My All Time High Savings – A Wealth of Common Sense

I track all my savings and investments in Excel.

I guess I’m old school and, yes, somewhat of a personal finance person.

I can’t help it.

It’s nothing fancy. Just a collection of holdings in our various accounts along with some simple calculations – net worth, annual retirement contributions, asset allocation, how much we’re saving each year, etc.

I was recently looking at my annual savings numbers and decided to do some analysis on the year-over-year changes:

The numbers don’t matter as much as the trend. Two things stood out.

There was a good burst starting in 2019 and throughout the pandemic. Not to brag, but I started making more money and my savings grew proportionately.

Except for 2021, which was incredible. Our savings took a big leap that year.

There are several reasons for that increase.

We didn’t spend as much because of the pandemic. The ride was in a bear market.

If I’m honest, there was even a bit of FOMO going on. That was the year when it felt like everyone was investing in everything – stocks, startups, real estate, crypto, private deals, etc. I got behind it and put a lot of money to work.

The younger version of me would be very proud of my all time high saves. Looking back now, it feels more like a mistake than an achievement.

Don’t get me wrong, saving and investing is still a priority. But it isn’t only priority in our financial plan.

For as long as I can remember, I have been a saver through a combination of my personality and upbringing. I’m still a saver, but now I have a more balanced attitude when it comes to money.

I don’t want to delay all gratification until I’m in my 60s or 70s. These past few years, I have received regular reminders that the future is not promised to anyone.

I am no longer impressed or driven by specific pillars in my portfolio.

I prefer to save a reasonable amount of money and enjoy the rest.

I’m still maxing out my retirement accounts, saving for the kids in their 529 plans, keeping enough liquid reserves for unexpected expenses, and putting money into my taxable brokerage accounts.

But I no longer feel it’s necessary to go above and beyond when it comes to saving. I want to enjoy some of my money now while I can.

This is the biggest reason our savings dropped a bit in 2022 and 2023. We took a bunch of trips. We did some minor renovations to the house that added shelter spaces. We bought a boat. We own a lake house.¹

I could add up all those expenses and turn them around to see how much of a comp I’m missing out on.

But so scary what?!

That money in 10, 20 or 30 years won’t make up for the experiences and memories we’re investing in now, while our children are young.

Call this bull market behavior if you will. Savings rates tend to fall when the prices of financial assets rise.

For me it’s not about markets and it’s all about priorities.

I’m dollar cost averaging to spend while I can enjoy them with loved ones instead of saving it all for when I’m older.

Michael and I talked about savings, spending, perspective and much more in this week’s Animal Spirits video:

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Further reading:
You probably need less money for retirement than you think

Now here’s what I’ve been reading lately:

Books:

¹At some point I will do a more detailed write up on how this was the best investment I ever made.