Join Early Retirement Today
Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 03-04-2012, 08:19 AM   #21
Recycles dryer sheets
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 243
Quote:
Originally Posted by Alan View Post
Fortunately we have been able to give up the saving and start the spending, but not the LBYM habit, in that we stay at or below a 3% WR. Hopefully you will be able to do the same.

the year before we ER'ed was in line with the previous 4 years spending (not including taxes), so using that year as a baseline:

First year of ER our spending was up 27%.

Second year up 31%

Third year (2012) is looking to be up ~20% as all our vacation time will be in the USA.
That's exactly what we're planning for our retirement. Increased spending, but still LBYM with a ISWR of <3%.
misty57 is offline   Reply With Quote
Join the #1 Early Retirement and Financial Independence Forum Today - It's Totally Free!

Are you planning to be financially independent as early as possible so you can live life on your own terms? Discuss successful investing strategies, asset allocation models, tax strategies and other related topics in our online forum community. Our members range from young folks just starting their journey to financial independence, military retirees and even multimillionaires. No matter where you fit in you'll find that Early-Retirement.org is a great community to join. Best of all it's totally FREE!

You are currently viewing our boards as a guest so you have limited access to our community. Please take the time to register and you will gain a lot of great new features including; the ability to participate in discussions, network with our members, see fewer ads, upload photographs, create a retirement blog, send private messages and so much, much more!

Old 03-04-2012, 08:27 AM   #22
Full time employment: Posting here.
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Posts: 968
I was scared to death about the same thing. Though we had lived the previous 4 years comfortably on the returement budget. Every model we ran said we were good to go. DH retired last April and I can honestly say I have not lost a night's sleep.

We were use to weekly paychecks, so we sweep our money from a savings account that holds the years spending to the checking account weekly. Works fine for us.

We saved, we planned, we tested, now we enjoy! Really enjoy!
bizlady is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-04-2012, 08:03 PM   #23
Gone but not forgotten
Khan's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 6,924
Send a message via AIM to Khan
I find it difficult to cease frugality.
Have found it easier to give away money than to spend it.
__________________
"Knowin' no one nowhere's gonna miss us when we're gone..."
Khan is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-04-2012, 08:21 PM   #24
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
 
Join Date: Mar 2010
Posts: 1,993
I think, come 2013 (when I will be 58 and technically retired), I will find it very hard not to continue saving. So, I probably will and will feel fortunate in being able to do so (knock on crystal ball). Granted, it will not be at the current level but it won't be pennies either. "Saving some percentage of income", at least for me, may prove to be a hard habit to break.
sheehs1 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-05-2012, 03:58 AM   #25
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
RetireBy90's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Cville
Posts: 1,597
So some like Nords have spoken of parents, and others have more income than they need or spend. My mom is in a situation where she gets 2 checks each month, one from pension and one from SS. She also has paid off her home and has about $450K in investments.

Each month she spends one check and deposits the other into a savings acct. She has asked me to watch over her investments so every 6 months or so I sweep savings into her investments and invest according to AA I set up for her with her broker. She is worried she will need long term care and spend her savings and end up needing help.

She is happy, but it pains me to see her saving at the age of 80 and not enjoying her assets. But she is happy, so why screw with it. Just another example FWIW.
RetireBy90 is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 03-05-2012, 04:59 AM   #26
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Duesseldorf, Germany
Posts: 1,202
@Retireby90: Our moms are sisters - or are we siblings?
chris2008 is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 03-05-2012, 06:10 AM   #27
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
Midpack's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: NC
Posts: 21,150
Quote:
Originally Posted by easysurfer View Post
Don't mean to scare you, but wait until you do retire and then realize no regular paycheck coming in. It does take awhile to get used to that feeling.

I do find myself too in retirement, LBYM and try to spend less than my budget. Old habits die hard.
We spend significantly less than we can afford according to all spending models I know of. But we've always LBYM, so we don't feel deprived at all, why spend more just because maybe we could? I've only been retired for 8 months, so I assume we'll be more comfortable spending more in a few years. And though history is on our side, who knows what the future will bring?

You really won't know if your plan has been successful until you're 20-40 years in (rarely acknowledged here), makes sense to be a little cautious in the first decade if not longer. It's a little like having good career success in your early years and declaring you've HAD a successful career, you can only know for sure when it's over. YMMV
__________________
No one agrees with other people's opinions; they merely agree with their own opinions -- expressed by somebody else. Sydney Tremayne
Retired Jun 2011 at age 57

Target AA: 50% equity funds / 45% bonds / 5% cash
Target WR: Approx 1.5% Approx 20% SI (secure income, SS only)
Midpack is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 03-05-2012, 06:18 AM   #28
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
 
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Alberta/Ontario/ Arizona
Posts: 3,393
@Midpack. Agree with you from a financial point of view. Problem is many people want to spend more early in their retirement when they feel more energetic. Somehow I doubt frugal conservative spenders will actually want to or be able to mentally, raise spending later in retirement.
Danmar is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-05-2012, 06:40 AM   #29
Administrator
MichaelB's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Chicagoland
Posts: 40,520
Quote:
Originally Posted by Danmar View Post
@Midpack. Agree with you from a financial point of view. Problem is many people want to spend more early in their retirement when they feel more energetic. Somehow I doubt frugal conservative spenders will actually want to or be able to mentally, raise spending later in retirement.
The limited examples I have witnessed first hand agree with the last part of your post which I highlighted.
MichaelB is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 03-05-2012, 06:40 AM   #30
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
Midpack's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: NC
Posts: 21,150
Quote:
Originally Posted by Danmar View Post
@Midpack. Agree with you from a financial point of view. Problem is many people want to spend more early in their retirement when they feel more energetic. Somehow I doubt frugal conservative spenders will actually want to or be able to mentally, raise spending later in retirement.
Can't disagree, but I'd rather be challenged to spend more later than having to figure out how to spend (substantially) less later, it's not like we can go look for work at 80 or 90 years old.

We all had to strike a spending balance between saving for the future and immediate gratification while working, and we still have to strike a prudent balance in retirement - surprise!

YMMV
__________________
No one agrees with other people's opinions; they merely agree with their own opinions -- expressed by somebody else. Sydney Tremayne
Retired Jun 2011 at age 57

Target AA: 50% equity funds / 45% bonds / 5% cash
Target WR: Approx 1.5% Approx 20% SI (secure income, SS only)
Midpack is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 03-05-2012, 07:21 AM   #31
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
 
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Alberta/Ontario/ Arizona
Posts: 3,393
Quote:
Originally Posted by Midpack View Post
Can't disagree, but I'd rather be challenged to spend more later than having to figure out how to spend (substantially) less later, it's not like we can go look for work at 80 or 90 years old.

We all had to strike a spending balance between saving for the future and immediate gratification while working, and we still have to strike a prudent balance in retirement - surprise!

YMMV
agree. It is at least as much of a balancing act early in retirement as it was when we were working.
Danmar is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-05-2012, 09:28 AM   #32
Full time employment: Posting here.
 
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Atlanta
Posts: 507
Quote:
Originally Posted by foxfirev5 View Post
While planning for my eventual retirement I have discovered a hurdle to finally making the move. From the time my DW and I started out we always saved from every paycheck, bonus, gift ,etc. After 35 years I find it very difficult to reverse this mindset.
I can see us cutting back to the point of pain to save from even our retirement withdrawals. Does anyone feel this way or deal with this?
we were the same way as far as saving etc.
I do not start withdrawals until 2013 and today is only my 4 th "w$%k day being retired so I am no expert, but here is how I looked at it.
We are 59/55 yrs old and I looked at our current expenses and realized that we can keep our current lifestyle at 66/62 with just one SSN and a small pension. we go on current value of the money and assume we can keep up with inflation. (no one really knows for sure )
Then I looked at our savings and took out X amount each year till we reach that 66/62 milestone) then I took out X amount for 20 years from the remainder starting at age 60/56 (prime traveling years) and was actually shocked on how much we had left when we are 80/76 so I kept adding to the extra amount we planned to withdrawal till we had an amount we felt good with. So I just need to keep on track and I feel like we will be ok. We also know that we can get over $200k reverse mtg. at any time after my wife reaches 62 so that adds a little security.
SJ1_ is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-05-2012, 09:42 AM   #33
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
BigMoneyJim's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Nomadic in the Rockies
Posts: 2,720
I'm not retired, but I went through a 5-year focused debt elimination period. Afterwards I still wanted to keep saving, but I wanted to free some spending to enjoy today, too. It was an oddly difficult conversion where I had to push myself to spend more.

I was going to say it's still a struggle 7 years later, but now I'm recalling a lot of discretionary spending last year, so maybe I'm over it after all. (Oh yeah, and there's that London trip coming up...)
BigMoneyJim is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-05-2012, 11:36 AM   #34
Moderator Emeritus
W2R's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: New Orleans
Posts: 47,468
Quote:
Originally Posted by Midpack View Post
Can't disagree, but I'd rather be challenged to spend more later than having to figure out how to spend (substantially) less later, it's not like we can go look for work at 80 or 90 years old.
Besides, sometimes the elderly need care or assistance. I would be amazed if the prices for these services don't skyrocket when the baby boomers get to be that age.
__________________
Already we are boldly launched upon the deep; but soon we shall be lost in its unshored, harbourless immensities. - - H. Melville, 1851.

Happily retired since 2009, at age 61. Best years of my life by far!
W2R is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-05-2012, 09:00 PM   #35
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
MooreBonds's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: St. Louis
Posts: 2,179
I am somewhat of a similar mindset - although I'm hoping that if I can live off of a SWR of about 2.3%ish, and it's met nearly all by dividend income alone, I can convince myself to take some capital gains distributions every now and then to just splurge.

It's funny how people are wired - the exact same situation mirrored can be found aplenty in society.

Take a young woman who sat at my dinner table Saturday night during a social outing with a social group I'm an assistant organizer for. I overhead her lamenting to a friend about how the company she works for starts you out making next to nothing as an insurance adjuster. She then mentioned to her friend that the debt consolidation plan she agreed to last year (where she apparently is supposed to pay $200/month to an account) hasn't received any $200 payments since October 2011!

Of course, she apparently has cash to go out to eat, and have some disposable income for entertainment.

Just as it's next to impossible for many of us to attack the principal (despite FireCalc assuming that will happen in it's modeling), it's also next to impossible for many in society to deny themselves and (gasp) save just a few bucks to get themselves out of debt.
__________________
Dryer sheets Schmyer sheets
MooreBonds is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-05-2012, 09:08 PM   #36
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 10,252
Habits: How They Form And How To Break Them : NPR seems to apply here. Just go on vacation and spend lots of money.
LOL! is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-05-2012, 10:12 PM   #37
Administrator
Alan's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: N. Yorkshire
Posts: 34,022
Quote:
Originally Posted by Danmar View Post
agree. It is at least as much of a balancing act early in retirement as it was when we were working.
Quote:
Originally Posted by LOL! View Post
Habits: How They Form And How To Break Them : NPR seems to apply here. Just go on vacation and spend lots of money.
Third year in, lots of vacations in the first 2 years, and 3 months of vacations all booked up for this year and we're ready to go, starting end of April .

We ER'ed in Jan, 2010.

If we'd ER'ed in Jan 2008, then the balance would have shifted and I'm sure we would have cut back the travel expenses dramatically, and planned to spend more, later in retirement if things got better.

As Otar says in his book, there is a lot of luck involved in those early years of retirement.
__________________
Retired in Jan, 2010 at 55, moved to England in May 2016
Enough private pension and SS income to cover all needs
Alan is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-06-2012, 12:50 AM   #38
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
haha's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Hooverville
Posts: 22,983
Quote:
Originally Posted by jclarksnakes View Post
I know about this problem myself but I do not know what the solution is. We have always saved and so we want to continue saving. Who among us would have thought that our LBYM mentality could eventually become a curse?
I don't see it as a curse. There are many disciplines in life- money discipline, eating discipline, drinking discipline, exercise discipline, cleanliness discipline, neatness in one's home discipline.

These are all virtues; why try to make yourself lose a life virtue? We will all eventually confront big problems, in fact most of have have already done so. All our history of discipline in these many areas will help us to meet these life challenges ahead.

IMO there is nothing dumber than trying to make oneself spend money he doesn't really want to spend, for stuff or experiences that he doesn't really want.

Ha
__________________
"As a general rule, the more dangerous or inappropriate a conversation, the more interesting it is."-Scott Adams
haha is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-06-2012, 05:31 AM   #39
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
 
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Alberta/Ontario/ Arizona
Posts: 3,393
Quote:
Originally Posted by haha View Post
I don't see it as a curse. There are many disciplines in life- money discipline, eating discipline, drinking discipline, exercise discipline, cleanliness discipline, neatness in one's home discipline.

These are all virtues; why try to make yourself lose a life virtue? We will all eventually confront big problems, in fact most of have have already done so. All our history of discipline in these many areas will help us to meet these life challenges ahead.

IMO there is nothing dumber than trying to make oneself spend money he doesn't really want to spend, for stuff or experiences that he doesn't really want.

Ha
I don't think LBYM in retirement is a virtue? You will either spend it or give it away. Obviously you don't want to LAYM either. Maybe it's a terminology issue that revolves around the uncertainties of future investment returns?
Danmar is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-06-2012, 09:16 AM   #40
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
Lsbcal's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2006
Location: west coast, hi there!
Posts: 8,797
Retirement is not a risk free place to be. What about those FIRECalc lines that go down and then turn up? How low is too low? Will you be patient when the market has been going up but you are still down (from the inflation adjusted starting portfolio) because you were spending money? Wanting the portfolio to hit new highs should not be the goal in ER.

I don't want to sit around too much in my 60's waiting for the portfolio to get higher. And the 70's ... statistically that's close to the end of life for all of us. In my 80's I'll be lucky to stay awake past 8pm.
Lsbcal is online now   Reply With Quote
Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Good Saver, Bad Investor Zantastic FIRE and Money 22 03-03-2012 08:41 AM
KVAR unit as energy saver nphx Other topics 10 07-10-2011 12:13 AM
Use Tax Saver Credit during early retirement? Forrest FIRE and Money 8 01-17-2011 06:18 PM
Super Saver Shipping Filler for Amazon TromboneAl Other topics 27 08-15-2009 07:44 PM

» Quick Links

 
All times are GMT -6. The time now is 08:03 AM.
 
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.