Are u spending more due to stock market gains?

[Rob Base 2.0]

Have u been spending more freely since stocks have been gaining this year? I don't mean just for Christmas, but if in general you have been spending more due to stock market increasing and stuff.

[Deleted]

No, because I'm just as broke as always. 

The stock market gains only effects my retirement and the kid's college accounts, which is nice, but it doesn't really change my day to day spending. 

[resolution]

I am considering buying a house that is in foreclosure with my brokerage funds. It wouldn't have been possibility if gains had been lower, since we are cutting it pretty close.

[tallguy]

No, not yet.  I ended up retiring four years earlier than I had planned.  I can't yet access retirement accounts without restrictions or penalties and don't want to pull from my Roth or sell taxable so I am living off of savings for a while.  I'll start to spend in a year or two assuming we don't have a major crash.  I'll just do Roth conversions in the meantime so I don't waste the low tax bracket.   

[MN-Investor]

DH retired last year, so, for the most part, stock gains have just added to our retirement portfolio. We have locked in some gains by increasing our investments in bonds and reducing our investments in stock.

However, we did do one thing last year because of stock gains. DH needed a new car. Back in '98-'99 he put $8,736 into his company's employee stock purchase plan. Through dividend reinvestments and stock growth, it was sitting at $41,582 in spring 2016. We used that to buy a fully loaded Hyundai Santa Fe Sport for DH in 2017. Actually, we would have bought that car anyway; it's just nice to think that stock in his former employee paid for it!

[cronewitch]

I am slightly and will much more next year. I will be 70 and take RMD next year and get increased SS. This will take my monthly income from 788 to about 4K so will need to spend more or invest more. I am selling my old house so will get another 300-350K also and about 12K in dividends and interest so I need to stop being cheap with myself. Today I bought a more expensive brand of tartar sauce, I still look at price per ounce but need to stop and buy what I want more often.

[pooks]

Nope, trying to figure out where we are going to cut for our federal income tax increase, property tax increase, teenage drivers car insurance, medical insurance increase, and HOA increase.  Next year looks like a big suck. 

[Deleted]

The money I have in the stock market is, as minnesotapaintlady points out, retirement savings and 529s for the grandchildren.  

I have a date tentatively set for retirement (June 1, 2019) so it doesn't even affect that.  If I decide to work another year instead, it won't depend on stock market gains.

cronewitch , has it really been almost 4 years since you retired?  You made me laugh at the better brand of tartar sauce. 

[Deleted]

Nope.  I'm retired and kept the withdrawal rate at 3% of my assets at retirement, which was 3.5 years ago.  I had an expensive year in 2015 when DH and I downsized and there were more expenses than expected, but the average rate since retirement is under 4% and my net worth has gone up 14% since I stopped working.  That's how it should work:  I'm not looking forward to bad years in the market but they'll happen, and I most likely won't decrease my withdrawals, either.

Pre-retirement, as some of you have said, it also would have zero effect.  Retirement savings wasn't to be touched till retirement.

[busymom]

Nope.  I'm still waiting for that nasty market correction.  And, as others have mentioned, it's my retirement fund, not my "fun" money.

[TheHaitian]

Dec 16, 2017 23:59:58 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

No, because I'm just as broke as always. 

The stock market gains only effects my retirement and the kid's college accounts, which is nice, but it doesn't really change my day to day spending. 

Basically this!!!!

The market does not change our daily life at all, we just keep throwing money in there hoping it will be enough when we need it.

[Rob Base 2.0]

So the gains don't give you any more confidence or anything, and that doesn't spur any spending?

On the margins, it is giving me some confidence.  I dipped a bit more into our EF than I wanted to for a renovation, and wife upped some things in the renovation (about $800 worth), but I figure we can make up for it next year and save some extra.........but if the markets weren't as strong, I think I would have scrutinized / been worried about it more, maybe even delayed some of it (it was a new toilet, that we could have put in later if it came to it), if that makes sense?

[Happy prose]

Dec 17, 2017 2:33:45 GMT -5 cronewitch said:

I am slightly and will much more next year. I will be 70 and take RMD next year and get increased SS. This will take my monthly income from 788 to about 4K so will need to spend more or invest more. I am selling my old house so will get another 300-350K also and about 12K in dividends and interest so I need to stop being cheap with myself. Today I bought a more expensive brand of tartar sauce, I still look at price per ounce but need to stop and buy what I want more often.

cronewitch This made me laugh! It reminded me too much of myself- livin' large by buying good tartar sauce. Lol

[Value Buy]

We are retired, but not hitting the retirement accounts yet.
Yes, we feel better about the economy, but other than spending more money eating out and travelling back and forth to the winter home, not really spending more money.
Just reallocating where we spend it and feeling great about it!
We did liquidate some holdings, in 2015, not retirement ones, to pay the down payment on the winter home, but we were doing that regardless of the economy anyway.

[souldoubt]

To echo what others said no because it's retirement money.  We have 401K's, Roth IRA's and a taxable account.  We paid for a wedding this year and weren't able to contribute anything into the taxable account but have stayed the course with the 401K's and Roth IRA's.  My goal is to grow the taxable account into our 'f it we can walk away and retire or semi-retire in our mid to late 50's if we want/need to' money.  Other than that it's just numbers in a spreadsheet and on a few websites that we don't think much about otherwise because it's long term. 

[Deleted]

Dec 17, 2017 12:18:10 GMT -5 Rob Base 2.0 said:

So the gains don't give you any more confidence or anything, and that doesn't spur any spending?

On the margins, it is giving me some confidence.  I dipped a bit more into our EF than I wanted to for a renovation, and wife upped some things in the renovation (about $800 worth), but I figure we can make up for it next year and save some extra.........but if the markets weren't as strong, I think I would have scrutinized / been worried about it more, maybe even delayed some of it (it was a new toilet, that we could have put in later if it came to it), if that makes sense?

I have kind of mentally separated myself from those accounts.  It doesn't feel "real" to me because it could drop 40% tomorrow.  But, on the same token, the 2000 tech bubble bursting didn't phase me either.  I still went ahead and built my house and bought a new truck within a year of that.  2008 I don't even remember.  I was too busy prepping for my wedding and enjoying life.   I have my "real life" budget and money for the here and now and the investments for the future that are kind of a gamble in some ways.  There are still a lot of years before I draw on it and if the market is down for the next 15...well...the fact that it was going crazy in 2017 won't matter much then.  

[Tiny]

The money I have invested is Retirement (or build more wealth) money so I have no plans to spend it at this point.    I have been spending more money because I've paid off some debts in 2017 (a car loan, a furniture loan, and my HELOC (used for repairs to the rental "shack").  I committed some of the free'd up money to a smart phone and plan and better home internet.   The rest of it is still kind of "fun money" and I've been spending it on "one time" kinds of things.   At some point if I buy another property it will get used for that (as monthly money towards it. I've got enough for a DP and good enough credit for another mortgage). 


TBH, I'm waiting to see what the new tax rules are going to cost me... I'm hoping it's a wash (whatever tax break I get will cover whatever I will have to pay for out of pocket) but I'm feeling like I'm gonna have to spend more money out of pocket once the dust settles.  I'm not expecting to have more spending money from the tax reform (unless you consider that I have more money to pay for the stuff I got via a tax break as having more spending money).   

[Tiny]

Dec 17, 2017 12:18:10 GMT -5 Rob Base 2.0 said:

So the gains don't give you any more confidence or anything, and that doesn't spur any spending?

On the margins, it is giving me some confidence.  I dipped a bit more into our EF than I wanted to for a renovation, and wife upped some things in the renovation (about $800 worth), but I figure we can make up for it next year and save some extra.........but if the markets weren't as strong, I think I would have scrutinized / been worried about it more, maybe even delayed some of it (it was a new toilet, that we could have put in later if it came to it), if that makes sense?

The gains make me more optimistic about being able to walk away from my job in a couple of years (and walk to a lower paying more flexible time wise job). The gains don't make me think I can spend more money on stuff I don't really need now.    Of course, maybe I've just trained myself to think about how having more crap now - means I'll have to keep working longer... 

[pooks]

Dec 17, 2017 13:41:39 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

Dec 17, 2017 12:18:10 GMT -5 Rob Base 2.0 said:

So the gains don't give you any more confidence or anything, and that doesn't spur any spending?

On the margins, it is giving me some confidence.  I dipped a bit more into our EF than I wanted to for a renovation, and wife upped some things in the renovation (about $800 worth), but I figure we can make up for it next year and save some extra.........but if the markets weren't as strong, I think I would have scrutinized / been worried about it more, maybe even delayed some of it (it was a new toilet, that we could have put in later if it came to it), if that makes sense?

I have kind of mentally separated myself from those accounts.  It doesn't feel "real" to me because it could drop 40% tomorrow.  But, on the same token, the 2000 tech bubble bursting didn't phase me either.  I still went ahead and built my house and bought a new truck within a year of that.  2008 I don't even remember.  I was too busy prepping for my wedding and enjoying life.   I have my "real life" budget and money for the here and now and the investments for the future that are kind of a gamble in some ways.  There are still a lot of years before I draw on it and if the market is down for the next 15...well...the fact that it was going crazy in 2017 won't matter much then.  

I have been through a couple of downturns now, so I don't really view the run ups as real.  I just assume there will be a correction and then it will start another upward trend.  So I don't get any confidence out of it.  I assume a will see the same milestones a couple of times.  Once going up, then coming down, then going back up again.  

This market looks a little long in the tooth to me.  

[Value Buy]

Dec 17, 2017 13:51:41 GMT -5 pooks said:

Dec 17, 2017 13:41:39 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

I have kind of mentally separated myself from those accounts.  It doesn't feel "real" to me because it could drop 40% tomorrow.  But, on the same token, the 2000 tech bubble bursting didn't phase me either.  I still went ahead and built my house and bought a new truck within a year of that.  2008 I don't even remember.  I was too busy prepping for my wedding and enjoying life.   I have my "real life" budget and money for the here and now and the investments for the future that are kind of a gamble in some ways.  There are still a lot of years before I draw on it and if the market is down for the next 15...well...the fact that it was going crazy in 2017 won't matter much then.  

I have been through a couple of downturns now, so I don't really view the run ups as real.  I just assume there will be a correction and then it will start another upward trend.  So I don't get any confidence out of it.  I assume a will see the same milestones a couple of times.  Once going up, then coming down, then going back up again.  

This market looks a little long in the tooth to me.  

I tend to be long term investor, as in decades in some of my stock holdings.
I am contemplating adjusting some of our IRA'S after the first of the year, and protecting the gains of the last two years by transferring to something safer, that might protect the money earned from falling in value.
I will let the original balances ride.

I have yet decided what that "something safer" could be.........and is the question. 

[lynnerself]

In a way, yes. We are retired and are taking as many long trips as we have always wanted. Currently the account we use to fund these trips has more money in it than when we first retired. If the market were down, we would probably be traveling less.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

Yes, but only because it has allowed us to do some major stuff around the house in preparation of retirement.  Everything would ultimately have gotten done, just more piecemeal.  I think we have a couple major expenses next year (outside painting and decks) and we are good. 

[thyme4change]

Dec 16, 2017 23:48:22 GMT -5 Rob Base 2.0 said:

Have u been spending more freely since stocks have been gaining this year? I don't mean just for Christmas, but if in general you have been spending more due to stock market increasing and stuff.

Yes. Quick before it all goes away.

[zibazinski]

Nope, once I invest it, I never think about it again in terms of me buying anything with it. The kids will probably inherit it. I know I’ll never use it.

[Blonde Granny]

I have only a tiny portion of my investments in stocks (actually I own only 1). The rest is in conservative brokered CDs and Ultra conservative bond funds. My goal remains to never take anything from my principle.

I have loosened up a bit and now take a couple hundred dollars per month from dividend and interest payments but the rest of those payments eventually work their way back to being reinvested. Being retired now for over 22 years most of my crazy spending has stopped and I now live a very simple life.

[giramomma]

Dec 17, 2017 12:18:10 GMT -5 Rob Base 2.0 said:

So the gains don't give you any more confidence or anything, and that doesn't spur any spending?

On the margins, it is giving me some confidence.  I dipped a bit more into our EF than I wanted to for a renovation, and wife upped some things in the renovation (about $800 worth), but I figure we can make up for it next year and save some extra.........but if the markets weren't as strong, I think I would have scrutinized / been worried about it more, maybe even delayed some of it (it was a new toilet, that we could have put in later if it came to it), if that makes sense?

Nope.

The increase for our purposes is on paper only. It doesn't seem tangible.

And like mpl, I'm waiting for the market to correct. If I were trying to time it, I'm betting it will happen within two years or so.

[Bonny]

Yes!

Paying for our over-priced plane tickets to NZ with our over-priced stock $$$ makes it hurt less.