7 Steps to Finding Your Retirement Spending Budget

[@subman656]

This has always been great content and much appreciated. It would be greatly enhanced if you used a pointer on the screen and helped us follow your graphics. In a standard business meeting this would be required as you lose folks quickly without some detail on what's on the slide. Thanks for the consideration.

[@randolphh8005]

It is a bit of work at first, but a budget based on actual historical spending over the last couple of years is the most accurate. We do this once per year, we have a base budget and then one with discretionary add on for the appropriate categories. We can then make adjustments based on actual spending. We have been adding on extra discretionary spending since our resources allow it. I just looked at the preliminary numbers for this year and we are about 5% over budget, but also have had higher than expected portfolio growth. The numbers get more accurate each year. We are spending about 60% of pre-retirement income yet doing more!

[@ld5714]

This was an excellent discussion on a very important topic. I am certian it will be very beneficial to many of your followers. I liked and appreciate the approach you outlined to expenses, especially how to look at discretionary expenses, to work toward the spending estimate. This would have been a big help to me as I was heading toward retirement. Fortunately it all worked out great for us. Larry, Central Valley, Ca.

[@chumbawumba1959]

The thing about IRMAA that really grinds my gears is: if in retirement but pre-Medicare, a lot of annual income is directed to pre-Medicare healthcare coverage and may cause IRA withdrawals to cover - and those IRA withdrawals create income that can put you over standard IRMAA cliff. Worse yet, since IRMAA calc for any year is a 2-year look back on MAGI, you wont know what the IRMAA cliffs will look like when planning on managing your income for the current year. Grrrr .....

[@timlions1820]

You need a spending category for children. Even as they age, we want to be able to assist them with home purchases and weddings, etc.

[@Florencewalter-o4s]

I retired at 52 and honestly, I wish I’d done it sooner. The 9-to-5 grind steals your freedom for a paycheck that barely scratches the surface. My advice? If you’re in your late 30s or early 40s, start saving for FIRE now - Financial Independence, Retire Early. And if you’re in your 50s, invest smartly and break free from relying on your job. Market trends, like the Trump Effect, have made millions for many, including me. Stay focused, stay consistent, and remember: financial freedom is within reach if you make it a priority.

[@William-y1d-l5c]

Exactly My point! The 9to5 grind is just not worth it the stress and low payoff. What specific steps did you take to break free?

[@Florencewalter-o4s]

Working with Lorrie Greta Hillard , a financial advisor, was a game changer. She helped me refine my savings strategy, including retirement planning, and provided expert guidance on investments and budgeting to maximize my savings.

[@William-y1d-l5c]

Got it! Thanks for the tip! I was curious, so I looked up Lorrie

[@Nancy-1w]

So done with 9-5, its Depressing!

[@scottgets7637]

How's your trump effect one month later??? Most of the market run up since the election has disappeared

[@nelsonw9483]

Can you upload in 1080p?

[@RajReviewsDualSportPhotoGadget]

👍

[@everlastingarms3065]

If you're looking for the starting point, this is great. But you mentioned the "smile curve" at the end, so one would think that inflation needs to be part of this discussion.

[@randolphh8005]

@@everlastingarms3065 the “smile curve” isn’t about inflation, it is about the potential need for extra care as one gets health problems in old age. This happens to some, but not others. Of our 4 parents, both dads died without substantial cost increases. One mom is 88 with no increase, the other 87 with early dementia and a slight increase over the last year. She has a house to cover the cost. Inflation is real, but is dealt with by investment planning and/ or discretionary cutbacks. Also Social Security COLA is real and helps some, although it tends to lag real inflation. BTW all our parents had NO substantial portfolios after age 70. They all got by on mostly Social Security.

[@lindsaynewell6319]

Excellent content. At 5:35 if you live in CA and have dependents, just skip this step and go back to work 😞Step 1 is exactly what I've done this year (the detailed version) - well worth doing and took 2-3 years off my planned retirement date that was based on an estimated budget. If you believe in Eric's tagline, you have to be willing to do this work.

[@JohnJayAveryIII]

You could always flee California

[@lindsaynewell6319]

@ not everything is about $