What's your ER budget

[akck]

I'm budgeting $70k with the mortgage and $48k without, both before taxes for two of us. I expect we'll come in below those numbers since I wanted to make sure our income sources will meet those levels. I expect the mortgage to be paid off within three year of retirement, mainly due to educational related issues with our youngest.

 

[FurBall]

$60K after taxes for two people -- includes health insurance.
This is very generous and we are on target to underspend this year.

 

[megacorp-firee]

Yes, i'm single. However, if I had a spouse, my expenses wouldn't double. They'd go up maybe $300/mo. not counting health ins.

LOL never been married or ?
I suspect a spouse will more than double your expenses

 

[aaronc879]

LOL never been married or ?
I suspect a spouse will more than double your expenses

Not any spouse I would ever have. I like being single and plan to remain that way.

 

[skyvue]

Not any spouse I would ever have. I like being single and plan to remain that way.

Yeah, I spend about a third of what "we" did when I was married! Whoever said two can live cheaper than one hadn't met my ex-wife!

 

[W2R]

Not any spouse I would ever have. I like being single and plan to remain that way.

Being single is highly under-rated! After 23 years of marriage I have been single for almost 12 years and enjoy it a lot. Although Frank and I are very close and spend a lot of time together, we have no desire or plans to marry or live together. We are blissfully single and enjoy having separate homes.

If you ever decide that you want kids, you may change your mind. I think it is easier for kids to have both a father and a mother at home when they are growing up.

 

[Sam]

$1K on home insurance($135) and real estate taxes($850)

Aaron, where/how do you get RE tax of only $850/yr? Just curious.

 

[akck]

Yeah, I spend about a third of what "we" did when I was married! Whoever said two can live cheaper than one hadn't met my ex-wife!

In my planning, I'm figure to take the 75% option on the pension, meaning my wife will get 75% of my pension if I die first. I figure we'll take the 50% option on her pension. This is because I can live on less than what she can because I'm willing to cut back more.

For instance, my wife wants a big house (5+ bedrooms), so each son will have their own room if they happen to visit at the same time. If she passes before me, I'm willing to downsize (2-3 bedroom), and make them share a room since they likely won't visit at the same time. If they happen to visit at the same time, there's always a hotel room available.

 

[aaronc879]

Aaron, where/how do you get RE tax of only $850/yr? Just curious.

I live in the upper midwest in a small town. My condo is only worth ~$42,000. I actually rounded up. My taxes for the 2 years that i've owned it where $830.74(2008) and $842.60(2009).

 

[W2R]

Aaron, where/how do you get RE tax of only $850/yr? Just curious.

My real estate tax went up this year, to $872 for the 1558 sq ft house in the photo below in a nice neighborhood. No mansion by the sea, but not a shack or chicken coop either. Our tax structure is such that our sales tax is nearly 10%, though , and we do have a moderate state income tax.

On the other hand, unlike Aaron's $135 insurance, my homeowners' and flood insurance added up to $2016 last year.

 

[unclemick]

I live in the upper midwest in a small town. My condo is only worth ~$42,000. I actually rounded up. My taxes for the 2 years that i've owned it where $830.74(2008) and $842.60(2009).

$845 north of Kansas City. 1100 sq ft, 3 bedroom/one bath built 1970. That era surburban tract home. Paid 85k post Katrina.

heh heh heh -

 

[W2R]

$845 north of Kansas City. 1100 sq ft, 3 bedroom/one bath built 1970. That era surburban tract home. Paid 85k post Katrina.

heh heh heh -

EXCELLENT!!! By that I mean both purchase price and property tax. In about a year, maybe that will be me.

 

[bbbamI]

Yep...lived in MO myself. Low property tax...but there is state tax.

 

[ejman]

We run approximately $60K for DW, myself, approximately 20 goats, 12 chickens, misc ducks and geese, two dogs and whatever other critters roam around this place.

 

[Alan]

We are budgeting $70k for 2 (after income taxes). Planning lots of travel.

 

[rkser]

$100k before taxes for two of us

 

[mews]

I'm budgeting about 30k after taxes.

My after-tax spending, including RE tax on the coop, was a bit under 24k for 2008, and 2009 will be about the same.

Medical insurance cost will be the great unknown, since I want to bail before I'm Medicare-eligible.

ta,
mew

 

[Khan]

Basic: about 20K/year

Bought car in '07, cash from slush fund

Will start to tap retirement accounts in '10

Have started giving away most of the surplus

 

[Rambler]

RE taxes on condo I'm thinking about buying near DS's university (for him to use while in school, renting out a couple of rooms to his friends) will run $595. This condo has a MIL apartment so we can stay there while visiting (avoiding $100 per night hotel room). 2200 sq ft, 4br, 2 ba, incl MIL apt, in central Utah. Heck, if we like it there, we could even live there on a lot less than in the McMansion in Cali.

R

R

 

[bentley]

Here's a budget I threw together on the quick. I'm sure I left stuff out. If you think of anything, let me know. (I would appreciate any critique) But, this is the basics. I'm thinking that $50k before taxes will work for the two of us with a small cushion. We will complete our new home in country in two months with NO mortgage. (yea us) so maintenance will be low for many years. We're 57 & 58 SS will be $32k at my age 62 in todays dollars. Currently 1.35M in IRA/401k.

Anyone use Thrivent? I'm talking to a rep now for ideas on creating income from savings.

All numbers are annualized.

Health Insurance - 8400
Life insurance
Dw - 375
Me - 560
(2each)Car Insurance - 720
Home Insurance - 700
Utilities
Electric - 1200
Gas - 500
Water - 360
Cable - 600
Internet - 600
Cellphone - 1050

Taxes
Home - 800
Rental - 230

(2 each)Vehicle maintenance(estimate) - 2000
Tractor maintenance - 250
Fuel - 1500
Clothing - 1000
Medical deductibles & copays(estimate) 1500
Rx - 700
Household supplies - 1200 (probably to low)

Groceries - 6000
Dining - 1200

Farm supplies, fertilizer, feed, fire ant poison, etc - 1000
Gifts - 500

Total $32,945 before taxes
Assuming 15% income tax rate plus 4% state taxes, income needed is aprox $38,500

 

[Rambler]

Congrats Bentley on the house. Just noticed $500 for gas. I'm budgeting $2700 for propane (900 gals x $3 per gal). I don't know if that is high or low. Our currently sporadically used 4300 sq ft home is mainly heated with the woodstove (budget $400/yr for 2-3 cords of wood) but sometimes start the mornings with the propane furnace for a quick boost to the heat (when we are there at Christmas).

Our home is 4 yrs old, but already we have little issues popping up. I am budgeting just a little less than 1% of its value for home maintenance, including major replacements like the refer, freezer, furnaces, roof, etc, and minor things like cleaning supplies, paint touchups, flowers and yard stuff, etc. The leftovers in this fund will be deposited in MM or CDs until needed.

We also have a car replacement accrual...also goes to MM or CDs. Same for RV.

Just some food for thought.

R

 

[bentley]

Thanks Rambler, and the gas budget is an estimate. The new home is about 2150 heated, and it has icynene foam insulation walls and roof. It's V E R R Y tight. Possibly to much so. Anyway, the home will use natural gas for cooking, hot water, drying clothes, and gas log fireplace.
We retired to Louisiana.

After we've lived in the home for at least six months, I should be able to assemble a more accurate budget.

Good thoughts on the vehicle accruals. We typically drive vehicles for ten plus years. Current vehicles are a 2006 model with 20k miles on clock, and a 2007 model with 20k miles on clock. You can guess which one is DW's.

I should have inserted a budget item for Marshalls and Dillards.

b

 

[W2R]

Bentley, I just glanced through it and didn't see anything for hurricane repair. Since hurricane repair has been a major expense for me (and my home has never even had water in it), I thought that might be a consideration in Lake Charles, too. I lump it in with other home repair, but that category has been mainly hurricane repair due to minor wind damage such as fences destroyed, large trees knocked down that have to be removed, doors ripped off the outside of the house, shutters blown off, and that sort of thing. For various reasons, including some oddities in our state's insurance regulations, relying on insurance for this type of small exterior damage is not a viable way of dealing with this sort of repair.

 

[molly]

Bently -
I definitely agree with W2R on having a "hurricane fund" set aside. Not only for minor repairs to your home - but also for evacuation expenses. There are a lot of minor costs associated with hurricane season. We keep a separate fund for that item.

 

[teejayevans]

Looking at some of these budgets, doesn't anybody use the old "Miscellaneous" category? I would lump in a misc line item of about 10% just to cover those extra expenses.
TJ