Pensions Planning: The NUMBER

ader42

Ah but my jeans are heavy denim and the pair I have on now are my “best” - they last me at least 3 years as my best pair, then as they’ve started to fade a little on the knee they become my normal daily jeans (very rare to see me in anything else - maybe the odd wedding or funeral) for 2 years or more until I get a knee hole and I then buy a new “best” pair, they then last me 2 or 3 years as my scruffs that I only wear on days I’m not leaving the house before being put into storage for when painting. I think 8 years wear and keeping 3 pairs in use at once is great value.

My jeans are quality garments (usually minimum of 16oz denim but can be as high as around 20oz) and only get dry-cleaned, no washing machine for my jeans ever.

https://www.pikebrothers.com/en/1947-Roamer-Pant-21oz-indigo/P0101-20-0015

For me the alternative would be spending £50 on a 10oz pair twice a year and looking scruffy most of the time like my mates do. 

Dh6

Not sure what the above posts are all about but they don’t seem to be on the subject of Pensions planning the number!

Come on guys 

Sunnylifeover50plan

We moved to Spain 3 years ago our planned spend then about 27k euro and it's increased to just under 30k in the time since. Food and energy are the items which have been affected by inflation the most. The below are pretty much actuals - although I am currently not drinking alcohol as part of a health drive. These numbers are for two plus a dog and sit in excel as part of a broader planning sheet. Next year I start to draw down from my SIPP, my wife already draws. We'll need to juggle the two withdrawals to be as tax efficient as possible. I plan to use UFLPS. We have two cars, one of which is old and my retirement companion. So the number for us is £25.6k but fluctuates - our foreign travel, at the moment, is a return to the UK now and again.

outgoings	weekly	monthly	annually
food	130	563.33	6760
meals out/ entertainment	90	390.00	4680
House repairs/ Emergency	50	216.67	2600
weekly pocket money	40	173.33	2080
dog food	11.78	51.05	612.56
health ins	27.7	120.03	1440.4
car ins	17	73.67	884
E cig	17	73.67	884
elec	20	86.67	1040
Clothes	15	65.00	780
broadband/ mobiles - uk & sp	16	69.33	832
petrol	19	82.33	988
pool costs or Urbanisation fees	12.5	54.17	650
water	9	39.00	468
haircuts	7	30.33	364
Abaco fees	4	17.33	208
Drugs/ pharmacy	9	39.00	468
dog insurance/ care plan	7	30.33	364
council tax/ refuse collection	6	26.00	312
house ins	6	26.00	312
Car tax	10	43.33	520
gas	10	43.33	520
Car service/ repairs	14	60.67	728
Spotify	2.3	9.97	119.6
Amazon	1.15	4.98	59.8
life assurance UK	9.5	41.17	494
lottery uk	2.7	11.70	140.4
Firewood	5	21.67	260
MOT/ itv	3	13.00	156
total	571.63	2477.063	29724.76

sgx2000

Bloody hell!
Council tax 312...
My uk council tax is 1900

MallyGirl

sgx2000 said:

Bloody hell!
Council tax 312...
My uk council tax is 1500

mine is £3,760. That is why everyone's 'number' is different.

sgx2000

Just checked mine is actually £1900 

MarriedWithKids89

Sunnylifeover50plan said:

We moved to Spain 3 years ago our planned spend then about 27k euro and it's increased to just under 30k in the time since. Food and energy are the items which have been affected by inflation the most. The below are pretty much actuals - although I am currently not drinking alcohol as part of a health drive. These numbers are for two plus a dog and sit in excel as part of a broader planning sheet. Next year I start to draw down from my SIPP, my wife already draws. We'll need to juggle the two withdrawals to be as tax efficient as possible. I plan to use UFLPS. We have two cars, one of which is old and my retirement companion. So the number for us is £25.6k but fluctuates - our foreign travel, at the moment, is a return to the UK now and again.

outgoings	weekly	monthly	annually
food	130	563.33	6760
meals out/ entertainment	90	390.00	4680
House repairs/ Emergency	50	216.67	2600
weekly pocket money	40	173.33	2080
dog food	11.78	51.05	612.56
health ins	27.7	120.03	1440.4
car ins	17	73.67	884
E cig	17	73.67	884
elec	20	86.67	1040
Clothes	15	65.00	780
broadband/ mobiles - uk & sp	16	69.33	832
petrol	19	82.33	988
pool costs or Urbanisation fees	12.5	54.17	650
water	9	39.00	468
haircuts	7	30.33	364
Abaco fees	4	17.33	208
Drugs/ pharmacy	9	39.00	468
dog insurance/ care plan	7	30.33	364
council tax/ refuse collection	6	26.00	312
house ins	6	26.00	312
Car tax	10	43.33	520
gas	10	43.33	520
Car service/ repairs	14	60.67	728
Spotify	2.3	9.97	119.6
Amazon	1.15	4.98	59.8
life assurance UK	9.5	41.17	494
lottery uk	2.7	11.70	140.4
Firewood	5	21.67	260
MOT/ itv	3	13.00	156
total	571.63	2477.063	29724.76

Thank you for the breakdown. Whereabouts in Spain are you and what size/sort of accommodation do you live in?

Sunnylifeover50plan

@MarriedWithKids89 we are on a coastal golf community/ spa resort in Alicante province. 2 storey, 2 bed house, small garden, terrace and roof solarium, just over 800 sq ft of internal space - so relatively modest. Our community pool is shared across 58 properties but around 12 of those have their own pools. The local town hall hasn't issued tourist licenses since 2016 so it has a residential feel. There are around 20 gated communities in total, so around 1000 properties. Buildings are 2 storey maximum. We are surrounded by orange and lemon groves so it's green all year.

We have 3 aircon units and from late June their use increases but is included in the budget average. 15 mins or so, by car, to blue flag beaches. 38 mins to Alicante airport.

SouthCoastBoy

Sounds lovely

pensionpawn

Sunnylifeover50plan said:

We moved to Spain 3 years ago our planned spend then about 27k euro and it's increased to just under 30k in the time since. Food and energy are the items which have been affected by inflation the most. The below are pretty much actuals - although I am currently not drinking alcohol as part of a health drive. These numbers are for two plus a dog and sit in excel as part of a broader planning sheet. Next year I start to draw down from my SIPP, my wife already draws. We'll need to juggle the two withdrawals to be as tax efficient as possible. I plan to use UFLPS. We have two cars, one of which is old and my retirement companion. So the number for us is £25.6k but fluctuates - our foreign travel, at the moment, is a return to the UK now and again.

outgoings	weekly	monthly	annually
food	130	563.33	6760
meals out/ entertainment	90	390.00	4680
House repairs/ Emergency	50	216.67	2600
weekly pocket money	40	173.33	2080
dog food	11.78	51.05	612.56
health ins	27.7	120.03	1440.4
car ins	17	73.67	884
E cig	17	73.67	884
elec	20	86.67	1040
Clothes	15	65.00	780
broadband/ mobiles - uk & sp	16	69.33	832
petrol	19	82.33	988
pool costs or Urbanisation fees	12.5	54.17	650
water	9	39.00	468
haircuts	7	30.33	364
Abaco fees	4	17.33	208
Drugs/ pharmacy	9	39.00	468
dog insurance/ care plan	7	30.33	364
council tax/ refuse collection	6	26.00	312
house ins	6	26.00	312
Car tax	10	43.33	520
gas	10	43.33	520
Car service/ repairs	14	60.67	728
Spotify	2.3	9.97	119.6
Amazon	1.15	4.98	59.8
life assurance UK	9.5	41.17	494
lottery uk	2.7	11.70	140.4
Firewood	5	21.67	260
MOT/ itv	3	13.00	156
total	571.63	2477.063	29724.76

As per yourself, tax efficiency has always been our target so our number is 2 times the personal allowance with one drawdown via UFPLS which is approximately £28k9 tax free. We'll reinvest what we don't need to spend and take extra taxable withdrawals only if we need to. Our biggest expense will be our mortgage however we have improved and replaced every aspect of our house over the last 9 years so don't expect too many unplanned expenses (fingers crossed).