High Spenders In Retirement $250K+

[broncocountry25]

Hello,

Many BH's are high earners and savers. Who here has retired, gotten kids launched, and then still are spending $20k+ a month?

What is your lifestyle like if you are spending at least $250k/year or more in retirement?

Actionable because I think a lot of people do OMY for potentially longer then needed depending on what they need for retirement lifestyle.

I imagine it would be hard to go from saver/earner to spending that much a year (maybe if you have a mortgage in HCOL area) and I would love to hear real world spending. Might be helpful to share age and how long you have been retired if you don't mind.

[LaniK1]

Actionable because I think a lot of people do OMY for potentially longer then needed depending on what they need for retirement lifestyle.

I imagine it would be hard to go from saver/earner to spending that much a year (maybe if you have a mortgage in HCOL area) and I would love to hear real world spending. Might be helpful to share age and how long you have been retired if you don't mind.

How is that actionable? I think it would help if you share your circumstances.

[broncocountry25]

Actionable because I think a lot of people do OMY for potentially longer then needed depending on what they need for retirement lifestyle.

I imagine it would be hard to go from saver/earner to spending that much a year (maybe if you have a mortgage in HCOL area) and I would love to hear real world spending. Might be helpful to share age and how long you have been retired if you don't mind.

How is that actionable? I think it would help if you share your circumstances.

I am curious on who is currently living on this type of income in retirement to see what they are using it for and decide if it is worth it to continue to save so aggressively and work. I have shared my own situation on the forum.

Simply looking for some real life examples of what life in retirement with that income level and above looks like.

[sailaway]

Assuming the 4% rule, that would require being in the top 3% of US households, so I am not sure how many responses you could possibly get. Heck, just having $250k to spend in working years puts you in the top 3% of US households, even before accounting for any savings.

Moreover, I think most folks OMY for the additional buffers/breathing room from their estimates. That is, they aren't so likely to say they are spending $250k now with 3 kids in college and want to continue to do so indefinitely, but rather they want to spend $125k going forward prefer a 2% SWR, plus still have the opportunity to spoil the kids and grandkids with lumps sums.

[pizzy]

Excluding gifting/charity.

The bulk of the $20k will be taxes, health, housing and travel. The same four buckets at any level.

Unless they are luxury brand shoppers.

[wilked]

What is the point of the question?

[pizzy]

What is the point of the question?

Already answered: "I am curious on who is currently living on this type of income in retirement to see what they are using it for and decide if it is worth it to continue to save so aggressively and work. Simply looking for some real life examples of what life in retirement with that income level and above looks like."

[AnnetteLouisan]

Yes it is worth it in my opinion to save aggressively for retirement. Even if one’s current spending is pretty low and not expected to increase much.

As the decades roll past, needs change. Prices change. Circumstances change. Tastes change. Taxes change. The purchasing power of money changes, as we have seen illustrated in sharp relief recently. And the direction of the cost of adjusting to these changes is rarely downward.

People who had financial buffers during the pandemic, divorce, job loss, 9/11, floods, loss of a loved one, or health declines, were surely better off than those who didn’t. People who relocated from urban cores and could afford a more comfortable living space were surely glad they weren’t forced to start their new adventure with unsafe or run down housing.

Roughing it can be fun when young but a lot less fun with age and or a chronic or other health condition. Also the closer one gets to the finish line and the farther from one’s Beach Blanket Bingo days, the more little luxuries can soothe in place of daily ego gratification one may have had from other sources. And it’s nice to have some fun money in the budget.

[White Coat Investor]

Hello,

Many BH's are high earners and savers. Who here has retired, gotten kids launched, and then still are spending $20k+ a month?

What is your lifestyle like if you are spending at least $250k/year or more in retirement?

Actionable because I think a lot of people do OMY for potentially longer then needed depending on what they need for retirement lifestyle.

I imagine it would be hard to go from saver/earner to spending that much a year (maybe if you have a mortgage in HCOL area) and I would love to hear real world spending. Might be helpful to share age and how long you have been retired if you don't mind.

I tell my kids I'm retired, but the Internet Retirement Police would probably disagree. We spend $20K+ many months and it's been a long time since we spent less than $15K in a month. And that's without any payments. No mortgage. No car payments. No student loan payments etc.

What does our lifestyle look like? Well, we go on 1-3 vacations a month. Many we drive to and just go backpacking or whatever. We don't all go on all of the vacation either. But plenty are vacations that I would have never gone on as a kid where we fly, stay in hotels, and eat out just about every meal. Big fancy house. Three cars (none with less than 140K miles). A boat. Kids are all involved in 2 or 3 activities. I play on a couple of hockey teams and probably pay $1000 a year in fees for that. I put too much fertilizer and water on the lawn. When something breaks or wears out, I buy the really nice version to replace it. It all adds up to something in the $200-250K neighborhood a year. More this year as I'm getting a new truck to replace the 18 year old Sequoia with 285K miles on it.

Someone with a mortgage could easily be spending quite a bit more and have the same lifestyle as us. But then again, we also have kids still at home. And I left taxes and charity out of that total. So if you count that, it could be a lot higher too.

[wilked]

What is the point of the question?

Already answered: "I am curious on who is currently living on this type of income in retirement to see what they are using it for and decide if it is worth it to continue to save so aggressively and work. Simply looking for some real life examples of what life in retirement with that income level and above looks like."

I did read that, but it really doesn't answer the question.

Larger / more expensive housing, pricier transportation (cars/boats), and more / more expensive travel. There was a popular TV show about it some years back for the common masses to ogle at. None of it particularly actionable

[White Coat Investor]

Assuming the 4% rule, that would require being in the top 3% of US households, so I am not sure how many responses you could possibly get.

On Bogleheads? How long you been here? Half the forum or more is probably in the top 3% of household income.

[broncocountry25]

Hello,

Many BH's are high earners and savers. Who here has retired, gotten kids launched, and then still are spending $20k+ a month?

What is your lifestyle like if you are spending at least $250k/year or more in retirement?

Actionable because I think a lot of people do OMY for potentially longer then needed depending on what they need for retirement lifestyle.

I imagine it would be hard to go from saver/earner to spending that much a year (maybe if you have a mortgage in HCOL area) and I would love to hear real world spending. Might be helpful to share age and how long you have been retired if you don't mind.

I tell my kids I'm retired, but the Internet Retirement Police would probably disagree. We spend $20K+ many months and it's been a long time since we spent less than $15K in a month. And that's without any payments. No mortgage. No car payments. No student loan payments etc.

What does our lifestyle look like? Well, we go on 1-3 vacations a month. Many we drive to and just go backpacking or whatever. We don't all go on all of the vacation either. But plenty are vacations that I would have never gone on as a kid where we fly, stay in hotels, and eat out just about every meal. Big fancy house. Three cars (none with less than 140K miles). A boat. Kids are all involved in 2 or 3 activities. I play on a couple of hockey teams and probably pay $1000 a year in fees for that. I put too much fertilizer and water on the lawn. When something breaks or wears out, I buy the really nice version to replace it. It all adds up to something in the $200-250K neighborhood a year. More this year as I'm getting a new truck to replace the 18 year old Sequoia with 285K miles on it.

Someone with a mortgage could easily be spending quite a bit more and have the same lifestyle as us. But then again, we also have kids still at home. And I left taxes and charity out of that total. So if you count that, it could be a lot higher too.

Thank you! This is what I am looking for. Love that vacation schedule.

How old are your kids and are you going to fund college or any other big life expenses for them?

[White Coat Investor]

Hello,

Many BH's are high earners and savers. Who here has retired, gotten kids launched, and then still are spending $20k+ a month?

What is your lifestyle like if you are spending at least $250k/year or more in retirement?

Actionable because I think a lot of people do OMY for potentially longer then needed depending on what they need for retirement lifestyle.

I imagine it would be hard to go from saver/earner to spending that much a year (maybe if you have a mortgage in HCOL area) and I would love to hear real world spending. Might be helpful to share age and how long you have been retired if you don't mind.

I tell my kids I'm retired, but the Internet Retirement Police would probably disagree. We spend $20K+ many months and it's been a long time since we spent less than $15K in a month. And that's without any payments. No mortgage. No car payments. No student loan payments etc.

What does our lifestyle look like? Well, we go on 1-3 vacations a month. Many we drive to and just go backpacking or whatever. We don't all go on all of the vacation either. But plenty are vacations that I would have never gone on as a kid where we fly, stay in hotels, and eat out just about every meal. Big fancy house. Three cars (none with less than 140K miles). A boat. Kids are all involved in 2 or 3 activities. I play on a couple of hockey teams and probably pay $1000 a year in fees for that. I put too much fertilizer and water on the lawn. When something breaks or wears out, I buy the really nice version to replace it. It all adds up to something in the $200-250K neighborhood a year. More this year as I'm getting a new truck to replace the 18 year old Sequoia with 285K miles on it.

Someone with a mortgage could easily be spending quite a bit more and have the same lifestyle as us. But then again, we also have kids still at home. And I left taxes and charity out of that total. So if you count that, it could be a lot higher too.

Thank you! This is what I am looking for. Love that vacation schedule.

How old are your kids and are you going to fund college or any other big life expenses for them?

8, 14, 16, 19. Yes but already done saving for all that (and pretty much as much inheritance as we're willing to leave) just like retirement. Basically everything else we earn going forward is going to end up with a charity either during or lives or afterward.

We were high earners and high savers for many years and still like what we do so we're still high earners and high savers (and high tax payers).

[TomatoTomahto]

We were high earners and high savers for many years and still like what we do so we're still high earners and high savers (and high tax payers).

Ditto. OMY is because my wife enjoys her job, not because it’s necessary to fund our lives or retirement.

Because of (mostly involuntary) deferred compensation, we will still be high earners long after my wife stops going to work. We pay what most would consider extortionate taxes, but mostly we shrug. We are high savers, but are beginning to spend more than we had previously.

[quantAndHold]

For my part, saving aggressively allowed me to retire when I was burned out and really needed to retire at 53. We live about the same way as we did before retirement, but spend less, because the house is paid off and we don’t have kid expenses. We don’t really have a need or desire to spend more. We’re already living a comfortable life, traveling as lot and doing the things we want to do, on about $100k.

$250k/year is a lot of spending money. I have a hard time picturing many people spending that much in retirement, unless they were already spending that much before retirement.

[gips]

we are in that zip code:

- maint costs for nice coop in nyc, beach property in fl
- European and asian travel
- restaurants, theater, opera, etc
- we are in good health but spend a surprising amount on health and dental

I’m not sure any of that brings real happiness, i love to fish and its nice to walk to the beach for surfcasting but really, all I need is a book, a place to play tennis, decent weather, a bbq and good friends. looking back, I feel best about the moeny we spent for our kids college educations.

good luck,

[Leesbro63]

Does "spending" $250K/yr include or not include taxes? Are you asking about "consumption" or overall spending? For some here, taxes is the largest expense.

[Tib]

I've been able to spend more in retirement than earlier in life. The extra money has gone to a nicer home and car, to more expensive restaurants and travel, and to more more expensive gifts. (For the last few years, I've pared my spending because of Covid, inflation, and the 2022 hit to my portfolio.) In addition to a somewhat more pleasant lifestyle, the additional money has brought a sense of security and freedom. However, I've found that my level of happiness depends a lot more on progress in my creative work (and even on my golf game) than on finances.

[CletusCaddy]

I spend $18k per month excluding income tax. But that is with two small kids.

Excluding the kids costs it’s more like $15k per month.

So can’t help you, sorry.

[desiderium]

I'm in that ballpark having recently retired
No mortgage, but property taxes are pretty high. Our biggest spending categories are vacations, gifting to kids, taxes and groceries. The total also includes giving to charity. We have the ability to trim significantly if circumstances shift, but we haven't needed to or wanted to. Eventually gifting to kids will taper off and we will downsize the house, reducing our living costs significantly and harvesting home equity.

[goos_news]

I am not yet FIREd but am within months (really) this time, after being stuck in OMY during the pandemic. Our target budget is $250K to $275K. It will be just us, and no expenses like college or dependent parents. At one point when mapping things out, our budget was like $180K. We have an overseas property. The biggest expense areas are travel, housing, and health care (taxes excluded). The extra time spent in OMY has given us, most of importantly, peace of mind to weather this budget at a lower withdrawal rate. We also have the ability to bump things up in case of emergency or a new want (a remodel, another property, etc). In terms of travel and dining/entertainment (like 1/3+), it now means business class for overseas, and some bucket list trips. At a certain point, if we remain fortunate, we'll use a DAF.

[SRM007]

We live in a HCOL area, not yet retired but hope to in a few years. Rough expected costs
Property Taxes $42K; Medical Insurance ~$25K (guestimate); Hazard Insurance $12K; HOA $10K; Mortgage $40K; Travel $50K; Utilities $12K; Other stuff $30K; MFJ tax bracket is 24% - so gross needed is $265K.

[stan1]

Some ideas:
- Frequent and lengthy travel such as business class airfare and escorted tours. A world cruise in a suite on a luxury cruise line will run $300K or more, and those accommodations sell out quickly so people are doing it.
- Upkeep of multiple large homes and grounds (property taxes, cleaning, repair, landscaping, remodeling projects)
- New cars every year

[sperry8]

Hello,

Many BH's are high earners and savers. Who here has retired, gotten kids launched, and then still are spending $20k+ a month?

What is your lifestyle like if you are spending at least $250k/year or more in retirement?

Actionable because I think a lot of people do OMY for potentially longer then needed depending on what they need for retirement lifestyle.

I imagine it would be hard to go from saver/earner to spending that much a year (maybe if you have a mortgage in HCOL area) and I would love to hear real world spending. Might be helpful to share age and how long you have been retired if you don't mind.

I tell my kids I'm retired, but the Internet Retirement Police would probably disagree. We spend $20K+ many months and it's been a long time since we spent less than $15K in a month. And that's without any payments. No mortgage. No car payments. No student loan payments etc.

What does our lifestyle look like? Well, we go on 1-3 vacations a month. Many we drive to and just go backpacking or whatever. We don't all go on all of the vacation either. But plenty are vacations that I would have never gone on as a kid where we fly, stay in hotels, and eat out just about every meal. Big fancy house. Three cars (none with less than 140K miles). A boat. Kids are all involved in 2 or 3 activities. I play on a couple of hockey teams and probably pay $1000 a year in fees for that. I put too much fertilizer and water on the lawn. When something breaks or wears out, I buy the really nice version to replace it. It all adds up to something in the $200-250K neighborhood a year. More this year as I'm getting a new truck to replace the 18 year old Sequoia with 285K miles on it.

Someone with a mortgage could easily be spending quite a bit more and have the same lifestyle as us. But then again, we also have kids still at home. And I left taxes and charity out of that total. So if you count that, it could be a lot higher too.

Similar story here, no mortgage, no student loan payments, etc. I've spent $250k plus (including taxes) over the past 3 years. Some of this went into furniture and other required items into a new vacation home and add'l costs included wedding expenses (but although these appear to be one time expenses, they aren't really). At least not to my mind. Every year it's something else... one year it was paying my full high deductible due to emergency surgery plus thousands extra out of pocket for PT after. Another year it'll be a new car. The next year it'll be a new roof or other house "emergency". Then kids braces, etc. The point is - depending on your personal lifestyle the numbers can be as high (or low) as you need. Do you want to live in one of the more expensive areas of the US? (LA, SF, NYC, Boston?). Then keep saving. Willing to move to a much cheaper cost of living area with no State income taxes and do less traveling? Maybe you can save less. The answer you seek is very personal. Me and White Coat spend a lot. We don't have to, but we have the monies to and obviously value what we get in return, so we do. Not everyone does. Not everyone needs to go on as many vacations or live in a fancy house. Do you? Answer your own questions and you'll identify how much you need. Start by tracking your current spending to the penny and track it for years. You'll start to learn what you value and what, if anything, you can cut.

oh and btw - spending $250k a year and it includes 0 business class flights, 0 new cars, 0 escorted vacations, 0 private jet flights. People living in LCOL areas misunderstand how quickly money can go in HCOL areas.

[idle_researcher]

I tried to do something reverse, am comfortable to retire at possibly spending level of 175K (including taxes) but kept estimating my need as 250K with a view to defer retirement by another 5-6 years. I feel do not have sufficient hobbies / other activities to retire into and while am pursuing to develop those needed to find a rational way to postpone retirement.

When I tried to look at historical expenses though including travel to Europe etc. our expenses are not exceeding 175k and i do not think I will be comfortable spending for something a lot more just because I can afford it. For example, I may still fly economy class vs business class for a 7-hour trip. So other than one off or unplanned expenses the extra maybe just that a buffer. Unless you can embrace spending on choices like that business class vs economy as an example it is hard to spend 250k on a regular basis in retirement.

[Normchad]

I’m not retired yet, and not planning to spend that much.

But if the future unfolds the within historical norms, with the inclusion of SS, I could probably spend that much. Not sure what I’d spend it on though. Hopefully not healthcare.

I do plan to be a “free spender”, I just don’t think I’ll hit that number. I, aiming for 120, and I could see it being as much as 180.

[LaniK1]

We are far out from retirement but we spend about that much after tax now living in MCOL city (Aug: $20,764.15, July: $17,725.07, June: $24,755.92) and don't expect our expenses to go down in retirement. Highest expenses, other than taxes, are paying off various debt, childcare and gifts. Obviously there is a lot of fat we can trim if we must. I would guess we can cut about 5k (edit: per month) without feeling it.

How much we now is a function of
1/ how much we earn (the more you earn, the more you can spend now)
2/ how much we have saved (the more you have in your savings, the more you can spend now)
3/ how long we plan to earn a living from work (the longer you want to work, the more you can spend now)

[trustquestioner]

We spend this much.

- kids are expensive
- lots of travel
- outsource everything annoying - cleaning, lawn care, etc.
- lots of prepared meals to save time and lower stress
- give generously
- expensive house = expensive maintenance

[cbs2002]

Not retired yet, but I could easily see my spouse and I spending that much in a year without kid or debt expenses. Wouldn't even need to buy a fancy house or car.

Let's assume a last minute jaunt to NYC. We're rich and spending $250K/year, so at least $1000/night in the fall. Since we're retired, we're going to take our time and go from Wednesday to Monday in a couple weeks. We only fly business domestic, so let's assume that's $1000/per (just checked). Hey we're up to $7K and haven't even eaten anything yet! We don't eat much during the day but evenings and dinners are freewheeling so assume $300/nt for food unless we want to get seriously high end (which we will of course at least one night), plus entertainment tix. We're at $10K for an extra-long weekend in NYC.

Do that over and over month after month because you can.

Plan a 5-star trip to some exotic locale and double the per day numbers above, easy. No trouble dropping $30K for a week for a couple if you want to.

Buy the boat and pay someone to maintain it for you.

Now if you don't enjoy upscale travel or buying expensive cars or homes, it may be hard to get to a $250K spend. I would not have that problem.

[Leesbro63]

Not retired yet, but I could easily see my spouse and I spending that much in a year without kid or debt expenses. Wouldn't even need to buy a fancy house or car.

Let's assume a last minute jaunt to NYC. We're rich and spending $250K/year, so at least $1000/night in the fall. Since we're retired, we're going to take our time and go from Wednesday to Monday in a couple weeks. We only fly business domestic, so let's assume that's $1000/per (just checked). Hey we're up to $7K and haven't even eaten anything yet! We don't eat much during the day but evenings and dinners are freewheeling so assume $300/nt for food unless we want to get seriously high end (which we will of course at least one night), plus entertainment tix. We're at $10K for an extra-long weekend in NYC.

Do that over and over month after month because you can.

Plan a 5-star trip to some exotic locale and double the per day numbers above, easy. No trouble dropping $30K for a week for a couple if you want to.

Buy the boat and pay someone to maintain it for you.

Now if you don't enjoy upscale travel or buying expensive cars or homes, it may be hard to get to a $250K spend. I would not have that problem.

I'm pretty comfortable but I cannot imagine ever spending $10K for an extra-long weekend in NYC. I'm not questioning that it can cost that much if done well, but I'd just never ever do something like that. Am I the only one here who thinks this way?

[Leesbro63]

We live in a HCOL area, not yet retired but hope to in a few years. Rough expected costs
Property Taxes $42K; Medical Insurance ~$25K (guestimate); Hazard Insurance $12K; HOA $10K; Mortgage $40K; Travel $50K; Utilities $12K; Other stuff $30K; MFJ tax bracket is 24% - so gross needed is $265K.

I'm curious what kind of property has $3500/month in taxes?

[TomatoTomahto]

We live in a HCOL area, not yet retired but hope to in a few years. Rough expected costs
Property Taxes $42K; Medical Insurance ~$25K (guestimate); Hazard Insurance $12K; HOA $10K; Mortgage $40K; Travel $50K; Utilities $12K; Other stuff $30K; MFJ tax bracket is 24% - so gross needed is $265K.

I'm curious what kind of property has $3500/month in taxes?

Not who you asked, but there is another here: more than 20 acres in semi-rural Massachusetts.

[jarjarM]

We live in a HCOL area, not yet retired but hope to in a few years. Rough expected costs
Property Taxes $42K; Medical Insurance ~$25K (guestimate); Hazard Insurance $12K; HOA $10K; Mortgage $40K; Travel $50K; Utilities $12K; Other stuff $30K; MFJ tax bracket is 24% - so gross needed is $265K.

I'm curious what kind of property has $3500/month in taxes?

A regular 2500 sq ft SFH in SF bayarea could commend $3500/month in taxes if it's located close enough to major commuter corridor but with reasonable size lot and surrounding amenities, like Palo Alto or Menlo Park or Mountain View or Sunnyvale or ...

[quantAndHold]

We live in a HCOL area, not yet retired but hope to in a few years. Rough expected costs
Property Taxes $42K; Medical Insurance ~$25K (guestimate); Hazard Insurance $12K; HOA $10K; Mortgage $40K; Travel $50K; Utilities $12K; Other stuff $30K; MFJ tax bracket is 24% - so gross needed is $265K.

Wow. So from that, I’m getting $116k just in annual housing costs, then the income tax to pay for that level of spending. That’s great if you can afford it, but still. For two people?

We live in a VHCOL area, retired in 2017, and live in a 2300 sq ft house in the zip code with the 2nd highest per square foot real estate prices in the city. We originally bought the house in 1997. Our numbers…

Property tax - $4500
Medical (all medical, not just insurance) - $15k (one on Medicare, one on ACA, this’ll go down significantly when I hit 65)
Homeowners, 2 cars, and umbrella insurance - $3200
HOA, $0
Mortgage - $0
Home maintenance- $6k (estimate. This is lumpy, of course.)
Travel - $40k
Utilities - $5000 (about half of that is cell phones)
Other - $20k
Taxes - we usually pay some, but at our spending level, it’s usually less than $5k. CA state income tax is usually between $0 and $1000.

I think that adds up to $95-100k. The part of that that’s housing cost is $18k. Wait. $24k. $4k of the “other” pays the housekeeper and gardener. We’re not barbarians.

[quantAndHold]

We live in a HCOL area, not yet retired but hope to in a few years. Rough expected costs
Property Taxes $42K; Medical Insurance ~$25K (guestimate); Hazard Insurance $12K; HOA $10K; Mortgage $40K; Travel $50K; Utilities $12K; Other stuff $30K; MFJ tax bracket is 24% - so gross needed is $265K.

I'm curious what kind of property has $3500/month in taxes?

A regular 2500 sq ft SFH in SF bayarea could commend $3500/month in taxes if it's located close enough to major commuter corridor but with reasonable size lot and surrounding amenities, like Palo Alto or Menlo Park or Mountain View or Sunnyvale or ...

A retiree doesn’t need to live in a $4m house that’s in a good commute location. Also, the way CA property taxes work, if they had bought the house back a decade or three ago when they needed a good commute location, their tax base wouldn’t be $4m.

[Leesbro63]

We live in a HCOL area, not yet retired but hope to in a few years. Rough expected costs
Property Taxes $42K; Medical Insurance ~$25K (guestimate); Hazard Insurance $12K; HOA $10K; Mortgage $40K; Travel $50K; Utilities $12K; Other stuff $30K; MFJ tax bracket is 24% - so gross needed is $265K.

I'm curious what kind of property has $3500/month in taxes?

A regular 2500 sq ft SFH in SF bayarea could commend $3500/month in taxes if it's located close enough to major commuter corridor but with reasonable size lot and surrounding amenities, like Palo Alto or Menlo Park or Mountain View or Sunnyvale or ...

The average home in Western Pennsylvania probably sells for about $300,000. In the Pittsburgh area, taxes have a convoluted formula, but will be about $10,000/year on that $300,000 house. Of course the bigger (3500 sq ft) house in the good public school suburban neighborhood might be $750,000 with $25,000 annual tax. I thought that was crazy high, but I guess not compared to Silicon Valley.

[yobyot]

Not retired yet, but I could easily see my spouse and I spending that much in a year without kid or debt expenses. Wouldn't even need to buy a fancy house or car.

Let's assume a last minute jaunt to NYC. We're rich and spending $250K/year, so at least $1000/night in the fall. Since we're retired, we're going to take our time and go from Wednesday to Monday in a couple weeks. We only fly business domestic, so let's assume that's $1000/per (just checked). Hey we're up to $7K and haven't even eaten anything yet! We don't eat much during the day but evenings and dinners are freewheeling so assume $300/nt for food unless we want to get seriously high end (which we will of course at least one night), plus entertainment tix. We're at $10K for an extra-long weekend in NYC.

Do that over and over month after month because you can.

Plan a 5-star trip to some exotic locale and double the per day numbers above, easy. No trouble dropping $30K for a week for a couple if you want to.

Buy the boat and pay someone to maintain it for you.

Now if you don't enjoy upscale travel or buying expensive cars or homes, it may be hard to get to a $250K spend. I would not have that problem.

That room in NYC you'd pay $1K a night for? The only difference between you and the next (or previous guest) in that room who paid $350/night is that you got a piece of chocolate on the pillow at turndown service vs. the guest who paid less.

He or she got a roach instead.

[Wanderingwheelz]

Assuming the 4% rule, that would require being in the top 3% of US households, so I am not sure how many responses you could possibly get.

On Bogleheads? How long you been here? Half the forum or more is probably in the top 3% of household income.

Maybe, but it’s far more likely they’re in the top 3% of net worth for their age group than for personal earned income. It’s savings rates that sets this group far apart from high-earners generally.

[njdealguy]

Some ideas:
- Frequent and lengthy travel such as business class airfare and escorted tours. A world cruise in a suite on a luxury cruise line will run $300K or more, and those accommodations sell out quickly so people are doing it.
- Upkeep of multiple large homes and grounds (property taxes, cleaning, repair, landscaping, remodeling projects)
- New cars every year

Your ideas dont seem like a 250k/year lifestyle, more like a 4-10MM per year lifestyle! Based on the 4% withdrawal rule, better have 100 million saved up!

[vnatale]

Not retired yet, but I could easily see my spouse and I spending that much in a year without kid or debt expenses. Wouldn't even need to buy a fancy house or car.

Let's assume a last minute jaunt to NYC. We're rich and spending $250K/year, so at least $1000/night in the fall. Since we're retired, we're going to take our time and go from Wednesday to Monday in a couple weeks. We only fly business domestic, so let's assume that's $1000/per (just checked). Hey we're up to $7K and haven't even eaten anything yet! We don't eat much during the day but evenings and dinners are freewheeling so assume $300/nt for food unless we want to get seriously high end (which we will of course at least one night), plus entertainment tix. We're at $10K for an extra-long weekend in NYC.

Do that over and over month after month because you can.

Plan a 5-star trip to some exotic locale and double the per day numbers above, easy. No trouble dropping $30K for a week for a couple if you want to.

Buy the boat and pay someone to maintain it for you.

Now if you don't enjoy upscale travel or buying expensive cars or homes, it may be hard to get to a $250K spend. I would not have that problem.

I'm pretty comfortable but I cannot imagine ever spending $10K for an extra-long weekend in NYC. I'm not questioning that it can cost that much if done well, but I'd just never ever do something like that. Am I the only one here who thinks this way?

No. I'm with you.

But I know that we are all different. And, many could not imagine "spending" the amount of time I do with certain things.

[vnatale]

Assuming the 4% rule, that would require being in the top 3% of US households, so I am not sure how many responses you could possibly get.

On Bogleheads? How long you been here? Half the forum or more is probably in the top 3% of household income.

Maybe, but it’s far more likely they’re in the top 3% of net worth for their age group than for personal earned income. It’s savings rates that sets this group far apart from high-earners generally.

That also had been my impression.

[sailaway]

Not retired yet, but I could easily see my spouse and I spending that much in a year without kid or debt expenses. Wouldn't even need to buy a fancy house or car.

Let's assume a last minute jaunt to NYC. We're rich and spending $250K/year, so at least $1000/night in the fall. Since we're retired, we're going to take our time and go from Wednesday to Monday in a couple weeks. We only fly business domestic, so let's assume that's $1000/per (just checked). Hey we're up to $7K and haven't even eaten anything yet! We don't eat much during the day but evenings and dinners are freewheeling so assume $300/nt for food unless we want to get seriously high end (which we will of course at least one night), plus entertainment tix. We're at $10K for an extra-long weekend in NYC.

Do that over and over month after month because you can.

Plan a 5-star trip to some exotic locale and double the per day numbers above, easy. No trouble dropping $30K for a week for a couple if you want to.

Buy the boat and pay someone to maintain it for you.

Now if you don't enjoy upscale travel or buying expensive cars or homes, it may be hard to get to a $250K spend. I would not have that problem.

I'm pretty comfortable but I cannot imagine ever spending $10K for an extra-long weekend in NYC. I'm not questioning that it can cost that much if done well, but I'd just never ever do something like that. Am I the only one here who thinks this way?

No. I'm with you.

But I know that we are all different. And, many could not imagine "spending" the amount of time I do with certain things.

Which is why this is such an odd thread. Just because some people think it is worth it to work long enough to spend $250k doesn't mean the OP will. OP needs to determine what they enjoy spending money on and how much they value those things/experiences.

[vnatale]

No. I'm with you.

But I know that we are all different. And, many could not imagine "spending" the amount of time I do with certain things.

Which is why this is such an odd thread. Just because some people think it is worth it to work long enough to spend $250k doesn't mean the OP will. OP needs to determine what they enjoy spending money on and how much they value those things/experiences.
[/quote]

Agree. However, I'm sure the Original Poster is leaving the Topic with more information and things to think about compared to prior to creating the Topic (which engendered all the responses that it did).

So I support the effort.

[Leesbro63]

Not retired yet, but I could easily see my spouse and I spending that much in a year without kid or debt expenses. Wouldn't even need to buy a fancy house or car.

Let's assume a last minute jaunt to NYC. We're rich and spending $250K/year, so at least $1000/night in the fall. Since we're retired, we're going to take our time and go from Wednesday to Monday in a couple weeks. We only fly business domestic, so let's assume that's $1000/per (just checked). Hey we're up to $7K and haven't even eaten anything yet! We don't eat much during the day but evenings and dinners are freewheeling so assume $300/nt for food unless we want to get seriously high end (which we will of course at least one night), plus entertainment tix. We're at $10K for an extra-long weekend in NYC.

Do that over and over month after month because you can.

Plan a 5-star trip to some exotic locale and double the per day numbers above, easy. No trouble dropping $30K for a week for a couple if you want to.

Buy the boat and pay someone to maintain it for you.

Now if you don't enjoy upscale travel or buying expensive cars or homes, it may be hard to get to a $250K spend. I would not have that problem.

I'm pretty comfortable but I cannot imagine ever spending $10K for an extra-long weekend in NYC. I'm not questioning that it can cost that much if done well, but I'd just never ever do something like that. Am I the only one here who thinks this way?

No. I'm with you.

But I know that we are all different. And, many could not imagine "spending" the amount of time I do with certain things.

Whew !

As an aside, I try to internally assess value for each and every purchase. For instance, it’s a miracle to me that I live in an era where my heinie can move, in a tube, 600 miles per hour, 8 miles high, to places that my great grandparents took days to get to. I’m not a big build, so I can’t see obsessing over and spending double or more for a slightly wider seat and better mini-pretzels in first class.
The value/miracle is in the flight itself. The extra frills of first class might be worth an extra 10% to me, but it’s always much more.

Sorry for digressing. Let’s circle back to discussing big spending.

[SRM007]

We live in a HCOL area, not yet retired but hope to in a few years. Rough expected costs
Property Taxes $42K; Medical Insurance ~$25K (guestimate); Hazard Insurance $12K; HOA $10K; Mortgage $40K; Travel $50K; Utilities $12K; Other stuff $30K; MFJ tax bracket is 24% - so gross needed is $265K.

I'm curious what kind of property has $3500/month in taxes?

A $2.5M home in Palm Beach County. Other stuff in $30K includes car insurance and umbrella.

[CletusCaddy]

We live in a HCOL area, not yet retired but hope to in a few years. Rough expected costs
Property Taxes $42K; Medical Insurance ~$25K (guestimate); Hazard Insurance $12K; HOA $10K; Mortgage $40K; Travel $50K; Utilities $12K; Other stuff $30K; MFJ tax bracket is 24% - so gross needed is $265K.

I'm curious what kind of property has $3500/month in taxes?

A regular 2500 sq ft SFH in SF bayarea could commend $3500/month in taxes if it's located close enough to major commuter corridor but with reasonable size lot and surrounding amenities, like Palo Alto or Menlo Park or Mountain View or Sunnyvale or ...

The average home in Western Pennsylvania probably sells for about $300,000. In the Pittsburgh area, taxes have a convoluted formula, but will be about $10,000/year on that $300,000 house. Of course the bigger (3500 sq ft) house in the good public school suburban neighborhood might be $750,000 with $25,000 annual tax. I thought that was crazy high, but I guess not compared to Silicon Valley.

The crazy part is that I will only pay twice as much in property tax for my $1.7M Silicon Valley house as you will pay for your $300k Steel Valley house.

[ClaycordJCA]

This thread has run its course and is locked (not actionable). General comment threads are off topic in the forums with "Personal" in the title. See: A reminder that non-investing general comment threads are OT

- It must be personal. In other words, you must be asking about your own situation. You can also ask on behalf of someone specific, such as a family member.

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