Retired 3 or more years? How close have you been you to your target spending? (55, state)
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Retired for almost 11 years now. I guess I've actually been living below my means because I've put an awful lot extra toward the principal of my mortgage to get it paid off early; owe less than $4K now. I don't dip into savings unless it's for an extraordinary expense, like a new heat pump or something (which I anticipate possible this year, but will try to finance at 0%). I have no other debt besides the mortgage, and am still drawing my widow's SS benefit even though I'm entitled to my full SS benefit. I'm waiting until age 70 (3 more years) if I can do it to maximize my eventual return in the event I need assisted living some day. I don't go out to eat much, or drive a whole heck of a lot. I also don't spend for clothes (gardeners could care less) or fancy stuff. I haven't skimped on satellite TV or internet access, and have a iPhone 6, which is fine by me. My main expenditures are for the house, the animals, and the garden. I feel pretty comfortable with my steady income streams v my spending, since I never had a target except to spend less than I had coming in.
Retired in early 50’s, now 64. My style of living did not change when I retired, other than not going to work. Throughout the years, expenses have increased (due to col) and my income has also increased easily keeping up with it.
I think you really need to ask these questions of people who retired prior to 2007. Spending patterns for those retired in the last 3 years have not been tested by any down market. Ask the same question when the market drops 30%, as it inevitably will.
I live off my monthly income as I planned to do. I haven't significantly touched my nest egg but will have to start pulling some money out of my IRA next year due to my age. I retired in 2000 at 52.
Baring a big surprise, I've had no real issues. My clothing lasts longer, I don't drive as much, and got out of a lot of bad habits like going to coffee shops because I was bored or stressed.
Retired 11 years now. There has been rampant inflation during this period. HOA fees in 2 of three places I've lived have increased between 15 and 35%. You can count on that. My non-HOA paid services are 3X what they were 10 years ago. Yup. Service work has become the new mid-career age "living," and they need to eat and retire some day, too. HS & college kids no longer do that stuff (lawn mowing, snow shoveling, etc.). And, of course, food is 40% higher in price than it was in 2007. Until you go on Medicare, plan on exhorbitant health insurance costs (unless you have that paid). You cannot, and should not scrimp on healthcare coverage. You're "at an age." Anything can happen. Plan accordingly.
At the time I retired, with even the most conservative estimates, I still had "way more money saved up than I could ever use in my lifetime." Reality? It has vanished far more rapidly than anyone could ever imagine. That's doing nothing on my part except being the usual miser I've always been.
Estimate 2.5X what you think you'll need. Inflation is becoming a wet snowball rolling downhill.
Reading some of the responses above, my reaction is: Yeah? On what planet?
I have managed to hit it pretty much right on but some pretty bad financial hits left me with no other choices. I am very grateful for my salad days that taught me how to live poor and not suffer! I just turned 63 and I have been retired since I was 53 and still haven't signed up for Social Security. I MIGHT not make it to 66 but oh well, I will take the 8% penalty and be glad I made it that far!
... If you have been retired at least 3 years, I have a question for you: Prior to retirement, what monthly dollar amount did you expect to spend in retirement, and how close have your actual monthly expenditures been in practice? I'm interested not because your amount has anything to do with my expected expenses, but as information about the accuracy of planning this sort of thing. Using our current expenditures, I've attempted to estimate the expenditure number as closely as possible, but there are a lot of expenses that will end as we cross the rainbow retirement bridge. Even accounting for those, discretionary expenditures like travel are still a big unknown.
There are some old threads along these lines, but I'm looking for more recent information. If you are not comfortable giving a number (which I thought might keep answers brief), then perhaps a percentage--e.g. "within 5 percent."
Approaching retirement can be stressful. I was stressed if my pension was going to be enough. This stress is common given the situation.
I knew ahead of time exactly how much my pension was going to be. Each year my pension has seen small Cost-Of-Living increases.
We have kept our expenses below my pension. Though I would not say we have 'suffered' at all for it. We are comfortable.
Honestly, we do not spend any more than 40% of our retirement income (From IRAs, Savings). We have not yet claimed SS. I should pick up the spending, but not sure what we would do. Home all paid for no debt.
OP here; thanks for the interesting variety of responses so far. I am 1-2 years out from retirement but right now we own a number of investment properties, and there are a lot of expenses for them, even for the properties with no mortgage. As we wind down and sell properties over the next couple of years, both the expenses and the income will disappear, so we will have a clearer picture of long range income/expenses. For those who mention healthcare, I am budgeting $15K/year until I reach Medicare age (4.5 years). My health insurance premiums alone will be $9500 this year, although that is with a $0 deductible. DH is on Medicare so his costs are far less.
We will be in a different location and climate so it's a good point that additional costs may accompany the change. House in the new location is already purchased and will be 1/3 smaller than current house, so we will see some marginal savings there.
I created a separate spreadsheet with our non-investment property expenses and have been tracking those since last year. There are some unknown costs ahead, such as the amount we will need to spend to get our own residence on the market next year. I'm hoping to reach a +/- 5 percent accuracy in forecasting a budget.
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