Rob, that is an excellent point about what to do with the excess. We built up over $1M prior to retirement which is a mix of roughly 50% brokerage account, 30% in IRA's and the rest in cash which is just sitting unused as a liquid reserve. Before we decided to retire to Hungary our assumption was we needed a huge reserve for potential catastrophic medical expenses. Here medical is so cheap it is not actually a factor. We pay cash and refuse to pay the US Medicare Part B required to retain the "free" military health care. Tricare Overseas (the military health care plan we are under) sucks horribly and isn't worth the money, time and effort just to get 60% back. The care here is excellent and not a burden despite several major problems none of which cost more than $1.5K. So, that left us with the problem of what to do with the money. Our house is filled to capacity with luxurious antiques so that is maxxed out. We have all the electrical gadgets we can possibly ever use and an excellent car we rarely drive. We splurged on some expensive art work although I am a painter myself so have my stuff all over the house. The garden is maxxed out and I have an excellent yacht I sail nearly every day. So, that only leaves travel and our burn rate is still within reason and we still haven't touched our equities or IRA's. My wife Day Trades for fun and generally earns $700 a day (on the days she plays which are becoming fewer) and I always laugh at this as we will never touch it so I ask her who this is all for? The cash is slowly depleting but not significantly as we only spend 1/2 of the pensions on living expenses including emergencies. We had my 90 y/o mother living with us which limited travel but she is now back in the US in an assisted living covered by her teacher's pensions and social security. I suppose my kids will end up inheriting most of this (my wife's 2 sons are deceased) but I know they don't want to deal with selling a house in Europe and certainly don't want any of our antiques nor art or even jewelry. That is not what the millenials are about. So, I suppose we will end up donating the lion's share to a local advanced STEM high school. It is a real dilemma and one we never thought would occur. So, it is a pleasant surprise. It does; however, cause minor friction between us as to what to do with it all.
I know quite a few military retirees who went over to the postal service after retirement. Generally, they are very happy people and enjoy the more relaxed pace of the postal system. Many, like myself stayed in civil service. I know quite a few enlisted who opted to not collect their military pensions but rolled it over into the CSRS and many got high ranked civil service positions so ended up with way more than if they had taken just the military pension. The new military retirement plan, which I do not understand at all, is relatively inadequate. Probably, it saves a lot on the military budget at the expense of the soldiers. It's not like the military is short of cash as they receive more than 50% of the Federal Budget but they always screw the soldiers first. One thing you learn quick in the military is the government never gives you anything for free but will take it from you as often as they can.