Unexpected expenses after retirement (everything breaks!)

[bamsphd]

Since I retired in June, it seems like everything has suddenly been breaking around the house. My wife blames this week's installment directly on my retirement, and told me I should post to the ER forum.

Her logic is that since I'm home full-time now, the household uses more water. Apparently that has pushed our well across that fine line between just adequate, and inadequate supply. Which led to an extremely low water pressure event while doing the laundry, which may be why the washer decided to slowly overflow the next day flooding the drywall ceiling in the garage under the house. Bottom line, it looks like we will be getting a new well drilled, will be repairing/replacing the washing machine and redoing the ceiling in the garage, all because I stopped using the men's room at work!

Have others experienced this phenomenon? I expect to fix things when I move into a new house, but I didn't expect retirement "in-place" to cause things to break!

 

[Tailgate]

bummer...I retire in January and hope my house doesn't collapse around me
As far as the DW, I wake up every morning an apologize... whatever the daily gotcha is gonna be, it will probably come back around to me anyway

 

[REWahoo]

From a 2009 thread:

During the last year or so leading up to my retirement I tried to anticipate breakdowns/large expenses and did some upgrades while still working. My planning was lousy as the first year of retirement was the most expensive repair/replace period we've ever experienced. The microwave, dishwasher, water softener and pressure pump on our well all died and had to be replaced. We also had major repairs to both our central air and septic systems. Thankfully, things have calmed down considerably since.

Lesson learned: stuff happens

 

[Walt34]

Well, it's a good thing you have all that free time. Now you'll have an answer for all those people who ask "What do you do all day?"

"I fix things that broke because I retired."

That'll keep 'em working.

 

[MichaelB]

Have others experienced this phenomenon? I expect to fix things when I move into a new house, but I didn't expect retirement "in-place" to cause things to break!

We have, but only with the house and cars. Nothing else. It does not make the budget process futile, but it does remind us of the importance of emergency funds. And remember, correlation is not causation.

Lesson learned: stuff happens

A slightly different version of this was my first thought as well.

 

[Mulligan]

Before I retired, I made a list of about everything that could break or fall apart in the next 10 years and made sure I had liquid money to fix it. Last 12 months, water hearer, outside a/c unit, and now my 9 yr old roof has a leak in it. I have a bucket collecting the drip in the attic, but am not fixing it until I locate the source. Since it hasn't rained in a month, I haven't made it a priority but I need to. My betting money is on my dishwasher or over stove microwave being the next repair bill.

 

[razztazz]

When I retired I made sure I had, over and above any money I'd need to live on, the cost of a new car, since I knew I'd be needing one of those eventually, and $30,000 emergency money totally "off the books". Last month I finally bought that new car (the old one was 20 yrs old) and the old $30,000 is now $90,000-$100,000.

I know. Paranoid

 

[Koolau]

We have moved 3 times and remodeled 4 times in the 8 years since retirement. All very expensive and not in the budget. Fortunately, we had backups to our backups which allowed us to do what we wanted to do. I have informed DW that we have done our last remodel. We'll see YMMV

 

[David1961]

This is why it is important to have an adequate amount of funds set aside for when this stuff happens.
And just because two things happen at around the same time does not mean one caused the other. How old is your washing machine?

 

[Chuckanut]

This is not a new thing. It is a logical fallacy.

Post hoc ergo propter hoc

"after this, therefore because of this"

 

[HFWR]

From a 2009 thread:



Lesson learned: stuff happens

With alarming regularity...

 

[Brett_Cameron]

Right after I ER'd, most of the appliances in the house failed over a period of a couple of months.
I attributed this to "bad luck". Rather than the more appropriate "poor planning".

 

[homestead]

Had to replace our septic tank a month after getting layed off.
Replaced our washer yesterday , darn Maytag only lasted 34 year.

 

[Sittingduck]

Her logic is that since I'm home full-time now, the household uses more water. Apparently that has pushed our well across that fine line between just adequate, and inadequate supply. Which led to an extremely low water pressure event while doing the laundry, which may be why the washer decided to slowly overflow the next day flooding the drywall ceiling in the garage under the house. Bottom line, it looks like we will be getting a new well drilled, will be repairing/replacing the washing machine and redoing the ceiling in the garage, all because I stopped using the men's room at work!

Good thing the ceiling didn't let go onto the car! That really would have been an impressive and expensive chain reaction. Sorry about your mess. And here I thought I was the only one with that kind of karma.

 

[ejman]

Quite simple. The Gods have a sense of humor. "Did you see that so and so just retired and thinks everything is accounted for? - let's have some fun!"

 

[Midpack]

We've budgeted $10K/yr for infrequent (more than annual) large expenses such as cars, home repairs/replacements (roofs, utilities, appliances, consumer electronics, furniture, landscaping, remodel/updating, etc.) and whatever else comes up. They're going to happen, might as well budget for it, though what we spend each year varies from almost nothing to more than double the budget.

 

[W2R]

Wow, these are some shocking stories, I must admit. So far during my first four years of retirement, the only thing that broke was my hot water heater. Since it was only 4 years old, my plumber gave it to me for half price, $500 installed.

Sorry, that and some hurricane damage is all I can report! I suppose that means I am long overdue for something to break.

 

[larrytbm]

Ten years in retirement and I can't recall any large, unexpected expenses. Except complete loss of the house due to a wildfire in 2011. But, between insurance, outstanding volunteer help and an unexpected $40k from natural gas partnership liquidation, the budget didn't take a hit. Only 'expense' was 7 months of non-stop work and two trips to the other ER. My resume is now really stuffed and we have a better house.

 

[Walt34]

Ten years in retirement and I can't recall any large, unexpected expenses. Except complete loss of the house due to a wildfire in 2011.

"Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you like the play?" Yikes!

Glad to learn it all worked out for you without a huge financial hit at least.

I guess they just don't make things as well as they used to. In the last 10 years we've replaced a brand-new clothes dryer, over-the-stove microwave, kitchen sink (okay, that was more style-driven by DW than a defect) central A/C, water heater, $200 part for the refrigerator, and garage door opener. I'm counting on the 11-year-old furnace to need replacement at any time and the purportedly 30-year roof shingles are not looking good.

Stuff happens. But it sure seems like it's happening a lot more often now.

 

[chas57006]

The motor in my pontoon went bad a couple of weeks ago.
Going to cost about $5000 to repair.

But in happened in the middle of the week while we were tubing with our granddaughter's, so that's still better than being at w*rk!

My mother always told me "if money can fix it, it's not a problem".

 

[martyp]

As soon as I ER'd we replaced the roof and had the house painted as preventative measures. 2.5 yrs into ER nothing has broken. We have household repairs funds when needed.

 

[RetiringAt55]

We've budgeted $10K/yr for infrequent (more than annual) large expenses such as cars, home repairs/replacements (roofs, utilities, appliances, consumer electronics, furniture, landscaping, remodel/updating, etc.) and whatever else comes up. They're going to happen, might as well budget for it, though what we spend each year varies from almost nothing to more than double the budget.

This is what we do as well. We used Quicken and several years of expenses to calculate:

House Repairs: $500/month
Vehicle Replacement: $200/month
General Household: $500/month (furniture, redecorating,etc.)

So our ongoing monthly budget includes all of these costs. I think this is better than fixing things before retirement or anticipating what will break soon or depending on an emergency fund. We also have lowered values for these items in different scenarios we run. For example, we have a smaller budget assuming only one car in retirement or assuming we are in a smaller home, and we run planners with these values.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

Most things that go wrong (No, cost money) here now are definitely my fault. I create things to do. Like remodel my guest bath, the old one went wrong. Everything worked was just wrong so it just HAD to be replaced. And then the was the trim around the house, that was just wrong... so it had to be updated.

Here is the new Bathroom. It is just RIGHT now. I wonder what else is wrong, I certainly have time to find out.

 

[GoodWishes]

My mother always told me "if money can fix it, it's not a problem".

I have a similar saying "If money can fix it, it's not a problem when you have money."

 

[martyb]

The motor in my pontoon went bad a couple of weeks ago.
Going to cost about $5000 to repair.

But in happened in the middle of the week while we were tubing with our granddaughter's, so that's still better than being at w*rk!

My mother always told me "if money can fix it, it's not a problem".

Sounds like a whole new powerhead! I had to replace one on a 150 hp Yamaha a few yrs ago, & it cost $4600. Sorry, I know it hurts to take a bite like that!