Shifting Gears
Many times in the past I’ve proclaimed that our guaranteed sources of income fully fund our retired lifestyle. An exception was in 2023 when we had a new home built, but that was more like moving money from the IRA bucket into the real-estate bucket.
We have been taking a 3% distribution from the IRAs, mostly from my account due to the Required Minimum Distribution (RMD), and end up transferring excess funds into non-qualified savings and brokerage accounts.
At ages 73 and 70 I know it’s okay to spend that money, but like many other HDers, I struggle to shift into spend down mode.
Last week I dusted off the old Excel Spreadsheet and did a look back at our spending versus income so far this year. I was surprised to see that so far this year we have actually spent about a third of the 3% distribution.
My first thought was to do a deeper and more detailed dive into where the money went. We use credit cards for as many things as possible in order to collect cash back, and aside from the general category breakdown from the issuer, I have little clue of how specific purchases add up. Are we falling prey to lifestyle creep?
My next thought was to not worry about it, we’re having a good time. Even if we spend the entire 3% we’ll probably die with more money than we have now.
I’m not going to go crazy buying junk I don’t need, and I’m still using digital coupons at the grocery store, but I seem to be getting more comfortable dipping into the nest egg.
Does anyone think that I should head over to the Ford dealer and pick up that new Mustang I’ve been looking at? You know, while I can still get in and out of it.
We have been taking a 3% distribution from the IRAs, mostly from my account due to the Required Minimum Distribution (RMD), and end up transferring excess funds into non-qualified savings and brokerage accounts.
At ages 73 and 70 I know it’s okay to spend that money, but like many other HDers, I struggle to shift into spend down mode.
Last week I dusted off the old Excel Spreadsheet and did a look back at our spending versus income so far this year. I was surprised to see that so far this year we have actually spent about a third of the 3% distribution.
My first thought was to do a deeper and more detailed dive into where the money went. We use credit cards for as many things as possible in order to collect cash back, and aside from the general category breakdown from the issuer, I have little clue of how specific purchases add up. Are we falling prey to lifestyle creep?
My next thought was to not worry about it, we’re having a good time. Even if we spend the entire 3% we’ll probably die with more money than we have now.
I’m not going to go crazy buying junk I don’t need, and I’m still using digital coupons at the grocery store, but I seem to be getting more comfortable dipping into the nest egg.
Does anyone think that I should head over to the Ford dealer and pick up that new Mustang I’ve been looking at? You know, while I can still get in and out of it.
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