If you’ve ever sat down and tried to figure out what your expenses are going to be for the next month, you know how hard it can be. The regular bills are fairly easy to figure out. But how much do you need to set aside for food, your car, entertainment, emergencies and other items your budget needs to cover?

And when you’re trying to anticipate what those same expenses are going to look like 5, 10 or even 20 years from now, it only gets more difficult.

I read an article this week called “7 Expenses that Will Fall Once You Retire,” which presents the results of a study that I won’t dispute.

However, there are a few caveats I’d suggest:

  1. Expenses are quite different between the two stages of retirement. The referenced study is about the early years of retirement, rather than the late-in-retirement stage where large medical and caregiver expenses may occur.
  2. The study appears to compare the retirement expenses of the Greatest Generation with the pre-retirement expenses of the Baby Boomer generation. There may be unaccounted for generational differences in these two groups when it comes to spending.
  3. Spending is obviously related to income, so retirees with less income will spend less.

A friend forwarded an article to me that lists the best websites for Boomers and retirees.

There are definitely plenty of places for boomers and retirees to get information and advice around retirement.

This article recommends three for special attention:

The key for me is to get information from multiple sources and to look for actionable items as I read.