Hi there! I'm a longtime lurker who just ER'd a few months ago at age 56. This is my first post here. Would be very interested to hear opinions of something I've been thinking about.
I have always been a saver and DW is a spender. Although she is still working she spends more than she makes, and spends more than twice as much as I do. We split the cost of all things such as house and car expenses, food, pet care and other things that we both make use of. Most of her higher spending is from personal care stuff, "tech toys" and impulse buys. If she has a large savings deficit while working I'm really worried about what will happen when she decides to retire.
I don't believe I can change her spending habits. I'm not asking for advice about that here because I believe it is impossible. My question is, what if, much later in retirement, her spending starts to push us toward the brink? I've been thinking that if resources are dwindling too quickly at some far off future time, it might make sense (as an emergency measure only) to annuitize all remaining savings to have a fixed income to live on along with whatever paltry amount social security will pay. That would in effect put a cap on what she could spend each month. Right now when she spends more than she makes she does not run a credit card balance but just expects that it should come from my non-retirement account savings. I keep telling her that's like robbing Peter to pay Paul. If it were all annuitized there would be no more savings to "borrow" from. I don't believe she would be willing to pay the high credit card interest and would probably not run a balance, she is more like, "if the moneys there it can be spent" so if the money's no longer available in savings she might cut her spending.
Opinions, anyone? Thanks! And I have to add how much I have enjoyed my lurking time on this forum-it's very informative.
I have always been a saver and DW is a spender. Although she is still working she spends more than she makes, and spends more than twice as much as I do. We split the cost of all things such as house and car expenses, food, pet care and other things that we both make use of. Most of her higher spending is from personal care stuff, "tech toys" and impulse buys. If she has a large savings deficit while working I'm really worried about what will happen when she decides to retire.
I don't believe I can change her spending habits. I'm not asking for advice about that here because I believe it is impossible. My question is, what if, much later in retirement, her spending starts to push us toward the brink? I've been thinking that if resources are dwindling too quickly at some far off future time, it might make sense (as an emergency measure only) to annuitize all remaining savings to have a fixed income to live on along with whatever paltry amount social security will pay. That would in effect put a cap on what she could spend each month. Right now when she spends more than she makes she does not run a credit card balance but just expects that it should come from my non-retirement account savings. I keep telling her that's like robbing Peter to pay Paul. If it were all annuitized there would be no more savings to "borrow" from. I don't believe she would be willing to pay the high credit card interest and would probably not run a balance, she is more like, "if the moneys there it can be spent" so if the money's no longer available in savings she might cut her spending.
Opinions, anyone? Thanks! And I have to add how much I have enjoyed my lurking time on this forum-it's very informative.