Ex-Coastie Plans to Live to 100

[packrat44]

I plan to live to 100. That's my plan and I am sticking to it. So far the plan is working well. My wife intends to live to 105. My parents are in their 90s and my in-laws are in their late 80s and they are still living independently at home. Presently we are 62 and 54. I retired from my civilian federal job when I turned 62. I also retired from the Coast Guard reserve at 60. Had 2 tours of active duty from 1966 to 1974, went into the reserves and was called back to active duty for 9/11. My wife retires at the end of this week from 32 years as a registered nurse. We went through many very lean years in the beginning which taught us to be very frugal (cheap) and not take on debt. We have maxed our IRAs, TSP, and 403(b) along with other taxable investments whereby we now have about 2M. My military and civilian pensions are about 35K/yr which is equal to our basic yearly expenses (no fun money). I plan to wait to draw SS at 70, my wife at 62. Since I expect her to outlive me, she could draw my higher allotment upon my death. If SS is still around in it's present form, our combined SS would amount to an additional 40K/yr. My problem may sound strange, but I need help in learning how to spend for fun and enjoyment while still ensuring that my wife and I will not be concerned about outliving our money.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

This ones easy!

Take your 35k pension, your 40k social security and 2-3% of your $2M a year.

Seems to me that a couple of no debt frugal people could get by on 120-130k a year, inflation adjusted.

 

[Nords]

My problem may sound strange, but I need help in learning how to spend for fun and enjoyment while still ensuring that my wife and I will not be concerned about outliving our money.

If you search for the fun & enjoyment then the spending problem will sort itself out.

We're treating it as a "green waste" problem. If it piles up faster than we're using it, we'll give it away. But while your entertainment expenses at age 95 might be fairly modest, I'm sure healthcare spending will take up the slack.

 

[megacorp-firee]

CFB has it right. If your withdrawal rate is low enough you will never run out of funds. The amount that you have available should be spent ... not saved. Now go figure out what your passions are. ... or go ahead and 'buy and try' some. $120K a year is a nice number in todays dollars for some nice experiments. As you near the tail end, you will normally slow down a bit, so your expense will even be lower (except maybe for health expense ... which is an entirely different story). ... You're there. ... Enjoy.

 

[Robert the Red]

Try some travel to really famous and exotic places. Machu Picchu. Angkor Wat. Easter Island. We've been to the first two, which you can do cheaply or expensively or in-between, and they were great trips. Unforgettable places.

 

[lazygood4nothinbum]

I plan to live to 100. That's my plan and I am sticking to it. So far the plan is working well. My wife intends to live to 105.

i just think it's interesting that your wife wants 5 years without you.