Pensions Planning: The NUMBER

Sobraon

Gatser wrote: »

Very interesting...and reassuringly close to my 3 "comfort" levels.
Good idea to have the different levels.... we are getting sophisticated on this thread aren't we!?

Can you break the figures down please?
I am interested to see how my breakdown compares... (see POST 001)
Thanks...

Um, my figures are based on the Money Diet spreadsheet published by Martin, and here they are broken down per year. The precision of the numbers is of course wholly artificial but is indicative. Love to see other peoples NUMBER and breakdown please.

Headings from the 'Money Diet Monthly Calorie Counter' (version 08.12.2005)
Home £8940 (Includes home insurance)
Insurance £624
Eats, Drinks, Smokes £6036
Transport + Travel £1848
Debt (Car repayment) £2400
Savings and investments 0
Family £1200
Fun and Frolics £2508
Big One Offs £5291
Clothes £1560
Education and Courses 0
Odds and Sods £1250


(note, if you haven't used this version of Martin’s spreadsheet before some things are not in the sections you might at first expect).

Gatser

Debt_Free_Chick wrote: »

Just out of interest, how does your spreadsheet compare with the MS Money Lifetime Planner?

I prefer the spreadsheet because I can set up the model/formulas to calculate tax, depending on tax wrappers etc
If its wrong...its my fault and I suffer....so I try to get it right.

I link spreadsheets with:
* Income / Expenditure
* Savings / Investments
* Pensions
* Forecasting (The NUMBER!)

I work with spreadsheets so no problem

For non spreadsheeters I'm sure MS Money is great.

tartanterra

whiteflagreturns wrote: »

im no expert.

Ooooohh! The irony..............:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Gatser

Sobraon wrote: »

Love to see other peoples NUMBER and breakdown please.

Headings from the 'Money Diet Monthly Calorie Counter' (version08.12.2005)
Home £8940 (Includes home insurance)
Insurance £624
Eats, Drinks, Smokes £6036
Transport + Travel £1848
Debt (Car repayment) £2400
Savings and investments 0
Family £1200
Fun and Frolics £2508
Big One Offs £5291
Clothes £1560
Education/ Courses £ 0
Odds and Sods £1250
TOTAL £31,657

Thanks for the breakdown

Comparing with my figures, your Home amount of £8940 seems very high.
I have £4500 in my "basic" requirement but struggle to think how I should be spending that much....or have I missed something?

What are your "Big One offs"? £5291 Every year??
Lucky you
What am I missing out on here...? Please tell.......

Sobraon

Gatser,
As I said the headings in the money diet spreadsheet are not always immediately obvious and this may possibly account for the differences.

"Home" includes heating, electricity, water rates and council tax, internet and phone, maintenance and house insurance.
"Big one offs" include Christmas, Birthdays, Holidays and replacement of things like TVs/Kitchens/Domestic Appliances.

(please pm me if you want a copy of of the version of Martin's spreadsheet I used.)

tartanterra

racingsantasdeer wrote: »

You really have nothing worth while to add on this thread do you.

Its a sad reflection of the scots

You obviously never recieved one of the foul and abusive (and poorly structured, grammatically incorrect and somewhat childlike!:rolleyes:) PM's sent out by whiteflag then.....................

................or are you whiteflag in disguise!!!!!:rolleyes: Could be!, I've just looked at your previous posts, and see nothing constructive whatsoever.......... I think I'm onto something here!:rotfl:

tartanterra

racingsantasdeer wrote: »

tartanterra wrote: »

No I didnt, what did you do to deserve one?


:rotfl:

Abusive PM's were sent to everyone who didn't agree with whiteflag (including a board moderator!!!). Childish, in the extreme. whiteflag obviously didn't realise that open debate is what these forums are all about.

Funnily enough, the abusive PM seemed to concentrate on my alleged Scottish birth, possibly due to my username, although that is scant proof I am from Scotland.
No-one has ever mentioned it before; then not long after whiteflag does it in a PM, you do it.:rolleyes:

Hence raising the question, "Are you whitflag in disguise!!!" A reasonable question as you seem to be their biggest fan!:D

exil

Currently we are living on £2,500 a month "take home" (mum dad and 18 year old) with mortgage paid off. This includes the cost of commuting to work and
the other costs of working (getting takeaways or ready meals instead of cooking, holidays to "destress" and so on). We reckon that when the 18 year old has flown the nest the remaining 2 should be able to retire comfortably on £2,000 a month.

The Food and Expenditure Survey (http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme_social/Family_Spending_2007/FamilySpending2008_web.pdf) is a useful guide to how much people actually spend. The average for retired couples "not mainly dependent on the state pension" is £360 a week - £1,600 a month.

siegfried

This has been such a thought-provoking thread, as others have said. Thanks for starting it.
Unfortunately none of us can know where we are going, or even how we are likely to get there, so we can only use our individual experience of the past to try to predict our futures. In the words of the French philosopher Paul Valery, "The problem with the future is that it is not what it used to be". (Although he probably actually said it in french!)
Therefore, working out what you might be able to live on in years to come is rather a cumbersome method to arrive at the NUMBER. There are far too many variables involved.
On the other hand, as we all know what we are able to live on at our current standard of living (because we are all doing it), it is simple enough to multiply this by 12 which provides (an approximation of) your NUMBER i.e if you are currently living on £30k p.a. your NUMBER (to keep you at your present standard of living) will be in the region of £360k. Obviously there is no precision in this and everyone will have different needs, wants, ambitions etc., but it provides a working model for fine tuning I think.

Others might disagree with the multiplier... or with my concept. In fact, they probably will.

tartanterra

racingsantasdeer wrote: »

tartanterra wrote: »

Thanks for clarifying what went on tartanterra.

My interpretation of what happened is slightly different to yours.
Your posts number 69, 71 and 73 were nothing more than baiting and a mickey take and it would seem you got the outcome you desired.

If these forums are an open debate,what did you hope to gain from calling Whiteflag "self righteous:rolleyes:"? After all, all he had done up to that point was give his opinion, something that you quite rightly point out is what these forums are all about?

Er, hello.......Anyone in there!:D


You say "If these forums are an open debate". That's my point...... THEY ARE!!!!!!

Interestingly, your now kicking off about exactly the points whiteflag did, using the same language.
It's a debate, just calm down, tiger. No need to get stressed out! Just go with the flow, whiteflag (C'mon!, I know it's you!):rotfl:I'm sure we could get along swimmingly, if you would just cut out the stalking!:D.