How has your retirement spending differed from your projections?

[meleana]

We are mostly on par except we are finding we are spending more money on eating out. But that's relative because prior to retiring we never ate out except a few times when on vacation and some Chinese take out every few months.


A lot of our neighbors in our new community eat out constantly. They almost seem obsessed with it. As soon as they hear about a new place opening they have to run there. They also are obsessed with shopping also. Honestly I think it is out of boredom.


So back to us, if some of them want to get together and go out we have been joining them. We only moved last year so trying to make and keep some friendships.



This all said, we are not doing extravagant meals. Some things are just pancake breakfasts or pizza or a pub for lunch. Some Chinese and Mexican. We have done some more expensive places- Italian and so forth. Maybe one drink. But it adds up each month.



Again because we are new in this state and this area and community we are trying to attend everything for social reasons otherwise we will be left out.



I do have a misc. line in our budget so I consider this part of it. I also increased our food budget when COVID hit as I was spending like $200 more a month on food. We had just moved and had no stock pile yet. We bought a small chest freezer and proceeded to fill it up, as well as the pantry. Now I am trying to empty both a bit as things have calmed down, but I do find food to be a bit more expensive in this area. I really need to get my receipts out and track it in a more detailed way.


When we worked I never bothered worrying too much about it as we had paychecks coming in and I knew we could cover any line item if we went a little over.


Things are different now and we are still trying to adjust.

 

[GravitySucks]

I retired with a fairly lean budget and stayed in a strict budget for the first five years. At the five year mark I reassessed and have bumped up spending a bit year 6 and 7. Covid beat back spending in year 8.

I was never a detailed budget type, (Earnings - Savings = Spending) but always had a feel for where the money went. About the only surprise was health insurance increases as I miss read my separation contract. That's offset by utility costs not rising as much as I expected.

 

[brett]

Spending over the past nine years is approx. what we anticipated. The categories have changed with some lifestyle changes how ever the bottom lines have been well inside the ballpark.

 

[CyclingInvestor]

62, 14 years retired.

The first 5 or so years spending went about as planned. After that spending ramped up (travel and entertainment) as investment income ramped up. Now spending almost twice what I expected, except the last 12 months (no vacations).

 

[Out of Steam]

Been retired only 2 years (now 63) so too early to tell, especially with C19 limitations. I’m not collecting SS yet & Portfolio is still all time high, so likely less than expected. I thought I would be drawing down the portfolio until I filed for SS.

We're in the same pre-Social Security phase, 18 months in, and also have more in retirement savings than on the day we retired.

I didn't expect it either.

 

[mickeyd]

ERd about 20 years ago. Expenses are about what I expected and income stream still pays all bills including CCRC monthly fees. Eventually the income streams (5) will not be enough to pay it all. At that time we will have to start pulling cash out of savings. This is exactly as I had planned it.

 

[jollystomper]

For those of you who are retired, how close to your projections and predictions has your spending actually been? Where did you find you underestimated, or overestimated, how much you would spend?

So far (32 months of retirement as of the end of February) our total expenses are about 5% lower than what we projected. We overestimated our medical expenses and our planned vacation travel was greatly reduced last year. Our taxes are higher than estimated, primarily due to Roth conversions since we were not eligible for Roth accounts until after I retired.

Also, going into retirement I did not plan to pay off our mortgage (still had 9 years on a 15 year loan at a very low interest rate), but with pandemic expenses and interest on savings both going lower last year we decided to pay off the mortgage early.

From a cash flow perspective we are way ahead, we have only spent 25% of what we budgeted to spend from our cash. it is a combination of lower expenses, a not planned for inheritance, and greater than expected income, some of which I intentionally did not consider in the plan (DW's part time income and her own SS before FRA, since I wanted to retire independent of those factors).

 

[brett]

Retired nine years ago.

Two good things that have impacted cash flow. First, inflation was lower than I forecasted during the period. Second, investment returns were better than I forecasted.

So, it has all been good. Now for the next nine or ten years.

 

[Dtail]

Averaging about 20% below budget, but the budget is on the aggressive side.

 

[jeroly]

About twice what I had projected, but about half what my projected wr was.
More or less the same as my pre-retirement spending level, though.. I wound up not moving to se Asia and stayed in HCOL areas, while my stash quadrupled since I fired in 2000.

 

[wyecrabber1]

We tracked our expenses prior to retirement for 15+ years prior to retirement. We planned on retiring to St. Augustine and paying cash for our home. Fortunately, SS and our pensions cover our annual expenses with 15% of budget being discretionary. Was able to take my medical coverage with me. DW wife has been retired for 6 years. I'm approaching 4 years. Have not touched our investments. Looking at some travel and replacing the vehicles over the next 3 years.

Time to think about blowing that dough -- at least a little bit. RMDs kick in a two years.

 

[Markola]

I’m delightfully surprised at all the ways our spending is shrinking in FIRE without pain or sacrifice. Just yesterday, we received our 2020 tax returns and, looking ahead, I think we will fall into the next lower bracket next year.