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Retirement budget ... what to watch out for?
Old 09-16-2017, 06:33 AM   #1
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Retirement budget ... what to watch out for?

I am planning retirement in a few years. We both work full time, me 61yo and DW 57yo.
Our youngest has 3 years of college left.

Children (5) are not all solidly independent but, in a few years they should be (hah!).

Our runtime budget right now is somewhat high. Still helping kids somewhat and still saving for college.

I'm also putting together a projected retirement budget but, worry about missing something. I'm budget $1500+ a month for health insurance before 65yo.

What are the pitfalls? Would love to hear from the experienced.

Thanks.
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Old 09-16-2017, 06:34 AM   #2
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You might find this thread helpful http://www.early-retirement.org/foru...ire-69999.html
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Old 09-16-2017, 06:42 AM   #3
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Fidelity Retirement Income Planner (RIP) estimates the current budget for medical, dental and vision at $2086 for the two of us currently.

The surprise for me was the medical cost estimate jumped from $1100 in May 2015 to $1750 in May 2017. On the other hand healthcare inflation dropped from 7 to 5.5%. All numbers from RIP. All this makes you wonder whether planning for 40 years is just a wild guess.
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Old 09-16-2017, 06:59 AM   #4
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Pitfalls?

Focusing singularly on the money and numbers aspect of retirement. Of equal importance - giving serious thought to the resultant increase in leisure (non-w*rk) time, creative pursuits, physical well-being, mental well-being, and solid social support.

If you haven't yet, consider having a read of Ernie Zelinski's book, "How to Retire Happy, Wild and Free".
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Old 09-16-2017, 09:30 AM   #5
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Also allow for medical expenses beyond the insurance premium. How about car replacement? Taxes? Allowance for the unexpected?
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Old 09-16-2017, 09:33 AM   #6
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Dont worry, from the sounds of it you wont retire much before 65 anyway. Just price out the premiums for your wife.
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Old 09-16-2017, 09:54 AM   #7
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Yeah, I'll probably be 64 when I retire. I won't feel comfortable retiring until our youngest is out of college (BS at least). If he wants grad school that will have to be on him.

I'm budgeting a few $K for dental, a few $K for medical, and about $5K misc (unforeseen) per year. Most likely, a car or two will die and we may end up with a car loan or two.
I'll budget for monthly car payments ($250) and if not, that will go into our misc. fund.
We like to buy used.
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Old 09-16-2017, 10:18 AM   #8
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My dental expenses really skyrocketed about four years ago as I entered my late 60's, and this can happen if you have bad teeth like I do. My teeth finally gave out I guess. That was the biggest unexpected expense for me, maybe $5K-$10K extra per year depending on how many implants and root canals I needed each year. Of course, you can get bridges instead of implants and they are much cheaper, or you can just have the teeth pulled and not have those teeth, but I wanted implants.

If travel is important in your vision of retirement, be sure to budget an adequate amount for travel. We would rather not travel, but are floored by the costs of trips that some forum members mention.
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Old 09-18-2017, 03:11 AM   #9
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We used our pre-ER spending, which we had tracked for years in detail, as a starting point. Added money for more travel, entertainment and healthcare costs. Reduced commuting costs, car maintenance and insurance, dry cleaning and other costs that resulted from working. I think the Fidelity RIP tool is very helpful. I also recommend including a healthy amount for contingency.
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Old 09-18-2017, 07:37 AM   #10
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Many retirees miss or underestimate the large, non-annual expenses like major home repairs/remodels/system-appliance replacements, car purchases, or a host of others. We did budget for "other" ("contingency," "accrual") and after 6 years of experience, our "other" amounts to about 20% of our total spending and (as expected) it fluctuates way more from year to year as compared to all the traditional expenses.
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Old 09-18-2017, 08:28 AM   #11
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Looking back I would say one think to keep in mind is how you anticipate your lifestyle will change. Will you downsize, move to a higher or lower cost area, rent instead of buy, travel aspirations, etc? Or, it you may be quite happy with your lifestyle in which case budgeting should be fairly straightforward. We are fortunate inasmuch as healthcare costs are not an issue for us. Cannot imagine trying to come up with a realistic budget for future costs. We recently bought a home after four years of renting. In the past we reno'd three homes. This is almost new and did not even require paint. We assume that each appliance has a seven year life span and budget accordingly. Same approach for the other expensive components-furnace, roofing, etc.

We made some significant changes that I have no doubt left some relatives/friends wondering why. The budget worked out the same but the basket of goods so to speak was very different.

The great thing about retirement is that if can be a blank page for you to fill out. All those things you wanted to do but did not or places you wanted to go but have not yet been. I think one of the keys it to do what you want to do. Forget about what others may think or if it does not align with the traditional view of retirement.

Try to budget for it. Then add ten points for just in case.
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Old 09-18-2017, 07:21 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Midpack View Post
Many retirees miss or underestimate the large, non-annual expenses like major home repairs/remodels/system-appliance replacements, car purchases, or a host of others. We did budget for "other" ("contingency," "accrual") and after 6 years of experience, our "other" amounts to about 20% of our total spending and (as expected) it fluctuates way more from year to year as compared to all the traditional expenses.
+1 I'm only retired two years, but I've been setting aside additional cash equal to ~20% of other living expenses, in order to ensure I am prepared for larger periodic and/or unexpected expenses. Turns out the 20% amount is lining up to be about what I think will provide the funds and safety net that I want going forward.

NL
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Old 09-19-2017, 12:42 PM   #13
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I'm going to go be a contrarian. Consider the possibility that you might OVER-estimate some expenses.

It's natural to be conservative in your budgeting. That's good, and it may help with that "unexpected" category.

But if it keeps you in OMY mode too long, you might be losing something far more precious than money - your time.
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Old 09-19-2017, 08:01 PM   #14
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One thing affecting us has been drug costs. My old (megacorp subsidized) medical plan (coordinating with MC) was quite generous. Megacorp changed the plan and simply gave us money to find our own (Medicare pt. D or an enhanced Medicare supplement with a drug benefit.) Neither option was as generous as Megacorps original plan and our drug costs spiraled just as the drug companies raised all their prices. Between DW and I, we eventually told our docs that we had to find something cheaper. In my case, one drug cost $12/day even with the insurance benefit. The doc relented and let me use an over the counter med which cost $.03. Now, had he or I thought this was life or death, I'd have gladly paid the $12. You might want to prepare for such surprises because things can change just that quickly. Much of health care (and especially its costs) are outside our control. YMMV
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Old 09-19-2017, 08:59 PM   #15
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Old 09-19-2017, 11:18 PM   #16
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Many retirees miss or underestimate the large, non-annual expenses like major home repairs/remodels/system-appliance replacements, car purchases, or a host of others. We did budget for "other" ("contingency," "accrual") and after 6 years of experience, our "other" amounts to about 20% of our total spending and (as expected) it fluctuates way more from year to year as compared to all the traditional expenses.
+1

This year we have been hit hard with large, unexpected dental, vet, and home repair expenses. A full 23% of our budget is allocated to cover those contingencies every year - as well as car repairs, car replacement, and out-of-pocket medical expenses. Those are the kind of expenses where nasty surprises can arise. The rest of our budget consists of monthly bills (pretty stable from month to month, so few surprises here) and discretionary spending (any overspending in that category would be due to our own negligence).
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Old 09-20-2017, 06:16 AM   #17
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The estimate for cost of healthcare blows me away. I am 62 and my COBRA runs out 3/18. I only estimated $1K for the gap period and thought I was being conservative. (I am a naturopathic guy and I can afford a large out of pocket.) After Medicare, would it still be $1.5K per month?

In my estimate I also put in $15K for house painting and a roof next year, then put in my monthly mortgage payment going forward for unknowns on the house. Too little?
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Old 09-20-2017, 01:32 PM   #18
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We completely fixed or replaced major things in our house before retiring. We also bought 2 cars. Unfortunately we have spent close to 50k for dental expenses which I did not anticipate. WE lost 3 good friends between 59 and 67 so are traveling a lot now while we can.
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Old 09-20-2017, 02:49 PM   #19
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Good points above. Here's my contribution
Lifestyle creep is your biggest risk. What are you going to do with all the time you now have? Will you fill it with activities and toys that cost a lot of money, that incur monthly subscriptions? Those are things that will destroy your retirement.

Good luck.
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Old 09-20-2017, 10:52 PM   #20
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Koolau View Post
One thing affecting us has been drug costs. ..... Between DW and I, we eventually told our docs that we had to find something cheaper. In my case, one drug cost $12/day even with the insurance benefit. The doc relented and let me use an over the counter med which cost $.03. Now, had he or I thought this was life or death, I'd have gladly paid the $12. ....
Why would a doc care if you were using a low cost drug or the expensive one, unless he was one of those doctors that gets a kickback reward from the drug company for the number of patients he has on the expensive drug.

Whenever I start/try a new drug, I tell the doc I want the cheapest one, like a generic as maybe it will be fine, and generic ones have stood the test of time meaning you won't find out 4 years later that they kill x% of patients, (I'm looking at you Celebrex).
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