Health & Family Alternate strategy to achieve rewarding lifestyle and wealthy retirement

Long before I considered property as my financial independence vehicle, I took a more important step, that made far more significance.

In my teens, one of my dads friends guided me with the best advice I have ever received in my life. This topic is reaching out to some of the 90's and 00's generation, I expect a lot of hate for this post, however here it is and it worked for me.

I got snipped. I have no financial or economic burdens other than the basics. Since I was 22, I promised myself I'd be overseas at least once a year, for around a month. Hasn't always worked out but I've average far more than 4 weeks a year enjoying paradise in both Australia and the rest of the world.

I wake up on the weekend and decide I could do with another few hours sleep, so I do. I decide I could do with another 2 or 3 drinks at the pub, I can. The friends I grew up with are almost all married with at least one child and you can see they have completely lost their soul. I've got one friend who's doing well with kids but most aren't.

My biggest issue is losing my original circle of friends. They've sold their motorbikes, let their gym memberships expire, had their final overseas trip, and bought an SUV on a 10 year loan.

For men, freezing your little ones before the snip is very cheap and it allows you to make a decision to suit yourself rather than having to accept an accident, or far worse, the "oops, must have missed the pill" handcuffs.

Kids may work for a lot of people but not for me. I enjoy life far too much

What are your thoughts?

 

Your choice - not the advice I'd be giving anyone though.

You miss out on a lot but obviously you get other things.

Again, individual choice.

 

For the man, not always. A lot of the guys I grew up with are dads because of an "accident". They and I have no proof however there are suspicions.

I think it's important to have kids if you want and are ready for them, I know in my 20's I wasn't responsible and I could have made many mistakes. I know some men that are simply sticking with relationships because they are good people and wouldn't allow their child to go through harm.

Lots of people are great parents. But just as many aren't.

 

Excellent advice. I never ever ever want children. They don't appeal to me at all.

 

/patiently awaits the 'Oh, you'll change your mind one day'. replies

 

Not possible now

 

I get that monthly!

I think the Oatmeal summed it up the best

 

haha I like this guys comics ^^^^

I'm going to update this with a serious reply. I think the world in the current time is the best and possibly the most difficult time to live in. In the past, you had a role for life, a set path or simply no hope.

These days, there is so much information and collaboration that it's extremely difficult to live in a contained sphere or bubble. I couldn't imagine life without travel and all the freedoms we have, especially with having to worry about children.

I love life and want to retire carefree. I hope I'm on the right track.

 

http://i39.tinypic.com/ndsltj.jpg

 

Totally derailed my semi-serious thread.

Good posts though!

 

My traditional response is: no thanks, I'm vegetarian

But really, I travel in a circle of mostly "childless by choice" couples. It's definitely a lifestyle choice and none of my close friends regret not having children. Conversely, I know a few people who made the choice to have children and it worked out really well for them. Then there are the very sad cases of married, kids, separation, custody disputes, very expensive and messy court action etc. It's heartbreaking to see what it does to the children involved. I would not want to wish that on anyone.

 

Seems like a great idea to me. Go for it.

 

Great thread.
I think it's whatever makes you happy, kids or no kids, I believe you can have a good life either way it's your choice.

MTR

 

Why do you expect lots of hate? This forum has the full range of society, people who wanted kids and had them, people who wanted kids but didn't for what ever reason and people who chose not to have kids. We chose not to have kids and only once in my life have heard the 'you'll regret it' line. Most people recognise these days I think, that if you don't want kids then it's better not to have them, since we have choices these days. We have total freedom in that regard but then who's to say that eight weeks of holidays overseas is more fulfilling than four weeks with your own children. Comes down to personal choice, and I get that sometimes men don't have much choice. However, it's all been done before, you didn't invent childlessness.

Oh, and like many, I know people with no kids who have zero equity and likely never will. Also know wealthy people with kids. Kids aren't the common denominator in either scenario.

 

How does the inability to conceive children bestow you with additional income to enjoy a better lifestyle? Granted it avoids a lot of expenses you might otherwise avoid, but it doesn't give you anything except for lowering the bar.

There's no doubt that now having the expense of children does give you a lot more options. We don't have kids (by bad luck, not by choice). As a result we have a significant amount of extra disposable income (because I work very hard) and we have a great lifestyle. For the most part right now I sometimes pity my friends and family who have a gaggle of brats in tow. I've come to terms a long time ago with our situation.

Still, sometimes I'm also a bit sad about about the experiences that I'll miss by not having kids.

 

I'm going to risk getting absolutely slammed with this post.

The type of people on here (get-aheads, generally well-educated, intelligent, etc) not having kids, is contributing to the growing "under-class", IMO. (excluding those such as PT, above) The Westies/Corio-ites or other lower socio-economic area inhabitants are the ones that are breeding, and at a higher rate than the upper-middle class, educated, employed. At the company I work, which is an apparel "lifestyle" company, I reckon the average age would be about 30. And my guess is that 80% of these people don't have kids. The build-my-career, have-fun-while-I-can crew might get to their mid-30s or later before they settle down and have a family of 1 - or 2 - kids max. Meanwhile, the dole-bludging losers start pumping them out at 16 and have a brood of 4 or 5 by their mid-20s, usually living off the government - read tax-payers! - teat while doing so.

However, I also totally agree that having or not having kids is purely a personal choice. Not sure I've quite made my point clearly (a couple of glasses of red will do that!), but it breaks my heart to see so many intelligent, good-living people not contributing to the gene pool, while what I will call the "dregs of society" continue to abound.

Call me an elitist, but I despair the next generation.

 

Interesting topic. I actually found that having kids changed the way I invest. Before I have kids, I used to keep the money in term deposit and buy a little bit of shares. I didn't do any real investment because even if I lost my job, I can still survive if I find a lower salary job.

Once I started to have kids, I realised that I have the responsibility to give them good lifestyle and education and I need to plan ahead and made better investment. My current net asset and net income is even more than what I used to have before having kids.