A new survey from Global Atlantic found that 39% of retirees are spending more than they anticipated. Nearly half (49%) of those that are in pre-retirement (classified as those aged 40 and over) believe that planning for retirement is more difficult than it was for their parents.
It’s often said that people need to plan to spend 70% to 80% of their salary in retirement. But certified financial planner and author Harold Evensky says that figure can be misleading.
“As a financial planner, I work with people of significant resources and I found it common they spend significantly more – because now they have time to spend money,” he says.
A 2018 report from Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance found that while 50% of retirees spent less in their retirement, 49% spent the same amount or more.
The Global Atlantic report found that while some 40% of retirees were spending more than they were when they were working, the typical retiree spends about 32% less. Common areas for cutbacks included discretionary expenses like dining out, traveling, and entertainment.
That’s worrying to Evensky, who says that discretionary spending usually increases in retirement. If people are cutting back on those expenses, he argues, it’s not by choice.
“There’s a lot of research indicating people spend less but the real highlight is that retirees spend less but not by choice,” says Evensky, who is chairman at the Evensky & Katz/ Foldes Financial Wealth Management firm. “They’re cutting back on restaurants and on travel, while the one thing they have more of is time. More time to go to restaurants, and on entertainment, and traveling to see grandkids.”
“The places they are cutting spending their money is lifestyle — so that’s not choice.”
Evensky says bad planning is to blame.
“I think the primary reason is very simply, poor and naive planning,” he says. “People don’t realize what’s going to happen when they retire. And they don’t have a traditional pension backing it up. After that, even though we are in a low-inflation environment, things are costing more. And they have more time on their hands so there are more things they want to spend money on.”
That’s in line with the survey which found that when it came to retirement planning, more than half of the 4,000 people surveyed expressed regret. More than a third regretted not saving enough, the most common regret. Another 20% wished they didn’t rely so much on Social Security, and 12% wished they paid down their debt before retiring.
‘Expect to work longer’
These sentiments are common, Evensky says.