{"id":538771,"date":"2026-04-19T03:23:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-19T03:23:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/538771\/"},"modified":"2026-04-19T03:23:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-19T03:23:09","slug":"the-average-middle-class-retirement-budget-at-70-vs-80","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/538771\/","title":{"rendered":"The Average Middle-Class Retirement Budget at 70 vs. 80"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"A <\/p>\n

\n VioletaStoimenova \/ iStock.com <\/p>\n

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Here\u2019s a heads-up about calculating your budget after your working years: Most retirement plans assume you\u2019ll need the same income at 80 that you needed at 70.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s according to Andrew Lokenauth, founder of the blog Fluent in Finance<\/a>, who said this leads to two problems \u2014 overspending in early retirement<\/a> or hoarding money you never use. He noted both outcomes \u201cstink.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe better framework is to view retirement in three phases,\u201d he said. \u201cAge 65 to 74 is high spending. Age 75 to 84 is moderate spending. Age 85 and over is low spending. Adjust your withdrawal strategy accordingly.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

With that said, what\u2019s the difference between a 70-year-old\u2019s middle-class retirement budget<\/a> and an 80-year-old? <\/p>\n

Planning for Retirement Budgets<\/p>\n

At 70, middle-class retirees spend about $5,400 monthly or $65,000 yearly, per Lokenauth, who noted that this matches spending at age 65<\/a> almost exactly because you\u2019re still in active retirement mode. The major expenses remain consistent.\u00a0<\/p>\n

At 80, according to Lokenauth, monthly spending drops to around $3,500 to$4,300. That\u2019s a 19% to 34% decrease from age 70. He added the decline accelerates after 75 as mobility decreases and lifestyle simplifies.<\/p>\n

\u201cHere\u2019s what most financial advisors won\u2019t tell you: The spending drop from 70 to 80 is more dramatic than any other decade in retirement,\u201d Lokenauth said. \u201cPeople assume healthcare will drive costs up. Wrong. Everything else falls so much faster that total spending plummets.\u201d<\/p>\n

Retirement Budgets at Ages 70 and 80<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a look at what Lokenauth said are expected monthly budgets<\/a> for ages 70 and 80, based on his work on Wall Street and with clients.<\/p>\n

70-year-old middle-class retiree\u2019s monthly budget (total $5,400):<\/p>\n

Housing: $1,850
\nTransportation: $900
\nHealthcare: $660
\nFood: $610
\nEntertainment: $290
\nOther: $1,090<\/p>\n

80-year-old middle-class retiree\u2019s monthly budget (total $3,900):<\/p>\n

Housing: $1,500
\nHealthcare: $700
\nTransportation: $550
\nFood: $520
\nEntertainment: $180
\nOther: $450<\/p>\n

According to Lokenauth, the math reveals a 28% total spending decrease. Transportation drops 39%, entertainment falls 38%, housing decreases 19%, and food declines 15%. He noted that only healthcare increases slightly by 6%.<\/p>\n

Keeping Long-Term Care in Mind<\/p>\n

Lokenauth issued a warning that the spending decline assumes you avoid senior living homes or assisted living.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThose facilities cost more than $5,500 monthly and blow up these budgets<\/a>,\u201d he added. \u201cIf you enter long-term care, expect spending to jump 40% to 100%. That\u2019s why I tell clients to plan for this scenario separately.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"VioletaStoimenova \/ iStock.com Commitment to Our Readers GOBankingRates’ editorial team is committed to bringing you unbiased reviews and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":538772,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[84,4176,5034,655,4174,4175,4204,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-538771","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-personal-finance","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-finance","10":"tag-gobankingrates","11":"tag-lifestyle","12":"tag-personal-finance","13":"tag-personalfinance","14":"tag-retirement","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom","17":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/538771","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=538771"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/538771\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/538772"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=538771"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=538771"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=538771"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}