For the retired folks

[JBmadera]

my worry over financial matters has not decreased but it's my own fault - two big areas ended up being issues for us and were not things I had accounted for in the financial plan. First, I spend WAY too much on my hobbies, I have all the time in the world now and really like my hobbies but I am causing financial stress by not going with the spending plan (in hindsight I should have seen this coming) and second our planned "down-sizing" has really stalled out. Part of the plan was to dump the expensive/hard to keep up horse property and go with an affordable 55+ but two years in we are still stuck - this of course adds to the financial angst.

Hopefully your stress will decrease as your plan flows as expected. GL!

 

[Looking4Ward]

One thing I've found myself doing that I hadn't anticipated is being anxious over the potential increases of my investments.

In other words, now that I'm spending less than I thought I would and have grown comfortable that my portfolio was more than sufficient in size, I'm looking forward to it growing even more!

Very similar to the feeling when one is savings and watching (hoping) their investments grow - except now I'm no longer contributing, am pulling money out, and it still has the potential to get bigger.

 

[NW-Bound]

... I'm no longer contributing, am pulling money out, and it still has the potential to get bigger.

Emphasis on "potential". My stash did not live up to its potential recently.

 

[ERsoonihope]

Only one month in to retirement, so I am tracking spending against budget much more religiously this year than is typical for me...but so far it's been good news on that front.

The part I found most interesting - like you I calculated whether I was ready a hundred different ways, had spreadsheets calculating expenses and investments that took me to 110 years old... and generally obsessesed over the planning - until the day I announced my retirement date. Magically, once the decision was made and I committed to it, my interest in tweaking the spreadsheet yet again just evaporated. I gave 4 months notice, and I think I opened the spreadhseet maybe once in that period...and I haven't run Firecalc at all since then.

So my experience is, I no longer obsess about readiness. So far I am not too worried about spending ... But suspect I'll be paying a little bit of attention to that for the next year or two.

 

[Looking4Ward]

Emphasis on "potential". My stash did not live up to its potential recently.

Nor did mine

Of course, I'm thinking of the 15 years between now and when I (hopefully) start a substantial monthly stream of SS payments at 70.

 

[NW-Bound]

Wasn't there a TV ad by a stock brokerage which said "The market goes up, you make money... The market goes down, you make money..."?

I guess nobody here has money with that broker.

 

[Dog]

I worried about having enough almost every day of the last five years I was working - was constantly looking at investments, calculators and tweaking spreadsheets. I pulled the trigger 1 & 1/2 years earlier than planned and have been retired for almost three months. DH is still working, but I was the high wage earner. I've looked at the spreadsheet maybe 2x and our investment balances maybe 3x. I was strangely calm during the recent decline in stocks. I've been so busy that I haven't had a chance to spend money (other than pay bills). That may change next year


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[David1961]

So my question is once you retire for awhile, does this excessive worry about finances all the time go away? I sure would hope to relax once I can see our plan working.

I found it difficult going from "portfolio accumulation" mode to "withdrawal" mode. Gradually, I'm getting used to it and am even starting to like it. But for me, it is a slow process.

 

[gauss]

I worried about having enough almost every day of the last five years I was working - was constantly looking at investments, calculators and tweaking spreadsheets. I pulled the trigger 1 & 1/2 years earlier than planned and have been retired for almost three months. DH is still working, but I was the high wage earner. I've looked at the spreadsheet maybe 2x and our investment balances maybe 3x. I was strangely calm during the recent decline in stocks. I've been so busy that I haven't had a chance to spend money (other than pay bills). That may change next year ��


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+1

I have also been much more calm, in the presence of market volatility, after pulling the trigger and ER'ing compared to when I was working.

I think it has to do with the threat of a major market correction putting off my ER for years while working, which now is no longer the same threat.

An unexpected, yet pleasant result in my case (the post-ER calmness that is).

-gauss