Spending after Retirement

[NW-Bound]

Lol. They’re not optional? Tell that to most people who can’t afford implants.

I did mention dentures and suggested that perhaps the BTD part is the extra cost of the implants above the old-fashioned dentures or dental bridges.

Of course, even the less expensive prosthetic dental works are still beyond reach of many people in the world.

This brings up another facet to "Blow the dough". It's all relative. What is beyond BTD to us is considered life essential expenses to a centimillionaire or billionaire, such as private jets, personal assistants, chauffeurs, cooks, and butlers.

 

[Happyras]

Now that King Crab is well over $75/lbs, it makes me think twice when I buy a 10# case, but then its part of our normal spending to have a nice stock of good eats particularly for when friends drop by for dinner. DW insists we keep it stocked! She also just ordered a fruit cake on line, shssssss, so much dough for dough no one will eat. The Costco cake was horrible last year, so she splurged.

In other words, our spending is a little more over the top than most folks. I realize we could spend quite a bit more than we actually do, so I am trying to learn. Its very hard for me, not so for my wife. She keeps jabbing at me that we used to spend over 200K/year on her horses and showing, that is not an option anymore. So I have a lot to learn on letting go.......

 

[aja8888]

Now that King Crab is well over $75/lbs, it makes me think twice when I buy a 10# case, but then its part of our normal spending to have a nice stock of good eats particularly for when friends drop by for dinner. DW insists we keep it stocked! She also just ordered a fruit cake on line, shssssss, so much dough for dough no one will eat. The Costco cake was horrible last year, so she splurged.

In other words, our spending is a little more over the top than most folks. I realize we could spend quite a bit more than we actually do, so I am trying to learn. Its very hard for me, not so for my wife. She keeps jabbing at me that we used to spend over 200K/year on her horses and showing, that is not an option anymore. So I have a lot to learn on letting go.......

Sounds like your DW ran in the same circles as RobbieB!

 

[aja8888]

I think I'm about to head in the same direction. My tooth at #1 has been problematic for a while. The crown was so thin at the top that it kept breaking. My dentist installed a gold crown, but that broke too. Then they cut away some of the gum, to give more bone for the new crown to adhere to. They also cut a groove in the top of what little tooth was left, to give the new crown something to "key" into, and to create more thickness and strength at the top of the crown. It seems to have worked, but now, there is an infection underneath it. This happened shortly after a knee replacement surgery, so I'm hoping the bacteria from the infection don't travel to the new knee implant. Yikes!

I have a consultation with the endodontist tomorrow, to see if they can save the tooth (I am guessing not). I'm sure glad I have the money to pay for it. I feel sorry for the legions of folk who don't have the extra money to pay for these types of dental procedures. This is definitely not BTD

Good luck with the tooth.

After I had my hip replaced in 2019, I had to take antibiotics right before my dental appointment a few months later to avoid any infection getting to the replaced joint. But this last surgery (extraction, bone addition, etc) was done May 2021 and I was clear from the new hip being affected. I had an infection above the #9 tooth (found during routine cleaning) and the tooth was dead but still functional (long story) but had a solidified root so a root canal was not possible, thus the extraction in order to get at the infected areas.

I have a neighbor a few houses away who is running around with his two front teeth missing and from what I can figure out, they are not able to afford implants or even a bridge of sorts. My feeling is there are quite few people living from day to day than one can imagine.

 

[NW-Bound]

Now that King Crab is well over $75/lbs, it makes me think twice when I buy a 10# case, but then its part of our normal spending to have a nice stock of good eats particularly for when friends drop by for dinner...

King crab is not as expensive at Costco, though I do not remember the price.

It's a while since we had it. I much prefer Dungeness crab, and it's less expensive as well.

I guess you go through a lot of these legs, before the quality declines due to freezer burn.

 

[Gumby]

Fresh blue crabs from the Chesapeake Bay are the best.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

Crab a too much like hard work for us, we are lazy eaters. I suppose we could hire someone to do it for us, that would be a real BTD.

 

[Dreamer]

I'm pretty much the same. Most of my expenses are recurring, and either the same, or close to, from month to month. I have an inbuilt sense for when my spending outside those categories, is uncharacteristically more than usual.

I know a lot of folk here enjoy tracking their spending down to the last penny. That's definitely fine, if you enjoy that. I prefer to keep track mainly in my head, on a macro level, as you put it. That's a good way of describing it.

+1

We do not budget either, but we are aware of what we are spending.

 

[TheWizard]

I'm also in the No Budget camp, both pre and post retirement, presently in year nine.
So I have no idea how much I actually spend each year by category, as a single person. I do spend something over $40k per year on income taxes and property taxes combined, I know that.

If there was a need for more detail, I could reverse-compute a number by starting with my AGI and then subtracting the amount due to Roth conversions and amounts going to my taxable account.

But there's no need...

 

[Retch The Grate]

In other words, our spending is a little more over the top than most folks. I realize we could spend quite a bit more than we actually do, so I am trying to learn. Its very hard for me, not so for my wife. She keeps jabbing at me that we used to spend over 200K/year on her horses and showing, that is not an option anymore. So I have a lot to learn on letting go.......

Wow, what dressage level? My friend's horse is theoretically at Prix Saint George level and thankfully didn't cost them $200k/yr (though her now ex-husband is happy to be free of the expense that she (the horse, not the wife) was, though to be fair, the ex-wife wasn't taking her to compete in Europe or anything.

 

[NW-Bound]

Fresh blue crabs from the Chesapeake Bay are the best.

Ummm... I had plenty of blue crabs whenever I visited Maryland and DC. They got smaller and smaller over the years, I swear. The meat is sweet, but it takes a lot of work because the crab is flat and bony.

Crab a too much like hard work for us, we are lazy eaters. I suppose we could hire someone to do it for us, that would be a real BTD.

King crab not counting, Dungeness crab is about the meatiest crab there is. There is no other crab, again not counting King crab, that there's even enough meat in the legs to bother to pick. With blue crabs, even the claws are often not worthwhile.

Of course, stone crab claws are also up there, and it is reflected in its price being even higher than that of Dungeness crab.

Now, these are the expensive food items worth spending money on.


PS. And while we are talking about food, lemme tell you about what I recently found.

Robbie and other posters are crazy about American Wagyu beef. Recently, we had a chance to have that, when my daughter bought some steak from Snake River Farms for a family dinner. Then, the thing left that I have not tried was Japanese Wagyu. I saw that at Costco for $99/lb. However, the packs were more than 2 lbs, and looking at all that fat my wife said "no way". And that was too much for me to sample, so I did not buy.

Then, a week or so ago, while checking out a new Asian grocery store in town, I saw that they had the same Japanese A5 beef. The marbling looked identical to the cut at Costco, and the price was $89/lb. And they had smaller packages of 1 lb. The cut was thinner at 1/2", instead of the 1" slab at Costco. So, I bought a pack.

It's still in the freezer. I guess I was not craving it enough to cook it as soon as I got home, but I will eat it soon.

 

[kingkarmann]

I’m a sucker for a certain model of classic car.
A once in a lifetime (at least mine) presented itself. Budget blown!

 

[RobbieB]

Good Job!

Have Fun -

 

[mijoy]

Looks like I'm odd man out with respect to most responses thus far. Spending much much less than I planned for (so far), after retiring 2+ years ago. Much of that might have to do with covid. I live on a 3 acre lot with no real neighbors in sight except across the street. Being a person who views wearing a mask a tremendous burden (don't read that wrong I do my part to do my part, I understand and even envy those who can find mask wearing a non-issue. When I do out, I wear my mask with a smile. ) I avoided going to stores or anyplace that made life not worth living through the timeframe that required measures I never thought Id see in my lifetime. So perhaps the timing of my retirement and the pandemic worked in harmony to make my first years in retirement a good financial start.

If this goes on like this I'll no doubt die quite more well enough than I ever imagined. Travel is out of the picture for me. Good thing I love walking my big beautiful black lab in the deep woods.

Longevity is way over rated. BTW, I think this here to stay.

 

[RobbieB]

Me too. Life in the covid times.

 

[Out-to-Lunch]

I’m a sucker for a certain model of classic car.
A once in a lifetime (at least mine) presented itself. Budget blown!

Can we guess it from your user name?

In any event, congrats!

 

[Retired Expat]

First 5 years in retirement spending was way down and assets just grew a lot. Had a windfall inheritance that really helped. So refigured the budget and it allowed for a 2nd home. But as it is also a rental it wound up making money

Even bought a new primary home and renovated it but gains and income cover it all so not worried. Future has no more big items coming up and Medicare and SS will come online in a few years so both income and reduction of expenses to look forward to. If your numbers work enjoy it!

 

[KarenF]

Sold my house and bought a condo this year. I bought new appliances and some new furniture. My son saved me a ton of money by remodeling it for me. The kitchen was fairly new and I always wanted white cabinets which is what it is. It has black granite countertops which I love. Not having to remodel the kitchen was a big savings.

I love the black granite in our new house too, but it does show every crumb and speck. My old granite camouflaged much better lol.

 

[GravitySucks]

Initial spending was very low compared to working years. Reassessed at year 5 and bumped spending up to near preretirement levels then Covid hit. Even though we go out a bit after being vaxed we don't have as much desire.
Now retiree health insurance took a huge jump so '22 and '23 will be lower spending to meet ACA MAGI.
Ran the numbers through an inflation calculator and it turns out I'm back to year 1 spending levels.

 

[PointBreeze]

If someone would have told me I would spend 6 figure number in retirement I would have called them a fool! I was just looking back this evening at some numbers so far this year.

Each of the last two years with charity, gifting, buying land, and buying cars etc. etc. and not including our living expenses 6 figures for each of the years.

I'm a very frugal, thrifty and saver by nature. My confidence in spending has loosened up and not sure why. I'm not always happy about spending money that I worked so hard to get. Lol

I have a couple more larger checks I will write yet in 2021. I hope 2022 is just back to our normal expenses. I will not be spending anything out of just living life and essentials. I Hope!

Anyone else seem to be spending more than you ever have in retirement and yet feel secure finically and at easy doing so?

The great thing about retirement is that I now really know how much I can spend. When w*rking, I was constantly second guessing myself, always wanting to save for retirement instead of spending $$. I’m grateful to my younger self for saving so much. But now I know I’m spending below my SWR, so I feel very free to spend. So, yes, I am spending more than I ever have, and feel secure financially and at ease. We generally have a WR or about 2%, a few years will be closer to 3% (new car; a big trip, if Covid ever lets that feel fun rather than worrisome). And once my SocSec kicks in, our WR will go down even more. DP has been taking SocSec for 8 years now, but I won’t start for at least 3 more years (we have a big age difference). Mostly I spend on hobbies (making art, gardening/hydroponics), but also charitable donations and gifts, and buying whatever we want at the grocery store. We haven’t spent much on restaurants since Covid, but that will go up someday again.

Retiring has been so good for my health. So much stress is gone. My eczema disappeared after two years, my TMJ went away after 6 months, I’m exercising much more, and sleeping better than any time in my entire life.

I am so grateful for my life, and humbled to have had the opportunities I’ve had.

 

[HI Bill]

I've been spending about 150 grand a year now for 7 years straight.

Got more dough than I started with. Not worried -

Congrats, Robbie...you hit the SOR (sequence of returns) lottery. I'm sure hoping it holds...! I'm in the Blow that Dough mode, and am trying to maximize spending like you, while I'm young enough to enjoy it. I watched my mom's spending plummet in her late 70s.

 

[Major Tom]

Good luck with the tooth.

Thank you!

After I had my hip replaced in 2019, I had to take antibiotics right before my dental appointment a few months later to avoid any infection getting to the replaced joint. But this last surgery (extraction, bone addition, etc) was done May 2021 and I was clear from the new hip being affected. I had an infection above the #9 tooth (found during routine cleaning) and the tooth was dead but still functional (long story) but had a solidified root so a root canal was not possible, thus the extraction in order to get at the infected areas.

I have a neighbor a few houses away who is running around with his two front teeth missing and from what I can figure out, they are not able to afford implants or even a bridge of sorts. My feeling is there are quite few people living from day to day than one can imagine.

The recommendations on taking antibiotics after joint replacement have changed drastically in the last 10 or 15 years, as I'm sure you're aware. The current recommendation from both the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons and the American Dental Association, is that antibiotics are not necessary for "routine dental work". Apparently, there isn't enough evidence to support it. In one medical paper, I read that the types of bacteria commonly found in infected joint implants are not the same types that occur in the mouth. Currently, I'm thinking that I'll take antibiotics for all dental procedures, including routine cleanings, for 2 years after the replacement. After that, I'll only take them for dental surgeries.

As for your neighbor, I agree. A lot of folk, regardless of income level, are most likely existing from paycheck to paycheck. Each to his/her own I suppose, but I'm happy to not be living that way. I hope your teeth are in good shape now. Good dental health is a solid foundation for good health in general.

 

[aja8888]

I hope your teeth are in good shape now. Good dental health is a solid foundation for good health in general.

Yes, after the last three years of dental work, my teeth are as good as the new pickup truck I could have bought with the cost of fixing everything that fell apart in my mouth over time.

 

[Major Tom]

Yes, after the last three years of dental work, my teeth are as good as the new pickup truck I could have bought with the cost of fixing everything that fell apart in my mouth over time.

Better to have good teeth and an old truck, than the other way around

 

[aja8888]

Better to have good teeth and an old truck, than the other way around

You got that right!