Some of my relatives were like that. Lots of money in the banks, 70 years old, yet his wife would chastise him for buying a small $16k Mazda truck to replace his +10 years old $12k Ford truck.
If you start inflating expenses "because you have money", you don't become the old guy with lots of money in the bank.
I'm confused - those are the same person.
Most "millionaire next door" types are not people who suddenly had a million dropped into their account.
They're the people who routinely make good choices with their money. That includes putting it in a diversified investment portfolio and taking full advantage of all the legal ways to reduce expenses (of which - retirements accounts are a great option - the tax savings you get filling your 401k compound to quite a nice bit of cash over a 40 year timeline, not even mentioning the principle you contributed).
So in this case - I'm with the guys wife: He's 70 already, what's he really going to be using that truck for? It sure isn't going to be heavy labor (he's 70). Couldn't a smaller more efficient car have done the same job? And it's a 16k truck - so it's either incredibly low trim and lightly used, or nice but heavily used (because 16k is dirt fucking cheap for a decent truck unless it's 10+ years old).
So is she nagging because he spent 16k, or because he spent 16k on something that's not really practical for that point in their life? I'd bet money it's the later.
Not even mentioning - a 70 year old might easily live another 25 years. Blowing all your savings now is a terrible call if you need long term care later in life (you want to talk about expensive, long term care makes that 16k truck look like a match box car)
That larger truck might be a waste of money, but it might also be easier to get into, save fuel and keep you safe in the case of a crash. Now, most people are clearly on the overspending side of things, but a large pile of cash won't make your corpse more comfortable either.
That doesn't change the fact that the people who end up in the situation the OP was referring to (decent amount of capital late in their lives) tend to be the same people who have decided that they can, in fact, live a comfortable life without having to spend a ton of money. They aren't always right, but my point is that folks without that mindset aren't the ones in that position later (at least not usually).
Best way to do it is to buy exactly what will fulfill you, and not a cent more. Maybe that 3 week trip to ___ will, maybe the expensive dinner won't. Etc.
Who's to say they think they're skimping?
Who's to say that they didn't buy exactly what fulfilled them, and it was only 20% of their take-home pay, so they just shoved the rest of it into investments?
Basically - money certainly matters, but only to a point. Once you're fairly comfortable satisfying your genuine needs (food, clothing, shelter, time) more money isn't really going to change how you feel.
It's a mental trap to assume that happiness can be bought, if only you had a bit more money. It leads to empty, hollow, soulless people.
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> Best way to do it is to buy exactly what will fulfill you
My advice? Buying things will never fulfill you. Real fulfillment isn't about having the next shiny ____.
I'm not saying you shouldn't buy that thing, but you should be doing it with intention - How does this fit into my life? What uses do I have for it? Who will I share it with?
I would say the main two goals would be to: have enough money to work when/on what you want (this could be like 500k), and the long term goal is have enough money to make a bigger impact on a community or even the world (prob like 10 mil - 1 bil).
I mean, the trust can (usually) invest money without it being considered a distribution. I suspect that happens a lot based on the trustifarians I see in capital-intensive businesses and crushing it (due to below-market cost of capital).
I feel bad for their competitors having to prove themselves to a bank or other arms-length financier.
They're still around, and people still don't know it. Some of those older people you see working at the grocery store have been "retired" from executive positions and need something to do until they reach retirement age. Lots of diligent people working normal jobs and without vices manage to become quite wealthy while living unremarkable lives.