Do you think there is an actual thing called 'oversaving'? Everyone is desperately trying to save for retirement and there are a lot of movements like the 1M65 movement to name one?

Saving 'too much' could be bad for the economy, haha, but not for your own economy I believe.

Zero savings at one's departure from this earth could be less optimal. If you let something for your descendants or a good cause, you could gain a ticket to heaven.

It is sometimes hard to resist peer and media pressure to buy unimportant things, situation fueled up by modern capitalism (that has it's advantages) and globalization. The trend is toward technocracy - and I believe - dehumanization and reification.

We, in our own small world, should strive to keep upright core human values and needs, not artificial empty materialism (luxury 'things', e-devices, ...) (difficult for me too, constant challenge)

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in probably difficult times (Covid, and more so midterm future wave of widespread loss of jobs b/o automatization/AI in many professional fields), I believe there is no 'oversaving' when you still cover your basic needs and support your family and friends.
Also: what is the definition of oversaving ?

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/07/job-loss...

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https://www.marketwatch.com/story/this-chart-sp...

Is there such a thing as over-saving?
If you look towards Mr Heng's statements, we used up many years of reserves to provide for the budget reliefs to help our economy during the current pandemic. Some countries right now don't even have the capacity or resources to keep covid under control, let alone their economies.

While you can be certain of how much you saved and have stashed aside, it is rather difficult to predict the same for our circumstances when adversity is upon us.

Just addressing retirement, how many people know when they would die? As an example, you take the average life expectancy of 85-89, as the possible time to let your savings run to zero... But what if you actually live to 105, and have little to nothing to spend between the age of 90-105? Can you imagine what life would look like then?

What if your standard of living then becomes dependent on the amount of subsidies, relief and charitable help you get?

Would you then decide to err on the side of caution?
Just like a saying of Warren Buffet that my friends have been telling me... Its better to be roughly right, than to be precisely wrong.

Saving is a term most of us asians can relate to since its a concept that was etched into us since young and if we were to look at our parents and above, majority of them(not financial savy ofc) saw saving as a safest form of protection for their future generations. It was only until the Internet was introduced and people started understanding how saving keeps you alive but doesn't make you rich and so came many ways to break that barrier.

Tbh, oversaving can lead to more bad scenarios than good ones since it usually involves giving something up at an extreme rate so as to save money as seen in that guy who got some issues because of him oversaving. You can only give up that amount of things before you realise whats the point of saving so much if you wont be able to enjoy it?.

Comparing a couple(30) who earns 5k each vs another(30) who earns 2.5k, the 1m65 cannot be applied accurately to the latter because of their situation and if it could, it would come at a huge cost and im sure you all know the reason. What everyone needs to do is to adjust their lifestyle to their income with a little additional spending here and there. If you can reach 1m65 then good for you. If you cant, living within your means is also a good job.

To end, make sure to have min 12months,24 if you are kiasu of savings, sufficient insurance covered for yourself/dependents, investments(simplicity) w low fees if possible, enjoy the little things(friends/families/hobbies etc but at your own means).

Hi Anon,

That is a great question. For me, I know that I am over-saving when I did a projection on my income earning, my spend and savings, and my investment returns (indexed returns, so fairly conservative at 7% p.a).

I realised that I am going to retire with more than $5 million which is way more than I can spend as someone frugal.

Friends who know me since secondary school days know that I am a compulsive saver/ savings account maximiser/ miles chaser and that I invest aggressively and consistently as well. They probably think that I am an over saver and go too crazy on the delayed gratification part of life.

I think over saving is a virtue when you are young, especially if it gives you peace of mind to pursue your personal passions that are higher risks. Because of my savings and investment habits, I have the confidence to join and invest in a startup that I believe in, and that is probably a by-product of what people may think is "over-saving"

Picture borrowed from this great article from The Woke Salaryman, which is highly relevant to your thoughts!

https://thewokesalaryman.com/2020/07/28/why-you...