Retirement... What, how much and how often?

**Ima saver** · 09-11-2010, 08:01 AM

I wouldn't think a water heater would cost that much. My dh puts them in all the time for less than $500.

**jIM_Ohio** · 09-11-2010, 09:14 AM

Go to home depot and check. They will ask you about how big your house is and similar. a 50 gallon hot water heater and 500 gallon heater have different costs. Get yourself in ball park. Roof cost is proportional to materials and house size (roof size). A 2 story 3600 sq foot house and a 3600 sq ft ranch have different sized roofs. Get yourself in ballpark. In vegas the shingles used are different materials than they use in Ohio. Know your area.

If you account for these costs, it adds in a slush factor. There is NO WAY you can estimate the costs correctly, but you still attempt to estimate them and by doing that, when an item not on the list is needed, you can afford it. For example if you budget 10 years/12k for the car, what if you decide to pocket $1000 and get car in 11th year (using that $1000 for an expense you did not account for), or getting a $6k used car which lasts 9 years as opposed to a new car for 12k which lasts 11-13 years. Most of the costs listed are not rigid, you might be able to wait 6 mos for a new AC, or purchase a lower unit, or by not using AC for 3 months save on utility bills until you have enough if you estimate cost at 2k and it really costs $2500.

**Like2Plan** · 09-12-2010, 07:23 AM

Originally posted by mrpaseo View Post

I am trying to speculate how much I will have to save per month to meet the larger expenses while in retirement. For example, a new vehicle that will cost about 12,000 every 10 years... Would take about 100 per month.

What I would like your opinion on is what items, how much and how often.

I figure I will need:

Vehicle/10yrs/12,000
Roof/20yrs/8,000
HVAC/10yrs/6,000
Water Heater/10yrs/4,000

Am I off on any of these? What else should I be thinking about?

Thanks,
Ray

Ray,
Are you factoring in the cost of inflation in your estimates?
How about appliances?
What about updating and remoduling (esp kitchen/bath)?

Painting/carpeting ans so on...

**mrpaseo** · 09-12-2010, 02:49 PM

Here is what I am accounting for now, to cover these expenses, I will have to save approximately 500 per month... Though that is not the final amount as I guessed at each amount that I thought it would cost. Thankfully I have a few years before I need to finalize these numbers so I will do the research (As advised above) and confirm a more solid number.

Vehicle
Roof
HVAC
Water Heater
Kitchen Appliances
HDTV
Furniture (Bedroom)
Furniture (Living room)
Furniture (Theater)
Washer/Dryer
Grill
Mower

Any other suggestions?
Ray

**jIM_Ohio** · 09-12-2010, 03:39 PM

Originally posted by mrpaseo View Post

Here is what I am accounting for now, to cover these expenses, I will have to save approximately 500 per month... Though that is not the final amount as I guessed at each amount that I thought it would cost. Thankfully I have a few years before I need to finalize these numbers so I will do the research (As advised above) and confirm a more solid number.

Vehicle
Roof
HVAC
Water Heater
Kitchen Appliances
HDTV
Furniture (Bedroom)
Furniture (Living room)
Furniture (Theater)
Washer/Dryer
Grill
Mower

Any other suggestions?
Ray

If you have $500/mo (in retirement) allocated for unexpected expenses, I think you are OK.

That is $6k per year, and most of the expenses above are much less than 6k, so if you have 6k to spend each year (in retirement) for 30-40 years, that is the right idea. If you use 4% rule or similar to project retirement expenses, that 6k will also increase about $180 per year for inflation too.

If you budget 6k per year, and you don't encounter any of the targeted expenses, what will you do with money? If you "save" it (by adding to a taxable account) you should be doing pretty good.

Retirement... What, how much and how often?