Update on my first year of living on my "guaranteed" income of a small pension and Social Security...
We both retired in Sept. of 2019, (last paycheck was August) but I couldn't access my pension until age 65, in Jan. 2020, and didn't take my Social Security until FRA, 66 and 2 months, in April of 2021. I used my savings to get me through that year and a half of no and then partial income.
I figured out what my SS was going to be at FRA (and was only off by a few dollars, as it turned out (smile!))) and deposited 3 months of that income amount from my savings into my checking account in Jan. 2021, to cover the SS amount for the months of Jan, Feb, and March. Starting in April, I got my both my SS and pension checks each month. I wanted to track my bottom line income/expenses from my checking account with only income from SS and the pension coming in for a 12 month period, from Jan. 1, 2021 to Dec. 31, 2021.
Nice to find out today that I ended the year spending 60.5% of my "guaranteed" income (i.e., pension and SS only.). Never had to touch my 403b. And this is with normal personal and property expenses plus a few "lumpy" ones - a tooth implant for me (ugh!), a new water treatment system (absolutely necessary), repairs to the septic, a new water heater, and having to pay various tax and other legal/other expenses dealing with my dad's estate (dad passed away in January of this year and left no cash for these expenses - we had to absorb them all.) My hubby has approximately the same "guaranteed" income that I do, and we share the bills equally, so between us we are breathing a sigh of relief that we can make it on just our guaranteed income (...at least for now. Who knows about the future if inflation keeps up like it is!)
As some of you know from my previous posts, I planned my retirement income/expenses very carefully for about 5 years before we retired, with your generous and thoughtful help. I worried a lot! We knew our income wouldn't be much compared to many, but we were pretty sure we could make it do. This year proves we can, plus knowing these exact numbers is a blessing for my "squirrelly" personality - it give me great pleasure to be able to still store away part of my income for that coming rainy day. And our savings are still intact and growing (most of the time, anyway (smile!)) I hope they will be untouched until we need them for our "old age" medical/assisted living expenses.
I still read this forum every day, and still learn and benefit from the discussions. Your advice has meant so much to me over the years, and I wanted to share my little success story with you, my advisors and forum friends. Thank you again, everyone, for your help and support over the years!
We both retired in Sept. of 2019, (last paycheck was August) but I couldn't access my pension until age 65, in Jan. 2020, and didn't take my Social Security until FRA, 66 and 2 months, in April of 2021. I used my savings to get me through that year and a half of no and then partial income.
I figured out what my SS was going to be at FRA (and was only off by a few dollars, as it turned out (smile!))) and deposited 3 months of that income amount from my savings into my checking account in Jan. 2021, to cover the SS amount for the months of Jan, Feb, and March. Starting in April, I got my both my SS and pension checks each month. I wanted to track my bottom line income/expenses from my checking account with only income from SS and the pension coming in for a 12 month period, from Jan. 1, 2021 to Dec. 31, 2021.
Nice to find out today that I ended the year spending 60.5% of my "guaranteed" income (i.e., pension and SS only.). Never had to touch my 403b. And this is with normal personal and property expenses plus a few "lumpy" ones - a tooth implant for me (ugh!), a new water treatment system (absolutely necessary), repairs to the septic, a new water heater, and having to pay various tax and other legal/other expenses dealing with my dad's estate (dad passed away in January of this year and left no cash for these expenses - we had to absorb them all.) My hubby has approximately the same "guaranteed" income that I do, and we share the bills equally, so between us we are breathing a sigh of relief that we can make it on just our guaranteed income (...at least for now. Who knows about the future if inflation keeps up like it is!)
As some of you know from my previous posts, I planned my retirement income/expenses very carefully for about 5 years before we retired, with your generous and thoughtful help. I worried a lot! We knew our income wouldn't be much compared to many, but we were pretty sure we could make it do. This year proves we can, plus knowing these exact numbers is a blessing for my "squirrelly" personality - it give me great pleasure to be able to still store away part of my income for that coming rainy day. And our savings are still intact and growing (most of the time, anyway (smile!)) I hope they will be untouched until we need them for our "old age" medical/assisted living expenses.
I still read this forum every day, and still learn and benefit from the discussions. Your advice has meant so much to me over the years, and I wanted to share my little success story with you, my advisors and forum friends. Thank you again, everyone, for your help and support over the years!
Last edited:
