The most obvious thing that happens when people retire (or retire early) is that they give up earning a living. However, when people quit working, they give up a lot more than their pay check, and frequently it is the loss of these other things which causes the most difficulty. (more…)

For clues to how much it will cost you to live after retirement let us turn to a study made by our government in 1959. To make this study goods and services which represented a modest standard of living for a retired couple were priced in 20 American cities. The following table shows the annual cost of living for a retired couple in the city of Detroit: (more…)