| > My definition of being successful is being happy and content. I make decent money and have a happy life, that is successful enough for me. You and I are the same, then. I just don't feel the need to have children to feel successful or happy. Don't get me wrong, I don't mean to put people down who genuinely enjoy having children. I just know that they're not for me, and my soon-to-be-wife is on the exact same page. We've been together for 7 years, and I'm 35 and she's 34, so it's highly unlikely we'll ever change our mind. > What are you going to do after you retire with all that money? You should do that thing now! Travel. Without having to worry about where I'm going being family friendly. I plan on spending less than 3/4ths of my time at home, the rest being out of state. I can't travel as much as I'd like to right now because I only get 17 days of PTO per year, and my company shuts down between Christmas and New years so I often need to bank 4-6 days of PTO for that time. My fiance and I went on a 7-day cruise to Alaska last year. I couldn't imagine doing it with a kid tagging along. Sure, they have some kid and family friendly activities, but if we had one with us, we couldn't decide to get shit-faced at a bar or head to an on-board dance club. Yeah, I could find babysitters, but I prefer the other option: Just not having kids. I never have to tell my friends "Sorry, we can't join you...we can't find a babysitter". My brother has had to say that too often. |