Question: I’m 63, married, and have been retired for about eight months. I have a pension, collect Social Security and we have $1.5 million saved in our retirement account. My wife is also retired. We live a comfortable life, dining out regularly and taking two vacations a year. We are both happy, but I’m afraid that won’t last because of my wife’s spending habits. She is a sharp woman, and I love her dearly, but her shopping has been out of control lately.
My wife's weakness is spending money on the little things. A pair of new shoes here, a bottle of perfume there, and all of a sudden I’m staring at a credit card statement for hundreds, if not a thousand, dollars. (With our $1.5 million nest egg, we only withdraw about $60,000 a year from our retirement accounts using the 4% rule, so a thousand bucks is a painful addition to our credit card bill.) If it doesn’t stop soon, I’m afraid it will derail our retirement plan, but I don’t know what to say. After all, it’s her money too. Can you help me?
