[where's_the_Outrage?]

IMHO a priority before retirement should be to have your home paid off.

[Ken H]

Doesn’t sound like they’re including taxes.

[SauronOfMordor]

I made a point of being completely debt free before retirement.

Still have property taxes, though.

[Nervous Tick]

Dear Boomers,

1. Live in a tiny house. [Lower housing cost!]
2. ... in a fifteen minute city [Lower transportation cost!]
3. ... and eat bugs [Lower food cost!]
4. ... and die. [Zero health care cost!]

Meanwhile your children’s children and their children are well on their way to owning nothing and being “happy”! Hooray!

... I’m opting out of this game.

[Codeflier]

My house is paid off, but it’s amazing how much you still have to spend.

My property taxes work out to about $550 per month. Homeowners insurance about $200 per month,

And then there is maintenance, yardwork, termite bond renewal, etc.

So I think the downsizing advice is good. When I retire, I am downsizing big time.

[Mouton]

Yes paid up home. Made certain to have done that before pulling the plug on working. Meanwhile, home mortgage is just a portion of home ownership. I added up our home “ownership” costs on an annual basis. It came to circa 10K. Wow, how could it be so much. Well, property taxes and insurance costs (florida) alone bring them to 9K. Throw in maintenance and easily top 10K.

Meanwhile, our home is 60% of our net worth. So, why not sell it? Well, the taxman would be happy for sure. So, here we are with a paid for home. It looks nice. Our heirs love to see it. But the term “house poor” comes to mind. Ten years ago the costs were under 5K.

[bert]

Averages do not effect the reality of most folk

[mewzilla]

Health spending makes up $7,030 in annual spending for retirees. One way to cut costs when health issues arise is to get easily affordable preventative care. That means staying up to date on screenings and vaccinations.....

🤣🤣🤣🤣

Aaaaargh, I think I broke something...

[Gay State Conservative]

Being in debt in your 60s...and beyond...is not a good idea.

[VastRWCon]

Good advice. What about a reverse mortgage?

[who knows what evil?]

That means staying up to date on screenings and vaccinations.

Not to mention supplements and a healthy diet. :-)

[TalBlack]

When I quit my job in 2004 and went into biz for myself four something grand was what it had to come up with every month before I made penny one. Today I would kill to get back to that number.

[Godzilla]

Well, I’ve beaten the power curve.’

Own my own home outright, only pay utilities and property taxes

My vehicle expenses have been reduced by over 70 percent due to relocation and new proximity to all necessary services. My annual milage is around 6,500 / year.

We don’t eat out a lot and prepare our meals at home.

Medical - well, that is hard to avoid with advanced age, but working to keep those costs in line. But my average is no where near that amount for myself and the missis combined.

[1Old Pro]

If you aren’t working as much – or at all – you might want to swap the car for public transit or a bicycle.

BS

[ncfool]

I am shooting for a target retirement of about 20,000 per month. I doubt that I will spend that amount but working hard on investments to get there.
Going to try to live on about 4% or 5% of investments and 401k. Just hit 64 and hope to quit working at 66.

[ncfool]

I am shooting for a target retirement of about $20,000 per month. I doubt that I will spend that amount but working hard on investments to get there.
Going to try to live on about 4% or 5% of investments and 401k. Just hit 64 and hope to quit working at 66.

I have no house payment but would like to buy a 2nd home in a sunshine state like Florida.
Current property taxes are about $5,000. no other payments as cars are paid.

[dfwgator]

One of the nice things about being an advocate of Intermittent and Extended fasting, is outside of the health benefits, it saves money on food.

[Tommy Revolts]

I refuse to become an average retiree.

[bobbo666]

Yah, retiring before owning your home is a sign of retiring too soon.

As to “bicycle”, what kind of idiot suggested this? Elders are brittle. One fall of a stupid bike and you are lucky to get back into a wheel chair for what remains. Public transport does not exist in burbs.

[Flying Circus]

“The average American 65 years of age and up earns an annual pre-tax income of $55,335”

The average American above 65 isn’t “earning” anything. They are living off of savings, investments, and social security. Retirement means you have stopped working and are living off of what you earned through your working years.

The lack of additional earning is why it is a very bad idea to be using debt in retirement. Debt should only be used as a means of getting future returns, not supplementing current expenses.

[fatboy]

One of our money goals before we retire is to have $130K in a high yield saving account. At 4% the interest will pay our property taxes. If interest rates fall back to .0001%, we will still have 34 years of property taxes in the hopper. Currently we have 1/3 of the target amount saved. So quite soon I think I can say with a degree of confidence that I truly own my home.