Survey responses to question 4 – has your perspective on money changed since retiring?

Retirement Stats, Studies, and Stuff

By Mariella Vigneux, MBA, ACC
Certified Professional Coach

In the previous issue of this newsletter, we gave your responses to Question 3 of the four-question survey, the question focusing on how retirement affected the relationship with your partner (if you have a partner).  In this article, you’ll find your answers to Question 4, which asked about your perspective on money since retiring.

Your responses to Question 4 showed that, although quite a few of you are anxious about your lower level of income in retirement, many have developed practical cost-saving measures.  Some have taken a philosophical approach to the new circumstances.  For a number of you, your perspective of your financial situation hasn’t really changed.  A few people are even pleasantly surprised to discover they are better off than they thought they’d be.

To refresh your memories, the fourth survey question was worded this way:

 Money Perspective: Has your perspective on money changed since retiring and, if so, how?

Here are the responses:

1. I’m surprised that we have more money than we need in retirement and that it’s not an issue. Getting rid of a large mortgage payment, larger than it needed to be in order to help pay it down faster, has helped make a difference.

2. This problem has just raised its ugly head as I find myself a caregiver to my aging (92) parent who is now penniless, having outlived her pension money. Is this to be my fate in helping her?

3. You can’t even worry about it. It is what it is.

4. The possibility of having very high end-of-life expenses looms larger.

5. I was not concerned about money while working – always seemed like there was plenty. Now I am more careful – clip coupons, look for deals and shop on senior’s day. We have a budget and are attempting to follow it.

6. Yes – Now that I have been living on a lower income for a few years I have been able to adjust my activities and expectations and have adopted a very simple life with as few expenses as possible. Having said that, the community I Iive in has been generous in supporting me (e.g. offering to assist with truck repairs; offering to assist with the registration fee for an annual conference I really enjoy.) My brother has been extremely helpful financially. He gave me his car (2006) when I was driving a very old beater truck that needed to go to the scrap heap and bought himself a new one. At first, I was too proud to think about accepting help – I learned not to be so silly

7. First year I was uptight, now I’m getting more relaxed

8. No change really. We continue to wonder how fast to spend our savings and when to allocate the most money per year – early in retirement when we are fit to travel or later in retirement when we may need more for medical things.

9. We’re lucky in that we have good pensions; however, we still need to keep an eye on how much we spend so as to not be forced to dip into other savings.

10. Too early on to tell.

11. When I retired I thought we had “lots of money” to do pretty much whatever we wanted to do (within reason). After one year I have found that isn’t quite the case. We need to be as careful as we were when we were saving for retirement.

12. I worry because it’s just me now. I worry because I don’t have anyone to bounce ideas off. I like my financial advisor but it’s not the same, as we have different goals in some cases.

13. I am surprised by how easy the economic side of retirement has been for us. In part, this has been because of windfalls (including inheritance, when my father died). In part, it has been from the elimination of mortgage payments, hefty towards the end as we increased them in amount and frequency to pay off the mortgage. I do recommend that approach.

14. I think we’ve been more careful about spending, but we seem to be making more larger purchases…like a new house and the largest mortgage in our lives….

15. Yes, I worry less about money. I am not wealthy but comfortable. I understand our financial situation and adjust my expectations.

16. I am as concerned and unconcerned about money as I have ever been. Our finances fit our lifestyle and our lifestyle matches our finances.

17. Not really.

18. No change.

19. I find that I do not need as much money as I thought I did. Maybe that conclusion came about because I have far less disposable income than before so I had to make do. It has been surprisingly all right.

20. I had calculated how much we spent on basics, food, housing, gas, clothing. I spend virtually nothing on clothing now as my wardrobe has changed dramatically. Gas has gone from one tank per week to one tank per month. We are okay for money and I decided to book two vacations this year rather than one. Time for holidays abroad may be getting shorter as we age and I want to do it now while we can both get insurance and do things, rather than forego that in case we run out of money. We won’t run out of money.

21. I think twice before I open my wallet now. When I spend on something “frivolous”, I no longer take it for granted.

Thanks to all of you who took time to share your retirement experiences with the rest of us.

If you’d like to see the answers to the previous three questions, please click on the following links:

1. Best Moment: What gave you the most joy in retirement so far, e.g., an event / a change in perspective / new freedoms / etc.
2. Retirement Challenges: In hindsight, what do you wish you had known about retirement before you retired, e.g., challenges, pitfalls, unpleasant surprises?
3. Relationship Changes: If you have a partner, how did retirement affect your relationship, both for better and for worse?