Is your retirement financially difficult or comfortable?

C50

C50

Senior Member
Location
Ohio, USA
Maybe this is a bit of a personal question but for those that want to answer I would appreciate your response.

I had a certain per year dollar amount I knew I could live comfortably on during retirement. The truth is I find I spend much less than I thought I would, by around $30k a year. I live debt free so that helps, kids are self supporting, Medicare is like winning the lottery compared to my previous health insurance, and even though I feel like I am always spending money my overall spending is down.

Barring any major disaster in my life I feel much better about being retired than I thought I would.

How about you? Is retirement more or less expensive than you anticipated?
 

C50 said:
Maybe this is a bit of a personal question but for those that want to answer I would appreciate your response.


Is retirement more or less expensive than you anticipated?
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No, it's about what we thought it'd be

For us, the word is comfortable
Not working, or going to work for somebody else
Yet an income that pays everything, and we can do pretty much what we want, when we want while putting X amount away
No year long cruises, or annual trips to Cabo
but
We've never wanted to do that stuff anyway
 
My overall expenses in retirement didn’t change much from my working years.

I retired early so medical insurance was a big expense until I was able to qualify for Medicare.

I wouldn’t run out and spend that $30,000.00/year cushion. It will come in handy as inflation erodes your purchasing power in the years ahead.

I’m ok, but none of us will know how we really did until we cross the finish line. 🤭
 

Shortly before I retired, a retired friend told me how much she got from the government. I couldn't wait to be a rich retiree. Or at least richer than I was as a worker.

Then everything seemed to change, and rents became unaffordable. I ended up moving far away as a result.

So now I live in a decent apartment. I eat basic foods, pay my bills, and don't do anything that costs money.

I have a car that's paid for and doesn't cost much to run, since I don't go anywhere. But I need it because I'm mobility challenged. Besides, I spent most of my life without a car, and I love having wheels.

At the end of the month I have about $100, which I put into savings. Maybe for emergencies, maybe to replace my car when the time comes. Maybe even to run away to another country. I can dream!

So I'm comfortable in the sense of having what I need. I have no debt. But I have to pinch pennies every single day.
 
DH & I still do some part-time manufacturing and consulting, but will retire next year when he turns 70 and claims against his SS. (Right now we receive 150% of mine each month thanks to a SS loophole that's now closed. )

Our transition from full time work to semi retirement has required almost no drawdown from our savings despite our assumption that we'd need to do so. We earned more than expected and spent less, especially during the last 2-1/2 years.
 
I would say I am comfortable and I want to remain that way. I am very thoughtful about how I spend money and what I get for that value. No, I will never drive a fancy car but a car with air conditioning is all I need. I don't go far. I have no mortgage or credit card debt. No debt of any kind. To say I have been blessed is no exaggeration, my husband and I both worked hard and prepared for retirement. I never expected it to be without him!
 
C50 said:
Maybe this is a bit of a personal question but for those that want to answer I would appreciate your response.

I had a certain per year dollar amount I knew I could live comfortably on during retirement. The truth is I find I spend much less than I thought I would, by around $30k a year. I live debt free so that helps, kids are self supporting, Medicare is like winning the lottery compared to my previous health insurance, and even though I feel like I am always spending money my overall spending is down.

Barring any major disaster in my life I feel much better about being retired than I thought I would.

How about you? Is retirement more or less expensive than you anticipated?
Click to expand...
I've had a very similar experience. I've got more money than I thought I would, and more money than when I was working. Nice house, secluded property, no debts, and have everything I want.
 
I'm more comfortable than I thought I would be. I have a pension and a small IRA. Our house is long paid for and thanks to Prop 13 here in California the tax on it is very low. I pay no California income tax and my federal only amounts to a couple thousand a year. I'm not making payments on anything. I have no expensive hobbies and I'm careful when I shop. I'm very lucky.
 
When I wanted to take early retirement 11 yrs ago, my financial adviser kept telling me' you have money to do so, after serious thought I did with no regrets
In 1988, I sold some stock to buy my co- op apt where I still live .I started keeping a journal in 1978 of everything I spend each month,still do it .I've never owned a car{never felt comfortable behind the wheel},I have more money now then when I was working. I only have 1 credit card,pay my monthly bills by ck,not comfortable doing it online Once in awhile, I'll buy a high price item e.g last yr bought new bed mattress,otherwise I pay in cash I live a comfortable life Sue
 
It's good to hear that many are financially comfortable enough not to worry. Before I retired I always heard horror stories about how quickly you run out of money and how bad Medicare insurance is. I admit to over anaylizing every aspect I could pre retirement and kept coming up thinking I would be OK, and I'm very relieved that it has turned out well.

Certainly didn't luck into it though, well maybe there's always a little luck in life, but there's also a lot of hard work and careful planning.
 
C50 said:
It's good to hear that many are financially comfortable enough not to worry. Before I retired I always heard horror stories about how quickly you run out of money and how bad Medicare insurance is. I admit to over anaylizing every aspect I could pre retirement and kept coming up thinking I would be OK, and I'm very relieved that it has turned out well.

Certainly didn't luck into it though, well maybe there's always a little luck in life, but there's also a lot of hard work and careful planning.
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Before I retired I had all sorts of little contingency funds.

So far, nothing that I planned for has happened, but I’ve been thankful that I had those little funds to use for other problems.

IMO retirement is just one of life’s milestones and we need to make saving a permanent part of our monthly budget.
 
Couldn't have responded any better than Gary.

I do worry a little because my various sources of income in combination with MRD's is expected to be used up by the time I reach 128 in age. My wife's sources a little longer.
 
Retired 2 years beyond the standard age so 5+ years now and living frugally within my monthly SS benefit despite living in one of the most expensive counties in the nation. Actually have a bit more numerical $$ assets now though inflation has shrunk what its purchasing power was. No debts but don't own real estate and my 2007 Forester has 248k miles so eventually will be spending more. Never dream about being rich or owning things the wealthy have. That noted, I would prefer to live at a coastal location like Pacific Grove or San Francisco for which I don't have assets to even consider. But then I do have an Ace in the hole that could change that.
 
Less disposable income than I used to have but I feel more secure. No anxiety about job loss, income lost due to illness, etc. I am still driving my 2001 RAV4 with over 200,000 miles and as long as it holds out I am happy with it. I have enough to take care of things when they break and to take an occasional vacation and I am content.
 
I should add that like most who've posted on this thread, my husband and I started retirement mortgage-free and debt-free and have remained so. We spend our money mindfully, but aren't cheapskates. We keep our home and vehicles in good running order.

JimBob1952 said:
Everything's fine. Some of that is due to choices my wife and I made over the years. Most of it is due to luck in the global birth lottery.
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The fortunes of right time and right place smiled on me, too.

I've often said that I was born on third base. No sense kidding myself that I got to the plate and hit a stand-up triple.
 
I'm not sure yet, when I analyzed my retirement finances pre-retirement, I budgeted based on living in my paid off home. I even practiced (with some learning experiences/failures/adjustments) living on my retirement budget for the last two years of my worklife (and putting all extra $ into the 401k). The investment site's tool had told me I could live to 92, then the market went down and down and the tool kept decreasing the year I'd run out of money until it was 83 (if I remember correctly). But then I decided to sell my house, and that plumped up my retirement fund enough that supposedly I could make it to 92 even in a bad stock market.
The problem is that I'm not sure whether I am filling the tool's inputs correctly for how much money I will need monthly, because now I'll have to either pay rent or buy a condo and have a mortgage (not to mention liquidate money for the downpayment), and with rents rising I have no idea what my monthly expenses will turn out to be.
The "good" news is that I don't really have any expectation to living to 92, only had one relative that made it to 91, the majority of healthy ones made it to mid-eighties, but a worrisome number died in their 50s and 60s and 70s.
 
I have saved for retirement since young. Unfortunately when my second husband and I divorced after 22 years 3/4ths of the money was hidden. Then I remarried and we were together for 23 years. We divorced and my income and assets were split in half so definitely have less than I planned on. I was fine until inflation hit and then I cut everything possible to live on my monthly income and not use my savings. I am planning on one more trip to Europe and then done traveling. I will save my savings for true emergencies.
 
Every day I wake up and feel blessed for the abundance that has been provided for myself and my family. I am so very fortunate to have had the wonderful grandparents and parents who worked hard and made sacrifices so that I would have a better life. I've been blessed with a wonderful wife who not only took care of our family but had a rewarding career. I was blessed with an outstanding son who has exceeded at everything he has undertaken; he has a top notch career and family and recently bless us with the most beautiful granddaughter. I am also thankful for having been born and raised in the United States of America - land of the free, home of the brave.

I've been blessed with so much more than I have an expectation to deserve. I strive to be a good steward of the gifts I have received.
 

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