r/AffluentRetirement

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?

I retired this summer at nearly 64 and already I find tapping into my savings uncomfortable and disorienting. My financial advisor has told me that, if I live within the plan she built for me, it's likely my funds will take me through the rest of my life (95+) with a bit left over for my daughter when I'm gone.

On the one hand, with all the travel and experiences I would like to include in my early retirement years, I'm afraid of overspending over the next few years (despite my planners assurances that it's very common to do this during the "go-go" phase of retirement).

On the other hand, even if I could make it until 95, I'm not sure I would want to - based on my personal experience, it seems that life gets a whole lot less fun after around 85. I kind of like the idea of planning my exit strategy proactively and going to Switzerland when the wheels are starting to come off - or if ever I'm down to my last $40k.

Moreover, with the state of the world, the environment and the geopolitical mayhem happening everywhere, I feel a strong temptation to have a ball now and not worry so much about saving for my 90s, because who really knows what the next couple of decades will bring?

Anyone else wrestling with these existential issues in retirement? Would love your perspectives!

I’m curious how people handled this in real life.

A lot of retirement planning treats retirement like a clean line: one day you work, then you stop.

But in real life, some people retire and later go back to work.

Sometimes it is financial. Sometimes it is not.

It could be because of:

• health insurance
• inflation
• helping family
• unexpected housing costs
• boredom
• missing structure
• wanting social interaction
• market losses
• needing extra travel money
• realizing retirement felt different than expected

The part I don’t see discussed enough is whether going back to work felt like a setback or just a normal adjustment.

For people who retired and later worked again:

What was the main reason?

Did it change how you think about retirement planning?

Educational discussion only, not financial advice.

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?