Average Spending in Retirement

[Moemg]

I could live on less a month but why ? I am not getting any younger and I hate to burden my daughter with a large inheritance .

[Blue Collar Guy]

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Originally Posted by Moemg I could live on less a month but why ? I am not getting any younger and I hate to burden my daughter with a large inheritance .

I love it!, Enjoy

[Nemo2]

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Originally Posted by Moemg I hate to burden my daughter with a large inheritance .

You are obviously a noble and benignant woman.

[W2R]

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Originally Posted by Rianne Ok, I broke down monthly fixed expenses: Cable/Internet/landline phone and 2 cell phones - $225 Utilities on average - $200 Life insurance and property insurance - $521 Health and dental - $623 (does not include deductible or copay) YMCA - $72 Garbage removal - $21 Sewer - $25 Water - $60 House, Car, Umbrella insurance - $134 Well Fargo no interest loan for remodel - $132 Own home, own cars Total - $2013 So where does 3000-4000 go? Dogs, food, travel. I hate to shop, rarely buy clothes (buy good clothes that last). Dam it's the little things that just add up. I volunteer at forest preserve which is free fun for me. I love it. I take classes that are super cheap through university for seniors. We do the cheap movie time $5.75/ticket. We do splurge on fresh flown in fish and grass fed, free range meat. Have a garden and both of us are fairly healthy. I guess we're pretty normal. No one I know, family or friends talks about money. They're so anal about sharing info. So I'm here

There are so many expenses. Not only dogs, food, and travel, but also income tax and gasoline. Overall it looks like your expenses are pretty reasonable.

[Rianne]

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Originally Posted by Corporateburnout Medicare will cost you 10K/year for 2 people (DW pays $134 for part B, $180 for a medigap supplement, $32 for part D prescription and around $50 drug co pay). When you add dental cost it could run you about 15K/year (for the last three years since I retired we've averaged 8K/year in dental work).

Really? Medicare is that much?

[REWahoo]

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Originally Posted by Rianne Really? Medicare is that much?

Our medicare runs about 60% that amount. We have high-deductible Medigap plans which save us a couple of thousand a year over the numbers quoted.

[MissMolly]

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Originally Posted by Rianne Really? Medicare is that much?

Ours is much less also. Medicare - 134.00 x 2. PPO Advantage Plan for husband ($320 deductible/MOOP - $1,000) - $67. Mine paid by pension plan. Total for the year - $4,020.

[NW-Bound]

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Originally Posted by RobbieB I always try to find ways to blow more dough.

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Originally Posted by Danmar I don't have to try very hard, they seem to present themselves on a regular basis.

I only started to track expenses since 2010 using Quicken. We have always been LYBM, but coming here to this forum I saw that when your means got curtailed in retirement, you needed a better handle on expenses.

My expenses have been running higher than I initially expected, but still lower than what FIRECalc said it could be. I believe that having that upperbound in mind, I permitted myself to spend more on non-essential items, such as home upgrades, my daughter's wedding, travel, etc... So, they are not really surprises.

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Originally Posted by MichaelB Lower income people go without dental care and lose their teeth. From the CDC https://www.cdc.gov/oralhealth/publi...dult_older.htm

You beat me to it.

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Originally Posted by W2R ... A few times I had to go on a soft diet briefly, due to tooth extractions prior to implants. It's awful after a day or so. I can't imagine spending the rest of my life eating mushy stuff.

Implants may work out a lot better than dentures in old age. My late FIL's dentures no longer worked for him when he got older. Several dentists said his gums shrunk and nothing could be done. So, he ate soft food for his last few years.

The nursing home would put everything through a blender. Everyday, my wife brought him a specially made home-cooked meal that was soft enough for him to eat. He also had problems swallowing, as most older people do. So, it was more than just not having teeth.

Arghh! Talk about this depressing stuff with old age makes me want to go out and blow more dough, like Robbie does.

Hey Robbie, you need to check out that real Japanese certified Kobe beef, not just American Wagyu-like beef. If it is not available in the US, that's an excuse for you to travel to Japan, and blow even more dough.

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Originally Posted by Moemg I could live on less a month but why ?

People are usually afraid that they may spend too much then run out in their old age. I have been thinking that if that happens, I will find a way to cope.

My problem is that I love to "count" my money, and to see it grow. Looking at that increasing number at the bottom left of my Quicken screen brings a warm and fuzzy feeling to this heart. Any enjoyment obtained from luxuries will be countered by the unpleasantness of seeing that number shrinks.

It's not the fear of running out. It's the sadness of seeing it diminishing.

[daylatedollarshort]

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Originally Posted by NW-Bound My problem is that I love to "count" my money, and to see it grow. Looking at that increasing number at the bottom left of my Quicken screen brings a warm and fuzzy feeling to this heart. Any enjoyment obtained from luxuries will be countered by the unpleasantness of seeing that number shrinks. It's not the fear of running out. It's the sadness of seeing it diminishing.

I like seeing the portfolio grow as well. I think of my bargain hunting and expense optimization in the same light as having a hobby job for extra income only I don't have to have set hours, take classes to stay current or pay taxes on most of the money I save and it is a fun hobby. DH and my friends like it because we go out often to interesting events and it doesn't cost much.

[Blue Collar Guy]

My mother pays 104.90 a month for medicare. $3.13 a month for the 20 % gap insurance. She went to work after my Father died. Retired from cooking in a public school at age 73, her pension check takes the $3.13 a month out of her check. She also has I think $147 co pay for one of them and I think $165 deductible for the other. Prescriptions are usually $5 or 30 % each, she spent about 800 on prescriptions last year. So between the 2, my widowed mother is at $2400 a year. My dead broke uncle thru marriage is at zero. He pays a big fat nothing. They even pay his cab fare to the hospital.

[Corporateburnout]

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Originally Posted by Rianne Really? Medicare is that much?

This is a comprehensive coverage with no deductible and no out of pocket cost. DW had a surgery back in May that cost over 100K with 0 out of pocket. Based on her health history we will stay with this plan. I may go with the lower medigap plan with deductible when I'm eligible for Medicare next year which may save me $1000/year in premiums assuming I don't have many medical problems.

[RobbieB]

I like to buy American as much as possible and I really don't like to travel. I hate airplane rides so when I do go it's first class. I don't sleep well in other beds either, so I go to premium hotels. Oh yeah, if I'm travelling I'm blowing big dough just to ease the pain.

I just ordered up another cool knife today, another Case custom with abalone scales

[Blue Collar Guy]

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Originally Posted by RobbieB I like to buy American as much as possible and I really don't like to travel. I hate airplane rides so when I do go it's first class. I don't sleep well in other beds either, so I go to premium hotels. Oh yeah, if I'm travelling I'm blowing big dough just to ease the pain. I just ordered up another cool knife today, another Case custom with abalone scales

You always bring a smile to my face. too funny. BTW, Beautiful handle on that blade.

[haha]

Single man, moderately high COL (Seattle) own my own downtown small condo outright. Spend about $25,000 pa before income tax. I try to be price conscious on most things. My food eaten at home including a small amount of low moderate price wine runs about $450-/mo. I'm on Medicare w Medigap policy. No major health expenses. No car, and no travel budget. I likely will be forced to travel some to hang onto my girlfriend

From my pov it is what it is. I think if I should run into trouble financially it is very unlikely to have anything to do with my usual and customary expenses.

Ha

[Blue Collar Guy]

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Originally Posted by haha I likely will be forced to travel some to hang onto my girlfriend Ha

, Thats cool. Have fun when you go,

[braumeister]

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Originally Posted by NW-Bound It's all relative. There's really no absolute.

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Originally Posted by Danmar I've been saying this here for years to little avail. People always seem to have strong opinions on how much and on what other people should spend their money.

Which is hard to understand. Even if we all lived in the same area it would make no sense. I've never lived anywhere that didn't have more and less affluent neighborhoods with very different lifestyles.

It gets better when people use percentages, as in "My entertainment budget is 10% of my total spending." but even there you have such a wide variety of appetites that it's nearly impossible to compare even on percentage basis.

[Walt34]

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Originally Posted by W2R Oh gosh... this is so sad! I feel so fortunate to be able to afford keeping my teeth. I am 69 and have all of them, though some are implants. My perception is that Louisiana is kind of a poor state, so I would imagine that our percentage of toothless seniors is probably closer to that of West Virginia, than to that of California.

At least according to one source you're right. When we went on the Coal Country Tour several years ago, other than the education we received about the history of coal mining and unions, we also learned about the poverty levels in middle and southern WV. It was pretty sad, but not unrecognizable to me because while I grew up better off, it was not a whole lot better off.

[Independent]

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Originally Posted by Rianne Life insurance and property insurance - $521 House, Car, Umbrella insurance - $134

I'd guess that most of the retired people who post here aren't paying for life insurance. So that's one way they get costs down.

Also, I notice that you have "property insurance" on one line and "House insurance" on another.

[Blue Collar Guy]

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Originally Posted by Independent I'd guess that most of the retired people who post here aren't paying for life insurance. So that's one way they get costs down. Also, I notice that you have "property insurance" on one line and "House insurance" on another.

I pay for life insurance. Im an insurance lover. I buy appliance insurance. I have umbrella insurance. I took out sewer line insurance. I pay 6 bucks a month gas line insurance. I would have taken water line insurance but I have a 15 year guarantee when I built the house. I had heat and hot water insurance, first year I dropped it, it cost me 500 for a thermo coupling and an expansion tank. I took a job with life time health insurance. I sleep better. I have computer insurance. Im sure i have more.

[travelover]

I don't bother to insure my umbrellas. I just buy them at Dollar Tree and pitch them when they go inside out.