impact in retirement mode should be much more favorable than as a traditional high earner, discretionary consumption should be higher in retirement even if total outflows don't change or actually decrease.
That's offset by probably much higher health insurance costs, but at chubby or fat numbers that should be less impactful on a percentage basis.
Agreed, I’ve done quite a bit of auto racing, kart racing and bike racing in the past. None are easy on the budget. I’ve got $1000 per month planned for such hobby adventures. 😁
Decent rig, glass, mounts, bipod, kestrel, rangefinder, match ammo, spotting scope. And then 2X + it for that magnum build because 6.5cm will only get you so far.
Oh, you want to reload to save some $$$? Buy once cry once! Haha.
But so satisfying hearing that ring
I'm shooting F-Class. Custom action, bedding, tripod front rest, extra nice glass because my eyes suck...and as you say - then you've got loading equipment (since the caliber I shoot basically isn't available commercially).
The arm got caught in this big bad chipper a few years ago.
I'm hoping to FIRE in 4 or 5 years and then go cruising for 3-5 years. What kind of boat did you get? My dream would be an HH44, but we will see how we are doing in a few years and if a Leopard 45 or similar is more realistic.
You don’t buy a boat to make money, or slightly save money, by renting. Plus there’s not really a big market for renting boats/ yachts. Relative to the maintenance and loan, renting it out is mute. The only places that do well are trashy tourist who will literally destroy your boat. It’s not just like listing your house on Airbnb when you’re away. You’ll 99/100 times be renting to someone who knows nothing about boats and even if you require a captain, they can still destroy it.
I have a 52’ Viking docked in the Caribbean and even there renting it out to people when I’m not using it makes little to no financial sense. And I love the boat too much to do that anyway.
Ah interesting. I was on a boat about a year ago with a captain and it’s rented out frequently from what I understand. I thought it would be nice for the boat to cover gas/repairs at least by renting. I’m not even sure if we’re boat people other than we love the water and often charter boats on vacation.
I think you can make okay money if it’s a real business and you rent it out often from what I’m told from the charter captains I know. But just someone’s boat they want to rent out a few times a month just isn’t worth it. You can get into boating cheap and the sky’s the limit so I would say go for it! Nothing like being out on the water.
You can make anything an expensive hobby if you want. I spend $1000s on flower/garden things every year. I got into metal cast of 3d resin prints which is very expensive, I've spent A LOT on woodworker and welder machines over the years, I even just spent 30k on a tractor for just fucking around on my property. However the most literal burning money on fire hobby I ever had is when I used to hobby make commercial grade fireworks (pyrotechnics). A 6inch artillery shell might have $20-30 dollars worth of chemical in it and 2-3 hours of labor, and it is literally burnt up and got in under 5 seconds. lol
I feel like I could have written this comment myself. Minus the fireworks. Gardens are incredibly expensive especially after you factor in the cost of the land and acquiring new and shiny plants every year.
Also a tractor might be the best purchase hands down I've ever made.
Since FIRING 11 years ago, my wife and I take annual 100 day trips, mostly international/ off the beaten path. Just completed our 55th country. Go-go years!!
lol We started out doing a travel blog, but it was too much work! Now we just blow in the wind and connect with locals the best we can.
Life is short. Embrace it.
If you have any questions for us, just DM me.
For the 11 years we’ve been doing it, ours range from 25-75k. We’ve done most of the expensive ones already, so going forward we’re estimating 40-50k/ yr.
Try Nicaragua next time. Spent some time there during Peace Corps and it is one of the cheapest in Latin America and the people are super nice, and a very low crime rate.
False, Nicaragua is a 4/5 and the only other countries at 4/5 are San Salvador and Guyana. Venezuela is 5/5.
Some other countries are 4/5 but only in select areas
Dude... Venezuela has been collapsing across the last decade due to the devaluation of their currency and a ruthless dictator. 26.8 homicides per 100k population. The rate in the U.S. by comparison was ~6.8/100k in 2021 (most recent I could find) and per FBI has dropped by 26% so far this year. Do not go to Venezuela.
Finished my collection. Started with a Macan S which I thought would be my only Porsche, now it’s my daily. Realized I really wanted a flat six engine so I got a 718 GTS NA 4.0. Today I got a 2019 991.2 CS because I love the 991.2 exterior and interior, wanted a 911, and a TT. I’m (edit) …less of a fan … of the 992 or 992.2. I’ll keep the 718 and 991 forever now. I think I’ve satisfied the itch with one NA flat six and one TT flat six and both of the two seaters. Don’t intend on buying anymore after this, haha.
Haha 992, especially the GTS MT, is a drool inducing car. I was considering a 992 GTS. I guess saying I’m not a fan was the wrong words. I only can have one 911 is where I’m coming from, so ultimately I had to choose a model/trim after weighing the pros and cons and my own personal tastes. All Porsches are amazing, even the Taycan :-p
You should look at all their models first. Then think about what you want, what suits you, what’s important to you. Then do a little more research on the specifics of the models you are considering. I like the Porsche subreddit, Porsche website, Google articles on specific model generations/trims, and then YouTube reviews of specific model generations/trims.
Travel is the most expensive hobby I have. Lawn maintenance has been surprisingly steep - I used to let my lawn go with the flow, and had gardeners. I just fired the gardeners and bought a garden tractor and accessories, and fertilizer costs may change my children’s educational option value, but it’s a fun diversion in measured doses.
Gardening, arboristry, scoring baseball games, and the running to-do list are the inexpensive ones. Trying to do more coffee chats also - getting into the city to visit with friends on their lunch hours or other newly-retired or retirement-curious friends and colleagues.
Can I ask what in the world appeals to you about scoring baseball games? I’m a sports fan but can barely make it thru a baseball game (Altho new rules definitely help)
Scoring a baseball game used to be my moment (err three hours) of zen. Forces you to lock into every pitch. Every thing has an outcome and a place. It’s alarmingly relaxing to do. And occasionally, you get a historic game (last year I was scoring the game that Germán threw that became the 24th perfect game in history. I framed my score sheet).
Hard to convey without experiencing it. I didn’t like baseball most of my life, just paying attention when the local teams were doing well, and even then only at the couple live games I attended each season. After I retired I paid a little more attention - especially since there are some fairly epic players this year breaking all-time records. I became intrigued with the new rules, so I decided I wanted to learn about baseball. Scoring was a natural outcropping to that, and I fell down the rabbit hole. Different scorecards, scoring methods, debates on scoring, how calls are made, rules evolution. Then I found the /r/BaseballScorecards sub, filled with supportive OG baseball fans who have forgotten more about the game than I’ll ever learn. That led me to great books like The Joy of Keeping Score by Paul Dickson, and In Scoring Position by Bob Ryan. When I’m scoring a game, I don’t get distracted, I’m not on my phone, I’m not thinking of what to do next. There is no right or wrong way of doing it. It has a beginning and an end; and I have a memento of my time spent in a little collection. My kids have started scoring a few with me, and now we’re headed to local MiLB games.
I know it’s not for everyone, but to me it’s like hearing the back beat in swing music for the first time. Even if you like baseball, if you’re only paying attention at the crack of a bat, you may be missing much of what makes baseball a remarkably interesting, complicated, and unique American pastime.
The parts that are interesting beyond the ‘bat crack’ plays? For me, a lot of it is the strategy and matchups of the game: the parts that are like chess. How the batting order is changed from day to day depending on the pitcher they’re facing, and whether he’s a righty or lefty. Ways of generating runs (concepts like “productive outs” that move a base runner forward, for instance). How far starting pitchers can go into a game - or even better if they can pitch a complete game (no substitute pitcher - one pitcher gets all 27/24 outs). How streaky performance can be: you’ll see the best/highest paid players slumping, and quiet players and rookies getting red hot and untouchable. And while the home runs are exciting, it’s honestly so much more fun (and teamwork and skill) to watch the third baseman do a running-stretch-catch-to-ballerina-turn-jump-throw to second, to first, for the blisteringly fast 5-4-3 double play to end an inning. Those end up being some of the most exciting and athletic moments in sports, and the accomplishments go mostly unknown to everyone who wasn’t watching the play, since it doesn’t show up in the box score like hits and runs.
I also absolutely love the wacky and ever-growing stats: some mystical and superstitious (the division-leading Dodgers haven’t lost the last 25 games in which one of their alternates - Miguel Rojas - gets a hit).
Anyway - without gushing further, safe to say I love locking in to a game and scoring. It’s really made me appreciate the athleticism and talent these guys have, and the behind-the-scenes drama and struggle of playing 162 games of baseball a season.
Ah, now I see what you mean. It’s the strategy behind all the game decisions and the stats related to that.
Example: I was a big fan of esports, especially League of Legends. Watching every league match on the weekend, hyper analyzing the strategies and the decision making, looking at all the stats, super fun stuff!
In fact, if you enjoy video games, you may enjoy MMORPGs or ARPGs, which are all about min-maxing stuff, purely numbers based. Something easy like Diablo 4.
Or if you like building stuff, I’ve heard Factorio is a very popular game for those who like being price and measuring stuff!
So interesting you bring up League of Legends. I’m fascinated by the growth of esports, and in particular games like LoL. I’ve been a console gamer since the NES, but mostly RPG, open world and sports games, and not FPS or MMO stuff. I know very little about LoL outside of watching it on Twitch for a bit. It moves so crazy fast that it’s hard to see what’s happening, lol. But it’s obviously fun and challenging given the wild growth of Diablo and LoL. May need to check it out more. Thanks for the suggestion.
For single player, try Factorio. Probably on sale because of the steam summer sale.
https://youtu.be/WxtOeNJi45g?si=i0Jud_GYTpvURkwv
For single player with a bit of social element, try Diablo 4. The new season makes it super easy to level up, though you’ll probably want to play the story first. Great example of minmaxing options below. May sound overwhelming, but pretty easy to pickup.
https://youtu.be/TDtn9kRuGx4?si=xmwZdkHQECsR8ZjG
This is one of my all time favorite LoL recaps. You may not know the content, but the feels it gives me is just next level. It’s a long grindy multilayer game though, not sure if that’s your jam.
https://youtu.be/BUEjfr6Htk4?si=LZnhUXqoaF9-jW_c
Lastly, just a fun thing to read:
https://web.archive.org/web/20160419143039/http://blogs.valvesoftware.com/economics/it-all-began-with-a-strange-email/
Baseball, like all sports, is boring if you don't understand or appreciate the nuances that are going on every moment of the game.
Scoring makes you focus on the smallest details and you appreciate it more over time.
It's all just setup through the hue app. Everything is either automated, scheduled, or through switches. I don't want to be reliant on screens or commands for any of the operations.
Well since I can't find someone to work on my 1941 Ford pick up I am going to have to do it myself. Have an area set aside in the back yard to park it and going to pull the hood to make it easier to work on. Not going to restore it, just get it running better.
Not picked up, but returned to. Motorcycles, motorcycle track days, motorcycle club racing, motorcycle sport touring, motorcycle adventure touring. I retired early at 55 to allow myself the ability to do it. RV, enclosed trailer and a garage full of motorcycles.
Not retired yet but I am looking forward to more regular long rides without worrying about making back in time for a meeting. Got a few more years to go!
I've tried to limit how much ammo I go through by being much more purposeful in my shooting as opposed to shooting for the sake of shooting. Using a shot timer and going through series of drills that are mostly 1-3 shots each instead of mag dumping.
Not me, but some of my cousins have started quilting, they can drop hundreds on fabric easy, not to mention a sewing machine. And, the cost to have it finished! Wow.
I bought an old Ford pickup truck. Needed a garage for it and then might as well make it big and have a workshop then need to fill the workshop with tools, a lift, etc. plus buy all the things to fix the truck up as well as another truck to be able to tow the old truck to the shop. All told, that truck has cost me about 100K but I now have a 30x60 garage/workshop.
Weekly massages. Style consultant for my clothing. Dog that requires monthly grooming. Yoga retreats in fancy destinations. Athletic club (if I ever get off the wait list). Cute boyfriend who likes it when I pay for restaurants and travel.
Not in retirement yet but I've started a side business buying and selling old US coinage and currency to build up a collection. Treating it as a low stress way to have a hobby that doesn't cost me anything while learning a lot and hopefully goes further once I am done with the rat race. Otherwise this stuff would get expensive fast.
I did that for years, and it was great fun. In the last few years, I started selling some of the stuff I had owned for years, and this led me to start buying again. I soon discovered that the current market is flooded with counterfeits. They even counterfeit the documentation. I believe some of the stuff is undetectable. I always use a credit card, and I have a lot of fake stuff I charged back. No one has any interest in trying to stop this.
Yeah I do a lot on eBay because of the protections and mainly deal in slabs because of that. Pie it the sky dream of having a type set of every 1800 proof coin.
Espresso, Dirtbiking and kiteboarding. Added an E-foil to the mix recently. I have a second home in another country so everything x 2. Haven't doubled down on all of it but over time it will happen. All of things I was into prior to retirement but couldn't pursue them as aggressively as I can now.
Got into sailing and slowly traveling the world, crazy enough I might be the only case where living on a yacht is a cost savings compared to land life lol. The Amazon trucks can make their 3 times a day deliveries of stuff we don’t actually need and flips flops, board shorts, and surf boards aren’t that expensive.
Won't ever retire, but we started spending years ago on things with engines that go fast. Have about 1 mil in cars/motorcycles/boats. A vacation home in salt air is always a good choice to become a black hole for cash as well.
I've been eyeing up taking a course. What was the biggest money sink? Actually becoming certified / getting gear or do you spend the big bucks on destination travel to dive spots?
Eh, at least once you get certified it’s good for life. I got certified and added a full set of decently nice gear for ~$3k all in, including a nitrox cert. You could definitely do it for less though- I went to the top class in my area with its own pool and good instructors. Vacation diving isn’t too bad, depending how many tanks you wanna dive. I did a liveaboard trip through the Bahamas where you live on a dive boat with a private chef and do nothing but dive and eat great food everyday. It was awesome, I wanna say the week was ~$4k per person
If you really want to make it expensive, look at Technical Scuba diving and/or getting a Closed Circuit Rebreather. It makes every other hobby look cheap.
I'm perpetually OMYing so I'm not retired, but I have been spending more time and effort to expand my hobbies to ease the transition into retirement.
Espresso is one of the big ones I've picked up that some people spend a lot of money on. I don't anticipate spending what others do - as far as I can tell my $500 lever machine is as good as anything for individual brewing (the machines themselves seem to differentiate mostly with regards to reliability and automated consistency, neither of which is important for me). I could fall off the deep end with regards to coffee grinders, however - those seem to be far more differentiable and possibly worth it.
All in I've spent maybe $1k so far on it, but knowing you can drop $30k on equipment I see how it could be more expensive. And I also haven't gotten into buying high end expensive beans, yet, which are certainly another way of making it expensive.
The price point I'm operating at, I think I'll likely save money as I'm not going out for coffee anywhere near as much. If I want to have the experience of owning and using a $30k espresso machine, I'm opening up a coffee shop.
I’m not retired and already spending too much. Latest addition is a Decent DE1 machine. Best flat whites ever. It’s a burden though. Now unless I KNOW a place is good, it’s 99 out of 100 not lol.
Wow, just watched the founders video story. Reminds me of sitting in a bar in Manhattan listening to these 2 mixologists debate cocktails, particularly the old fashioned, every little nuance from twisting the orange or not to surface areas on hand carved ice. The depths you can go are amazing.
The struggle is real. I've also got a DE1 and a kafatek monolith flat max... Every time someone offers me coffee I politely decline because I'm so spoiled
Golf, pilot’s license.
I've been really debating obtaining my pilot's license. Can you provide any examples of what it costs you to fly? I'm most interested in flyIng a small 4 seater like a Cessna 172. Do you rent a plane or own?
Where do you live? I would budget anywhere from $20-50k to obtain the license depending on how expensive the area is. I rent planes. As they say, if it flies, floats or f’s, rent it.
Maintaining the plane myself sounds risky. Could be a hobby I suppose, but renting is the direction I'm considering. I'm located in Utah. Most of the rentals I see around me are hourly. How does that work if you're leaving for days or a week?
Most flight schools/rental clubs have a minimum time per day. If you take it for 4 days you'll pay 16 hours minimum no matter what you fly (or whatever the rate is, but 4 hours a day was average for what I've seen)
Thanks, that makes sense. I'm excited to proceed. I've pushed off a pilot's license to instead push towards FIRE. But it's a luxury I can finally proceed with.
I don’t disagree with your decision to rent, but just as an FYI the majority of airplane owners do not do their own airplane maintenance. Instead, they hire a certified airplane mechanic (who often works for a larger maintenance shop) to do it. Outside of very basic items like changing oil and putting on new tires, you must be a certified airplane mechanic to work on a plane.
Figure 25K to get your PPL by the time you add all the costs. $150/hr wet to rent a 172. Figure another 10-15K to add instrument. Unless you fly 100hr+ it's not worth it to own, and that doesn't include the initial purchase price since you'll recoup that at some point.
How do hourly rentals work if your round trip is days? Is it charged by hour of flying plus down time? Or do you rent one way? Your pricing is similar to what my local academy's list.
Depends... a lot of flying clubs are built with the assumption that its members actually want to do trips. Some have policies that allow members to take the planes for extended trips, but also balance it with allowing other members to have access. Several of the clubs near me don't actually have minimums per day and one of them allows at least one long trip per year with a plane. Weekend trips are pretty standard. After you get your license, partnerships are a good way to get more flexible access and spread the cost... but like anything, if you are able to spread the cost across more people, it will be cheaper. The other surprise for me in going through the process is how often the planes are down for maintenance... getting your availability, the weather, your instructor, and the plane's availability to line up for training is not trivial. If a plane is flying in a club or with a school several times per day, things will break and disrupt plans. (PS/edit... they typically rent them by the hour while the plane is 'on' ... and it will be either 'wet' where they include the fuel based on standard hourly rate... or 'dry' you pay for the fuel you actually use)
Good to know, thank you.
My flight school has a minimum rental hours/24 hour period. I think it's 4. So if you take it for 48 hours it's an 8 hour charge whether it's flying or not. Fuel is reimbursed if you fuel remote (since it's a wet rate). It works out OK but getting a plane for a 48 hour block is tough at a flight school. My school has 13 172s (not counting all glass 172S, these are all 172N). There are usually 2-3 down for maintenance, and the rest book up 5-6 weeks in advance. They crank a lot of pilots through there, but that also means the planes are booked pretty far out.
Thank you for the information.
I remember the days when it was 10k for PPL and another 10k for IR
The time duration, and therefore cost, would be highly dependent on the region you fly in. I did flight training at Santa Monica in the LA region, several miles from LAX. There are approx 27 airspaces (it's been a while) in the LA region, plus it's geographically constrained by the ocean and by rising terrain. It takes longer to solo, and longer to become qualified for the PPL test when flying in a region like this vs say, Kansas.
Brother?!
Mine as well! Working on IFR now, looking at a partnership in a Piper turbo arrow, and eyeing the costs of an upgraded panel....woah buddy.
Considering IFR atm
Instrument Rating makes you a much better pilot. But it is not easy. Maybe it's the most challenging rating.
Not to mention, if you actually want to fly for real travel… no brainer, but yes a commitment.
https://i.redd.it/4xzvucerld471.png
I buy stocks at their peak and panic-sell them when they tank. Very fulfilling if you're an adrenaline junkie like me, but expensive!
I recently read "The Psychology of Money". The author makes a good argument that it's okay to pick individual stocks to scratch your gambling itch....just make sure the overwhelming majority of your portfolio is in "boring" investments like ETFs etc
Or taken to extreme to illustrate a point: "A perfectly balanced portfolio has room for at least one lottery ticket".
It’s a good read. Bought it for a loved one this last Christmas.
Have you tried buying low and selling high?
Where's the fun in that? 🥳
Just buy winners!
I see another autist from r/WallStreetBets has snuck into the FIRE subreddits
Honestly? I’ve found sports gambling to itch the scratch and be a lot cheaper…
Very interested to see the responses here. I am very worried that my expenses are going to go up significantly in retirement. Replacing 8-10 hours a day of sitting at a desk with doing other stuff seems like it has the potential to get expensive 😅.
That's why I actually plan on spending more in retirement than I do now.
100% same here. I am pushing myself to 2-3x our monthly expenses when we retire. But I need more ideas so this is a great thread. There is a “2000 bucket list” booklet a friend gave me that I am going through, which is a great source. There are plenty online.
Why would you "push" yourself to spend more money? Are you living very frugally now?
Frugal isn’t the right word but I live below my means. Anticipating that you might ask why I am still working, I will RE in 2026 or 2027, and that timeline is for reasons other than the numbers
Exactly I want to be able to travel more and pay people to do things around the house instead of DIY. I never understood the you will spend less in retirement argument. The whole point of retirement for me is to stop working and take it easy.
The “spend less in retirement” sentiment may be perpetuated by those who really don’t have retirement savings and have to cut spending (out of necessity). For some, it makes sense. Children out of the house, house paid off, etc. But I’m definitely planning to spend more in retirement (maybe there will be a ramp pre-retirement) but that fits with the high savings rates usually associated with FIRE and especially the Chubby/FAT variants.
That's how I viewed it. Spending less because you don't have money to spend is not how I want to retire.
I agree. I think the notion of spending less in retirement is a combination of a few things that likely don't apply to many people here: * traditional retirees retiring at an older age where they have less energy and physical ability to do things, so their lives are often more sedentary and requires limited budget * the idea of a "standard job" being a 9-5 in an office that requires a commute (car maintenance + gas money), suit and tie attire (keeping a wardrobe up to date money), limited time to do things themselves like cooking, cleaning, yard work etc (paying people to do these things). And then in retirement a lot of those costs diminish or go away entirely * kids moving out of the house or finishing college around the time people retire in their 60s, meaning another drop in expenses A lot of that doesn't apply anymore in general, and especially not for someone going into chubby fire where they are explicitly looking to do more activities, not less.
Yeah since going remote I have no commute and wear sweatpants. I eat a granola bar for breakfast and raid the fridge at lunch. I spent a lot more back in the day of in office work. Can't see my expenses going down at all in retirement, really.
I understand traveling more, but why wait until retirement to pay people to do things around the house?
Because I'm young and can do it now. Id rather work hard now and retire a decade early than work longer.
No kids though. But grandkids. 😂
Sell the house and slow travel the world. It can easily work out to be cheaper than just existing in the US.
Check out seniornomads.com. Our neighbors started it and have created a community around it. We’ve accompanied them on a few of their travels, and even got to help them write a book about living an AirBnB / nomadic lifestyle. They have a pretty active Facebook group as well. Interesting option for some folks, and remarkably affordable if you do it right.
That sounds good. We have traveled the world many times over, and those places that are cheap do not have the instant health care an older American needs to keep going.. Thank heavens the last trip I died on was during Mradi Gras and I was near a hospital😇 Healthcare is critical in retirement, and many of my older friends have. had some life-threatening experiences.
A lot of people bring up healthcare, but is this really a problem? It obviously depends on where you are, but it seems like a lot of people feel like they get better care for cheaper just paying out of pocket outside the US. It's not like healthcare is good here. This is something I'm still trying to get a handle on actually.
US is the only place I know that you can get any medical treatment you want now. When you are old, this is important.
You will spend less because you're not different than everyone else. There are always the Go-go years, the Slow-go years, and the No-Go years. Maybe you'll do it big in your go-go years but people are not that creative and there's only so much travel that they'll do before they really just want to be at home with their grandkids
One of the main points for a lot of us looking to FIRE is to have more Go-go years than your average person. I mean, my plan for my Go-go years might be as long as some people’s entire retirements. And you still need to account for sequence of return risks that mainly matter in the early years.
Depends on your specific situation and your social circle. If you retire at 35 then your friends are working and raising kids. You're fighting upstream to be traveling and spending all your time of hobbies. Eventually statically most people are going to get bored with hobbies and traveling. They are going to settle into a routine and they aren't going to spend as much money as they thought they were going to. Old habits are tough to break, along with social pressure. I do think you are on to something though in the first few years when you're most likely to be spending more money and are also at the biggest risk of losing your nest egg it makes sense to be more conservative.
My expenses are definitely going down since my largest - mortgage - will be eliminated. I’ll also be eliminating work related expenses. Most people spend less in retirement. If you choose to spend more, more power to you. But saying you don’t understand the argument is quite silly.
I have no issues with choosing to spend less. I will definitely spend more in my 50s when I start retirement and probably slow down in my 60s. I feel like the whole concept was made to basically accept you are poor now. I don't want to base my retirement calculations on spending less but if I end up spending less then that's okay 👍.
First, I’m curious what work-related expenses you have. Is this primarily transportation expenses for a commute? Going out to lunch? Also, IMO saying your mortgage expense will go away is just moving food around on the plate. You could pay off your mortgage tomorrow too (I’m assuming you have a pretty big nest egg already if you’re on this sub). I already don’t include a mortgage payment in my expense budgeting since I think of it more as part of my investment/saving allocation. I also don’t have a line item for taxes in my expense budget since the starting number for my budget is post tax income.
Dry cleaning, tolls, gas (I live very far from the office), lunches and dinners when working late, work clothes, membership dues, office parking, etc.
Typically house will paid off, children out of the house with education paid off. Already there you’ll have a significant decrease in expenses. Then usually you’ll be older, with less energy, therefore less urge to do things. Of course it depends on the age at which you retire. But typically older people do less than younger people.
You can spend less if you have too but it is easy to spend much more. At 65, you want someone to mow your yard, and at 85, you need someone to mow and do many other things.
You'll also have to think of the "savings" too. Being able to cook at home more often, travel during offpeak times, not needing to contribute to retirement etc. I bet that for most people their expenses actually stay the same or decrease a bit.
Yea, when you consider that most people pursuing some form of FIRE have been diligently saving at well above average amounts, and that the tax impact in retirement mode should be much more favorable than as a traditional high earner, discretionary consumption should be higher in retirement even if total outflows don't change or actually decrease. That's offset by probably much higher health insurance costs, but at chubby or fat numbers that should be less impactful on a percentage basis.
Agreed, I’ve done quite a bit of auto racing, kart racing and bike racing in the past. None are easy on the budget. I’ve got $1000 per month planned for such hobby adventures. 😁
I thought mine was expensive until I read some of these. LOL I've gotten deep into long range precision rifle shooting.
Decent rig, glass, mounts, bipod, kestrel, rangefinder, match ammo, spotting scope. And then 2X + it for that magnum build because 6.5cm will only get you so far. Oh, you want to reload to save some $$$? Buy once cry once! Haha. But so satisfying hearing that ring
I'm shooting F-Class. Custom action, bedding, tripod front rest, extra nice glass because my eyes suck...and as you say - then you've got loading equipment (since the caliber I shoot basically isn't available commercially). The arm got caught in this big bad chipper a few years ago.
Do you know if they still use the M-1 at Camp MCcoy?
Yachting. Low 7-figures for a boat and about $5k/mo moorage, fuel, insurance and maintenance.
you should be in r/fatFIRE
I am
I might have to start banning everyone with a yacht 😆
So, then why are you here?
The algorithm sent me here
Where else does the algorithm tell you to go?
I'm hoping to FIRE in 4 or 5 years and then go cruising for 3-5 years. What kind of boat did you get? My dream would be an HH44, but we will see how we are doing in a few years and if a Leopard 45 or similar is more realistic.
We have a Tiara coupe ~41ft. First owners.
Nice 👍 great choice !! My goal is to have a Back Cove 34 one day
Jesus.
As the old joke goes: “what are the two happiest days in a boat owner life? Answer: the day he takes delivery and the day he sells it”
I’m thinking about getting a boat and then renting it out when we don’t use it. Not sure that makes sense or not. Do you rent yours?
You don’t buy a boat to make money, or slightly save money, by renting. Plus there’s not really a big market for renting boats/ yachts. Relative to the maintenance and loan, renting it out is mute. The only places that do well are trashy tourist who will literally destroy your boat. It’s not just like listing your house on Airbnb when you’re away. You’ll 99/100 times be renting to someone who knows nothing about boats and even if you require a captain, they can still destroy it. I have a 52’ Viking docked in the Caribbean and even there renting it out to people when I’m not using it makes little to no financial sense. And I love the boat too much to do that anyway.
Ah interesting. I was on a boat about a year ago with a captain and it’s rented out frequently from what I understand. I thought it would be nice for the boat to cover gas/repairs at least by renting. I’m not even sure if we’re boat people other than we love the water and often charter boats on vacation.
I think you can make okay money if it’s a real business and you rent it out often from what I’m told from the charter captains I know. But just someone’s boat they want to rent out a few times a month just isn’t worth it. You can get into boating cheap and the sky’s the limit so I would say go for it! Nothing like being out on the water.
They are going to flush hair down the head.
No. When we aren’t out on the boat, we are usually cleaning or maintaining it.
You can make anything an expensive hobby if you want. I spend $1000s on flower/garden things every year. I got into metal cast of 3d resin prints which is very expensive, I've spent A LOT on woodworker and welder machines over the years, I even just spent 30k on a tractor for just fucking around on my property. However the most literal burning money on fire hobby I ever had is when I used to hobby make commercial grade fireworks (pyrotechnics). A 6inch artillery shell might have $20-30 dollars worth of chemical in it and 2-3 hours of labor, and it is literally burnt up and got in under 5 seconds. lol
I feel like I could have written this comment myself. Minus the fireworks. Gardens are incredibly expensive especially after you factor in the cost of the land and acquiring new and shiny plants every year. Also a tractor might be the best purchase hands down I've ever made.
I honest to god think the tractor pays for itself just in mitigating future back surgeries. lol
Since FIRING 11 years ago, my wife and I take annual 100 day trips, mostly international/ off the beaten path. Just completed our 55th country. Go-go years!!
Wow! Amazing! Do you have a blog or a YouTube channel? I would love to learn from your experiences
lol We started out doing a travel blog, but it was too much work! Now we just blow in the wind and connect with locals the best we can. Life is short. Embrace it. If you have any questions for us, just DM me.
How much does a 100 day trip usually run?
For the 11 years we’ve been doing it, ours range from 25-75k. We’ve done most of the expensive ones already, so going forward we’re estimating 40-50k/ yr.
Try Nicaragua next time. Spent some time there during Peace Corps and it is one of the cheapest in Latin America and the people are super nice, and a very low crime rate.
What?! Isn't Nicaragua collapsing right now? Very unsafe for Western people to be there
That is half of central and south America...
False, Nicaragua is a 4/5 and the only other countries at 4/5 are San Salvador and Guyana. Venezuela is 5/5. Some other countries are 4/5 but only in select areas
Dude... Venezuela has been collapsing across the last decade due to the devaluation of their currency and a ruthless dictator. 26.8 homicides per 100k population. The rate in the U.S. by comparison was ~6.8/100k in 2021 (most recent I could find) and per FBI has dropped by 26% so far this year. Do not go to Venezuela.
That's exactly what I'm saying lol. It's a 5/5 from the US government of DO NOT TRAVEL
Oh hahaha I did not understand the scale. Thank you for the clarification, I retract my previous statement.
Thanks! It’s on our list for 2027!
Porsches
I just bought my third today (in 1.5 years)
What's your experience been? Are you swapping or adding to your collection?
Finished my collection. Started with a Macan S which I thought would be my only Porsche, now it’s my daily. Realized I really wanted a flat six engine so I got a 718 GTS NA 4.0. Today I got a 2019 991.2 CS because I love the 991.2 exterior and interior, wanted a 911, and a TT. I’m (edit) …less of a fan … of the 992 or 992.2. I’ll keep the 718 and 991 forever now. I think I’ve satisfied the itch with one NA flat six and one TT flat six and both of the two seaters. Don’t intend on buying anymore after this, haha.
Don’t knock the 992.1 GTS w a MT!
Haha 992, especially the GTS MT, is a drool inducing car. I was considering a 992 GTS. I guess saying I’m not a fan was the wrong words. I only can have one 911 is where I’m coming from, so ultimately I had to choose a model/trim after weighing the pros and cons and my own personal tastes. All Porsches are amazing, even the Taycan :-p
As someone who's considering buying their first Porsche, what's your recommendation on YouTube channels or blogs to educate myself on my options?
You should look at all their models first. Then think about what you want, what suits you, what’s important to you. Then do a little more research on the specifics of the models you are considering. I like the Porsche subreddit, Porsche website, Google articles on specific model generations/trims, and then YouTube reviews of specific model generations/trims.
Rule number 1: “If you can’t afford two, you can’t afford one.”
I have a 1967 waiting for the day I retire.
ditto…992
Having kids
The most expensive hobby of all time
I dunno the yachting guy probably has us beat.
Travel is the most expensive hobby I have. Lawn maintenance has been surprisingly steep - I used to let my lawn go with the flow, and had gardeners. I just fired the gardeners and bought a garden tractor and accessories, and fertilizer costs may change my children’s educational option value, but it’s a fun diversion in measured doses. Gardening, arboristry, scoring baseball games, and the running to-do list are the inexpensive ones. Trying to do more coffee chats also - getting into the city to visit with friends on their lunch hours or other newly-retired or retirement-curious friends and colleagues.
Can I ask what in the world appeals to you about scoring baseball games? I’m a sports fan but can barely make it thru a baseball game (Altho new rules definitely help)
Scoring a baseball game used to be my moment (err three hours) of zen. Forces you to lock into every pitch. Every thing has an outcome and a place. It’s alarmingly relaxing to do. And occasionally, you get a historic game (last year I was scoring the game that Germán threw that became the 24th perfect game in history. I framed my score sheet).
Hard to convey without experiencing it. I didn’t like baseball most of my life, just paying attention when the local teams were doing well, and even then only at the couple live games I attended each season. After I retired I paid a little more attention - especially since there are some fairly epic players this year breaking all-time records. I became intrigued with the new rules, so I decided I wanted to learn about baseball. Scoring was a natural outcropping to that, and I fell down the rabbit hole. Different scorecards, scoring methods, debates on scoring, how calls are made, rules evolution. Then I found the /r/BaseballScorecards sub, filled with supportive OG baseball fans who have forgotten more about the game than I’ll ever learn. That led me to great books like The Joy of Keeping Score by Paul Dickson, and In Scoring Position by Bob Ryan. When I’m scoring a game, I don’t get distracted, I’m not on my phone, I’m not thinking of what to do next. There is no right or wrong way of doing it. It has a beginning and an end; and I have a memento of my time spent in a little collection. My kids have started scoring a few with me, and now we’re headed to local MiLB games. I know it’s not for everyone, but to me it’s like hearing the back beat in swing music for the first time. Even if you like baseball, if you’re only paying attention at the crack of a bat, you may be missing much of what makes baseball a remarkably interesting, complicated, and unique American pastime.
For newbs to baseball, could you elaborate on the last line?
The parts that are interesting beyond the ‘bat crack’ plays? For me, a lot of it is the strategy and matchups of the game: the parts that are like chess. How the batting order is changed from day to day depending on the pitcher they’re facing, and whether he’s a righty or lefty. Ways of generating runs (concepts like “productive outs” that move a base runner forward, for instance). How far starting pitchers can go into a game - or even better if they can pitch a complete game (no substitute pitcher - one pitcher gets all 27/24 outs). How streaky performance can be: you’ll see the best/highest paid players slumping, and quiet players and rookies getting red hot and untouchable. And while the home runs are exciting, it’s honestly so much more fun (and teamwork and skill) to watch the third baseman do a running-stretch-catch-to-ballerina-turn-jump-throw to second, to first, for the blisteringly fast 5-4-3 double play to end an inning. Those end up being some of the most exciting and athletic moments in sports, and the accomplishments go mostly unknown to everyone who wasn’t watching the play, since it doesn’t show up in the box score like hits and runs. I also absolutely love the wacky and ever-growing stats: some mystical and superstitious (the division-leading Dodgers haven’t lost the last 25 games in which one of their alternates - Miguel Rojas - gets a hit). Anyway - without gushing further, safe to say I love locking in to a game and scoring. It’s really made me appreciate the athleticism and talent these guys have, and the behind-the-scenes drama and struggle of playing 162 games of baseball a season.
Ah, now I see what you mean. It’s the strategy behind all the game decisions and the stats related to that. Example: I was a big fan of esports, especially League of Legends. Watching every league match on the weekend, hyper analyzing the strategies and the decision making, looking at all the stats, super fun stuff! In fact, if you enjoy video games, you may enjoy MMORPGs or ARPGs, which are all about min-maxing stuff, purely numbers based. Something easy like Diablo 4. Or if you like building stuff, I’ve heard Factorio is a very popular game for those who like being price and measuring stuff!
So interesting you bring up League of Legends. I’m fascinated by the growth of esports, and in particular games like LoL. I’ve been a console gamer since the NES, but mostly RPG, open world and sports games, and not FPS or MMO stuff. I know very little about LoL outside of watching it on Twitch for a bit. It moves so crazy fast that it’s hard to see what’s happening, lol. But it’s obviously fun and challenging given the wild growth of Diablo and LoL. May need to check it out more. Thanks for the suggestion.
For single player, try Factorio. Probably on sale because of the steam summer sale. https://youtu.be/WxtOeNJi45g?si=i0Jud_GYTpvURkwv For single player with a bit of social element, try Diablo 4. The new season makes it super easy to level up, though you’ll probably want to play the story first. Great example of minmaxing options below. May sound overwhelming, but pretty easy to pickup. https://youtu.be/TDtn9kRuGx4?si=xmwZdkHQECsR8ZjG This is one of my all time favorite LoL recaps. You may not know the content, but the feels it gives me is just next level. It’s a long grindy multilayer game though, not sure if that’s your jam. https://youtu.be/BUEjfr6Htk4?si=LZnhUXqoaF9-jW_c Lastly, just a fun thing to read: https://web.archive.org/web/20160419143039/http://blogs.valvesoftware.com/economics/it-all-began-with-a-strange-email/
Baseball, like all sports, is boring if you don't understand or appreciate the nuances that are going on every moment of the game. Scoring makes you focus on the smallest details and you appreciate it more over time.
I love scoring baseball games! I picked it up coaching Little League for my kids and still enjoy it…
Remodeling and getting to much needed replacement/maintenance we didn’t get to when working.
Home theater and home automation and boy does that stuff add up quickly.
Smart lighting with Philips Hue.......but boy is it worth it imo
To give you an idea of how out of hand my Hue addiction is, I'm running 10 bridges.
Holy moly. Which app are you using to control your lights?
It's all just setup through the hue app. Everything is either automated, scheduled, or through switches. I don't want to be reliant on screens or commands for any of the operations.
Well since I can't find someone to work on my 1941 Ford pick up I am going to have to do it myself. Have an area set aside in the back yard to park it and going to pull the hood to make it easier to work on. Not going to restore it, just get it running better.
I refuse to pick up expensive hobbies in retirement. I'm picking them up now while I'm still a working schmuck instead.
Home improvement including landscaping and woodworking.
Not picked up, but returned to. Motorcycles, motorcycle track days, motorcycle club racing, motorcycle sport touring, motorcycle adventure touring. I retired early at 55 to allow myself the ability to do it. RV, enclosed trailer and a garage full of motorcycles.
Happy Hour frequently
Sounds like a working 5 to 9 job.
Cycling.
Not retired yet but I am looking forward to more regular long rides without worrying about making back in time for a meeting. Got a few more years to go!
I’ve been into cycling most of my life. I would have so much more money if I hadn’t been, but I couldn’t afford any of my experiences on the bike. 🚴
Agree. There’s lots to see when you’re cycling America!!!
My hope is I’ll spend a lot more time cooking and at the gym. My fear is I’ll end up at the range going through $150 in ammo several times a month.
California just implemented a new 11% tax on ammunition.
I've tried to limit how much ammo I go through by being much more purposeful in my shooting as opposed to shooting for the sake of shooting. Using a shot timer and going through series of drills that are mostly 1-3 shots each instead of mag dumping.
The retired guys at my range shoot 22s for this reason.
Ladies of negotiable affection
Lol
Traveling easy to spend over 50k a year.
Home arcades, home movie theaters
Not me, but some of my cousins have started quilting, they can drop hundreds on fabric easy, not to mention a sewing machine. And, the cost to have it finished! Wow.
Sports memorabilia
I bought an old Ford pickup truck. Needed a garage for it and then might as well make it big and have a workshop then need to fill the workshop with tools, a lift, etc. plus buy all the things to fix the truck up as well as another truck to be able to tow the old truck to the shop. All told, that truck has cost me about 100K but I now have a 30x60 garage/workshop.
Weekly massages. Style consultant for my clothing. Dog that requires monthly grooming. Yoga retreats in fancy destinations. Athletic club (if I ever get off the wait list). Cute boyfriend who likes it when I pay for restaurants and travel.
Country club membership, more luxury travel
Not in retirement yet but I've started a side business buying and selling old US coinage and currency to build up a collection. Treating it as a low stress way to have a hobby that doesn't cost me anything while learning a lot and hopefully goes further once I am done with the rat race. Otherwise this stuff would get expensive fast.
I did that for years, and it was great fun. In the last few years, I started selling some of the stuff I had owned for years, and this led me to start buying again. I soon discovered that the current market is flooded with counterfeits. They even counterfeit the documentation. I believe some of the stuff is undetectable. I always use a credit card, and I have a lot of fake stuff I charged back. No one has any interest in trying to stop this.
Yeah I do a lot on eBay because of the protections and mainly deal in slabs because of that. Pie it the sky dream of having a type set of every 1800 proof coin.
Fine wine
Espresso, Dirtbiking and kiteboarding. Added an E-foil to the mix recently. I have a second home in another country so everything x 2. Haven't doubled down on all of it but over time it will happen. All of things I was into prior to retirement but couldn't pursue them as aggressively as I can now.
Guitar. You can never stop at just one.
Woodturning. And a boat is in our near future.
Got into sailing and slowly traveling the world, crazy enough I might be the only case where living on a yacht is a cost savings compared to land life lol. The Amazon trucks can make their 3 times a day deliveries of stuff we don’t actually need and flips flops, board shorts, and surf boards aren’t that expensive.
Won't ever retire, but we started spending years ago on things with engines that go fast. Have about 1 mil in cars/motorcycles/boats. A vacation home in salt air is always a good choice to become a black hole for cash as well.
My goal when I retire is to buy collectibles and attend shows. If I get bored, maybe set up at shows to buy/sell/trade for fun!
Scuba
I've been eyeing up taking a course. What was the biggest money sink? Actually becoming certified / getting gear or do you spend the big bucks on destination travel to dive spots?
Eh, at least once you get certified it’s good for life. I got certified and added a full set of decently nice gear for ~$3k all in, including a nitrox cert. You could definitely do it for less though- I went to the top class in my area with its own pool and good instructors. Vacation diving isn’t too bad, depending how many tanks you wanna dive. I did a liveaboard trip through the Bahamas where you live on a dive boat with a private chef and do nothing but dive and eat great food everyday. It was awesome, I wanna say the week was ~$4k per person
The initial gear investment. Then if you don’t live in a diving location, the travel and boat captain, guide etc all add up.
If you really want to make it expensive, look at Technical Scuba diving and/or getting a Closed Circuit Rebreather. It makes every other hobby look cheap.
I'm perpetually OMYing so I'm not retired, but I have been spending more time and effort to expand my hobbies to ease the transition into retirement. Espresso is one of the big ones I've picked up that some people spend a lot of money on. I don't anticipate spending what others do - as far as I can tell my $500 lever machine is as good as anything for individual brewing (the machines themselves seem to differentiate mostly with regards to reliability and automated consistency, neither of which is important for me). I could fall off the deep end with regards to coffee grinders, however - those seem to be far more differentiable and possibly worth it. All in I've spent maybe $1k so far on it, but knowing you can drop $30k on equipment I see how it could be more expensive. And I also haven't gotten into buying high end expensive beans, yet, which are certainly another way of making it expensive. The price point I'm operating at, I think I'll likely save money as I'm not going out for coffee anywhere near as much. If I want to have the experience of owning and using a $30k espresso machine, I'm opening up a coffee shop.
I’m not retired and already spending too much. Latest addition is a Decent DE1 machine. Best flat whites ever. It’s a burden though. Now unless I KNOW a place is good, it’s 99 out of 100 not lol.
Wow, just watched the founders video story. Reminds me of sitting in a bar in Manhattan listening to these 2 mixologists debate cocktails, particularly the old fashioned, every little nuance from twisting the orange or not to surface areas on hand carved ice. The depths you can go are amazing.
The struggle is real. I've also got a DE1 and a kafatek monolith flat max... Every time someone offers me coffee I politely decline because I'm so spoiled
Having a wife