Retirement planning spreadsheet

[drdarrin]

We've been planning and preparing for our retirement date (3/31/17) and wondering about a budget and whether our savings and social security will sustain us. Using the attached spreadsheet which I created, I think we will be in good shape

I thought I would share it with you all for a couple reasons. 1) I know I'm not the best and the brightest and I make logic and mathematical mistakes. If you find any, I'd appreciate a heads up. 2) I think others will find it useful for their planning as well.

The file is in .xlsx format so you will need Excel 2007 or later to use it.
The worksheet is protected to prevent inadvertent formula changes. There is no password so you can unlock it if you need to.
The cells with a green background are all editable and intended for you to enter your data.
Retirement date is used in conjunction with SS Benefits @ full Retirement to account for the reduction/increased benefits depending on whether you retire at full retirement age (assumed to be 66) or not. Spousal benefits are assumed to be a percentage of the oldest spouse.

Under the budget item section (A17102), you will need to enter a start and stop date on every item. This will allow for you to accommodate both income items (use a minus sign) and expense items with specific start/stop dates. For example, if you're planning to sell your house and expect to receive $25,000 net on 7/1/2018, there is an example of how to enter that amount included.

If someone finds this useful, that would be great. Have fun with it and I would appreciate any positive feed back or formula corrections you may have.

Roy

P.S. Well, since I can't attach a copy of the spreadsheet, if you're interested in it, PM me with an email address and I'll email you copy.

[Old-Biscuit]

Debt free........

That makes all the difference

Retired when I was 50....GF retired 4 yrs later when she was 50
We FTd for 7 yrs traveling weekly seeing/exploring/enjoying the USA via secondary/back roads.

Came off the road 3 yrs ago and bought another S&B
Still debt free......THAT MAKES retirement such a none issue

Debt free also allows one to live on less.

But then I have always lived on what I had instead of living on credit.
And I always paid 'myself' each month just like a bill.

[JRPA]

Roy
I sent a PM, looking forward to checking out that spreadsheet and seeing how it might work for us in our situation. Thanks for putting in the effort and sharing.

Bob

[JRPA]

No doubt that debt free is the way to go, but a budget still comes in handy assuming the check book doesn't has a unlimited balance, at least in my case it comes in right handy.

[Barbaraok]

Everyone will have different items that they track. For instance, we have a line item in our budget for wine. We're in Sonoma Valley right now - we spend the month of September in CA stocking up our wine for the winter.

One of the things that has made life easier for us was to take quarter/semi-annual/annual costs and literately but aside each month enough so when the item came due, the money was there to pay for it.

[bevandtomH]

Drdarrin, Sent you a pm too.
Thanks

[Ted Lambert]

Originally Posted by Old-Biscuit

Debt free........

That makes all the difference

Retired when I was 50....GF retired 4 yrs later when she was 50
We FTd for 7 yrs traveling weekly seeing/exploring/enjoying the USA via secondary/back roads.

Came off the road 3 yrs ago and bought another S&B
Still debt free......THAT MAKES retirement such a none issue

Debt free also allows one to live on less.

But then I have always lived on what I had instead of living on credit.
And I always paid 'myself' each month just like a bill.

I agree!
Also if you even have to think of the cost of fuel you are not ready.

[drdarrin]

Originally Posted by Old-Biscuit

Debt free........

That makes all the difference

Retired when I was 50....GF retired 4 yrs later when she was 50
We FTd for 7 yrs traveling weekly seeing/exploring/enjoying the USA via secondary/back roads.

Came off the road 3 yrs ago and bought another S&B
Still debt free......THAT MAKES retirement such a none issue

Debt free also allows one to live on less.

But then I have always lived on what I had instead of living on credit.
And I always paid 'myself' each month just like a bill.

Sadly, not everyone is debt free, myself included. And there is also the opportunity cost to consider. Can I make more on that money that it costs me to finance it? When interest rates are as low as they are right now and have been for the past several years, it would actually cost me more to pay cash for a rig than to finance it. As interest rates begin to ratchet up, that equation changes.

Originally Posted by Barbaraok

Everyone will have different items that they track. For instance, we have a line item in our budget for wine. We're in Sonoma Valley right now - we spend the month of September in CA stocking up our wine for the winter.

One of the things that has made life easier for us was to take quarter/semi-annual/annual costs and literately but aside each month enough so when the item came due, the money was there to pay for it.

One of the problems I struggled with was I knew there would be items, such as needing a new tow vehicle, that I'd have to budget for for a specific period of time, not for life. So I added a begin and end date to budget items so that they affect the budget only between those two dates. Every budget item has it's own set of dates.

Oh, and I suggest you try the wines of El Dorado and Amador county as well. We have been enjoying them for the past 18 years.

[vsheetz]

We are just moving from saving into spending. I retired a couple months ago and DW does so at the end of the year. We are fortunate to be debt free - a goal we have worked towards and attained several years ago.

We have done the budget estimations. Plan to set aside money each month towards the quarterly/annual expenses. And have reduced various expenses considerably, and will continue to work to do so the more.

Keeping a appropriate emergency fund readily available has always been a biggie, and continues.

Delaying drawing social security till the most appropriate time is in the plan, balanced with consuming cash on hand until that time.

I am finding planning for the nearer term 'go-go' years less challenging than the later years, as the further out in time the crystal ball become less clear. (-:

[Barbaraok]

Originally Posted by vsheetz

Delaying drawing social security till the most appropriate time is in the plan, balanced with consuming cash on hand until that time.

I am finding planning for the nearer term 'go-go' years less challenging than the later years, as the further out in time the crystal ball become less clear. (-:

We thought about doing that, but that would have meant withdrawing money from IRAs/401Ks. You can't leave your SS to your kids, but you can leave your IRAs to them. So we took the SS and the tax deferred accts are working away - - we've now reached the point of having to take money out (RMDs), so just deposit it into a tax acct with same managers (Vanguard). Don't forget long term care insurance.

[RVThere]

One aspect of retirement planning you should keep in mind is a 'sensitivity' analysis.

Pick a few 'what if' scenarios and see if you can still 'stay retired' under those situations. Suppose you miscalculated your expenses and they're really 2x what you put down in this spreadsheet? What if your retirement benefits are cut due to a loss of spouse? What if those lifetime health benefits are cut and you have to supplement with your own insurance?

I retired when I was 52 so, as my investment adviser keeps reminding me, 'your money has to last 40 years'. It's always good to get an opinion from a professional retirement adviser who has far more sophisticated tools at his disposal and can show you various tax and debt strategies that will help you succeed in your retirement. That way they can watch your money and investments while you enjoy your retirement.

As a previous poster said, 'debt free' may not be the best situation for all with low interest rates. Many times its better to have the cash on hand and use "OPM" or "Other People's Money"!

[vsheetz]

Originally Posted by Barbaraok

We thought about doing that, but that would have meant withdrawing money from IRAs/401Ks. You can't leave your SS to your kids, but you can leave your IRAs to them. So we took the SS and the tax deferred accts are working away - - we've now reached the point of having to take money out (RMDs), so just deposit it into a tax acct with same managers (Vanguard). Don't forget long term care insurance.

Good points. We won't use tax deferred accounts to bridge to SS. For us doing the financial and life expectancy numbers seems delaying SS is best plan at this point. Agree, long term care insurance needs to be considered. It's expensive and the earlier one starts can be a good thing.

[h20ski]

First off I want to say thanks to drdarrin for the time you took to put together a planning tool and then share with everyone.


Second I want to thank everyone for the conversation on retirement planning. It makes the rest of us who have not retired to relook at our plan to see if it needs adjustments.

[drdarrin]

You're welcome for the sheet.

I've gotten some what if ideas from the discussion as well.