u/VegasHRLady

Here’s the conundrum.

We don’t need the income at age 62, we will already be retired. With pensions, we are already above social security being taxed and we’ll be paying the highest or close to highest IRMAA surcharges.

However, by waiting, we will get a higher spousal benefit for the older earner (me) and that translates to when younger spouse (him) turns 62 (he doesn’t have high SS due to govt benefit for most of career which precluded him from paying into SS).

Also, we have this assumption (challenge us here) that today’s SS dollars that we can invest will be better than tomorrow’s SS dollars which possibly could be impacted by legislative decisions regarding higher income retirees and how much we’ll be taxed on the SS benefit (based on our pensions).

What did you decide to do?

I’d like to think because I did X, it resulted in Y, but in reality, there were some lucky breaks along the way. So for me I’d say maybe 60% hard work and planning and 40% lucky circumstances.

Plus I made lucky decisions that might have easily taken me off track if they went the other way. For example, deciding to leave one job for another, buying a house at the perfect time after the housing market crisis, buying some bitcoin early on.

I also think I got lucky in finding a spouse that has the same money goals and mindset I have.

What about you?

We have Raiders season tix and Best of Broadway local tix. We regularly go to Sphere and other concerts.

It’s hard to say Raiders tix are ALWAYS worth it… 😂😂 (#GoRaiders🖤🩶). But we love the Broadway show tix — we turn our phones off and just enjoy the show. But it would be hard to pick an artist or show we would always buy tix for, regardless of cost.

What will you always buy tix for almost no matter what the cost? Sports? Concerts? Art? Lectures?

Well, look at us! Our little corner of Reddit, r/AffluentRetirement, has grown to 1,400+ members and roughly 7,000 visitors a week!

Apparently, there are quite a few of us trying to figure out how to spend the money we spent decades accumulating. Or whether we're actually allowed to spend it. 😂

Our most popular post has reached an incredible 90,000 views and 84 comments! A special shout-out to u/Inevitable-Ad-4605 for getting that conversation rolling!

A few observations about our growing community:

1. Money, money, money. We're seeing more conversations about finances, budgeting, withdrawal strategies and that elusive question: How much is actually enough?

2. Different strokes, different retirement plans. One thing I particularly appreciate is how respectful this group has been of different perspectives. Nobody here is going to shame you for continuing to work when you could theoretically retire on $15K a month. Maybe you love your job. Maybe you want a bigger cushion. Maybe your travel budget has its own travel budget. (My own problem 😂)

3. The lurkers are welcome, too! You don't need a brilliant question, a controversial opinion or a spreadsheet with 47 tabs to start a conversation.

And that last point brings me to a challenge.
I'd love to hear more from our quieter members. You don't have to be an expert or even have a question. Tell us what you're thinking about, what you're struggling with, a great article you read, what you're looking forward to or what surprised you about retirement.

Still working? Already retired? Counting down the days? Wondering why you saved all this money but still can't bring yourself to book business class?

WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU!

Seriously, sometimes the most interesting discussions start with someone simply sharing what's on their mind. And judging by our traffic, there are plenty of you with something to say!

Thank you to everyone who has joined, posted, commented or simply stopped by. I'm genuinely enjoying watching this community grow into a place where we can talk openly about the financial AND personal realities of affluent retirement without judgment.

Now, all 7,000 of you can't possibly be introverts. 😂

Who's going to start our next 90,000-view conversation?

Wanted to ask because recently I've been seeing a lot of comments on other subs (and a few news articles) regarding the impact on retirees if we have an extended bear market. Some posts/comments appear critical or worried about others they believe have relied too heavily on an up market when making the decision to retire. Others lean optimistic - they'll adjust spending, trust the plan, and they know they'll be fine (even if more frugality is required).

My answer: For us, a bear market just as we're retiring would cause us to lower our annual travel budget, but it's already substantial (~$100K). Overall though, we've planned using guardrails, so we'd retire on time next year knowing the risks. It for sure wouldn't cause us to work longer. However, to be fair, our pensions are a big factor driving our lack of concern over a bear market impacting our normal living expenses in retirement.

What about you? Did you retire earlier than planned due to the market? Are you spending more? Would you have to cut back drastically in a sustained bear market? And for those not retired, would a bear market change your date? Or just your retirement budget?

I have an informal list in the Final Countdown app (the one recommended by the book Die With Zero) but that list is more around individual places. I want to create a more formal list of ideas for experiences combined with longer travel or slow travel.

For example, we met a couple in our recent travels whose TA planned a trip around cooking experiences, the Seychelles, and then paired with Safari — all in the same general travel area. When in Auckland, a friend recommended a specific company’s private wine tour of Waiheke island (incredible).

What are your best, most memorable travel ideas?

I’m imagining those of you who retired a while ago have made a good dent in your bucket list. You’ve done a lot of exciting things — some travel a lot, some bought fun new “toys” and some like having multiple houses.

When you’ve gotten over the psychological hump of spending, what else gives you that same passion and joy you felt when you first retired?

Ours know we have money now — but they also know we have every intention to “Die with Zero”! If we don’t need a fortune’s worth of end of life care, they’ll get some.

We’re unlikely to receive any meaningful inheritances ourselves, so anything we do receive, we’re likely to spend it on a big family trip.

We started with Fidelity, moved to Quicken (which we already used for budget tracking), then moved to Boldin. Via our fee-based FP, we also now have access to Income Lab. But it’s not really designed for a consumer so it’s just OK. We love Boldin but are wondering if once retired there is something better day to day — or for planning discretionary spend a year in advance.

For me it was when I quit worrying about if I got laid off and/or if my lovely boss retired - I thought “damn that severance package would be a lovely going away present!”

Also it was when I quit debating with myself over paying the cost of business class for flights over 4 hours. Now it’s just part of the budget.

First, welcome new members! We’re now at 564 members, double from a few weeks ago. Glad to see our discussions and insights on all things related to an Affluent Retirement, and I love the engagement and the wisdom here!

As for Labor Day — For everyone who spent decades working, saving, investing, surviving meetings that should have been emails, navigating office politics, commuting, managing people, being managed by people, and occasionally pretending to care about the corporate strategic plan… AND to those (like me) who are still doing so “for just a few more years” in order to enjoy an affluent retirement…..

Today we celebrate your labor!!!

For those who have made it to retirement: congratulations on reaching the stage where the goal is to provide as little labor as reasonably possible. 😂

For those of us still working toward it, consider today a reminder of what all that labor is ultimately buying: freedom over your own time, to spend that hard-earned money just how you’d like to.

Happy Labor Day to everyone— especially anyone who has successfully removed Monday morning from their calendar.
(Definitely not jealous.. nope, not me…. 😂😂)

(Disclosure - below my comments is an AI summary of the article’s main points. Author is Jeff Judge, published 9-6-2026.)

I question #2 and #4. For #2, overrated to
say everyone should do it. If we are already in the 30% plus tax bracket due to pensions, I’d rather pay the taxes on RMDs in my mid70s when I’m not travelling as much. Maybe we’ll do a few mini conversions, but not as much as many advocate for. I want to spend more on my Go Go years. The “widow” tax is somewhat of a concern, but a mild one since 1/2 of our pensions will end once a spouse dies. The other will still be fine, but we’ll be in a lower tax bracket.

As for #4, if not relying on SS for income later in life, I’d rather take it now and spend it or invest it.

The others I do agree with — especially the first one! What about you?

(Kiplinger main points)

1. Make retirement saving automatic and non-negotiable. They consistently saved throughout their careers, increased contributions as income rose, and didn’t stop investing during downturns.

2. Use the early-retirement years for Roth conversions. They take advantage of lower-income years before Social Security and RMDs to move traditional retirement assets into Roth accounts.

3. Keep several years of spending in safe, liquid assets. Kiplinger says affluent retirees commonly hold roughly 2–4 years of spending in cash, money markets, CDs or short-term Treasuries so they aren’t forced to sell stocks during a bear market.

4. Delay Social Security when it makes financial sense. Higher earners frequently wait until 70, using other assets to fund the intervening years and maximize the eventual inflation-adjusted benefit.

5. Use professional financial advice strategically. Many work with fiduciary, fee-only or fee-based advisers—not necessarily to pick investments, but to coordinate taxes, withdrawals, estate planning, healthcare and behavioral decisions.

6. Separate “must spend” from “want to spend.” Essential expenses are distinguished from travel, dining, gifts and other discretionary spending. That creates an easy lever to pull temporarily during a bad market rather than selling investments at depressed prices.

7. Treat healthcare as a financial-planning decision. They actively evaluate Medicare/Medigap choices, IRMAA implications and long-term-care risk rather than treating healthcare enrollment as paperwork.

8. Manage lifetime taxes—not just this year’s tax bill. They deliberately use Roth conversions, capital-gains realization, charitable distributions, deduction timing and other strategies to fill lower tax brackets and avoid unnecessarily higher ones later.

9 Rebalance without reacting emotionally to markets. They follow a predetermined allocation/rebalancing process rather than panic-selling after declines or chasing whatever has recently gone up.

10. Treat estate planning as ongoing maintenance. Wills, trusts, powers of attorney and especially beneficiary designations get reviewed periodically and after major life changes—not created once and forgotten.

I provided the Apple News link for those who don’t have a WSJ subscription. Pretty interesting!

My answer: I probably would but Mr. VHRLady says they feel “tool old” for him—- we are late 50s/early 60s BTW. 😂 And both parents already live 10 mins away.

I was married, in my late 20s. We bought into a private company that was going to go public and make us a ton of money! Going to go public when the DJIA hits 5K… 7.5K… 10K…. 🤦‍♀️Great suggestion from a friend in the medical field. (Of course!) Invested $25K, our daughter’s college fund. “Integrative health company” — Amazing! New idea!

Husband (now ex, but amicably) was smart, did research, it was a licensed company. We were intelligent enough to think it might be BS, and dumb enough to fall for it. Husband actually called the company “president” to talk through it. Upon retrospect — what a red flag the company prez would answer his call. Anyhoo— scam.

We got back $13K of the $25K and wrote off the rest. Daughter still had her college paid for, so all ok. But sheesh when I think of our naïveté back then…. I cringe. The final analysis was that it was a good idea and legit for a hot minute… and then the founders got greedy and it morphed into a standard Ponzi.

Anyone else willing to share?

Asking what’s normal because of my recent experience: I reached out to a large online luxury travel agency consortium that’s under the Virtuoso umbrella. (Agency recommended by AI). This was for a luxury cruise I’d already picked out plus planning 3 days in the city we’d end up in. Getting flights on our own. AI recommended I could frequently get additional OBC or perks going through an agent.

They sent my inquiry to one of their subcontractors. Let’s call her “Jane”. Jane appears to be a a single-person proprietor. Very nice, less than 5 years experience but seems to know her stuff. We do an intake meeting. Part of the intake was sharing with her all the other trips we have planned for the following years (after next) when we will be retired. I have around 20 of them currently listed and I shared most of the future ideas with her, letting her know I wanted to develop a long term relationship with a TA I could use for many of our retirement travels.

At the meeting she explains that her fee structure for full planning of a trip (including this one) is — at the low end — $350pp per week of a trip. This is on her normal intake meeting screen — so not just referring to my trip. I told her I assume that’s if she plans a trip but we book it ourselves?

Nope, she says. I flat out ask — respectfully, why would I pay you to plan this trip with the major portion planned already? She shares that the OBC will be well above the fee. Also— There are Virtuoso planners in every country that she will work with to help plan, if there are problems in-country, they will be able to help, they could also get us upgrades at the hotels maybe.

Okey-dokey, that sounds OK I guess. At this point, however, she won’t give me a quote until I sign her agreement form. That’s understandable for legal purposes — but the agreement form states that if she gives me a quote for the trip, I cannot book that trip on my own for 12 months after the quote. I understand the basic reasoning behind that — so I don’t take her planning work for free and then not use her. At that point, it makes total sense for her to charge a planning fee. But for this?

My questions are:

1. I always thought the bookings are what gave the TA their commissions and I’d never heard of planning fees when the TA was booking on your behalf. Am I wrong about this?

Note — We are also planning a multi-gen international trip the following year — and I shared this with her. Paying a fee for that more complex one seemed more reasonable but again— I thought she made her commission on the bookings not the planning fee?

2. This was a cruise I had already chosen (ship plus date plus itinerary). So this came down to booking the cruise I’d chosen and planning a pitch with 3 days in an international city. Would other luxury TAs charge a full fee for this?

3. What is a normal fee structure/payment situation and or advisor-client relationship for a specialized “Luxury Travel Agent/Advisor” (and if you know, specifically within the Virtuoso umbrella?)

Ultimately, I didn’t sign the agreement and let her know I didn’t feel comfortable signing away my ability to book my own cruise that I found if her proposal wasn’t something I liked or made sense to me. Then I hopped back over the TA who we used to book a multi-family cruise and later a casino-comped cruise — no fees. We’ll use her to do this cruise too and maybe elements of the multi-gen trip.

Still, we may need more help for logistics of a land-based more complicated trip, and maybe we’d want access to in-country help. Or maybe we’d just use our Amex Plat travel concierge in an emergency?

Any insights you have would be great! Thanks!

We’ll leave A/R out of contention for now since we’re so new! Share other ones that you’ve really learned from and that you think others might like or find useful.

If you’re a lurker, keep lurking. Seriously, you’re a part of this new community too! And, for the now 269 regular members and about 7300 visiting lurkers are out there: Thank you for helping build this little corner of Reddit!

One of the things I want this community to be is a friendly place where people can talk candidly and exchange different viewpoints about the actual experience of planning for and living an affluent retirement — including the decisions, trade offs, mistakes, luxuries, family issues, travel, housing, purpose and occasional absurdities that come with it.

When I started r/AffluentRetirement, I wasn’t really sure whether there were enough people looking for a place to talk about the non-basic-finance side of an unusually well-funded retirement. I was curious if people would weigh in about what we’re actually doing with the money, time, freedom and choices we’ve spent decades saving for. Apparently, there are! 😊

A little community update. Over the last 1.5 months we’ve been live, we’ve had 7300 visits, 269 members join, and approx 270 comments. Several posts have seen over 1,000 views with our largest at 1500 views.
For a tiny new subreddit, I think that’s pretty cool!

Back to the lurkers — I was a lurker on Reddit for nearly 6 years before I posted ANYTHING. So starting a subreddit myself was not on my bingo card. Also I HATE rejection, which is par for the course when you do something like this.

“WHAT IF I THROW A REDDIT PARTY AND NO ONE COMES?!?!” — that’s what my inner child (an 8th grade girl) worried about. (As if anyone else except me and my pride would even care).

So lurkers, welcome! But if you get the urge, make a comment, or say Hi. We don’t bite…. And apparently at least 7,000 of us are just standing around watching anyway. 😂😂

Happy Thursday everyone!

This will seem a little weird to some, but for me the hump was psychological due to my career. I have a great job, and I’ve always been career and promotion “next step” motivated. So I had to realize and embrace this would be my last role.

Even if my boss retired in the next year, or even if I got an amazing job opportunity elsewhere, there is no way I want to commit to another 3-5 years, so at this point the “next step” is off the table. It’s my choice, but I’ve struggled a little to get over the “hump” of the end of my career.

What about you? Has it been psychological? Hitting a “number”? Deciding where to live? Deciding on your budget?

More specifically, what strategies do you use to align on the type of vacation, slow travel, restaurants, accommodations, etc, you book if your budget is significantly higher than theirs?

For some, we might offer to pay for the majority portion, but sometimes hard to word it in a way that doesn’t seem awkward about their financial situation. Ideas?

For others we’d just say “Hey, we’re doing X vacation if you want to join, and we paid X amount if you want to give out TA a call.” Then they know the price going in and can choose to spend or not. Thankfully we do have “travel friends” who enjoy the same splurges we do.

Alternatively, if a friend had a 2 bedroom condo they wanted to share for a month where we’d all cook for ourselves, that might not be our cup of tea, so we might say “We’ll join you in the location (city) for activities” or maybe, “We’ll stay with you guys for a week and then get our own place.” We want the friendship and camaraderie time, but we also may like a different style.

What strategies, discussions or approaches have worked for you?