It's time to start digging up those Squirrelled Nuts!!!!

Alice_Holt · 10 July 2021 at 3:33PM

Stubod said:

..for those sad people who like me like their spreadsheets, does anybody track their "long term" total income v expenditure to assist with retirement planning? If so how much have you spent over the last (say) 20 years, and how much have you saved over the last couple of (covid) years compared with what you planned to spend?
..just out of interest (?) I have calculated that our total spend for the last 10 years is pretty much identical to the previous 10 years.

I've a summary spreadsheet that tracks (by year):

Opening valuation of Investments and Savings
plus  Income (pensions, and part-time salary - working for an advice charity at which I initially volunteered)
less Annual Spend (total)
Additional irregular major spends in the year (replacement car, house maintenance, etc),
Gifted assets (SIPP for my nieces, etc)
Sub-total of above (1)
Increase / decrease in closing Investments and Savings (=2-1)
Closing valuation of Investments and Savings (2)

I can then compare the annual increase / decrease in investments and savings (expressed as a %) to inflation rates, investment indices, etc, to check it isn't under-performing.

In 16 years (since I first took early retirement from my full-time profession) normal expenditure has remained fairly standard.
Investments and savings have grown by c.230%.

I also chart annual cash flow projections looking forward 15/20/30 years.
The impressive stock market returns over the last 12 years, together with unexpected part-time earnings, mean my actual investments / savings number is well above the number forecast in previous years.

I was slightly apprehensive of living on a much reduced income when I first retired, and seriously considered another full-time professional job.

I'm very glad that I didn't, in the event making time to pursue hobbies and volunteering hasn't resulted in any financial shortfall.

atush · 10 July 2021 at 11:31PM

Terron said:

atush said:

Plus the royal family are effectively German, so you arent going along with your name?

No they are not. It would be more correct to call them Greek, but still wrong. The Queen was born in Britain, both her parents were born in Britian, as was Her paternal grandfather and great grandfather. Prince Philip was born in Greece. His father was of Greek and Danish descent though his mother was German. He became a naturalized British subject before they married. So their children were born in Britian of British parents.

Got that, but they are a German line, and more germans married into the line after.

Doesnt bother me at all.

atush · 10 July 2021 at 11:33PM

Sea_Shell said:

Guys....come on!!!!

Please don't take my thread off topic.

Many thanks

Sorry, answer as i read.

point taken

bluenose1 · 11 July 2021 at 11:25AM

I had forgotten how cheap Aldi was. The cherries, strawberries, raspberries were over a £1 cheaper each than the Tesco and Co-op in our village. I tend to let my husband do the shopping as he is retired, so hadn’t realised the price difference. When I am retired almost all our shopping will be from there with the remainder a local butcher we like.

Reading this thread and others, have decided I am too much of a consumerist to spend as little as Seashell etc does. I seem to spend regularly on “things”. For example this month I have bought a new bed, mattress, bedding, wool topper etc. Last month I had new staircase put in. Not essential replacements but the bed is comfier and we had 60s boards on stairs so glad I got them.
Going to try and have a few months off spending, though want the bedroom decorated later this year. My husband wants to wait until weather is miserable to do it or could be delaying tactics!!!

Just did a 5 mile run in our local woods. Had to wear long leggings as had some terrible bites last week. Very muggy here today.

enthusiasticsaver · 11 July 2021 at 11:53AM

I am similar to you Blue Nose in that we do spend more than @Sea_Shell but as she has pointed out they retired at a fairly young age and are on drawdown whereas we live off DB pensions with the investments/savings covering additional expenditure. I have relaxed our spending so whilst we don't waste money I am not over careful and we gift/lend money to our daughters and their families. We have also paid out this year for two family holidays in the uk, several breaks just for us, a new porch and shed and various other household items to make life more enjoyable. I still would not call myself a consumerist though.

I am taking the view that in 3 years my husbands state pension kicks in and mine the year after which means an additional £18k a year income so we spend on things we want now as well as things we need. Something we didn't tend to do in the first few years of retirement. Also interest rates are so appalling that I am fairly relaxed on taking money out and just leaving some for emergencies. Our stocks and shares isas and SIPPs we just tend to leave alone.

enthusiasticsaver · 11 July 2021 at 12:12PM

Sea_Shell said:

michaels said:

Stubod said:

..for those sad people who like me like their spreadsheets, does anybody track their "long term" total income v expenditure to assist with retirement planning? If so how much have you spent over the last (say) 20 years, and how much have you saved over the last couple of (covid) years compared with what you planned to spend?
..just out of interest (?) I have calculated that our total spend for the last 10 years is pretty much identical to the previous 10 years.

Can I ask if you (and Sea Shell) have adjusted for inflation when comparing spend between years?

Personally, no. The figures are the actual figures.

We do have them broken down into categories, so we can see trends over time, but then so much of spending is discretionary to a point, I'm not sure that tells me much!

I don't track our expenditure/income so much now. I record our spends on finance software but don't analyse them as much now. Our DB pensions pay out each month, I transfer so much to savings to cover cars, holidays, household, gifts, so much gets transferred to our individual accounts for personal spends and leave enough to cover direct debits and discretionary spends like food, meals out and fuel and bills. We leave our investments alone and just withdraw around £4k from my SIPP each year on a tax efficient basis to use up my PA as my DB pensions only come to £8k at the moment and either put in our savings buffer or gift to our daughters. We always leave at least £10k in our savings as an emergency buffer too.

Is there a reason you monitor yours so carefully still and do you keep an emergency fund? It will be interesting to see if you continue to do that as you get older and other income streams kick in. From the sound of it though you do seem to spend sufficient for your lifestyle.

In an an earlier post you were asking if other people seem to have a routine in retirement. We do childcare for our grandchildren Monday's although that will reduce when the youngest starts school next year. School holidays we do two days a week for both granddaughters. Tuesdays is my U3a walking day, Wednesdays I do a bike ride with a friend or meet up with other friends usually. Thursday DH and I will spend at our country club having a swim and spa or gym session and maybe lunch out or sometimes a coastal walk as we live in Cornwall and Friday I do an exercise class in the morning and see a friend for a walk in the afternoon. Housework and jobs around the house are done weekends and seeing our family as it is too busy to go out with the tourists down here. I am not sure if I could fit work in now 🤣🤣

Stubod · 11 July 2021 at 12:51PM

Pre covid we always shopped at Aldi, love their products and prices. However as covid kicked in we changed to online shopping at Tesco, which to be fair has been a positive experience. (Hardly any substitutions, very friendly delivery staff, and despite booking a 4 hour slot we always get a call to confirm the actual delivery time which hardly ever varies).

Yes they are probably more expensive than Aldi, (although they do have a lot of "Aldi price match" items), but it only takes about 20 mins on the computer to "do your shopping", there is no car usage, (our regular Aldi is a 20 mile / 45min drive away, so probably saves £10 on car costs?). They turn up and we have everything sorted and packed away in another 10 mins. So with another "wave" of Covid about to hit us I think we will be staying with Tesco for the time being!...(There are other on-line supermarkets available....but Tesco seem to have it cracked.....).

Linton · 11 July 2021 at 1:16PM

Stubod said:

..for those sad people who like me like their spreadsheets, does anybody track their "long term" total income v expenditure to assist with retirement planning? If so how much have you spent over the last (say) 20 years, and how much have you saved over the last couple of (covid) years compared with what you planned to spend?
..just out of interest (?) I have calculated that our total spend for the last 10 years is pretty much identical to the previous 10 years.

I have been keeping detailed records of income and expenditure at the individual transaction level since 1999. I agree with your point that total expenditure ignoring one-offs remains remarkably constant. The effect of inflation is much less than one would think. I can see 2 reasons for this:
- what one spends ones money on changes over time as relative prices change. If oranges become cheaper than apples one buys more of the former and fewer of the latter, whereas it takes some time for such changes to be reflected in the cost of living statistics.
- technology change leads to changes in spending. Streaming music is cheaper than buying CDs, cars are more efficient, a new house needs less heating than an old one etc etc. But again it takes time for this to be included in the statistics.

In my retirement planning I assumed inflation of 3% and continue to do so since retirement in 2005. This combined with much higher investment returns than expected have led to our total assets being almost identical to what they were 16 years ago.