Your Money or Your Life: 9 Steps to Transforming Your Relationship with Money and Achieving Financial Independence: Fully Revised and Updated for 2018

If I can be ruuuuuuuuude for a moment, I don't think you're looking at this holistically. It's pretty natural for a teenager to get their first job and buy a car on finance and - oh! whups! I got in a bit of debt. Getting into debt trouble is often the catalyst that forces the youth to take stock of their finances, get serious and (after getting out of debt) build a life plan. Maybe you're a bit comfortable with your income, so you've never had to build a big picture of what about my pension? You're allowed to spend your money on what you want, but the goals page of the wiki is near the beginning of the flowchart for a reason. If decorating and garden are your biggest priorities then, by all means, spend all your savings on them. But an important goal for most people in your position is to be able to retire in comfort. You and your spouse will need a combined pension pot in the region of £1,500,000 - maybe more, maybe less - to maintain your standard of living in retirement. Do you want to retire in your 50's or in your 60's? I know people singlehanding 50' sailboats across the atlantic in their 60's, but these are pretty committed vagabonds. You can do it as more of a fun jaunt if you're financially independent in your 50's. A thing I post here with some frequency is that your pension and your mortgage are the two pillars of your financial life and that you shouldn't neglect one in favour of the other. If you're all on track with your mortgage and your pension then spend your money on what you like - it can hardly be described as "squandering" if you're on target for these critical life goals. But my guess is that you're asking this question because you haven't got the big picture view yet. You might find one of these books helpful: Your Money or Your Life - understanding what's valuable to you and how to use money to achieve your goals. Millionaire Next Door - "How people in normal jobs, electrician is a great example, can accumulate wealth over time through good choices."Electric_Cat_999 The Richest Man In Babylon - out of copyright, so free online or probably very cheap on Amazon or secondhand One of Clare Seal's books - "her focus is on the link between emotions and spending". Lars Kroijer's YouTube has a playlist about building a spreadsheet to project investment returns and retirement spending. Pension is probably more efficient than other savings at your level of income - but less so for your husband's income.

You might find one of these books helpful: Your Money or Your Life - understanding what's valuable to you and how to use money to achieve your goals. Millionaire Next Door - "How people in normal jobs, electrician is a great example, can accumulate wealth over time through good choices."Electric_Cat_999 The Richest Man In Babylon - out of copyright, so free online or probably very cheap on Amazon or secondhand One of Clare Seal's books - "her focus is on the link between emotions and spending".

You might find one of these books helpful: Your Money or Your Life - understanding what's valuable to you and how to use money to achieve your goals. Millionaire Next Door - "How people in normal jobs, electrician is a great example, can accumulate wealth over time through good choices."Electric_Cat_999 The Richest Man In Babylon - out of copyright, so free online or probably very cheap on Amazon or secondhand One of Clare Seal's books - "her focus is on the link between emotions and spending".

The fire movement is a very specific thing, starting in a structured way in the 1990s with this book: https://a.co/d/0dUZwraY It is about deciding on an annual spend, then working until you have enough wealth to support that spend, and then stopping work. The goal is not working at a level of SPEND that gives you the life you want. You are doing something different. Stacking coin without a FIRE goal. Doesn't mean its not a good way for YOU to live, its just not FIRE.