Does everything seem to break right after you retire?

[BeachOrCity]

So here I am in the first year of retirement. Analyzed the decision to death, and financially modeled the heck out of it. There is plenty of money to handle what is happening.
I own some real estate, and thoroughly modeled and set aside maintenance budgets as well.

This is more of a psych type of request.......

Feeling like anything that can break in the past year is breaking:

• Transmission rebuild on the car
• Large tree fell on neighbors house
• Heat Exchanger cracked at house 1
• Oil heat needs to be replaced and tank removed at house 2
• etc etc etc (there's ALOT more)

Normally I would just laugh it off as an unlucky streak, but with no W2 income coming in, I do seem to be letting it get to me.
While my ER budget has alot of room in it and planned spend is quite high, the fact that all this money is going out the door well in excess of annual maintenance budgets (and history) just "gets to me".

*** I guess I just wonder if its normal to feel more financially vulnerable in ER, and does that feeling ebb over time or does it stay with you? ***

I am more bothered by my reaction to these major bills, than I am about the bills themselves. I hope that this is temporary and is more a result of the bills happening in year 1, rather than that I will always let it get to me when I have major bills in retirement.

Thoughts?

 

[Bir48die]

I get it. I did a retaining wall and a hot tub then our tree fell down and trimmed others for $3k. I had a decent emergency fund prior to retiring that it hurt less but I haven’t built it back up

 

[Midpack]

Nope. You’ll be retired for 20-30 years and I’m sure spending will revert to mean. Before you retired I’m sure you had some bad spending years. That happens retired or not.

And I assume you’ve built some unbudgeted contingency in your spending projections. Our contingency spending plan is 20% of our projected spending for major repairs, remodeling, replacements, new cars, etc. After 7 years that’s been close, though it varies wildly from year to year. Normal IMO.

 

[WestUniversity]

So far that has thankfully not been the case for us...

 

[Mr. Tightwad]

I broke my habit of getting up for w*rk.
I broke my habit of driving to w*rk.
You get the point.

 

[mystang52]

Just coincidental [bad] timing, and averages will even out over the long term. And, of course, this is a good reminder that one needs to plan for unforeseen financial hits suchgas these.

 

[cbo111]

Hey, it beats your body breaking down right after retirement!

 

[W2R]

My sympathies!

Personally, I set aside money for a new car and waited until after I retired to buy it, so that car repair was not an issue.

I also eliminated expenses of large repair items at a second home, ever, by choosing not to buy a second home.

But still, in my first year of retirement I had to pay to have a tree taken down, my laptop fried so I needed a new one, and I paid I guess around $9K to fix up my house to sell (even though we eventually decided not to move to Springfield after all). The latter was probably ten times what I expected because I never dealt with that much decades old wallpaper before.

Life is like that! I usually figure that the unexpected, unusual large expenses will be a substantial part of my spending. This past (ninth) year of retirement was the first in which I didn't have any unusual large expenses like that. I am expecting to be hit with them like a ton of bricks this year.

*** I guess I just wonder if its normal to feel more financially vulnerable in ER, and does that feeling ebb over time or does it stay with you? ***

I am more bothered by my reaction to these major bills, than I am about the bills themselves.

No, I really don't feel more vulnerable because when these major bills don't occur, I regard it as a windfall. I never considered the possibility of no major unexpected bills.

 

[neihn]

Hey, it beats your body breaking down right after retirement!

1+
I pulled the plug in June 2018 then hospitalized in Nov 2018 for internal bleeding caused by ulcer. Cost me a bunch (6.5k max out of pocket).

 

[BeachOrCity]

Thanks for the pep talk guys. I am headed to St Pete beach next month should get my mind off the broken down houses.... and cars

 

[Dtail]

Everything will revert to the mean, just like the markets over time.
Relax and enjoy our glorious FLA weather.

 

[Nick12]

Florida has such a therapeutic effect on many people. Living here for more than half my life, I take it for granted sometimes.

 

[karen1972]

I may have written something similar right after retiring. I ended up with two ER visits of over $8k in the course of 3 months after retiring and they were both flukes. A few other bigger expenses and the money was just running out of my account like crazy. I just had to take a deep breath after all its a marathon, not a sprint.

It all worked about and things normalized again, I just figured it was a test, and I guess I passed

 

[Jerry1]

My first year had $14,000 of unexpected. I still came in under budget because the unexpected is always happening so my budget is that inflated. My natural spend is close to $60K and my budget is $80K. I suspect some years I’ll even go over the $80K but I believe more years than not I’ll stay under $80K and things will be fine. I agree though that it hurst a bit more when it happens right out of the gate. Add last December’s stock market and, yes, it’s a little hard. But I’m sure things will be fine.

 

[Winemaker]

Last year I put a new roof on rental and cut a tree down at another rental ~$13,000. But those were "baked in the cake", as I have owned them since 1999 and knew that I would eventually have some capital outlays. But over the same period I have received $340,000 and $204,000 in rents over the same period. So, in the long run, you'll be okay!

 

[Bamaman]

My retirement came suddenly when MegaCorp shed everyone 55 and older in 2008. I had already moved to an ultra LCOL area to a smaller home. Everyone needs to consider things in their lives that wear out, like automobiles.
I bought a new car and pickup truck--a Lexus and a F250 diesel.
Our 13 year old travel trailer was aging and downright embarrassing. We bought a new fifth wheel trailer to leave in the Blue Ridge Mountains.
The engine on my pontoon boat went out, and we bought a new Bennington tritoon.
My parents died and left me half of their lake house. I had to buy out my sister's half of the lake house since she never used it.

And that gets me to where I am today: Poor but proud.

 

[ncbill]

Most here in my development are older and downsized from a larger SFR.

One monthly HOA payment and everything outside is maintained, including roofs.

I've found that very convenient.

 

[FreeBear]

Most here in my development are older and downsized from a larger SFR.

One monthly HOA payment and everything outside is maintained, including roofs.

I've found that very convenient.

We also have an HOA that deals with most of the exterior stuff. It's probably more expensive than what I would spend on my own but they also are more diligent. I love to not having to deal with exterior painting, lawn/snow, etc nor having to manage a bunch of contractors.


Beware of potential special assessments though. One friend was compelled to spend $12K on a new paver driveway when the HOA decided the functional cement one wasn't nice enough. Another friend in a highrise condo had to blow $25K to replace plumbing throughout the building.



As for us, we blew $15K on dental implants, but our health is otherwise good, thankfully. We go through roughly one kitchen or laundry appliance a year since the original stuff is over a decade old. Stuff doesn't seem to hold up. Our newer Honda has been good, ditto for the not-so-new Toyota! We can't complain, this sure beats w*rking...

 

[HF63]

I try to minimize having to many things which is easier to plan for.



I do need a set of winter tire's and will keep an eye for the rebates that normally come out in March to April time frame.


This cold spell made pull the thick winter boots that I bought 2 years ago in the spring sell at Kohls for 18 dollars. They are normally about 100 or more.


You get better prices when the stuff is not needed ASAP!

 

[Walt34]

I
You get better prices when the stuff is not needed ASAP!

Yup. You get much lower prices on snow blowers in June/July than in January.

 

[Gumby]

This is why I've been trying hard to get a bunch of things done while I'm still getting a paycheck (until the end of May). Last summer, we paid $25k to get the entire house painted and the wood floors refinished. Right now, we're paying $20k to get the young wife's custom sewing room completed (it's just like doing a kitchen with custom cabinetry and quartz counters; just no appliances or plumbing). Next month, we'll buy a new washer and dryer. Then, in April, we'll get a new car.

Does it really matter that we do all this now instead of in 9 months or a year? Not at all financially, but almost certainly psychologically.