|
|
Yay! Success in my first year of retirement!
09-02-2020, 09:34 PM
|
#1
|
Full time employment: Posting here.
Join Date: Feb 2017
Posts: 807
|
Yay! Success in my first year of retirement!
I am so happy to be able to share with you all that my first year of retirement was a financial success!
Some backstory (that a lot of you already know!)...
I had started thinking about how to financially afford to retire in 2014. I found this wonderful forum and asked lots of questions and read lots of posts here over the next couple of years. I figured out a budget I thought I would have the retirement income to support in 2016, and set up a separate bank account with that much money in it in 2017, spending only from that budget for that year, with a successful outcome. I then "restocked" that account with the same amount, and waited for retirement.
I retired at the end of August 2019, and just now, Sept 1st, 2020, calculated the outcome of the past year's spending. Even with some extra expenses due to my dad's decline and moving to a nursing home and us now being solely responsible for fixing up and maintaining the house and property, I made budget with about 12% left over. I am so relieved and happy that all the planning has worked!
There was one huge one-time, unexpected expense this year, which was paying off the mortgage on dad's property. We paid that out of savings, and did not include in the budget calculations for this year. I know that's "cheating", but we don't anticipate anything like that again (knock on wood!) - and what I was trying to calculate was the basic yearly budget to see if it would fit into my income parameters (a small pension now, and SS starting at my FRA in March of next year.) It does, thank goodness, and leaves some income left over to add to savings for that next rainy day.
I am feeling very relieved right now - time for a glass of wine (or two) (grin!) Thank you, everyone here, for your support and advice! You are amazing!!
|
|
|
|
Join the #1 Early Retirement and Financial Independence Forum Today - It's Totally Free!
Are you planning to be financially independent as early as possible so you can live life on your own terms? Discuss successful investing strategies, asset allocation models, tax strategies and other related topics in our online forum community. Our members range from young folks just starting their journey to financial independence, military retirees and even multimillionaires. No matter where you fit in you'll find that Early-Retirement.org is a great community to join. Best of all it's totally FREE!
You are currently viewing our boards as a guest so you have limited access to our community. Please take the time to register and you will gain a lot of great new features including; the ability to participate in discussions, network with our members, see fewer ads, upload photographs, create a retirement blog, send private messages and so much, much more!
|
09-03-2020, 02:19 AM
|
#2
|
Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: Jul 2019
Posts: 301
|
Great news! Congratulations!
|
|
|
09-03-2020, 02:41 AM
|
#3
|
Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: Hartford
Posts: 358
|
Thank you for posting this. It's great to hear recently retired experience, since we are getting ready ourselves.
I like the method of paying everything out of a separate account, to see what it really costs. We have not done that so our spending must be calculated with some effort.
|
|
|
09-03-2020, 04:26 AM
|
#4
|
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jan 2018
Location: Tampa
Posts: 11,298
|
Congrats.
It is always nice when a budget works out.
__________________
TGIM
|
|
|
09-03-2020, 06:29 AM
|
#5
|
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Oct 2017
Location: Tellico Village
Posts: 2,622
|
I love a plan when it works!! Congrats on your first year success. Enjoy the ride.
__________________
Retired May 13th(Friday) 2016 at age 61.
|
|
|
09-03-2020, 07:12 AM
|
#6
|
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: Syracuse
Posts: 3,502
|
Congrats!
__________________
“No, not rich. I am a poor man with money, which is not the same thing"
|
|
|
09-03-2020, 07:21 AM
|
#7
|
Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: Jun 2018
Posts: 176
|
Congrats! Hope to making a similar post in about 20 months. :-)
|
|
|
09-03-2020, 07:27 AM
|
#8
|
Full time employment: Posting here.
Join Date: Jun 2014
Posts: 521
|
Congratulations! I am also coming up on my first year and what a ride it has been.
|
|
|
09-03-2020, 07:35 AM
|
#9
|
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Apr 2013
Posts: 11,078
|
Congratulations! The first year was pretty anxious for me, glad you are doing great.
|
|
|
09-03-2020, 07:52 AM
|
#10
|
Full time employment: Posting here.
Join Date: Feb 2017
Posts: 807
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by ImThinkin2019
Thank you for posting this. It's great to hear recently retired experience, since we are getting ready ourselves.
I like the method of paying everything out of a separate account, to see what it really costs. We have not done that so our spending must be calculated with some effort.
|
That separate account made it very clear to me what I was spending. I'd tried to calculate the actual spending the year before I set up the separate account, but as you said, it took a lot of effort. Silly, right? I either spent it or I didn't so it should have been clear from my checking account and credit card account records, no matter what bank account it came from. Unlike a lot of people here, I don't have a "lot" of money, so my calculations must be very clear and very accurate, as best as I can figure them and predict the future (yeah, right, I know (smile!)) But setting up that separate account (which wasn't hard to do) made it all very clear. I needed it to help me be very clear about whether or not I could afford to retire.
|
|
|
09-03-2020, 07:52 AM
|
#11
|
Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: Oct 2013
Posts: 117
|
I retired a few years ago but the wife has a few more years to go (5).
Initially I planned out the expenses and income for retirement.
However, since she is getting closer to retirement, I started tracking all expenses from one account to get a better handle on annual expences. We have a budget but I would like to know what our real retirement expenditures are, similar to your situation.
First thing I found is we are spending much more on remodeling the house. It looks like we do one large project a year. It's probable that in the next five years we will need to replace two AC units, roof, windows, water heater, vehicle as the house is approaching 30 years old.
So, I'm writing this because what seemed like a one year "emergency" is turning into a "non-emergency" yearly recurring cost.
Just be aware an plan for these "non-emergencies".
|
|
|
09-03-2020, 07:55 AM
|
#12
|
Full time employment: Posting here.
Join Date: Feb 2017
Posts: 807
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by goingtotravel
Congrats! Hope to making a similar post in about 20 months. :-)
|
Can't wait to read about your first year!
|
|
|
09-03-2020, 07:59 AM
|
#13
|
Full time employment: Posting here.
Join Date: Feb 2017
Posts: 807
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by workmyfingerstothebone
First thing I found is we are spending much more on remodeling the house. It looks like we do one large project a year. It's probable that in the next five years we will need to replace two AC units, roof, windows, water heater, vehicle as the house is approaching 30 years old.
So, I'm writing this because what seemed like a one year "emergency" is turning into a "non-emergency" yearly recurring cost.
Just be aware an plan for these "non-emergencies".
|
Good advice! Yep, we planned and have those covered. We seem to always have a "big" repair each year, such as septic (both of the past two years - ugh!!) or the well, or my teeth (double ugh!!) at least once a year. We have savings that we designed to cover those expenses, hopefully enough to last the next 30 years, if past expenses are an accurate predictive measure.
|
|
|
09-03-2020, 08:00 AM
|
#14
|
Full time employment: Posting here.
Join Date: Feb 2017
Posts: 807
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by Toocold
Congratulations! I am also coming up on my first year and what a ride it has been.
|
Would love to hear about your first year!
|
|
|
09-03-2020, 08:06 AM
|
#15
|
Full time employment: Posting here.
Join Date: May 2017
Posts: 802
|
Congrats on executing a well thought out plan! Funny how that works.
|
|
|
09-03-2020, 08:21 AM
|
#16
|
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Nov 2016
Posts: 9,514
|
That is great!
|
|
|
09-03-2020, 09:04 AM
|
#17
|
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: Twin Cities
Posts: 3,941
|
Congrats! We’re about two months in to semi retirement and your story is very inspiring. The way we’re making the budget work is by blocking off the fixed costs and having the portfolio pay for those. We then have a more variable category of costs, which we’ll cover with our cash stash and part time incomes. Someday, SS and accessing our home equity can replace the part time work. We still like earning some money for now but flexibly and on our own terms, so semi-FIRE works well for us, we think. Your plan is terrific, too, so enjoy!
|
|
|
09-03-2020, 09:39 AM
|
#18
|
Full time employment: Posting here.
Join Date: Feb 2017
Posts: 807
|
The one thing that can derail us is if we have a huge unexpected health issue such as one of us needing to go to a nursing home. We have enough in savings to cover about 20 months of that for one of us, but will be in trouble if it goes longer than that. We have talked extensively about this issue and almost decided to continue working until we dropped just to keep saving, but eventually changed our minds and decided to take the risk. It's definitely a risk, too, and we are very much aware of that, but we decided that the benefits of retiring outweighed the risk at this point. It was - and still is - a tough decision.
|
|
|
09-03-2020, 09:41 AM
|
#19
|
Full time employment: Posting here.
Join Date: Feb 2017
Location: Severn
Posts: 947
|
Awesome!
|
|
|
09-03-2020, 10:10 AM
|
#20
|
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Apr 2015
Posts: 5,858
|
Congratulations! Retirement is so nice and it sounds like you have a well thought out budget and spending plan.
__________________
Give a Man a fish, he will eat for a day.
Teach a Man to fish, he will eat for a lifetime.
|
|
|
|
|
Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
|
|
Thread Tools |
|
Display Modes |
Linear Mode
|
Posting Rules
|
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
HTML code is Off
|
|
|
|
» Recent Threads
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
» Quick Links
|
|
|