[CliffFletcher]

The amount of money some people expect they’ll need seems excessive to me too.

I recently took over my parents’ finances as they succumbed to dementia. Their fixed expenses at age 75-80 are less than $3k a month for the two of them. That’s property taxes on a fairly typical Calgary home, utilities, insurance, and operating a seven year old Toyota Camry. That’s all covered by CPP and OAS.

So savings have to cover the rest. Grocery bill are less than $800 a month. Dining out maybe $600 (or was pre-covid). Clothes and misc shopping maybe $400. And for home maintenance and unexpected expenses, let’s throw in a liberal $500. So we’re at less than $3k a month total for the two of them needed from savings.

Travel was two trips a year at $5k each. So call it another $1k a month.

So $4k a month total (or $2k each) beyond CPP and OAS affords a retired couple what I consider a comfortable retirement. And that number will drop by age 80.