> But I've seen so many miserable people in their 50s at my workplace, living paycheck to paycheck, buy all kinds of useless trinkets and always talking about t

> But I've seen so many miserable people in their 50s at my workplace, living paycheck to paycheck, buy all kinds of useless trinkets and always talking about their next 'adventure' - a holiday to some expensive resort on the other side of the globe or something. I'm not sure why you were downvoted. I disagree with this viewpoint on life, but it's an interesting perspective. There's some evidence that spending money on experiences over things leads to greater happiness in the long term (think building memories rather than wealth): http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17439760.2014.898316?journalCode=rpos20& http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17439760.2014.898... It's possible that the people you think are miserable are not, or maybe are just miserable at work and actually have a happy life overall. The other problem with sacrificing too much of the present for the future is that you can't predict the future very easily. For example, my father died about two weeks after retiring.