…. And at what point is it “too long” in any given year?
We are targeting around 3-4 months a year to travel, but wonder if after several years of it, seeing new countries might become less fulfilling.
It could be any book, fiction or nonfiction. Topics might include priorities, investing, saving, finding your purpose—anything that has an impact about your approach or thought process to retirement.
For me, waaaayyyyyyy back in my 20s, it would have been Dave Ramsey’s very first book, Financial Peace. That got me started saving. More recently, The Psychology of Money and Die With Zero have had a profound impact on how I think about spending money.
We’d like to leave some money, but we aren’t fixated on an amount and we will spend as much as we can and need while we are alive. We’re more likely to give them some before we pass so that they are young enough themselves to need and enjoy it. Our kids are very responsible with money so they will likely have already saved for retirement. They also have good college savings for the grandkids, although we do help by adding $ monthly to their 529s. So in general, we’d rather give to them while we are alive.
What are your plans for heirs?
For me, it will probably be longevity “hacks” — typically with good research behind them but also typically expensive! I love learning new ways likely to improve my Healthspan and implementing them!
(No shade against CFPs, BTW). I (60F) have been running retirement planning scenarios my whole life. Started with Fidelity’s way back when, then in my 50s moved to Quicken, last year added Boldin and even ran several scenarios by good ole ChatGPT.
As a result, spouse (56M) and I thought we knew the best paths regarding retirement timing, spending budget, sequence of withdrawals, Roth conversions, when to sell some rentals, IRMAA surcharges, portfolio mix, when to take SS, spending guardrails, etc. BUT STILL we paid $8K for 3 sessions with a fee-based retirement planning firm.
Nice guy and knowledgeable, but he really just plopped our data into Income Lab and it spit out what we already knew. He did settle a few minor disagreements between my husband and me (which I was right about, for the record… 😂).
We were expecting to be wow-ed with some new info, insights, or ideas. Nope. It was nearly exactly what I, Quicken, Boldin, and ChatGPT figured out — we can retire now with a lesser travel and leisure budget, next year with a higher travel and leisure budget, and 2028 with an amazing travel and leisure budget.
Would we do it again? 100% YES. Would we try to find someone less than $8K? ALSO 100% YES.
What’s been your experience?
Answer the poll or add your own “would never”!
I’m not talking about being “emotionally” affluent — although that is also (and might be even more) important. I’m asking straight up about annual income. This assumes little or no debt. If you have a mortgage, take that off the top. I’m envisioning something a step lower than rich/wealthy, but high enough to do pretty much whatever you’d want in retirement. Something less than you’re always taking private planes but something more than you’re always flying economy, for example.
What’s your number? I’m guessing somewhere between $200,000 and $750,000, but that’s a big range. Would your definition be in that range?
“While exact, official federal decile data fluctuates based on specific tax years, analyzed data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics highlights a massive divide between the lowest and highest income percentiles for retired households. [1, 2]
Estimated Annual Income by Decile (Households 65+)
(From OP- I only included the top 5 deciles here)
5th Decile (Median - 50%)
Around $56,680
The true middle. Income is evenly split between Social Security, employer pensions, and occasional part-time work.
6th Decile (50% to 60%)
$56,680 – $72,000
Increased influence of traditional pensions and structured 401(k)/IRAwithdrawals.l
7th Decile (60% to 70%)
$72,000 – $92,000
Substantial private savings distributions begin to rival the household's Social Security income baseline.
8th Decile (70% to 80%)
$92,000 – $125,000
Asset-driven income (dividends, real estate/rent, interest) becomes a primary driver.
9th Decile (80% to 90%)
$125,000 – $188,000
High retirement-account balances. Pensions and savings make up over a quarter of all revenue.
10th Decile (Top 10%)
Over $188,000
Driven by active wages/business earnings (39% of total mix) and significant investment portfolio returns.
How Income Sources Vary by Decile
The drastic gap between deciles exists because the types of income change entirely as you move up the wealth ladder:
The Top 20%: Rely primarily on earned wages and market assets. Over 39% of their total income comes from ongoing employment or business earnings, and 18% comes directly from investment dividends, interest, or rental properties. Because of these heavy market ties, a small percentage of wealthy retirees pulls the national "mean" retirement income up significantly higher than the median. [2, 3]”
[1] https://www.fool.com
[2] https://www.fool.com
[3] https://www.congress.gov
[4] https://www.census.gov
We’ll already be in a high enough bracket that RMDs won’t impact IRMMA nor our social security being taxed. And we’d rather have more money now while we can maximize it in our go go years. Kids are getting gifts along the way and won’t mind having to use what’s left over 10 years, so that’s not a concern. Curious what others think?
Pensions? Business sale? Investments? Inheritance? Saving over time? Ours will be different pensions that start from now to five years from now (about 75%) and investments we’ve saved over time (25%).
I worry about overestimating how much we will want to travel, and underestimating how much we will need to spend on home improvements.
We’re a new community so help us guide the discussion where you’d like it to go. Drop your comments here about what topics, ideas or content you’d find interesting.
I’ll go first. Ubers and Lyfts. Seriously! We (56M, 60F) love to eat out at restaurants and we love to drink martinis and we love a bottle of wine with dinner. Spent $4500 on Ubers and Lyfts last year.
To be fair, we are a year from calling it quits, but we know that’s one “must have” expense we won’t scrimp on.
Hey everyone! I'm u/VegasHRLady, a founding moderator of r/AffluentRetirement.
This is our new home for all things related to optimizing a higher-income retirement at any age. We're excited to have you join us!
We hope to fill a gap between the Fire communities, the Retirement communities, and the FAT/Chubby Travel communities.
We wanted specific community that included all of those things, but unique to those with an affluent retirement income.
What to Post
Feel free to share case studies, plans, questions, trip reports, thoughts, photos, or questions. Learn or share how you’re living and spending well in the go-go, slow-go, or no-go years - or how you’re planning for an affluent retirement.
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1.
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We (56M/60F) are in the position of loving our jobs, so we are really only working another 12-24 months to ensure a very chubby travel budget. We’re planning on about $100K per year for travel. That includes at least one bigger trip per year with kids and grandkids (total 5 adults, two kids).
We typically travel first/business but are willing to give some of that up except for international. (But for the kids-premium economy 😂). The only thing we are “set” on (at least for now) is an annual one-month stay on a lake over the summer months (AirBnB prob).
What’s your travel budget? How much are you traveling? What kind of accommodations? Hotels or AirBnB? Cruises? All-inclusives? Are you bringing extended family? Is your budget enough? Would you want to travel more? Or is there a time where you’re like, nah we got tired of too much travel? Thank you for your perspectives!
Help us settle this family dispute. We are an extended family of consistent Uber users. Hubby and I ALWAYS tip, default to 25%. We do so for a variety of personal reasons I won’t get into here. But mainly, because we always assumed it’s a big portion of how Uber drivers are paid.
Last night at a family dinner, while discussing the book Enshitification, a family member in their 20s said they NEVER tip Uber drivers. Never. Hubby says, “But tips are a big portion of how they make money.”
They say “Not true. Uber drivers get paid a big portion of the fare and tipping isn’t really necessary. They don’t even know if you’ve tipped or not. The ‘thanks for the tip’ function is just automated and means nothing.”
So hubby told this person, “Pull up your Uber rating, it has to be terrible.” Guess what? This person’s rating is 4.92!?!??
Drivers, do you know the rider hasn’t tipped you when you rate the rider? What percentage is a “good” tip? Riders, do you tip consistently?
Whoever knows: Approximately what portion of an Uber driver’s pay for any one ride comes from the tip? TIA!
He kept insisting he was a minimalist. “We don’t need a nest. We just need each other” he told her. Then she caught him sharing an over the water bungalow with a tomato and called her lawyer.