The Government Accountability Office estimates retirees will spend 77 percent of what they spent in pre-retirement, according to a new report on the efficacy of retirement income replacement rates.
While retirement consumption habits are not uniform across income levels, the GAO's report found that average spending in retirement is in line with the median recommended retirement income replacement rate—77 percent.
GAO mined 2013 consumption data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics to measure spending habits for four income brackets throughout working and retirement years.
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Nick Thornton
Nick Thornton is a financial writer covering retirement and health care issues for BenefitsPRO and ALM Media. He greatly enjoys learning from the vast minds in the legal, academic, advisory and money management communities when covering the retirement space. He's also written on international marketing trends, financial institution risk management, defense and energy issues, the restaurant industry in New York City, surfing, cigars, rum, travel, and fishing. When not writing, he's pushing into some land or water.
