{"id":316515,"date":"2025-10-19T17:40:20","date_gmt":"2025-10-19T17:40:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/316515\/"},"modified":"2025-10-19T17:40:20","modified_gmt":"2025-10-19T17:40:20","slug":"the-one-budgeting-rule-retirees-should-follow-in-2025-according-to-experts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/316515\/","title":{"rendered":"The One Budgeting Rule Retirees Should Follow in 2025, According to Experts"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Budgeting is essential at every stage of life \u2014 but in retirement<\/a>, it\u2019s critical. With a fixed income and rising costs, retirees need a clear plan for how much they\u2019ll spend and where the money will come from.<\/p>\n

Find Out: The Most Common Retirement Mistake, According to an Expert<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Read Next: 10 Used Cars That Will Last Longer Than the Average New Vehicle<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

To help, GOBankingRates asked financial experts to share their top budgeting rule retirees should follow in 2025 \u2014 here\u2019s what they said<\/a>.<\/p>\n

You can\u2019t create a budget in retirement<\/a> without first knowing where you stand.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe most important budgeting rule I give to retirees is simple \u2014 know your numbers,\u201d said Melissa Murphy Pavone, CFP, CDFA, founder of Mindful Financial Partners<\/a>. These numbers include:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. \n

    Assets: What you own<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  2. \n

    Liabilities: What you owe<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  3. \n

    Income: What you earn<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  4. \n

    Expenses: What you spend<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  5. \n

    Credit score: Your borrowing ability<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    \u201cOnce you have a clear picture of where you stand, you can work with a CFP to create a retirement plan that aligns with your lifestyle and goals,\u201d Pavone said. \u201cToo often, retirees budget based on assumptions rather than facts.\u201d<\/p>\n

    \u201cWhen budgeting, consider how much you will be required to take out of retirement accounts each year,\u201d said Michelle Riiska, ChfC, financial planning consultant at eMoney Advisor<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    Required minimum distributions (RMDs) are the minimum amounts you must withdraw from your retirement accounts each year, typically beginning when you reach age 73.<\/p>\n

    \u201cSince you have until Dec. 31 of each year to take the required distribution amount, being mindful of timing can help you stick to your budget,\u201d Riiska said. \u201cTaking monthly payments can spread out your RMD throughout the year to help pay expenses.\u201d<\/p>\n

    If your RMDs are larger than the amount you need to live on, use them wisely.<\/p>\n

    \u201cAfter ensuring you have enough saved in an emergency fund<\/a> to cover any unexpected expenses, consider reinvesting unneeded funds in a taxable account to avoid missing out on growth potential,\u201d Riiska said.<\/p>\n

    Josh Dunn, CFP, wealth advisor with Legacy Wealth Management<\/a>, said that the biggest budgeting mistake retirees make is treating their 401(k) or IRA like a checking account and withdrawing whatever they want, instead of having a withdrawal strategy<\/a> to ensure those funds will last.<\/p>\n

    \u201cThe challenge many have is that their primary retirement income source, their IRA or 401(k), has no limitations,\u201d he said. \u201cWe can take out as much as we want at any time. This is a great feature in that it allows virtually full liquidity; however, it is also a dangerous temptation.\u201d<\/p>\n

    Dunn noted that when you make excessive withdrawals from retirement accounts, that money is gone forever.<\/p>\n

    \u201cYour retirement plan is most likely built with an assumption of a reasonable spending level, and treating your retirement accounts like checking accounts will throw a complete wrench into that plan,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

    It\u2019s important to set room in your budget for unexpected healthcare costs, or home or auto repairs.<\/p>\n

    \u201cBy being prepared, you can avoid having to draw down accounts prematurely or taking on debt to shoulder one-time expenditures,\u201d Riiska said.<\/p>\n

    More From GOBankingRates<\/strong><\/p>\n

    This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com<\/a>: The One Budgeting Rule Retirees Should Follow in 2025, According to Experts<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Budgeting is essential at every stage of life \u2014 but in retirement, it\u2019s critical. With a fixed income…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":316516,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[64,159055,255,24512,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-316515","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-personal-finance","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-michelle-riiska","10":"tag-personal-finance","11":"tag-retirement-plan","12":"tag-united-states","13":"tag-unitedstates","14":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115402062203813340","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316515","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=316515"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316515\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/316516"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=316515"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=316515"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=316515"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}