Five years ago, when I was 67, I decided that I no longer wanted to work and generate income in addition to receiving full benefits from Social Security because I had had enough of the marketplace bullshit and incompetent supervisors. I also knew that if I did this that my wife and I would be limited in what we could do and/or purchase because our money had to last not just me until I died but had to last for her as well until she died. And, instead of estimating a short duration of life from age 67, I planned for us both living until about 95/97... just to be sure... and, calculated our expenses each month, and each year if we both lived that long or if I died today and she lived that long.
My wife and I spend less than $4,000/month for everything that we want to do which includes holidays, gifts, vacations, extra stuff we would like to have for ourselves... so, if I were to die today, and my wife lived until she was 95, we would need money for 28/30 years. If I died, her expenses would drop down to $3,000 or so each month, minus what she would receive from Social Security which would probably be around $1,200 each month, leaving her with a shortfall of $1,800 each month.
So, if we round up, her financial needs until age 95 or so would be $720,000 or $800,000 or even $900,000 just to be sure... however, the longer I lie, the less money she would need because of our combined Social Security Incomes.
My wife and I go on about 4-6 vacations each year since we retired, except for this year when we only went on one because of COVID. We go out to eat about 1-2 a week, sometimes more, sometimes less but we go out to dinner when we want to and don't have to sacrifice on that desire because we are retired. We don't spend as much on gasoline for the cars since we retired or on car maintenance since we do not drive as much.
We typically sleep as long as we want to getting up around 8 am unless there is an early doctor's appointment. We work in the yard whenever we want or whenever we have to like mowing the grass. We exercise on average about 3 times a week although some weeks it is 5 times but again this depends on doctor's appointments.
Neither one of us has any hobbies nor do we spend a lot time outside the house with friends... my wife usually reads and I usually write. We seldom talk unless it is about the weather or what might be happening on the news. We have different interests and had these surfaced when we were dating like they have surfaced now, we probably would not have gotten married... but, after almost 30 years what the hell does it matter anymore.
CAVEAT: If I wanted to retired in most other places outside of where I am now, I would not be able to because it costs too much to live there... so, retirement location is key... along with being able to manage you anticipated healthcare costs...
