I invest about 60-80% of my income. There are a variety of reasons but here are some:
Spending money doesn't seem to make me much happier. Buying stuff is certainly fun, but the enjoyment of owning a new thing wears off in a few weeks. Also, some things have carrying costs, they make moving more difficult etc.
I'm in my 20s, and I'm worried about possible trends toward large scale structural unemployment and declining median income per worker in developed countries. If these trends do continue, owning a fair amount of capital will be vital if you want to be financially secure.
I also get some pride from watching the numbers roll upwards on my accounts. It reminds me of how people who have lost weight often say, "no food tastes as good as being thin feels."
People really do seem to have different utility functions/discount rates etc. YMMV, but I like the feeling of having money more than I like buying/owning stuff.
Spending money doesn't seem to make me much happier.
“If money doesn't make you happy, then you probably aren't spending it right.”
I know I said I'd be gone... but this was just a comment originally, and I noticed it may actually be relevant.
Elharo said in Munchkin Ideas:
I'm interested in the following:
Why should people invest in retirement? Or, instead, why should someone invest as much as most do in retirement.
Few facts that make it a boggling question for me:
You are 10% to 20% likely to die before you enjoy even your first retirement year.
People adjust much more to harsh economical conditions than they believe they would. They remain happy, as many studies by Seligman and others show.
People who retire are only happier as retirees if they retired by choice (I lost the paper, sorry).
Most people here live in rich countries - darn, hate to be the exception! - , and their state would happily provide them with at least the maximal retirement plan legal in my country (aprox 2000 dollars/month). And surely would provide them with double the minimal (about 200/month) if they needed.
If you have descendants, they may support you in case you are still alive, and if you are not rich enough to keep a house, you have a good excuse to be in company of loved ones (you have nowhere else to go).
Last, but not least: That person is not even you that much anyway.
Given all that, I have no clue what the whole fuss about retirement plans, and being 60% of a rich old person with a crappy body is all about, specially if you are in the grave.
I mean, in the cryopreservation chamber, of course.
Edit: A related question not worth its own post, but maybe worth discussing, is Should inheritance "jump" a generation. Everyone inheriting from grandparents, instead of parents? Just the abstract ethical question. Regardless of implementation procedure.