Taxes and budgets were tough for me. I was single almost my entire life and never had a budget. I basically was careful with money but not too careful. I wanted to enjoy life while I could and did my ski vacations and later Europe vacations and otherwise enjoyed life within reasons. Getting married changed that in terms of expenses being higher.

I've tried to use a spreadsheet to calculate potential issues down the road with things like IRMAA but I think we'll likely skirt that unless an inheritance occurs and in that case we'll just pay the penalty if we need to.

My big tax issue in 2023 was overlooking the amount of interest we were getting on money put aside for a house later that year. Getting 4%+ interest versus 1% makes a big difference.

From what I have calculated, I should owe $1K or less federal and likely will get back more than that from the state. I've bounced back and forth between AZ and MD for a while now although this past year will be the first full time in AZ in a while.

I would have stayed longer rather than retired in early 2023 if the location would have been better but due to various issues I ended up getting to my desk by 5AM 5 days a week which was too much for me.

Glad most everyone is enjoying retirement.
Rich