7 Signs You Could Be Spending More of Your Retirement Money

Are you nearing or in retirement and feeling like you could be spending your money a bit more freely? You’re not alone. Many people think they can spend freely in their golden years, especially when they see the size of their nest egg growing more and more every day.

Due – Due

But can you really spend more without outliving your savings? This is something that worries many retirees, and it’s also why many hesitate to take that dream vacation or make a large purchase.

Can you afford to be spending more retirement money?

But how do you know if you can afford to splurge a bit now and then or if you should reconsider your monthly budget to make room for more entertainment or fancier food? Unfortunately, this is by no means an easy question since budgeting for retirement isn’t an exact science.

Many unforeseeable events could force you to tap into your savings earlier than expected and leave you in a tough spot financially. However, there are clear signs that you may be able to pull it off safely and spend more of your retirement money without compromising your financial future. Keep reading to learn more about what those good signs are.

Sign #1. Your investments performed better than you originally anticipated.

If you did your homework throughout your working years and planned for retirement correctly, you estimated how much income you would need for a comfortable retirement. An essential part of that plan probably involved estimating the average rate at which your savings would grow every year. That way, you could calculate how much money you needed to save every month for your desired income level during retirement.

Look at your estimated returns on your investments

However, when we estimate returns on investment, we purposely underestimate those returns (or are conservative when estimating them) to give ourselves more wiggle room while remaining on budget. Therefore, unless you invested in an annuity with a fixed rate or something similar, your investments’ actual performance would likely be quite different from what you estimated.

For example, stocks have an average…