Have your expenses declined as you’ve aged?

[RetiredAt49]

I have a couple of questions for those of you in your late 70’s, 80’s, and beyond.

1) Have your annual expenses dropped as you have aged and if so by what percentage (even an estimate/guess is appreciated)
2) If your expenses dropped, what were the primary reasons (e.g. stopped traveling, paid off debt, etc.)

I ask because my in-laws (early 80’s) have become hermits… they don’t travel, they seldom go out, etc.. They have a substantial sum of money yet we can’t encourage them to do anything “fun”. They are in amazing health too. That has me wondering if I too will get to a point where I’d just rather always stay home and seldom go out.

Given our NW and my retirement at age 49, we have a 100% success rate using all the tools and that assumed we would pull out at least 4-5% (annually adjusted) for the next 45 years. However, I highly doubt that we’d pull more than 2% (especially when receiving social security) in our later years baring unforeseen health issues.

Appreciate in advanced hearing from you much wiser folks here…. My purpose for asking is for my DW and I to consider perhaps withdrawing more from our portfolios earlier on while we have the energy and gusto.

 

[COcheesehead]

I watched my Dad write checks to charities as his major hobby once he reached his 80’s.
With that being said, he also went through the majority of his net worth in the last two years of life with assisted living. Same for my FIL. He was spending 10%/year of his net worth in his final two years of life.

 

[Sunset]

I'm a bit young for your question, but I certainly know I've slowed down a lot compared to be 30/40/50/60...

Sometimes just the thought of some travel is "what a bother".

Beyond that , you never know when some health thing is going to crop up, even if it's just getting hit by a car, then suddenly the plan to hike the Appalachian trail is impossible, maybe the plan to walk up the stairs to the Acropolis in Athens is impossible too.

 

[Markola]

My parents are 83 and neither has any further interest in travel, having done a lot of it when younger. That definitely cuts costs. They just have lower key lifestyles than before and their bigger expenses are medical related, such as hearing aids. Neither seems more or less happy than before, or bored. They seem content to me.

 

[marko]

I've posted this before: I met an older man in a tavern 11 years ago. It was my birthday. He said " So you're 60? Realize that even if you live to 90, you've really got 15 or 18 good summers to go out and enjoy things. After that, you tend to lose interest in things either because of health, contentment or laziness."

We moved to a brand new house two years ago and now we have to force ourselves to go out!! "This is good for us (to get out)" we say as we head out. We just find ourselves just wanting to hang around and stay home more. Full disclosure: we're often in our PJs by 7pm and are quite fine with that. My health has also taken a hit of late, so we're leery of travel where hospitals are hard to get to.

Of course, having traveled and lived all over the world when we were younger does take the urge to do so less. DW just got back from an international trip with her girlfriend and found that the airport hassle just wasn't worth it.

Another savings: DW just made her last payment to BCBS before she heads to Medicare next month!! $1500 a month right in the pocket!!

 

[street]

I see a decrease in spending with my parents and from wife's parents. I say how much but they spent way less as they hit 80's.

 

[Midpack]

There’s a lot written confirming spending decreases with age for most people, although a big uptick in health care expenses near end of life isn’t unusual. Some describe spending by age as a U or a “smile.” Just do a search, but here’s one discussion https://www.kitces.com/blog/estimat...penditures-and-the-retirement-spending-smile/

 

[Toocold]

Still in my early 50s so my have expenses doubled because we have to pay for college. We are intending to travel when the kids are out of the house. So in 5 years, it'll go lower.

 

[RunningBum]

For my parents, now 89 & 86, expenses went down a bit after they stopped traveling sometime in their 70s. It bumped up when they moved to a place that served food for all meals. Then it soared when Mom needed memory care, and jumped again after she had a fall and went to a place where they handle memory and mobility care. Finally it dropped when she went on Medicaid. We're lucky to have found a place that takes Medicaid and gives her excellent care. If not they would've run down their money completely and then I'd be paying.

In numbers the range has been something like $35K to $180K.

 

[Trailwalker]

Health expenses are the wild card. My parents are 90 and 83. They were extremely frugal all of their lives and have amassed some modest wealth as a result. They see themselves as having so much $ that there will be a generous amount left over for inheritance, but a couple of years of assisted living or nursing home care would wipe that out. My mom’s dad lived to be 101. The last five years were spent staring out his window in a nursing home.

 

[REWahoo]

I ask because my in-laws (early 80’s) have become hermits… they don’t travel, they seldom go out, etc.. ...That has me wondering if I too will get to a point where I’d just rather always stay home and seldom go out.

Probably, as the "it's not worth the hassle" travel syndrome is quite common as we age. However, some older folks seem to never lose the desire to travel and socialize.

DW and I (mid-70's) have definitely seen a loss of interest in travel in the last few years, even sold our RV. I've also developed an aversion to traffic and crowds, resulting in an enhanced stay-at-home mentality, especially during weekday rush hours and on weekends.

 

[Ronstar]

94 yo MIL spends about $1500 per month on rent, utilities, food, and medicare. She watches tv all day and doesn't want to leave her apartment. Only goes out for haircuts and doctor appt's.

 

[MarieIG]

Expenses have ebbed and flowed through the seasons of life.

We had six kiddos, so there were expenses relative to education, sports, activities, cars, weddings, etc. which are for the most part retired. Home maintenance was and is an expense (although the mortgage was paid off).

We are not spending money on commuting to work

We buy (much) less food now, but buy organic which is more expensive. DH bought a rather expensive vehicle when he retired, which we had never done while working. We are spending more now on travel - and we are spending on grandchildren. There will come a point when we will want to replace our vehicles, and will want to move (more expenses). There will also come a point when we will need to hire someone to help with household chores.

After my father retired, my parents went out to eat most days, and took my kiddos out to eat on the weekends. They paid for summer camp (not cheap) for my kiddos, renovated their home, replaced their roof - and ours while they were at it. They were able to give some significant gifts to my family, as well as donate to charity. They were able to vacation when and where they wanted, although they were not the type to go on safari at any point in their lives. They paid for some family vacations (and this is something we will consider in the future, i.e. renting a cabin on a lake or large beach house).

When my father became ill (bed bound) a lot was spent on home care.

I never wanted to be elderly and have to pinch pennies.

 

[MichaelB]

I've also developed an aversion to traffic and crowds, resulting in an enhanced stay-at-home mentality, especially during weekday rush hours and on weekends.

+1

Our expenses have not declined. We are eating out less and traveling less, but have done some home projects and are planning more, and this more than makes up the difference.

 

[pacergal]

My folks pretty much stopped traveling in their 70's, the only trip they took was to see my Grandmother--who lived to 100.
Healthcare towards end of life was probably their biggest expense category.

 

[Eagle43]

We both turned 80 this year and have more loot than we need. We were traveling until Covid hit and




haven't done much since. Medical problems for both of us, but tricare + medicare cover the expenses. We are generous with the kid/grandkids. I expect We wi ll have to make charity donations when one of us dies.
Oh traffic is awful here. Go shopping by 8am and back home by 3pm.

 

[W2R]

I'm 75, and retired in 2009 at age 61.

Attached is a graph of my total yearly spending each year since retirement, expressed as a percentage of my 2010 spending.

I have noticed a difference in WHAT my money goes for, compared with what it went for back in my early 60's. These days I spend far less on frivolous doo-dads to make me happy, than I did back then. I think this is because (for me) the older I get, the happier I am so I don't need to buy myself presents to stay happy. YMMV

I ask because my in-laws (early 80’s) have become hermits… they don’t travel, they seldom go out, etc.. They have a substantial sum of money yet we can’t encourage them to do anything “fun”.

Who says they have to run around constantly to have "fun"? If they are like me, they are having lots of fun at home. Traveling and going out all the time can get boring and become a PITA.

 

[Teacher Terry]

My mom loved to travel despite having 3 different kinds of cancer between the ages of 78-89. I think her last trip was at 86. She also loved shopping for clothes but that ended in her late 70’s. My in laws rarely traveled but that was because of my fil and not my mil.

The trip to Europe last month and last year involved being awake for 27 hours going each way and that was exhausting. Also in April during my 6th trip to Europe I found myself thinking that I have seen enough beautiful ornate castles, palaces and churches.

I do have a trip booked for next April that my friend wants to move to 2025 and if we end up not going I am fine with that. I am 69 in 2 months. I am definitely spending less as I age.

 

[marko]

DW and I (mid-70's) have definitely seen a loss of interest in travel in the last few years, even sold our RV. I've also developed an aversion to traffic and crowds, resulting in an enhanced stay-at-home mentality, especially during weekday rush hours and on weekends.

+1. Us too, almost to the point of ridiculousness. Like Michael B however, we're spending a bit more, at least this year, with installing a new pool, but as noted above, DW gets on Medicare in 33 days.

 

[Chuckanut]

I think taking advantage of being retired so as to avoid rush hours and weekend crowding is more about good planning and less to do with aging. I did that in my 40’s and 50’s when I had Summer time off.

I find my travel expenses have increased somewhat because I like to travel more comfortably than in my younger years. In those younger years a small tent and sleeping bags at a local campsite were our hotel room. If we did get a hotel it was from one of the discount chains like Super 8, Econolodge, etc. Now, whenever possible I will pay more for a somewhat better room like Hampton Inn or Tru. They are like luxury hotels compared to some of the dives I’ve stayed in.

I also go slower. Which means I may take three days to visit the sites of Kettleville instead of the usual two that most travel guides recommend. Why? I want to be free to go back to my room for another noon nap, or linger over a pastry and coffee at a small cafe. On road trips, I’ll take three days to drive to 1200 miles to my destination instead of the two I would have done a decade ago. Again, less stress, less toll on the body.

When I get to the point that I really need the elevator in the big cruise ships, I may start cruising.

 

[Walt34]

IThat has me wondering if I too will get to a point where I’d just rather always stay home and seldom go out.

Heck, that was me when I was 18. It's even worse now.

Seriously. In my 20's a guy at work once asked what I'd done over the recent three-day weekend. "I read a novel. You?"

In fairness to myself I'll point out that the daytime temperatures during those three days were triple digits and I'd planned to stay in for that reason. But it wasn't out of character.

 

[ncbill]

Spring 2024 my in-laws (both early 80s) will have been retired for 30 years.

They traveled extensively the first ~15 years of retirement.

But not farther than the beach (~4 hours away by car) after that.

 

[RetiredAt49]

As the OP - I appreciate all the feedback on this thread. Overall it seems that the majority of people spend more (sometimes a lot more) during their earlier retirement years and much less in their later years (excluding those who have health or LTC expenses) so I feel that many of the retirement models (e.g. 4% “rule”) and the various tools out there do not model the “real world” - at least not by default as I know some tools allow you to adjust expenses each year but it’s a PITA.

We know that we don’t want to leave a significant nest egg to our mostly ungrateful kids but we also don’t want to live only on SS late in life. The curse is that I’m only 51 and DW is 53 so we have a long time left on this earth (at least we hope/think). Does anyone know of a tool that more accurately reflects the real world (where withdrawals decrease with age - especially after say 80 years old - and then perhaps jump a little more the last few years)?

 

[aja8888]

I'll be turning 80 this Fall. My DW passed away last December so living costs have fallen, mostly medical expenses (drugs, doctors, home help, etc) and some household ones too.

I am healthy and just came back from a 4,000 mile driving trip visiting family and friends on the East coast. Travelling is not a big deal for me as long as it doesn't involve the airlines (traveled for business for 35 years). I like driving trips at my pace and I am blessed to still have great eyesight (no cataracts yet) and good physical health. I'm sure this will not last much longer.

When I can't travel much, I won't miss it as I have been all over the world during my younger years. I might go on a cruise or too also.

I'm in the process of downsizing my house to something 1/2 the size as I don't need to big place to live. I may even rent instead of buying again. I'm free as a bird again!

 

[FI_RElater]

I'm a bit young for your question, but I certainly know I've slowed down a lot compared to be 30/40/50/60...

Sometimes just the thought of some travel is "what a bother".

Beyond that , you never know when some health thing is going to crop up, even if it's just getting hit by a car, then suddenly the plan to hike the Appalachian trail is impossible, maybe the plan to walk up the stairs to the Acropolis in Athens is impossible too.

I did that just under three months after total knee replacement... (it was supposed to be later but didn't have the ROM and had to be "remanipulated" and effectively started PT all over). I did have my cane, but those steps are not easy and some are quite slick as well... I wouldn't recommend doing them with a walker.