<prompt> Human: Im young and probably naive but whats the appeal of living frugally for a lifetime in order to retire rich, assuming your plan is to retire in the mid-to-late 60s or early 70s? Tried googling it and all I found were the hows of retiring rich not the whys for doing so. Edit: I want to thank everybody for their answers! What really got me thinking about this question was my own grandfathers current situation. He seemed to do everything right and saved a substantial retirement nest egg. Then developed Alzheimers. The medical costs blazed through his savings in a matter of a few short years, like a hot knife through butter. This left him entirely dependent on the state for care. This situation is apparently not uncommon. It really opened my eyes and made me re-evaluate how likely that dream of a peaceful healthy final years really is. Medical costs are so outrageous already and only predicted to get worse, it seems fruitless to me to even attempt to prepare for them. Like, why bother? Possibly just feeling pessimistic right now and will have a more optimistic view in the future I hope.  <response>: So you dont have to live in poverty? 