Do you continue to save in retirement for high ticket items?

[Koolau]

No real budget anymore.... I have a number set (total NW) that I will start watching my spend rate, if I ever reach it. A few years ago, I never thought I'd get to that number in my lifetime, but with inflation really picking up, it's possible.

Heh, heh (he said, sheepishly) we NEVER had a budget. We always planned on and DID spend considerably less than we made, so came out "ahead" at the end of the year. That's carried over into retirement which is why I alluded to not actually saving for "big ticket" items but just writing a check for what we wanted. Additionally, during accumulation we had the "pay yourself first" items like funding the 401(k), etc

While I have only tracked actual spending one time (for a year) I always seem to have a "sense" of where we are and DW keeps the check book pretty well up to date. If we want to BTD, we do check the balance just to be certain. I think once or twice, we've gone back to the 401(k) for "reinforcements" for the check book - following our RMD. We may need to do that this year as we've got a couple of things coming up which are a bit unusual. In any case, this far along - almost 16 years - we're not too concerned about running out of money - black-swan events excepted as always, of course. Just another YMMV possibility.

 

[ERhoosier]

Budgeting?
Are you askin' ME or the DW

 

[jimnjana]

Yes. Deferred, planned, and pop-up spending. We retired on pension income primarily. Now, our excess income is in savings, ibonds, and vanguard.

 

[Badger]

Back in the early 70s we had a budget. Money was really tight. Being frugal as well as doing my own repairs was a necessity. Once we paid rent/mortgage, utilities, insurance, and car payments the paycheck was pretty much spent. Then came the divorce after 10 years. After 5 more years I remarried and continued with a budget but had extra dollars to save/invest.
Then 33 years later we are still frugal out of habit but the money is there if we want to spend it for anything. I stopped making a budget once we retired. It is no longer a factor.


Cheers!

 

[big-papa]

Except when I was younger and specifically saving up for a house down payment, I've never saved for any specific purchase. It's all in one big pool and if we need it, we buy it.

Cheers.

 

[kcowan]

Having been at this for nineteen years, I gave up the detailed plan 2 years ago. Just spend and gift with abandon subject to cash management chores.

 

[bolt]

A well known financial figure once advised.
Enjoy broad market indexed*returns as long as your mental capacity does.
When you notice your mental capacity changing shop for SPIAs & their historic solvencies.

Otherwise, keep a small 100hp outboard motor on the sail boat,........... for emergencies!

Good luck & best wishes.....

 

[Cayman]

No saving or buckets.
No pension $ for 12 years, drawing on investments.
As long as we keep our WR rate low we're good.

 

[stephenson]

Hmmmm .... weird year to base an answer on, but, we have, since we stopped working, saved, by accident ��

We live far below our means - and, we have not yet begun drawing from IRAs or SS.

Edit - jeez, after writing this ... need to start spending. Note - friend of mine drinks Caymus cabernet Sauvignon ... told him I just couldn’t do that at $80 a bottle ... he said, no problem, your children will.

 

[RobbieB]

Got that right.

Rombauer is good enough for me -

 

[W2R]

Kind of? I don't ever seem to spend as much as I could. So, when a big ticket item comes on my horizon, I just look back and see how much was within my limits to spend, that I didn't spend during prior years. That money is "fair game".

Even when I bought my Dream Home, the money I hadn't spent covered it, along with the money I got from selling my prior home.

I guess that is sort of doing it backwards, since I have never seemed to first think of the big item and then work at saving enough to buy it. Instead, I save first and then try to think of something to spend it on.

 

[audreyh1]

Edit - jeez, after writing this ... need to start spending. Note - friend of mine drinks Caymus cabernet Sauvignon ... told him I just couldn’t do that at $80 a bottle ... he said, no problem, your children will.

Ha ha, yep!

 

[Koolau]

Edit - jeez, after writing this ... need to start spending. Note - friend of mine drinks Caymus cabernet Sauvignon ... told him I just couldn’t do that at $80 a bottle ... he said, no problem, your children will.

That's okay. Just see that your "financial planner" isn't drinking your CCS!

 

[Redbugdave]

As when working and now in retirement I always have lived below my means and always put money away for investment and buying more toys. It's an odd feeling not having to worry about money or the cost of things.

 

[TheWizard]

As when working and now in retirement I always have lived below my means and always put money away for investment and buying more toys. It's an odd feeling not having to worry about money or the cost of things.

Similar here, but I still want value for my money and look for bargains within reason...

 

[freedomatlast]

OP here. I mean did you continue (if you even started) putting a bit of cash into each savings "bucket" for vacation, car repair, new car, house repairs, etc) from your monthly income during retirement, or stop doing so once you became retired.

Never wanted or needed to use "buckets" while working and haven't done so in retirement. My spending has always been way below what I could reasonably afford, so big ticket items every now and then were never a problem.

 

[Koolau]

Never wanted or needed to use "buckets" while working and haven't done so in retirement. My spending has always been way below what I could reasonably afford, so big ticket items every now and then were never a problem.

Agreed. I saw the wisdom in using buckets for some folks - it was a tool to orient folks without an internal (what I call) "spend clock." I was able to control spending without a budget or buckets. My AA was set up so that the money naturally flowed from long-term investment to shorter term savings to check book - but no buckets as such. We're all so different and viva la difference as YMMV.

 

[mickeyd]

I continue to save any cash over $1000 in my checking account monthly. After 10+ years in retirement, we have yet to tap our retirement investment stash. Pensions/SS, so far, have paid it all.

 

[ncbill]

What high-ticket items?

Live in a townhome, last roof replacement was handled through a special assessment spread over a few years, under $100/month.

If I need a "new" vehicle I can buy used or lease instead of spending 5 figures all at once.

 

[TheWizard]

What high-ticket items?

Live in a townhome, last roof replacement was handled through a special assessment spread over a few years, under $100/month.

If I need a "new" vehicle I can buy used or lease instead of spending 5 figures all at once.

My last new vehicle cost me $60k in 2015.
For me, that was a high ticket item...

 

[RobbieB]

Yeah I bought my first brand new car in 2019, a fully loaded "plus - " and it cost me 45 grand. Nice car, glad I bought it!

 

[stephenson]

Got that right.

Rombauer is good enough for me -

Robbie - good vibes on Rombauer from today’s Preakness!

 

[Finance Dave]

Some of us retirees treat our steady annual withdrawals as income in terms of annual cash flow, so budgets for big ticket items can certainly be filled from that.

This is the way I see it. I consider ANY money coming in to our NW as "income". I say to my DW "we wor*ed all our lives to create a passive income stream so that we can FIRE. SS, withdrawals from TIRAs/Roths, selling items in the classifieds, PT wor*...all income to us.

 

[pacergal]

We put on new roof, got some new appliances, and bought 2 new cars in the few years prior to retirement. No real big ticket items right now.
At this point, we have "extra" every month from pension and ss that goes into a savings acct. We use that for anything beyond our monthly budget, if needed, such as taxes, travel, etc.
But I wouldn't have a problem pulling from investments if I needed, or wanted, too. That's why we saved like crazy while working!