Time for screencast #4. In today’s screencast I cover spending in retirement. I cover the three key aspects of spending in retirement; the level of post retirement spending relative to pre-retirement, the yearly increases to spending, and the impact of maintaining flexibility in spending during retirement. The combination of these three can create a powerful impact to how much you need to retire or conversely how much you can withdraw in retirement.

I’ve covered these topics before on the blog. For more detailed information please see these previous posts on spending.

  1. Post retirement spending
  2. Yearly spending increases
  3. Maintaining flexibility in spending

Here is the screencast.

In the screencast I also reference a couple of other bloggers as examples of the possibilities on the spending side in retirement, Mr Money Mustache and Retire Early Life Style.


11 Comments

Kim · June 6, 2015 at 6:23 pm

Thanks so much, Paul. Exceedingly well-done and informative.

Tara · June 7, 2015 at 5:51 am

Great screencast, very informative. I have a question about the numbers – does this assume a 30 year retirement starting at 65? I just retired at 49 with a 600k portfolio, how would this affect the SWR?

    paul.novell@gmail.com · June 7, 2015 at 10:19 am

    Hi Tara. The numbers are for a 30 year retirement. Age only affects the length of retirement. The SWRs are lower for longer retirements as I showed in a previous screencast. But you can use the percentage increase in SWRs I mention and apply them to the appropriate numbers for your retirement period length. Make sense?

      Tara · June 7, 2015 at 5:58 pm

      Thanks! Will look for the earlier screencast. Since I only need the money to last for 20 years (due to Social Security and an inheritance) I think I should be okay but I was curious what you based your numbers on.

        paul.novell@gmail.com · June 8, 2015 at 9:10 am

        That’s a good way to look at it Tara.

        Paul

Ed H · June 7, 2015 at 10:48 pm

Paul:

Nice presentation! We have been retired for 12 months, and have found that our living expenses (full time RVers) are less than 75% of pre-retirement expenses due to the factors explained in your presentations. Going into early retirement with no debt, has helped to keep our fixed expense base low. Our biggest potential variable expenses are for healthcare deductibles and healthcare insurance premiums (individual insurance plan). I am modeling 10% annual health insurance premium increases for the next several years in our budget, and I am not sure if this is large enough, given recent history. Your thoughts?

    paul.novell@gmail.com · June 8, 2015 at 8:51 am

    Hi Ed. Health is such an individual issue but….I also model about 10% a year increase for health insurance premiums until age 65. So, 10% a year increase to an item that’s about 10% of our expenses, contributes 1% a year overall to expenses. I make up the 1% a year increase elsewhere to keep expenses flat…at least so far…

    Paul

      Ed H · June 8, 2015 at 2:27 pm

      Thank you Paul. How ironic….Our healthcare insurance premiums are also just a little below 10% of our total budget!

      I totally agree with your analysis that the “norms” discussed in the press concerning post retirement spending versus post retirement spending are a little off base from reality. We were very fortunate (like you and your wife) to have the opportunity to defer into savings, a relatively high amount of our income. We learned, many years prior to our planned retirement date to closely track our income, spending, and savings. Armed with this knowledge, we were able to set our collective goals, and put a plan in place for the post retirement savings, income and budget. I believe that planning, tracking, and prudent investing were some of the keys that allowed us to reach our goal and retire early. I should also add that it is important to have a shared objective with your spouse/partner, and to regularly review your progress to the goal, and to make real time adjustment to the plan, as needed.

        paul.novell@gmail.com · June 8, 2015 at 2:33 pm

        Couldn’t agree with you more Ed.

        Paul

Keith Landers · June 29, 2015 at 7:08 pm

Paul,

I can’t tell you how much I enjoy your videos.

Your answers are clear and straight forward and exactly the information I have been looking for….

Great job and keep up the good work…

Hope to get a chance to meet you on the road sometime…

If you ever need any tech help – let me know… Be glad to volunteer to support the cause…

    paul.novell@gmail.com · June 30, 2015 at 6:55 pm

    Thanks Keith. I appreciate the feedback.

    Paul

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