@ucbalumnus, in our case, I can see from Quicken how much we have spent. But, digesting the information is hard for a couple of reasons.
First, ShawWife is self-employed (she’s a painter) and I have started a few businesses. So many expenses are hard to allocate. We spent almost a couple of weeks in China in 2018. One week was in Giulin. This showed up in a series of paintings that a) are going into a museum show (would have happened in 2020 but has been Pandemic-postpone to 2022) and will be reputation-enhancing; and b) have already been sold (paintings probably from $5K to $25K). Should this be allocated to her Schedule C art business or personal? I’m always doing things that mix business and pleasure. Hiking trip with my close friend who has also referred us millions of dollars of business. I would do the trip anyway, but from a tax standpoint, it is an easily justified deduction. We spend more on internet connectivity than most (1 GB service, very good mesh network). Work and pleasure both. What part of this do I include in my personal spending calculations?
Second, our lives differ year to year. So I’m never sure whether to consider some expenditures one of a kind or recurring.
One thought for tracking of spending is that folks could have separate credit cards for necessities (grocery store, gas, utilities etc) vs extras. We never did that because we like racking up our United frequent flyer miles.
The end-of-year. summary we get from Chase is really helpful. It breaks down categories of spending. We look at it for curiosity now, and some day if we need to cut back it will give us good clues how to do so.
We have two different credit cards for airline miles - one we will consolidate after 1 year (Frontier - new in our city and was free for 1st year and each got lots of miles up front). We shall see what we end up using and decide if we just want to keep the Frontier with both of us on one account or not.
DH still has hotel points that don’t expire from business travel. DDs have been using some on their travel. One checks with her dad immediately with her planning.
Our Discover card gives an annual summary or you can get a summary breakdown.
I just used all of my hotel points to book a fancy hotel room for our next vacation. While some points don’t expire, they certainly can lose their value (more points needed per night). So use them while you can.
We also use Costco visa to pay for petty much everything; in addition to paying us $$, it provides a decent vehicle to track our expenses.
@bookworm, I agree and take deductions for things like that. But, the problem I was inarticulately addressing was the one I think people are talking about, which is estimating my post-retirement spending. In my case, I don’t intend to retire unless I can’t work any more, but I assume I will slow down the pace of work. In estimating future spending, should the work/pleasure related trips (as an example) be categorized as work-related (which I wouldn’t do in retirement or slowdown and hence should not be part of my estimated future spend) or should they be part of normal life (and thus part of my estimated future spending).
Don’t you just look at whether you expect to continue the expense post-retirement? And if not, what expense may replace it?
I know many people who effectively get some level of personal entertainment subsidized either by employers or the IRS. Travel, dining out, golf, sporting events, etc. If you want to keep engaging in those things post-retirement without the subsidies, the cost will be more on a net basis. So some people end up doing those things less often in retirement. Or substitute less expensive versions of them. Stay in less fancy hotels, fly coach, golf at some public courses, sit in regular seats rather than loges/suites.
If you would take the trip or do the activity even if there were no work-related aspect, then count it as personal expenses that continue into retirement. Of course, if you could take the trip or do the activity, but spend less (e.g. fewer days in hotels etc.) if you had no work-related aspect, then you may have to estimate what you would have spent if there were no work-related aspect to the trip or activity.
If you would not take the trip or do the activity at all if there were no work-related aspect, then do not count it in personal expenses. But if you would spend money on alternative activities during that time, then you may have to adjust your personal expenses estimate for that.
Thanks, that’s how I’m thinking about it. Some proportion of trips or expenses we would take anyway and some proportion not.
One interesting comment/question. We have a Google Hub Max in our kitchen. When not in use, it cycles among a gazillion extraordinary nature photographs. One was a beautiful picture of the Northern Lights. ShawWife asked if I had ever seen them. I said "No. " She was going to say we should organize a trip to see them (she has). Although I’d like to see them, I realized that we/I have been to so many wonderful places over the years that I don’t actually have a bucket list. Life is good.
My neighbors and I were just talking about ‘enough’ as I did with some other friends this morning. Both the neighbor and the friend are both able to retire at around age 60 as FT gov’t employees for many years. One was ‘more done’ than the other with some minor health issues (but not minor to him as it limits some of his very active athletic activities which he has been having signs of needing to trim his long distance running for years and now it has caught up on him). All of us having older relatives and friends dying. Lots of transitioning.
I see my brother next weekend at a wedding - have not seen him for 11 years (at our mother’s funeral) due to remoteness of where he lives and his older wife cannot travel (she is choosing not to have surgery and her condition is getting worse as time goes on, spinal stenosis). He was still working when my daughter got married in 2017 and must have felt he didn’t want the long travel for a short visit and traveling w/o his wife. He has decided to come see everyone.
My bucket list is actually sort of funny…and likely not going to happen. You know those big Ferris wheels…like the London Eye, the one in Seattle, Cape Town? Etc. I would love to go to each place where they are located…and ride the Ferris wheel there as part of my visit.
I’ve been on about 10 of them…but there are a LOT more!
And no…I don’t think I have enough retirement funds to actually do this!
We sort of had a similar idea - eat at revolving restaurants in the cities we visit. So far we hit those in Seattle, Atlanta, Las Vegas, Vancouver BC, Berlin, and Honolulu.
I don’t have a bucket list. But there are a lot of things that I want to do. Don’t view any of them really as something I have to do though. And I keep finding more things I want to do.
How do you pace a bucket list? Not sure how much time any of us has left. You may run out.
Like the idea of live every day like its your last. Wouldn’t have worked today had I known that. And definitely would have eaten differently.
I just want to make sure I have a reason to get up every day and some things to look forward to seeing/doing.
I haven’t planned ahead at this point. When I left work, I was busy running back & forth to Georgia to help my in laws. Between my FiL’s illness & subsequent passing, my S’s breakup with his long time girlfriend, and my D’s pregnancy, 2020 flew past. I have been babysitting my GD a few days a week, so that has kept me busy. Eventually, I will just babysit once a week when she starts daycare. I honestly am not in a hurry for that, because I don’t think I am ready to do much else until things in the Covid world ease up. And … I am not sure my H & I are on the same page in terms of retirement at this point. We have a family (his family) cottage where we spend a night or two most weeks April-October. I honestly want to do other things … I want to travel around the US, go to Europe. He doesn’t really seem interested, even though it’s something we’ve talked about doing in the past. If he’s not ready to travel when my schedule frees up, I might just get a part time job until he’s bored enough to start having a little fun.
I can’t imagine being ‘bored’ enough to get a PT job. My days are full and overflowing. Working in serious exercise every day and gradual adjusting my diet to where I build up to the right exercise in a routine, a routine with eating, and the projects that need to be done right now and those that can be chipped at. I have different ideas than DH in retirement, so I am using the time and energy in productive ways while I wait for the opportunities to do what I want - I probably will be traveling some with relatives and friends. He has been spending a ton of time on his hobby - that has replaced his FT work on his time (he had always spent at least 20 hrs/week on the hobby over the last 10 years when he discovered the activity and the local group - but it keeps him happy). He is handy and can do projects around the house. He did yard work on Monday, and said he really likes not having the pressure to have to get it done in a short window of time. Once I can get more accomplished, he will as well too. He has been retired for almost a year but it has been with family demands elsewhere, including a short move for DD, and then a bigger move as DD changed jobs and moved to next state.
DH got another Medicare A card in the mail Friday/Saturday (Medicare B still absent on the card) so we had to waste time with calling local SSA office today (5 disconnects after timely waiting, and 2 disconnects to fast busy after talking to someone for about 30 seconds). Finally someone checked and the request is still ‘open’ for them to process through their payment system and then we should get the card. Terrible if he actually had some kind of emergency and we have everything else in place but can’t show Medicare B in place. I really don’t want to pay over $1300/month for COBRA (I would have to take family COBRA not just for him) because SSA cannot process our benefit. And we don’t want to do the ‘back end’ paperwork to process a request for Oct 1 Medicare B start date – SSA assures us Medicare B will show Sept 1. Out of our hands and we have to wait.
Talked to friends - two different couples. Both retired early – one with long government employment and felt they had enough at age 60 - their two kids (one is married) don’t live far. They also have a beach home on our state coastal area. The other couple - they both were Air Force and retired - while her career was at an upward trajectory so he retired after 20 years (as a pilot) and was at home more for their two daughters, and then picked up a 2nd career as tax processor for H & R Block - lots of learning and seasonal work, but it fit for them. She took a last assignment move 4 1/2 years ago and just retired, while he retired when they moved 4 1/2 years ago. Their career moves were together. She was in intelligence. One DD is career and single. The other is married to a military guy who is doing well and they have 3 teenagers. They have been doing a lot of travel with various family things around the country.
Now DH says he doesn’t know how he found the time to do anything while working FT. I also have my days full and am so glad in the afternoon to not have to be thinking about getting ready for work. DH is getting some equipment to dethatch the yard and do the right kind of weed kill treatment, and maybe have more glorious grass. He is big on the yard looking really good.
I created my bucket list when I was about to become an empty nester 7+ years ago. I’ve crossed off several items, added some and some have been moved back to to Covid. Just a list of things I want to try/visit/do/see etc.
I’ve been retired about 9 months now and for the most part am keeping busy. Because we are planning to put our house up for sale in the spring, part of that includes cleaning out and decluttering. It also includes doing things here in the area we have lived in for decades before we move away. Covid has limited travel and put a hold on some social groups and along with a few close friends moving out of the area we are not as social as I had hoped.
I am happy to have some interests and hobbies (running/yoga/avid reading).
