What have been/will be your big money spenders in retirement?

[FlaMariner]

#1 tribute to Caesar..aka "taxes"
#2 travel

 

[motley]

A number of folks have mentioned taxes as their foremost expense. That tracks - especially after RMDs kick in.

But it's N/A to this thread as you're not "spending" it....really I meant more personal/"fun" expenses, what are you doing with the money you have options with, not mandatory expenses.

 

[jebmke]

Every dollar that flies out of my grasp, never to return again is an expense.

 

[jebmke]

Looking back, I'm revising my answer. Taxes are probably #2. Charitable donations are a clear #1 now

 

[Car-Guy]

Let's see, Car(s), hobbies, taxes, and gifting to the DD, in that order. Suspect I'll be doing the same for the next few years.

 

[motley]

Every dollar that flies out of my grasp, never to return again is an expense.

And yet still not the gist of the thread.

 

[Dreamer]

We remodeled our home in 2014. Then we bought a new truck in 2018 and a new corvette in 2019. We have traveled to Europe and other places. We bought a new camper in 2022. We have gifted some money to our son and daughter.

 

[jollystomper]

But it's N/A to this thread as you're not "spending" it....really I meant more personal/"fun" expenses, what are you doing with the money you have options with, not mandatory expenses.

If one chooses to do Roth conversions, one is making the the choice to spend money on taxes rather than on something else... in that case I do not see this tax spending as a mandatory expense.

 

[FIREd]

Divorce and associated costs (moving, paying closing costs on a new home ans remodeling it, buying new furniture, etc...) gobbled up about 15% of my net worth a few years into retirement.

As far as planned expenses are concerned, cars are probably going to be my biggest ticket items in the future. My current car is 6 years old and I'm hoping to keep it a few more years but the price tag on new or new-ish cars is eye-watering nowadays.

 

[Exchme]

And yet still not the gist of the thread.

But thread drift is what we do best! Besides, everyone enjoys griping about taxes.

 

[erkevin]

new house (2023), our son's doctorate (2022-2025), two new cars (2019 and 2024), two cross-country moves (2020 and 2023), plastic surgery (2024), landscaping (2024), hobbies, travel

 

[Car-Guy]

#1 tribute to Caesar..aka "taxes"

Caesars - that's funny... But I didn't think taxes at first. But I do leave a sizable donation at the "Palace" once or twice a year.

 

[Kings over Queens]

Not retired yet, but looking forward, I figure that health insurance will be our biggest, or close to biggest expense.

Health Insurance for us, both 58, will run 20 to 24 grand a year.
My real estate/property taxes are 14k.
Travel will probably budget out at 10 to 15k.

I'm not including income tax because I still don't know how much income I'll need and where I pull it, but clearly it's also on the list.

 

[jebmke]

And yet still not the gist of the thread.

OP wasn't specific. I also changed my answer in subsequent post - in light of the size of the spend.

 

[Flyfish1]

Massive remodel of our retirement house but most of that was right before retirement.
At present travel is our #1 expense , followed closely by boat expenses, fees, repairs, diesel, etc..
We have two boats big and smaller, thought we would cruise and go places on the big boat but we just haven't done that this year. We did it for ten years before retirement. So we are now facing the question of whether to keep it or sell it and free up a big chunk of yearly expenses and travel even more.

Also just met with the Andersen window guy ....ouch!

 

[MarieIG]

Death and taxes are certainties, so we don't even worry about them.

Worrying about and factoring in, or planning for, are two different things. For example concerning "death" some of us may have concerns, which we hope to mitigate, concerning a family member left behind.

But it's N/A to this thread as you're not "spending" it....really I meant more personal/"fun" expenses, what are you doing with the money you have options with, not mandatory expenses.

You certainly didn't make that clear in your initial post.

Many of our expenses are of the same type as before retirement. The main ones are taxes, home maintenance, vehicles, insurance, food, pet, charities, gifting. Money spent on health care, travel, and grandchildren has increased.

 

[TheWizard]

I bought a new car last fall for just under $50k. That's an ongoing expense thing, of course, replacing one of my two vehicles every six years or so.

And then there's travel, including my upcoming four week RoadTrip to Wyoming. Lately, we've started doing various Viking cruises, both river and ocean, so that adds up as well...

 

[TheWizard]

Travel and charity, in that order. Taxes will become a far bigger player when RMDs kick in in a couple of years.

That's not necessarily true. With proper planning and Roth conversions in the years prior to SS and then RMDs, combined with QCDs after age 70.5, one can easily levelize their AGI and resulting income taxes. This means growing no more than inflation from year to year...

 

[Lorenzo]

Remodeling a home that we don't intend to spend more than the first five or so years of our retirement in is our first financially idiotic but gratifying expense. And we have two 20+ year-old vehicles to replace. After those lumpy expenses, my hope is that we will spend the rest of our good years and savings on travel and related adventures.

 

[jebmke]

I bought a new car last fall for just under $50k. That's an ongoing expense thing, of course, replacing one of my two vehicles every six years or so.

And then there's travel, including my upcoming four week RoadTrip to Wyoming. Lately, we've started doing various Viking cruises, both river and ocean, so that adds up as well...

my wife keeps pushing me to get a new, luxury SUV but then I'd have to start all over getting the coffee stains where I want them. Plus, the newer dashboards have way too much junk on them for me.

 

[RetiredHappy]

Worrying about and factoring in, or planning for, are two different things. For example concerning "death" some of us may have concerns, which we hope to mitigate, concerning a family member left behind.

In our case, if my husband predeceases me, we would save a bunch of money because he is the spendy one. That is speaking of purely financial, of course.

 

[TheWizard]

my wife keeps pushing me to get a new, luxury SUV but then I'd have to start all over getting the coffee stains where I want them. Plus, the newer dashboards have way too much junk on them for me.

It does take a little while to "tune" current model year cars to your liking, especially if equipped with all the latest tech features.
My Mustang can read posted speed limit signs and restrict the car's speed to that limit, so I obviously disabled that feature...

 

[Teacher Terry]

Divorce and associated costs (moving, paying closing costs on a new home ans remodeling it, buying new furniture, etc...) gobbled up about 15% of my net worth a few years into retirement.

As far as planned expenses are concerned, cars are probably going to be my biggest ticket items in the future. My current car is 6 years old and I'm hoping to keep it a few more years but the price tag on new or new-ish cars is eye-watering nowadays.

I totally forgot about the divorce expenses. I incurred them 3 years ago.

 

[Midpack]

If one chooses to do Roth conversions, one is making the the choice to spend money on taxes rather than on something else... in that case I do not see this tax spending as a mandatory expense.

Huh? Odds are you’ll pay higher taxes now or later, so it’s a legit spend whenever. If your taxes are among your top spending categories now (and/or later), and it’s certainly mandatory per the IRS…

 

[5Miler]

Our largest expense by far is travel. Our basic expenses haven't changed much since retiring 12 years ago except for a roof 10 years ago or appliance upgrades as needed. The roof was only $6K which is almost embarrassingly low compared to numbers I have seen here so probably doesn't qualify as a major expense. We will spend about $35K on travel this year.