Over 55 - Biggest financial surprise? (inheritance, state, retired, respect)

[Bette]

Once you quit working or retired or were forced out of a job, what was the biggest financial surprise you had?

Did you find you could live on what you saved or your investments?

Did you find unexpected expenses to be unbearable?

[jghorton]

Good news surprise! -- We found that we were spending considerably less --- and had considerably more .... than we had expected prior to retirement.

[RiverBird]

Originally Posted by jghorton

Good news surprise! -- We found that we were spending considerably less --- and had considerably more .... than we had expected prior to retirement.

I agree with this.

Biggest financial surprise has been how happy I've been with what I've already had, with no desire to have more. Good thing, as costs on everything spiral upward, to be a nonmaterialist.

I am concerned about healthcare costs in the future, and that that will break many a happy retiree.

[Bette]

I think we are made to think - OK, I must have this much - and your comments were good to hear.

Also, I agree on the healthcare costs. Who really knows?

[mathjak107]

theres two schools of thought on how much we need as we age.

one sschool says as we age we need less because we spend less on just about everything except healthcare.

the flip side is ,as they say build it and they will come.

while spending on ourselves drops as we age if we have the money the slack ends up being taken up by spending on others.

whatever we dont spend on ourselves as we age will just end up doing more for the grand children and kids.

[RiverBird]

Originally Posted by mathjak107

whatever we dont spend on ourselves as we age will just end up doing more for the grand children and kids.

If doing more for the grandkids means Disney World, designer clothes, and tons of needless toys, etc, I'd say don't spend it. Kids need to earn what they get; we shouldn't hand it to them because when they grow up they won't be handed anything, it will be a much tougher world by then.

I've already decided (before my grandkids are even born) that if I find out they want something, I will work it out with their parents that they will have to come to my house and work for the money for what they want.

If that doesn't work out, I will save money for them toward college, but even then they'll have to work for at least some of that at Grammy's house.

[Escort Rider]

I retired from full-time work seven years ago, and there have been no surprises. None whatsoever. Part of that is my purchase of my current residence about four years before retiring with the thought that I would stay here after retirement. In other words, I purchased my retirement home four years before retiring from full-time work, so that is probably one reason for no surprises.

[Pilgrim21784]

To the OP:
No surprises so far (as he knocks on wood with vigor and lights joss candles to all the gods), while clocking out our 6th year. With a chuckle and serious appreciation for his many informative posts, I'll respectfully disagree a bit with the venerable Mathjak107's school of thought.

If one hits retirement in sound physical & financial form and your munchkins are well established (as free standing, independent economic units) you can expend large amounts of cash in enjoying a heretofore unknown opportunity in exploring the planet. We're spending lots of money on US (primarily for travel), as planned. Non-essential expenditures are way more than pre-retirement, by design.

The old self imposed burdens of saving for college, dowry funds, launch monies, etc. for munchkins are long gone and disposable cash is much higher than in working years. Grandkid expenditures (9 currently and a few more expected in the intermediate future) are already part of the budget.

Inheritance funds to the kids will be primarily in the form of real estate and perhaps a modest amount of cash (if we croak before we have the opportunity to spend it ). Having expended huge amounts of effort (and cash) during the working years on launching successful munchkins who are quite independent financially - its a payback to spend our current resources on fun.

If one is so inclined and has the funds, I'd suggest budgeting for much larger expenditures in the early retirement years for fun stuff - its been the best period by far of our lives to date. Do it, if and when you can.

An addendum I'd add about the terror of medical costs post retirement.

A) Most of humanity existed prior to the present era without health insurance or the "benefits" of modern medical science. Folks lived and died without the imposition of government and societal prescriptions on how one spent their last moments.

B) The longer one survives, the less, in my opinion, one ought to be concerned about medical care and costs. There is the simple reality of a time to die, hopefully with dignity and self direction. I wouldn't spend a penny on institutional long term care. IMO, if one is that comprised - its time to make the big jump.

I absolutely oppose public funding of LTC programs. It is, in my not humble opinion, a total waste of public resources, better spent on early childhood education, nutrition and related programs.

H***, do you really want to spend your last years in a diaper, in an institution, medicated to oblivion and intubated to the last gasp that medical science can provide? If you do, thats your choice. Personally - I'll pass on that scenario and oppose any public funding thereof.

It is, IMO, an insanity and directly related to General Eisenhower's warning regarding the military industrial complex. With all due apologies to the General - our greatest risk is not the M/I complex - its the Medical/Pharmacological/Industrial complex.

Enjoy life as long as one can but recognize that we all "meet the maker". There is no option on that event. How one chooses to deal with that certainty (if they have choices) is karma. My one serious prayer to all the gods is that I will have a choice. Dying is way better than many alternatives in our current environment. JMO

[maggie2101]

My big surprise was having to quit my job to take care of my husband. Who knew?

[old_cold]

Our biggest surprise was,due to timing, how much ess our real estate was going to bring in when we sold.
Related to that was how willing we were going to be to sell it anyway