Live Well in Retirement without Breaking the Buck - Westhill Consulting Rooms - Quora

Elizabeth Evans

Live Well in Retirement

without Breaking the Buck

financial success in retirement. Managing

expenses is also essential, whether your

idea of a splurge is a casual lunch with

friends or a luxury cruise.

I had asked readers to share their tips for

successful budgeting in a previous thread,

but enough time had elapsed that I wanted

to get their takes on this important topic

again. I wasn't just looking for conventional

advice about clipping coupons and taking

advantage of early-bird specials. Not

surprisingly, respondents were eager to

share their wisdom on everything from

saving on groceries and health-care costs to

swinging high-end travel without busting the

budget.

To read the complete thread or share your

'Beware the Budget Vampires!'

Many posts underscored the merits of

having a budget in retirement, and readers

also shared their specific budgeting tips.

JHGalt urged, "Set a budget, and don't

break it. You will sleep much better at

night."

Anticipating near- and longer-term

expenses is an important part of the

process, noted this poster: "If your car is

paid off, you have no car payment, but in

the long run you will need to buy another,

so budget accordingly. If your house is

Rickydeee advised other retirees to model

out how big-ticket items and unplanned

expenses will affect the portfolio's cash flow;

software tools can be an enormous help on

this front. "Use good-quality financial

software that shows the long-term portfolio

effect of potential major purchases, medical

emergencies, and so on," said this reader.

Keeping track of where the money goes on a

daily basis is also important, in the view of

Jacrod: "We keep track of our daily

expenditures in an Excel spreadsheet. This

requires a small amount of effort each day

but gives us a clear picture of where our

Actual spending results are reviewed

monthly, which invites a discussion about

where the money is going and what we

want to do with it in the future. On an

annual basis, we compare our spending

results and develop a target for each

category in the coming year. We include in

this budget any significant purchases that

we plan to make such as home

improvement or travel and revise our

outlook for health care and charitable

giving. This monthly and annual process

helps us to keep our spending in-line with

both our retirement plan and with what we

value most."

Those are any items that suck the life from your

budget: monthly interest charges on credit card

bills, sky-high cable or cell phone costs, etc.

Every year or two look at where every dollar goes

for a month or so and then see if you really

intended for that to happen. Cable or phone bill

increased when you weren't looking? Call and

renegotiate your bill or switch. Satellite radio: still

listening to it or is it time to drop it? When's the

last time you shopped around for insurance?"

Uysses is on board with reshopping insurance

coverage, writing, "I go through the painful

process of reprising car/home/personal liability

insurance package every few years. I saved a

bundle the first time. I also use only high-

We are the ultimate Mr. and Mrs. Frugal. We

shop at a discount grocery store. We have

Tracfones instead of smart phones. We don't

have satellite or cable. We walk three miles at

the local mall every day instead of having a

gym membership. We drive our cars for at

least 150,000 miles. We repair things instead

of buying new. I still use my mother's toaster

purchased in 1939. At retirement we moved

from a high-tax state to one with no state

income tax and close to another that has no

sales tax."

PaulT53 urged other retirees to take

advantage of their extra time to scout around

for the best prices on stuff they need. "Shop

'Make It an Expression of Who You Are'

However, Rule72 urged retired budgeters not to

get carried away with the process. "Try not to

watch expenses too close in retirement as this

generates stress. I was meticulous monitoring

expenses beginning five years before retirement

up through the end of the first year of

retirement. We retired with an expense plan that

allowed for occasional dips in value or surprise

expenses."

For truth teller, skimping in retirement is not part

of the plan. "I don't plan on being frugal at all. I

was frugal for 35 years so that I could retire at 55

and not be frugal."

Advised Chief K, "Structure your retirement

lifestyle, including things like cash flow,

around the things that bring you joy (or

completeness or happiness or Zen or

whatever)."

NormanR agreed that a budget should be a

reflection of priorities. "Prepare a list of

retirement trade-offs. For example, would you

rather own a larger home and pay real estate

taxes, or own a small condo and travel in an

RV in your retirement? This is your budget

and your creation. Make it an expression of

who you are."

Numerous posters enthused about the

One of the simplest ways to make one's

inflows line up with outflows, in the view of

Mtdoc59801, is to continue to bring in some

income. "[Part-time work] provides income,

interest, purpose and preserves retirement

funds. Now retired for three years and

currently age 69, I'm finding that working an

average of six to 10 hours per week and

netting only one sixth of my full-time pre-

retirement income plus Social Security

allows us to continue our lifestyle and grow

(or at least not deplete) our retirement

funds.“

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