Poll:For Those in Retirement 10+ years

[tmm99]

It's been 8 years since I retired. My $ amount has increased, but not if I adjust for inflation. I was fine until 2021, but now, I'm behind. But I'm 8 years older now and I have fewer years to live and need money for, so it's alright, I guess.

 

[Walt34]

We've been retired 21 years. After accounting for inflation we're about the same, but that was expected and planned for. Several months ago DW started SS so that increased our income, so I suspect gift-giving will increase substantially. DW enjoys spoiling the grandnieces and grandnephews so she might as well spend it on what she enjoys doing.

 

[HI Bill]

Wow, it is time to discuss the 8% SWR.

LOL, if we only knew what the SOR were going to be!

 

[TheWizard]

I don't monitor my net worth, only my Investible assets.
But including my primary residence, I suspect my NW has increased a bit over the last ten years...

 

[brett]

Significant increase in our equity accounts...net of inflation.

ROI has been excellent, inflation has been low. Perfect combo.

 

[street]

I've just been ER for 7 years but have 65% more today than the day I retired 7 years ago. That isn't that great but considering we bought more land, bought a new vehicle, gifted 6 figure numbers a few times since ER, remodeled kitchen, bought some toys. All considering we have a lot more than 7 years ago.

NW would be a lot more, but I don't even use NW for any financial measuring.

 

[tmm99]

It's been 8 years since I retired. My $ amount has increased, but not if I adjust for inflation. I was fine until 2021, but now, I'm behind. But I'm 8 years older now and I have fewer years to live and need money for, so it's alright, I guess.

Oh, I forgot to add the property. If I add the property, I have more money now than 8 years ago even with the inflation.

Also, I haven't started taking SS yet, so once that starts, my NW may grow some more.

 

[pjigar]

In real dollars (inflation adjusted) or nominal? This can skew the poll results significantly. FWIW we are planning to keep the portfolio same or growing in real dollars.

 

[marko]

Doubled. Started with $X. Withdrew that same $X over 18 years. Now have >2 $X. With inflation, just a tad over 2 $X.

Now, can we hope for similar market performance going forward??

We should reference this poll whenever a poster wonders about running out of money.

 

[RE2Boys]

Retired from career job in 2000 with two pre-school sons and a COLA'd pension. Now 20 something independent adults with good jobs, no college debt. Net worth is about three times what I started with in 2020.

 

[rk911]

increased. we effectively doubled our NW due to an inheritance. But discounting that we are living well beneath our means and still investing.

 

[LateToFIRE]

Retired from career job in 2020 with two pre-school sons and a COLA'd pension. Now 20 something independent adults with good jobs, no college debt. Net worth is about three times what I started with in 2020.

Something's not quite adding up if you retired only 3 years ago.

 

[Car-Guy]

Something's not quite adding up if you retired only 3 years ago.

I'm going to guess he wanted to say 2000. And not 2020.

 

[marko]

Something's not quite adding up if you retired only 3 years ago.

...and kids grow up so fast, don't they?!

 

[RE2Boys]

I'm going to guess he wanted to say 2000. And not 2020.

Yes, thanks

 

[LateToFIRE]

I'm going to guess he wanted to say 2000. And not 2020.

...and kids grow up so fast, don't they?!

Yes, thanks

Ahhh... thx

 

[LateToFIRE]

Not retired, but worth noting that assets have doubled last 10 years, and tripled last 15 years (since 2008). Had I retired in those timeframes I am quite certain my response would be "significantly up" given that most of the aforementioned increase has been from asset appreciation rather than savings. Not that I haven't been saving, but I'm past an inflection point - growth is significantly larger than savings.

Most of the friends I have that retired over this timeframe have found themselves to be in the position of increased wealth, though probably not as dramatically as I described (because real estate has accounted for much of my out-sized growth). Last 10-15 years definitely looks like ideal timing to have retired, especially given the low inflation environment would have enjoyed.

But, in no way do I take that to be an indicator of the next 10-15 years.

Was trying to look back and figure out where most of my asset gains had come from past 10-15 years, had assumed the bulk of it was real estate but that's not quite the whole story - seems that from the 2009 onward recovery has been a golden age for just about every asset class (or at least the ones I've held). R.E. was blistering, juiced up even more by leverage, but financial assets also performed extremely well across the board. Embarrassed to say this period of time has been equivalent to shooting fish in a barrel investment -wise.

Of course, I'm ignoring the big hit I took in 2008 on securities portfolio. That set back my NW forecast by quite a lot, but the following decade substantially made up all that ground.

 

[gauss]

Voted for increased which it clearly has, but DW does have a DB pension that provides a significant portion of our living expenses.

Speculating that perhaps access to a DB pension or some other type of secure income would be a correlation factor between those answering increased vs stayed the same.

-gauss

 

[Done]

Since retiring in 2013, total net worth is +78%; investable portfolio is +95%.

This is with an annual withdrawal rate between 1.5% and 2.5%. After reading Die With Zero, we are easing our way into higher spending, primarily by gifting. We have also been ramping up Roth conversions, more of a time-shift of tax liabilities but the tax bill is included in current spending.

Asset allocation has slowly gone from 55% to 70% stocks as we felt more comfortable with our situation and plan.

 

[kcowan]

Been at it for 21 years. NW has kept pace with S&P500. Have started serious BTD phase as of 2020 with luxury condo purchase and 6 months south, one month Europe.

No longer track to budget, just reconcile EOY.

 

[Agapostemon]

Our investments have roughly doubled in the ten years since paychecks stopped entering either one of our checking accounts.

 

[highlan875]

In a poll of retirees who have been retired for 10+ years, the responses to changes in net worth may vary widely. Some retirees may have seen their net worth increase due to investments, while others may have experienced a decrease due to various factors like medical expenses or market fluctuations. Additionally, some retirees may report that their net worth has remained relatively stable over the years. It's important to note that individual circumstances and financial decisions play a significant role in these outcomes.

Me personally at age 74 have seen a huge drop in net worth.

 

[Car-Guy]

Interesting poll "but" would you rather have started retirement with a NW of 1m that has increased to lets say 2m by LBYM in the past 10 years or started with a NW of 5m that has decreased to let's say 4m by BTD in the past 10 years? Rhetorical question of course.

 

[RobLJ]

Didn't increase much, but increased 20% since 2015 (semi-retired 2015; younger DW retired 2018; I fully retired 2020). I've pulled out a lot of money the last 6 years. Withdrawal rate has been 5-7%.

8 years, not 10, so bad data.
However, I qualify for full SS in a year, so my projections suggested a 20-30% decrease. So we are good, barring a 2008 event (even then we'd be OK). I'm planning to take SS at 67, so the paranoia has steadily decreased the last 2-3 years.

 

[indiajust]

Last income was in 08, in 15 years I am about 2.5X. I've got at least 2 more years before filing FICA. I suspect that is not much more than break even with the currency depreciation. I don't consider 15 years of standing still all that bad.