Free Money Finance

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Living Expenses Drop Dramatically During Retirement Posted: 29 Aug 2016 02:05 AM PDT I think we all know that costs generally go down during retirement, but a couple sources recently challenged me that they go down a lot more than expected. The first was Your Money or Your Life: 9 Steps to Transforming Your Relationship with Money and Achieving Financial Independence: Revised and Updated for the 21st Century where it mentions several costs that should drop dramatically once you stop working. These include: Commuting Costuming Meals Decompression (stuff you have to buy to recover from the stress at work) Escape Entertainment (so you can enter a good reality versus a work reality; ha!) Vacations and expensive playthings Job-related Illness Any help you need because you work (housekeeper, gardener, handyman, nanny) Job enhancement costs (educational programs, books, tools, and conferences) I found the second source at Financial Samurai. In his post titled The Fear Of Running Out Of Money In Retirement Is Overblown he lists 10 reasons why costs will go waaaaaaaay down in retirement. These include the facts that you will need less than you think, you don't need to save for retirement once you are retired, and you will be in a lower income tax bracket. That's good news for me as saving and taxes are two of my largest "expenses". So how much are you supposed to be saving in order to finance 20 to 30 years post-work? The commonly accepted rule of thumb is that you'll want about 70% of your former annual income — at least — to continue living at or near the style to which you've been accustomed. Money Boss says this is crazy (and I agree). Why would anyone use INCOME as a guideline for SPENDING? Just another example of mainstream "experts" who make their money writing about money, not actually growing their own net worths. Instead, you need to create your personalized spending plan ("budget" if you prefer). That's what I've done -- so I know exactly how much I need when I retire. How about you? Have you done your retirement budget?

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