Financial prudence versus bike fun?

[NorthernDave]

Get the bike.
Enjoy the fruits of your labours while you can.

 

[I like Skol]

Is it your sole decision to make? What does Mrs Globalti have to say on the subject?

In the Skol household there are similar discusions (although we are not so close to retiring ) and as well as the financial practicality Vs life's too short argument there is also the other persons feelings on the matter to consider. It's nice to be in the situation you are in where you can ponder how to spend your 'surplus' cash but it can be a quick route to a divorce (although I suspect maybe not at your age?) if you keep deciding to treat yourself with the family's treat pot!

 

[ColinJ]

I was coming up to 60 last year and my financial situation was pretty dire but then my best mate died and left me £5,000. The sensible thing to do would have been to keep it for paying bills, but I didn't want to remember him as having paid my telephone bill, bought me a TV licence, and so on.

After my negotiations with the Grim Reaper in 2012/13, I am acutely aware of the fact that death can come at any time. In fact, my pal was only 59 when he died so he didn't get to spend his savings. He kept doing the 'sensible' thing and putting it aside for a retirement which never came.

Think of poor Vernon (whose funeral is today ) who only got to see a couple of days of his retirement. At least he got stuck in before that and had a great time while he could.

I bought myself a nice cyclocross bike and other fun things with some of my inheritance. The rest is being spent on sensible, boring things such as the dentist (forgive the pun).

Which is my way of saying - enjoy the new bike! You can show it off to me on a Ribble Valley ride later in the year.

(I'm sure that you wouldn't be considering this if your family finances wouldn't support it and I know that Gti Jnr has a nice bike, so as long as your wife also gets her fair share of the loot, then go ahead and treat yourself. )

 

[Globalti]

Thanks Colin, your and others' comments above have only convinced me to make the appointment to see the retailer.

Mrs Gti, aka Imelda Marcos, is all for it and if I spend money on bikes she regards it as carte blanche for her to spend money on boots and shoes!

 

[screenman]

I would certainly not buy another bike with the money, I have enough of them already

 

[ColinJ]

Thanks Colin, your and others' comments above have only convinced me to make the appointment to see the retailer.

Mrs Gti, aka Imelda Marcos, is all for it and if I spend money on bikes she regards it as carte blanche for her to spend money on boots and shoes!

But don't leave it outside cafes, even in the generally quiet Ribble Valley. I have heard of bikes being nicked from outside the cafe at Chipping, for example.

 

[Globalti]

The only real theft hotspot I know of is Scorton village where I've heard of white vans pulling up and several bikes being chucked in the back. It's near Lancaster and has easy acess to the M6 and is well-known as a cyclists' favourite spot. Never heard of thefts from Chipping or Dunsop Bridge though I wouldn't be surprised. What does surprise me is that no bikes have been stolen from outside a well-known bike shop and cafe in Clitheroe; good bikes and shop stock are always outside the cafe door, unlocked and there's very little view from the cafe area.

 

[fossyant]

Get buying.... let them make their own way in life....

This.

The was the Uni Funding is going, he will never pay back the student loan anyway and it will be written off !

 

[Wafer]

I'm slowly learning to enjoy the money I have got rather than worry about what I haven't got, if able I'd do as Fnarr said, spend a bit, save a bit. If it was one or the other, well, I'd certainly do some serious looking at the bike, you can always say no later, right?

 

[SpokeyDokey]

So you've just had your 60th birthday, which you celebrated by staging a bike race at a local track with some pals as an indication of the way you intend to continue your life.

You dont want to continue working to 66.

You have a child aged 17 who you will want to help through university.

Your financial circumstances have suddenly taken an unexpected turn for the better.

Do you act sensibly and put the extra lolly in an ISA for a poxy 1.7% interest or do you splash out on that exotic Italian race bike, in the knowledge that it will get you out on the road and keep you fit and healthy? After all there are only about 20 years left in which you might be able to ride a bike.

Tbh - and I don't mean to sound crass but buying a bike is pretty small beer in the grand scheme of things.

Even if you spent £5k on the thing at age 60 the probability is that you'll get to around 80 (I certainly hope so - look under my avatar!) so that's a paltry £250 a year. Well ,slightly more for the pedants as you are losing a tiny bit of interest each year.

Buy the bike and be happy.

 

[Deleted member 1258]

Maybe it isn't an either/or?
Spend SOME of the money on a DECENT bike, and invest the rest

As Fnaar said, spend some of the money on a decent bike and invest the rest, stick the money in a pension fund to help you fund the retirement and all that bike riding your going to do.

 

[ColinJ]

Gti has had a succession of VERY DECENT bikes - he wants a FABULOUS bike!

 

[Crackle]

This.

The was the Uni Funding is going, he will never pay back the student loan anyway and it will be written off !

As a man of means, Fossy. His grant goes down in line with your fabulous salary, so you'll have to contribute, unless you can fiddle two years tax returns so as not to include that offshore account of yours.

 

[Dayvo]

... she regards it as carte blanche for her to spend money on boots and shoes!

Cycling boots and shoes, I hope.

 

[fossyant]

As a man of means, Fossy. His grant goes down in line with your fabulous salary, so you'll have to contribute, unless you can fiddle two years tax returns so as not to include that offshore account of yours.

Get the bike, you know you want to... Colnago C60 perchance with Super Record EPS ?? Nothing less ?