Happy new year!
2025 wrapped up well financially speaking.
Our spending came in just under $150,000. That does not include cash spending which I don't track. I do know that in the past year or two our cash spending has increased as more and more places, especially restaurants, are charging an extra 3% for credit card usage.
Still, I was happy with the total. I was expecting it to be higher due to the kitchen remodel. I figured we'd be closer to $170,000 so $150,000 is good with me.
Our portfolio had another great year thanks to the market even though I shifted our asset allocation a little more conservative. We ended 2025 with over $442,000 more than we started with. It's kind of wild to me that in my first full year of retirement, we "earned" well more than I had ever earned while working. The miracle of compounding.
My guess is that the market will cool down in 2026 as all of the horrible government actions really start taking their toll on the economy. Rising inflation, rising unemployment, tariffs, illegal military actions, etc. Hopefully it can be at least a break even year. I'd be okay with that. As for spending, we don't have any really major expenses anticipated. We should be good with our cars. We do need to do some things around the house but that shouldn't come to anywhere near what we spent for the kitchen. New water heater. Maybe repave the driveway.
All in all, a successful year as far as our finances are concerned.
January 5th, 2026 at 03:10 am 1767582647
I expect you are right about 2026 on the markets. I too shifted my portfolio to be a bit more conservative as I will retire sometime within the next four years (most likely 2-3).
Happy New Year!
January 5th, 2026 at 03:18 am 1767583080
But yeah, I too am planning on dialing down my portfolio as well, if nothing else for my own asset allocation purposes.
January 9th, 2026 at 06:22 am 1767939756