Late Retirement Extreme

[Guitarist]

http://www.cnbc.com/id/46572257

Oh dear...

"The Boomer today who is 55 or older, they're not receiving any income appreciation," Troise says. "They're at serious risks of not keeping their jobs. Since income is not a variable they can control, if they're also now reassessing their market returns, the only other variable they can control is their expenses."

"The reality is if you're going to have to keep working, it's a way to kind of split the difference," Benz says. "That way you can enjoy some of the things you're hoping to enjoy during retirement—taking your grandchildren to Disney, for example—while you're still earning a paycheck."

Control your expenses... by going to Disneyworld!

What's funny is, they put in a few good statements about controling expenses, that earnings in your last few years of contributions won't be that high, but then they completely contradict themselves a sentence later. I feel bad for the average boomer sometimes, they were sold a few promises that are drying up quick.

[velocistar237]

This changes my perspective on everything! And all this time, I thought frugal people were extreme. The LRE are like an hour-long escape act where they spend the first 45 minutes tying their hands in multiple different ways, and then, just when you think they'll start breaking free, they start tying their feet! That's hardcore!

[arebelspy]

You guys are hilarious!  Late retirement extreme, or LRE, needs to become an acronym here.  :D

[sirspiffy]

"... income is not a variable they can control"

is a very big assumption.  I'm all for expense reduction, and portfolio maximization.  Saying you can't earn more is ludicrous.  I don't believe anyone is so unskilled that they can't earn a little extra on the side. 
Some people are that single minded though and hell bent on burning out on the rat race's treadmill.  They might be the hardest hitting boxer ever but if they can't  duck, bob and weave they're not gonna go very far.

[velocistar237]

Saying you can't earn more is ludicrous.

True, but these are people who don't need to earn more, they just need to not go to Disneyland.

For people around age 60 considering Disneyland, anyone could increase income, but everyone can decrease expenses.

Many people in their 50s could reduce their expenses and retire immediately, but if they increased their income, they would have to work 60 hour weeks to pull their retirement in just a couple of years. My dad started a company in his mid-50s, and he was working 80 hour weeks with little to show for it but future earnings. He could easily retire right now if he moved to a smaller, three-bedroom house.

Cutting expenses by a third is immediate and a lot easier than increasing income by 50+% and then waiting for that income to accumulate. You don't have to trade your life energy away in order to gain financial freedom.

This is why MMM is so powerful.