Someone told me her financial planner told her around $150K-$180K/year with no mortgage, no capital expenditures (no remodeling) and no downsize lifestyle. This is for families who had pre-retirement incomes around $250K-$300K/year.
There were no federal taxes listed in the budget either and that could be a chunk.
One thing that could be a savings is if you no loner need to save for retirement â it would just be regular savings. Also work-related travel, clothing and commuting expenses should decline.
Our pre-retirement income was significantly lower than our post retirement income, especially once we had to start taking Required Minimum Distributions. Since the kidsâ college and our mortgage are paid, the post retirement income seems even bigger.
H retired at 70, after 45 years with employer. I work very part-time. We are probably in the âgo-go phase,â since we are traveling and spending more than before.
@HImom wrote - âOff hand, you donât mention state and fed taxes, which are a big hunk of expense for many of us. Other insurance? We have some life insurance, some umbrella coverage, hurricane and flood insurance. We also spend/gift substantial sums to support family members and bolster their retirement savings. Donations can fluctuate quite a bit, as does travel. Are those categories you spend in as well?â
I wrote this about taxes :âIâm leaving out income taxes, as this can be as little as zero (if youâre living off your savings and have little or no taxable income) to a lot (if youâre in a high tax state living with a fully taxable pension.â
Re: insurance and donations - Good catch, I forgot the cost of donations, term life and umbrella insurance.
Re: supporting family members - Fortunately our kids are independent and doing well. They also made some wise investments when they were very young. 
Re: travel - We like to travel and are very frugal. Next month weâre flying to Mexico on miles and staying in an all inclusive for $199 for 5 nights, which is an incredible discount but comes with a catch: the dreaded timeshare presentation, which for me is like a sporting event.
Lol Sherpa, you need to team up with Mr. B. He too treats those timeshare spiels like a sporting event. :)) For a while, we milked Marriott and Westin in HI, but then those guys got the message.
All so personal. We enjoy traveling and both now (not retired) and in the âgo goâ years, I expect our travel and entertainment budget will far exceed $5,000. Our homeownerâs insurance is twice whatâs listed and I think home maintenance is tough to budgetâŠone year you could spend very little, then next year a major appliance goes and the next year you need a new roof. Current cars are going on 10 years old so theyâll have to be replaced at some point. Still, nice to put some figures down. I think @cbreeze has it about right for us, on average.
Here are mine @sherpa numbers rounded up. Per year.
$8000Property taxes
$1000Homeownerâs insurance
VariableâŠbut letâs say average $5000 Home maintenance
$2400 Utilities, including TV, internet and his and her cell phonesâŠwe donât have cable.
$4000 Food
$1000 maybeâŠClothing
$2500 for gas. No car payment. $2200 for insurance. Transportation expenses, including two cars
$3600 a yearâŠper person (Medicare, IRMA cost, and supplement)Health care (presumably with medicare coverage)
$1200 to cover medical deductibles.
$0 we have Silver Sneakers and our gym takes that.Gym memberships
$4000 Travel and entertainment
Total about $34,000 or so per year.
,thumper, my home insurance, with flood, is way higher than yours. Also, I donât see auto maintenance, etc. silver sneakers in my area applies to,people with HMOs, but good luck finding any doctors who accept HMOs in my vicinity. Your.clothing allowance seems way too low for me.
HonestlyâŠwe really donât buy a lot of clothesâŠnot every year. How much should I be spending on clothes? I donât workâŠand I have plenty of nice clothes!
My silver Sneakers is part of a Blue Cross Blue Shield Medicare Advantage Plan. Itâs more like a PPO.
Add $1000 for auto maintenance.
My home and auto insurance came right off the bill we JUST received.
It looks like we can travel more,
@Thumper, you live frugally! Good for you.
Why the need for life insurance when you are retired? Beyond company provided life insurance when I worked, Iâve never had it so donât understand the need. I self-funded through aggressive savings.
What about dental? That could fall under medical I suppose but can be quite costly as one ages as we have learned by having old fillings break down resulting in expensive dental work for root canals, crown, and implants. $$$
You also need to build in replacement car costs in. Even if your car is paid off, it isnât going to last until you die.
I agree with @doschicos regarding life insurance. We still have a term policy on DW but wonât renew it when the it hits its 10 year fixed rate anniversary.
IMO, life insurance should be for young families with significant futures expenses.
+1 on why life insurance. Ditto. Never had any other than the policies supplied by employers.
It is SO individual!
Our hurricane policy is another expense, flood, fire insurance, homeownerâs umbrella policy, life insurance.
Some folks also have long term care policies, homeowner association dues, etc.
Our travel budget and unreimbursed business expenses are much higher as well.
We spend a lot supporting loved ones â 5 figures and unsure when (or if) that will continue or end.
Our cars are 20 and 19 years old so definitely will need to be replaced in the near future.
Washer and dryer are each 30 years old. Our house is 60+ years old and needs some TLC.
You can search online for sample budgets but that wonât tell you how it applies to your situation. To me, personal history and goals are the best guide rather than other folksâ experiences.
Thumper-there was not much in your budget for entertainment. $4000 for food couldnât include a lot of eating out. $4000 travel and entertainment means not much travel, shows, eating out,whatever.
I know I would like to do a lot more of this stuff when I retire. I do not want my biggest expense to be my propert tax!
For us, we have a life insurance policy because the premiums are reasonable enough that it makes sense and will be a financial cushion in adjusting to a reduced pension and other changes that accompany a death. Each person has to determine whether the premiums and circumstances justify the projected face value.
WellâŠon my frugal budgetâŠI could,easily add $10,000 more for entertainment.
We donât eat out a lot.
We eat out a ton, but if we need to cut expenses, we can eat at home or have a lot of leftovers. That portion of our budget is extremely flexible, as long as we eat and stay properly nourished.
Not to state the obvious, but remember these numbers you are all calculating for living expenses are Present Value. Your homeownerâs insurance is going to cost a lot more 10, 20, 30 years down the road than the $1-2K you pay annually now - as is pretty much every itemized expense.
And your property taxes⊠hold on to your britches, folks.