Would You Give Up Cable TV to Retire Early?

[Common Sense Party]

Cable TV or retirement - you decide. How much does a lifetime of cable cost? While the cost of monthly cable packages varies significantly, the average is about $80 a month. Multiply that cost by 50 years and it totals a whopping $48,000. If you think that number is alarming, wait until you see the next one.

If you invest that $80 a month in a low cost S&P 500 index fund that returns 8 percent annually, the amount grows to an eye-popping $638,000. That's a lot of dough to pay for 500 channels of TV most people will never watch. If you can bump up your returns to 9 percent, the number grows to almost $1 million.

The beauty of compounding. The numbers seem almost mystical. Most people can wrap their minds around turning $80 a month into $48,000 over 50 years. It's the jump to $638,000 with just an 8 percent annual return that's mind-bending. We can thank compound interest.

...

However, the reality is that most individuals and families spend money each month in ways that do not add meaningfully to their quality of life. For some people it may be cable TV. For others it may be a cell phone package they don't need, high interest rates on debt they could refinance or an expensive car. Figure out what you are spending money on that doesn't increase your happiness if you are interested in a way to reduce your monthly spending without sacrifice.

Full article here: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/cable-tv-retire-early-171451187.html

While I take these examples with a grain of salt (most people don't have 50 years to invest, and a 9% return is improbable, etc.), it still does demonstrate that relatively minor savings now can add up over the years.

And honestly, does anybody NEED cable?

[kelly1mm]

1. Another 'just stop your starbucks habit' type article. It is true in some ways, but really

you need to minimize 4 areas of costs (IMO) to really retire early (like sub 50).

Housing
Transportation
Kids
Medical costs

ACA helps with medical costs and the rest are at least partially in your control. If you want to read more about early retirement I have two sites I visit on a regular basis

For a somewhat regular life (wife/kid/house) I like:
http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/

For hardcore early retirement and more intellectual discussion I like:
http://earlyretirementextreme.com/

[cantbeserious]

2. TV Free Since 2000 - Deprogramming Is Difficult - It Is Worthwhile

eom

[Common Sense Party]

3. Worthwhile in more ways than one.

More money. More time. Less garbage consumed.

We're not TV-free. We have an antenna on the roof, and sometimes we even get signals for some stations. But we don't watch a whole lot of it.

Mostly we use the TV for watching DVDs or selections on Netflix.

[SheilaT]

4. Sort of TV free here.

I don't have cable or satellite, nor broadcast TV, but I watch what I want on the internet. Most shows I want to watch are available, and I'm willing to wait for the others. Oh, and I also have Netflix.

What I like best about this is that I see very few commercials, and virtually no political ads, unless they're shown on Rachel Maddow's show, for instance, to illustrate some point.

[mackerel]

5. My cousin is going to retire a year early

she thinks she can swing it by giving up cable and things like that.

[cerveza_gratis]

6. No

Cable TV is a big part of my retirement plan.