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I have just about finished reading "How to Think About Money" by Jonathan Clements. This is a "lightweight" book about personal finance and actually lays out pretty well how most people should conservatively handle things - culminating in a "proper" retirement. (It is made even more poignant by his announcement that he currently is in the final stages of a sudden onset of middle-aged cancer).

So it got me to engage in a bit of introspection when I reached his calculations regarding how much one should spend each year during retirement.

I have been keeping a spreadsheet for decades with a separate tab for what amounts to a balance sheet for each year of our personal finances. I figured I would see how I had fared over the span since I retired in 2011.

With the single exception of 2022-2023 (an outlier which fared poorly for some reason - I suspect paying for two 6-month cruises in the same year didn't help) each year is pretty close to the following:

(Beginning of year balance - (expenses + taxes) + income) = End of year balance

Which nets to (Beginning of year balance) * 1.05 = End of year balance

So while not a home run in some opinions, our assets are pretty much staying constant (once inflation is taken into account) despite our burn rate; which I'm interpreting as a win compared to advice of what percentage of one's assets was safe to spend in each year of retirement.

Jeff

Outstanding. I'm thinking about part time retirement next year at 61, my 66yo wife is already retired but not yet taking SS... Our expenses are averaging 15% more than my monthly salary which is shocking and unsustainable and then I think... what am I thinking??

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