No matter what your life style was during your working years, once you retire, you should be living on a fixed income designed to last you many years. Yes, you could die young; but what if you live to be 90 or longer, which is not that unusual. As you grow older, things like expensive travel may diminish, but there is a pretty good chance that your medical expenses will increase in addition to needing home care, or eventually even moving to a senior living community.
Downsizing in retirement makes sense. A smaller home, fewer cars not only cuts expenses, it is just a lot less to worry about and care for. The key is to live a stress free life in retirement to the degree possible. Many Type A personalities just can't stop. They work at retirement. They maintain a calendar that keeps them on a thread mill. Maybe it is a fear of dying. Maybe some people think if they are really busy, they will live longer. It does not always work that way.
Making time for family and really good friends is always important. And, it is time to distinguish between friends and acquaintances. In addition to allocating your money every month, you will need to allocate your time. Clearly as we get older, time is just as precious as money because with each passing day, we will have less of both.
So make a budget and stick to it. It's ok to splurge every once and a while; but if you do it too often you could run out of money when you need it most. And, consider how you are spending your time between family and friends and other pursuits that bring you joy. The saying that life is too short is true. Life really is too short and it goes by quickly so make every day count.
