How's Your Net Worth Changed Since You Retired?

[Jerry1]

Hey Jerry I'm curious why was this a mistake? (significant spend on a pool in my previous house which ended up being a mistake) As I have 1 and love it

Because, while I did enjoy the pool, the main thing we hoped for is that it would draw the grandkids over to the house in the summer. This did not happen. In fact, our daughter had a tendency to discourage the kids from coming over to use the pool. Therefore, it ended up being primarily used by me and DW. Still, not too bad, but then it came to be that every time DW and I got into the pool, the conversation gravitated toward how disappointing it was that the grand kids weren’t there. So in a nut shell, it became a a negative experience.

Ultimately, we moved from that house. The pool was a significant issue but the property also was becoming too much to handle. We said when we built the pool not to do it if it wasn’t for us (me and DW), but ultimately, the negative experiences couldn’t overcome my overall want/desire/like of the pool.

 

[mebden]

Because, while I did enjoy the pool, the main thing we hoped for is that it would draw the grandkids over to the house in the summer. This did not happen. In fact, our daughter had a tendency to discourage the kids from coming over to use the pool. Therefore, it ended up being primarily used by me and DW. Still, not too bad, but then it came to be that every time DW and I got into the pool, the conversation gravitated toward how disappointing it was that the grand kids weren’t there. So in a nut shell, it became a a negative experience.

Ultimately, we moved from that house. The pool was a significant issue but the property also was becoming too much to handle. We said when we built the pool not to do it if it wasn’t for us (me and DW), but ultimately, the negative experiences couldn’t overcome my overall want/desire/like of the pool.

I guess it also depends where you live at as I'm in South Louisiana and I'm still using mine daily it works great for my morning exercises I do in it as I also have a heater on mine so I can extend my summers

 

[dickoncapecod]

We've been extremely fortunate so far, retired 14 years ago, and our net worth has improved beyond all my expectations - up 122%. But I thought I'd compare myself to some benchmark - why not 4% SWR using FIRECALC's default numbers?

So I plugged in the FIRECALC default numbers which are the classic 4% SWR for 30 years (results below) and found:
Best case: CAGR 5.96% over 30 years
Average: CAGR 2.18%

We're very close to best case, despite a very conservative AA, spending all dividends and interest and small withdrawals over all 14 years plus taxes on Roth conversions since 2019. Our withdrawals will be significantly smaller now that SS has begun. OTOH we will probably be retired more than 30 years.

Some of you with more aggressive AAs and low withdrawals are probably ahead of best case.

If you're curious, a 3% initial WR inflation adjusted thereafter result's in:
Best case: CAGR 6.48% over 30 years
Average: CAGR 3.40%

Here's a calculator to calculate CAGR if you like Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) Calculator | Good Calculators

Our net worth and portfolio continue to outpace consumption. We’ve seen growth of about $1.7m in the five years since retiring. The portfolio provides 2.6X our expenses. Total income is 2.9X expenses. The pile will grow. Charities will benefit.

Like your experience, our non-real estate net worth is now 3.5 times the starting value in early 2009. No pension, just SS --- and no scrimping at all --- mostly portfolio after tax returns. (Also no stocks...)
Regards, Dick

 

[Original Wally]

Basically doubled. We are WELL above the curve I had projected for our balance.

 

[Pointby2]

We retired in March of 2021 and our NW is up 34%, despite spending on several very nice trips.

 

[Steelpony]

I must have commented somewhere because I’m in this loop.

Latest info going back to 2018 although I semi retired when britches were pants but I only keep records 7 years.

100% up in value about 14% a year since 2018. We’ve received about 500k+ in income distributions but I do know I’m pretty close to 1 mil total in distributions to date since semi retiring.

Like most yearly gains outpace our personal inflation rate. So there’s no stopping the gravy train now.

I’m really just interested in financial security with easy management to pass on to successors if necessary which I think has been achieved. No more Ramen and Tang in the immediate future either.

 

[Dalton]

Retired Oct '22, and investable (not including house) is up a little more than 36%. That's a good thing, as I FIREd pretty lean, so I'm sleeping much better these days. I also had planned to continue LBYM, to continue "saving" until starting SS if needed. I've been able to give myself a couple raises so far.

 

[street]

It is crazy that I even worried about money when we ER. Not that it might be an issue down the road who knows the future. I looked a few days ago in 9 years since I retired just portfolio has grown to 3.7 million more then 9 years ago.
Not including ranch and home in small town but I know the ranch has increased a lot in 17 years.

 

[pb4uski]

NW is 164% of what it was when we retired, but 33% of the 64% increase is from an inheritance.

 

[pb4uski]

....a significant spend on a pool in my previous house which ended up being a mistake. ...

Jerry, that's probably nothing compared to my sister and DBIL. They added a pool a couple years after they bought a new house. They travel alot, she becamse a travel agent after she retired and shortly before covid. During covid since they couldn't travel they used the money that they normally would have spent traveling to add a nice pool and hot tub to their back yard. In 2024 the pool began leaking. It was determined that the pool had concrete cancer and was unrepairable. The pool contractor was long gone. So they paid more money to have the pool removed and make the pool area lawn just before they sold the house. A six-figure mistake I think.

 

[GBcycling]

Retired on Oct 1, 2023.

PV is up 37% in 26 months. Our spending has run about 10% higher per year than I planned, no biggie. Will start pension next year which will cover 33% of spending. Plus DD's wedding. Feeling very fortunate all around.

 

[Slim11]

I am up 25 percent in like 3 years. Probably more because I spent a bit , house went up a bit and we bought a new car. So , not factoring in anything but accounts after expenses. Edited to add, most of this was do to blind luck with CDs coming due after the market fell a ton and me just buying the dips.

 

[L-5Player]

NW is up 45% after just shy of 5 years being retired. However that's a nominal figure.

In real terms, inflation erodes that to about 16%. Cumulative inflation has been about 25%, or 4.6% CAGR, during this period. Retirees should be tracking against real change and returns in addition to observing face value.

 

[PointBreeze]

I retired 8 years ago. I haven’t started Social Security yet, so have been living off my portfolio. I’m up 51%. Super grateful for that.

 

[pf19]

Like your experience, our non-real estate net worth is now 3.5 times the starting value in early 2009. No pension, just SS --- and no scrimping at all --- mostly portfolio after tax returns. (Also no stocks...)
Regards, Dick

Curious how your portfolio is up 3.5x in 16 years without stocks. Large bond portfolio? Just CEFs? I've followed your posts on another thread, which prompted me to buy into a couple of CEFs recently. I am retiring at the end of January and am looking at lowering my high concentration of stocks to other financial instruments.

 

[dickoncapecod]

Curious how your portfolio is up 3.5x in 16 years without stocks. Large bond portfolio? Just CEFs? I've followed your posts on another thread, which prompted me to buy into a couple of CEFs recently. I am retiring at the end of January and am looking at lowering my high concentration of stocks to other financial instruments.

Hi. Some luck, some circumstance. Expenses were very low relative to even starting income. Didn't need SS but claimed early anyway and invested it. True luck: I retired in late 08 and gathered funds and started portfolios in early 09 --- so sequence of returns worked strongly in my favor at outset. Big help: from the start, at least 80% of financial assets were in tax deferred accounts --- now more like 96%. When 4 years of incredible expenses for wife's custodial ALZ care hit in '21, the portfolio income was so high that I could still reinvest $10+k/month. Finally, with generally positive outcomes, I seriously reduced or eliminated positions during the major bondish CEF downturns ----- the "benefits" of remaining in markets mindlessly, so widely hailed in asset-gatherers marketing collateral are non-existent, and loss-avoidance (limited or large) is the real key to long term investment success. Every dollar not lost or marked down echoes through your investment horizon ---- unrealized losses affect future returns exactly the same way as realized losses.
Regards, Dick

 

[ls99]

UP. Waay up.

 

[PhrugalPhan]

Retired 2.5 years here. I've been mostly living off my pension, so I haven't withdrawn anything from my 457 account. That account has gone up ~75% though it is worth even more as I have done $200k worth of In Plan Roth Rollovers. So I would say after tax equivalent it is up 90%. I'm sure my other accounts have similar growth though I haven't been tracking them.

And then my home value has probably risen 25%. I have seen a few local home sales and I have been surprised recently at the amounts paid.

I'd have even more if I stayed in my job, but I have no regrets.

 

[FedRetired50]

Retired 2022. Started SEPP/72t withdrawals in 2023 and that account is up 30% over the last 3 years (including 3 withdrawals). 4th withdrawal is coming up in about 5 weeks. Not much increase in home value. Post-tax investment account is up but I'd have to investigate to see how much.

 

[Koolau]

I'm blown away that my PMs have nearly doubled in value this year. Add that to Megacorp stock going to the moon and the markets all being up, up, up and this year has really added more than it's share to my 20-year Retirement Stash!

 

[Out of Steam]

My wife and I retired in 2019. Despite conservative stock allocations and retirement account draws of up to 4.5%, our net worth is up 30%, just about keeping up with inflation.

 

[SecondCor521]

NW is up 45% after just shy of 5 years being retired. However that's a nominal figure.

In real terms, inflation erodes that to about 16%. Cumulative inflation has been about 25%, or 4.6% CAGR, during this period. Retirees should be tracking against real change and returns in addition to observing face value.

I account for inflation by using my last six months of actual expenses to track spending. After almost ten years of tracking monthly, I've learned:

1. My personal rate of inflation is much lower than the government figures. It's somewhere around 1% annually. But it is noticeable on a 10 year graph.

2. There is significant month-to-month variation in my spending, but very little on an annual basis.

3. Inflation comes in two ways for me: prices of things I buy going up over time, and me choosing to spend more. They both show up in expenses and are intertwined that way. But I know my spending history enough to be able to distinguish as needed. For example, this year about 40% of my spending is on a one-time project, and that spending will probably be cut in half going forward after this month. Most people I read about don't disambiguate between the two factors for various reasons.

 

[Finance Dave]

We're probably not a good gauge because I did a "phased" retirement where I worked part-time for 7 years...reducing the number of hours worked each year until fully retired this year. However, our NW has increased about 20% in those 7 years...and that's in spite of me buying a brand new Corvette Z06 in 2024 and taking some nice vacations such as to Ireland. Combine that with the fact that we're not on SS yet, and I'm sure we'll be fine. Very conservative AA (about 24% equities, 4% commodities, the rest is FDIC insured cash-like). The one watch-out for us is that we're building a new house in 2026 and will have to add about $600k to what we sell our current house for. Need to manage the new house costs to ensure minimal overruns.

 

[Lagniappe]

I retired almost 8 years ago, on April 1 2018. Life has been busier than I could have imagined. In those 8 years, my net worth is up 90%. I spent a lot, mostly on real estate and discretionary travel. But my highest withdrawal rate to date hs been 2.2%.

I moved, first down the beach about 25 miles, then across the Atlantic to Europe. I sold the house I was living in at retirement, bought a condo closer to the beach, renovated the condo. Then the condo was badly damaged by a hurricane. I sold it to someone whose house was destroyed, since I was only living there part time. For a couple of years, I rented, then bought an apartment in another country. Recently, I bought the apartment next door and am combining the two into a larger place.

Every single time I made a real estate transaction, I was convinced it was a bad decision and did it anyway, for lifestyle reasons. So far, financially everything has worked out.

I have also travelled a lot. I spent 3 months in Spain at a language immersion school right after retirement, then a few weeks in Cambridge. The following year saw a month in Scotland, a couple of weeks hiking Hadrian’s Wall, a month in Paris, a few weeks in Prague, a week in London and another in Venice. In addition, I did a quite a bit of driving around the US, catching up with old friends and family.

Then Covid hit. As soon as I could travel, I went to England, Switzerland, France and Portugal. After setting up a base in Europe, I travelled to Ireland, Scotland (again), Egypt, Morocco, Florence, Milan, Madeira, Seville, and lots of other places.

I feel so lucky, and privileged, to be living my dream retirement with a portfolio that supports the life I want to lead.

2026 will be my highest spend year ever, at just under 3% due primarily to Capital Gains taxes. My basic spending is not changing. But my portfolio allocation is wildly out of balance after 8 years of stocks generally increasing, so I am starting to rebalance and take the tax hit.

 

[Rocky mtn high]

Retired 11 yrs ago, nw has doubled