Poll:What was (is) your planned monthly spend rate?

[dtbach]

We take out 4% and spend it. So with military pension it's about $8600/mo. When my 97 year old father passes we should be able to add about $2000/mo to the total. Plan to do a lot of traveling while we can. Can't take it with you.

 

[rodi]

Well... I screwed up my answer - (or the poll title changed)... because I answered gross, not net... and I answered for household (of 4).

But ReWahoo's answer accurately captures it for me - about what I spent when I was working. (Not including savings/investing in my spending). That was my goal - to not have to downgrade my lifestyle or feel pinched. My health insurance went up but FICA taxes went away.

 

[RobbieB]

I was planning on a low number so that's what I voted for.

After the fact I'm living much larger than I planned.

 

[Car-Guy]

To be clear, it's the amount you think that's adequate to provide security and happiness throughout retirement. Don't include dollars going into a savings account, I am interested in the number that will support your basic living costs, fun money, travel, medical insurance, food, etc etc etc.

Providing adequate security numbers (e.g. the basic living, medical, food, expenses, etc) is easy and is very consistent from month to month. It's the fun and happiness numbers that makes it a difficult question to answer. Recently, some months it seems like 5k is enough but then a few months have been in the 50 to 60k range. Hobbies and travel can really drive up the cost! That really screws up my yearly averages.

 

[T-Minus]

About 30-40% more than when working. I would spend/gift as much as the portfolio generates.

That's my plan too. Adding 40% to my pre-retirement actual monthly spend still leaves us well below what FIREcalc tells us we could spend, and almost at 3% SWR. That said, one can never be 100% certain of success, so we have -10% (reduction) and -25% (austerity) spending plans in-place AND agreed-upon. As of July, it switches from "plan" to "reality"...

 

[old woman]

I am alone and need very little money to get everything I want. I spend about 1,500 a month on basic food, clothing and shelter. So with transportation and other things living on 2-3K a month is easy. Investments made 110K last year and 75K so far this year so I am spending more on medical and dental than planned. I don't have a lot of wants.

 

[Danmar]

That's my plan too. Adding 40% to my pre-retirement actual monthly spend still leaves us well below what FIREcalc tells us we could spend, and almost at 3% SWR. That said, one can never be 100% certain of success, so we have -10% (reduction) and -25% (austerity) spending plans in-place AND agreed-upon. As of July, it switches from "plan" to "reality"...

I have been retired for almost 11 years and have generally just spent divs. The portfolio has done very well so I'm starting to liquidate small amounts of stock and boost our spending/gifting. Best to start out conservatively then adjust if things go well.

 

[NW-Bound]

I imagine some are answering per individual, and some per household? These polls (or the results) always confuse me...

"Two can live as cheaply as one...

... for half as long" --- Anon.

Just joking. A couple usuually spends less than two individuals, as much of the cost can be shared.

The above said, it is often that a single man can be more frugal than a married man. It's my perception, but I could be wrong.

 

[tmm99]

"Two can live as cheaply as one...

... for half as long" --- Anon.

Just joking. A couple usuually spends less than two individuals, as much of the cost can be shared.

The above said, it is often that a single man can be more frugal than a married man. It's my perception, but I could be wrong.

I do believe a couple ends up spending less than two individuals since a couple can share resources (no need for two microwaves or separate living rooms, etc) although a couple cannot live as cheaply as one single person. The reason I said that this kind of poll confuses me is because some people voting are single vs some people voting have a family of 4. So as long as I look at the result of the poll with that understanding, I am good. (I wonder if the lower end numbers are voted by single people?)

As for a single man vs a married man, my old boss said single men carry a lot of cash in their wallets while married men carry only like $20 in their wallets... He said he proved this by asking a bunch of his friends, so it's nothing scientific - It just means his friends all of a sudden become short of cash once they marry.

 

[NW-Bound]

Upon a bit of reflection, I think that single men can go to the extreme in both directions, as they do not have a mate to temper their tendency.

About what you wrote above, it may be that single men have more disposable income and do not have to account for anything to anybody, hence carry a lot of cash. My son for example spends a lot of money on his hobbies. He already says he is never going to get married.

 

[karen1972]

We spend about 55% less.

- Moved to lower COLA
+ increased health care costs
- different circle of friends that aren't extreme high earners thus all social activities are way less expensive.
- current car costs 1/4th the previous car did.
- restaurant spend is 1/10th the previous spend as we joined a cooking meetup
* Travel is similar spend but twice as long as I actually look for deals, book in advance, realize I spend no time in the hotel so can book the $100 room vs the $400 room and still be perfectly happy.
- Deals deals deals, now that I have the time, use of coupons, happy hours, discount days, free days, etc. Before I retired I never even looked at a grocery flyer to see what was on sale, it just didn't matter, I was busy, I just bought what I needed.

I realized before I retired, my budget was 35% to savings, whatever to Tax, spend the rest, therefore, I was very price insensitive. Time was more important to me than price. Retirement reversed that.

 

[Nightcap]

Retired two years ago. Nervous about sequence-of-returns risk, so costs are currently higher than they will be in a few years. (A low interest rate mortgage and a zero interest rate car note give me cheap liquidity right now.) While still w*rking, after-tax spending was over 8K. Now it's under 7K. In three years, it'll be ~ 5K.

On the other hand, the ORD calculator says we can spend more, and FIREcalc shows a 100% success rate at 7K per month, so we might just settle in at 6K with some travel bucks. After all, success in retirement still has a grim end.