--- title: 'This Surprise Expense Is Likely to Upend Your Budget in Retirement (Hint: It''s Not Health Care)' description: The costs of maintaining your home — not health care — are most likely to cause you to spend more than expected in retirement. authors: - name: Brenden Rearick role: Reporter url: https://money.com/author/brenden-rearick/ bio: Brenden Rearick is a former reporter at Money who specialized in covering breaking news and enterprise stories about credit cards, real estate, investing, and personal finance trends. education: University of Pittsburgh, BA at_money_since: 2023 articles: 133 covers: - Retirement - Banking - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Economy and Politics - Education - Housing - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Professional Services - Shopping - Taxes - Technology former_staff: true editors: - name: Julia Glum role: Managing Editor url: https://money.com/author/julia-glum/ bio: Julia Glum joined Money in 2018 and specializes in covering financial trends that affect everyday Americans' wallets. She also writes Dollar Scholar, a weekly newsletter that teaches young adults how to navigate the messy world of money. education: University of Florida at_money_since: 2018 articles: 453 covers: - Retirement - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Debt - Economy and Politics - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Professional Services - Shopping - Taxes - Technology also_seen_in: - Newsweek - International Business Times - CBS News - Good Morning America - WUSA9 - Pix 11 - The New York Times - Mashable - The Washington Post - CNBC - Politico social: - https://x.com/superjulia - https://www.linkedin.com/in/julia-glum published: '2023-10-25T13:52:06.000Z' modified: '2025-08-28T15:29:29.000Z' section: Retirement tags: - News word_count: 472 canonical: https://money.com/retirement-expenses-home-repairs/ type: NewsArticle source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![Emojis of life expenses: shopping, marriage, car, home, credit, travel.](https://img.money.com/2023/09/News-Expense-Upend-Retirement.jpg) Given that most people retire around the age when medical issues begin to stack up, you may fear that the cost of health care will eat into your retirement savings. But new data suggests it's really your *house* you should be worrying about. [Analysis](https://www.troweprice.com/content/dam/retirement-plan-services/pdfs/insights/research-findings/planning-for-spending-volatility-in-retirement/Planning_for_Spending_Volatility_Insights.pdf) from investment management company T. Rowe Price shows that the costs of maintaining your home are most likely to upend your financial plans in retirement. In fact, home expenses contribute to a whopping one-quarter of the average American's increased spending in retirement. ## Increase your income today with a Reverse Mortgage ### If you're 62 or older, work with a licensed Finance of America (NMLS# 2285) representative in your state today. [Learn More](https://money.com/pr/f9aaa98cdbb4?ap_referrer=%2Fretirement-expenses-home-repairs%2F) ## What retirees spend money on most Research from T. Rowe Price shows that retirement tends to have a fairly sizable impact on your spending habits. About half of the roughly 1,300 American households surveyed by the company said they experienced an up to 25% annual increase in their spending after retiring. One in five said their spending increased by over 50%. While you might assume that health care costs would be to blame for this increase, it's actually home expenses that put the biggest dent in [retirement savings](https://money.com/save-for-retirement/). These expenses, which the company defined as things like home repairs, [mortgages](https://money.com/best-mortgage-lenders/), rent and taxes, contribute to about 25% of the average retiree's increase in spending. Health care-related costs, on the other hand, make up about 5%. Notably, the report finds that volatility in spending does not change across income levels; lower-income individuals and higher-income individuals tend to see the same fluctuations in retirement. However, the *type* of spending does differ. Wealthier retirees do not see so much variance in their home expenses. Rather, the increase in annual spending for this demographic tends to be caused by discretionary expenses like [travel](https://money.com/best-places-to-travel/), leisure and dining. ## Other unexpected costs in retirement Homeownership gets more expensive with each year, even if your house is fully paid off. The average annual cost of owning a home in 2023 is now $17,500, not including a [mortgage payment](https://money.com/mortgage-calculator/). Last year, that figure was just $15,400. An increasing number of retirees are finishing their careers whilst still owing on their mortgages; 44% of retirement-age homeowners are [carrying their mortgages into retirement](https://www.tiaa.org/public/learn/life-milestones/should-you-pay-off-your-mortgage-in-retirement), accounting for one major expense. Property taxes are another of the biggest contributors. Of course, those who don't own are still paying rent, and both renters and homeowners are likely to be paying for renter's or homeowner's insurance policies. But the T. Rowe Price report also makes note of smaller purchases that add up. Retirees spend often on housekeeping, laundry, household furnishings and cleaning — goods and services that retirees tend to pay more for as they age and either don't want to or can't perform them for themselves. ![](https://s3.consumersadvocate.org/prd/image/image/39553/medium_d01d803f-1110-4310-8997-bada342c27e4.webp) Get the most out of your Reverse Mortgage with Finance of America (NMLS# 2285) [Learn More](https://money.com/pr/ed1a928f8683?ap_referrer=%2Fretirement-expenses-home-repairs%2F) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/retirement-expenses-home-repairs/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Retirement", "item": "https://money.com/retirement/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Retirement Planning", "item": "https://money.com/retirement-planning/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "This Surprise Expense Is Likely to Upend Your Budget in Retirement (Hint: It's Not Health Care)" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/retirement-expenses-home-repairs/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/retirement-expenses-home-repairs/", "name": "This Surprise Expense Is Likely to Upend Your Budget in Retirement (Hint: It's Not Health Care)", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2023-10-25T13:52:06.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/retirement-expenses-home-repairs/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/retirement-expenses-home-repairs/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2025-08-28T15:29:29.000Z" }, { "@type": "NewsArticle", "headline": "This Surprise Expense Is Likely to Upend Your Budget in Retirement (Hint: It's Not Health Care)", "articleSection": "Retirement", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2023/09/News-Expense-Upend-Retirement.jpg", "width": 2880, "height": 1920, "caption": "News-Expense-Upend-Retirement" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Brenden Rearick", "url": "https://money.com/author/brenden-rearick/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/brenden-rearick/#author", "description": "Brenden Rearick is a former reporter at Money who specialized in covering breaking news and enterprise stories about credit cards, real estate, investing, and personal finance trends.\r\n\r\n", "email": "brenden.rearick@money.com", "alumniOf": "University of Pittsburgh, BA" } ], "publisher": "https://money.com/#organization", "datePublished": "2023-10-25T13:52:06.000Z", "description": "The costs of maintaining your home — not health care — are most likely to cause you to spend more than expected in retirement.", "abstract": "The costs of maintaining your home — not health care — are most likely to cause you to spend more than expected in retirement.", "@id": "https://money.com/retirement-expenses-home-repairs/", "inLanguage": "en-US", "dateModified": "2025-08-28T15:29:29.000Z", "editor": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Julia Glum", "url": "https://money.com/author/julia-glum/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/julia-glum/#author", "description": "Julia Glum joined Money in 2018 and specializes in covering financial trends that affect everyday Americans' wallets. She also writes Dollar Scholar, a weekly newsletter that teaches young adults how to navigate the messy world of money. ", "image": "https://img.money.com/2021/10/a_julia-glum.jpg?quality=85&w=400&h=440&crop=1", "email": "julia.glum@money.com", "jobTitle": "Managing Editor", "alumniOf": "University of Florida", "subjectOf": [ { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://www.newsweek.com", "name": "Newsweek" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://www.ibtimes.com/", "name": "International Business Times" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://www.cbsnews.com/news/home-office-tax-deduction-who-qualifies/", "name": "CBS News" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/living/story/coupon-queen-woman-tik-tok-share-tips-couponing-66302189", "name": "Good Morning America" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://www.wusa9.com/video/entertainment/television/programs/great-day-washington/tips-to-being-better-with-money-in-2021/65-a5b83e05-73ba-4d60-b9a8-1d47f9ac6018", "name": "WUSA9" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://pix11.com/news/coronavirus/rebound/making-ends-meet/millenials-taking-biggest-financial-hit-from-pandemic/", "name": "Pix 11" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/10/opinion/active-shooter-drill-schools.html", "name": "The New York Times" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://mashable.com/article/forrest-fenn-treasure-found", "name": "Mashable" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2014/08/13/theres-an-app-for-that-authorities-say-man-asked-siri-for-help-dumping-body/", "name": "The Washington Post" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://www.cnbc.com/2020/06/08/treasure-buried-by-forrest-fenn-finally-found-after-10-years.html", "name": "CNBC" }, { "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://www.politico.com/tipsheets/florida-playbook/2017/03/gillum-for-governors-rollout-stumble-florida-woman-gets-trump-shout-out-rubios-tampa-office-problems-218973", "name": "Politico" } ], "sameAs": [ "https://x.com/superjulia", "https://www.linkedin.com/in/julia-glum" ], "worksFor": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } } ], "wordCount": 472, "keywords": [ "News" ], "about": [ { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Retirement", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retirement" ] }, { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Retirement planning", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retirement_planning" ] } ] } ] } ```