Pensions Planning: The NUMBER

edinburgher

mgdavid wrote: »

Gulp, you PAY somebody for something like that?
This is MSE after all.......

Yes, because as well as replacing the light, we have light switches with 3 circuits and these needed replaced. Considering how long it took a qualified electrician to sort everything, I think it was money well spent.

savingmore

North4 wrote: »

My number: £24000 net (for a couple).

Hope to 'retire' early next year at 58.

It really is difficult to say whether our number is going to be low/high. We don't have an expensive lifestyle and it looks OK though, so it's a question of how much extra we want to do. It's going to be a case of monitoring our investment returns and modifying our spend if necessary. I have a small business that I plan to expand which should generate some more income. If necessary we'll look for some part time work - we've been watching "Britains's hardest workers" with more than a passing interest!

Our DC pensions should achieve our number, but we're prepared to accept some erosion of capital (up to 20%) over the next 7/8 years before we both qualify for the full state pension.

thanks for posting as that's the same as our number but you are retrying now where ours is 7 years, and yours is without sp. assuming you will get the most, that's a 40,000 pot. looks v. good to me, unless you have v. expensive hobbies.

savingmore

savingmore wrote: »

thanks for posting as that's the same as our number but you are retrying now where ours is 7 years, and yours is without sp. assuming you will get the most, that's a 40,000 pot. looks v. good to me, unless you have v. expensive hobbies.

retiring that is......

atush

Another tip , to check your 'number' is to try and live on your new income the last year before you retire.

Gatser

atush wrote: »

Another tip , to check your 'number' is to try and live on your new income the last year before you retire.

Good advice!
I have been semi retired since 2013 and it is proving that my NUMBER does add up...the reduced income is just a safety buffer and I get devious pleasure from seeing colleagues only 1 day each week
Not quite sure when to Fully Retire...now that is my dilemma... will not be getting my SP for another 8 years. I suppose whilst the workdays are not inconvenient just carry on....
ps. my NUMBER is currently £26k

North4

Thanks for the reply. It depends very much on investment returns, but I'm planning on using some of our pension pot to fund retirement before SP age so realistically we might be looking at a figure of around £32k-35k per year once we get the SP.

The idea of living off what you plan to have for your pension is a good one if you can do it. Our problem is that our expenditure at the moment isn't at all representative. We're going to retire to another part of the country from where we are now, so we sold our house three months ago, we are now living in a small rented house and are in the process of buying a new build house in the North West of England.

We have a few options to increase our income over the next few years should it be necessary or desirable, so we'll adapt our lifestyle to make it work

ledinhtho

The idea of living off what you plan to have for your pension is a good one if you can do it. Our problem is that our expenditure at the moment isn't at all representative

Stubod

Hopefully about £26k with an additional "safety" cash pot of about £50k that we will dip into as and when but try and maintain from the £26k. + plan for this to rise by about 3% per annum to offset inflation.

LHW99

Aiming for around 30k in a few years time, which is more or less what we have now.

We should achieve that with two small DB pensions + SP, leaving our SIPPs invested for a few years, to provide emergency lump sums / care home fees or to boost the survivor's income in due course.

bigfreddiel

atush wrote: »

Another tip , to check your 'number' is to try and live on your new income the last year before you retire.

Altho' a good idea, I think you should try this before your last year before you retire.

Why? Well what if you find you can't manage and it really is your last year, what will you do then? Keep on working I guess, but it may not be possible.

You can simulate living on your 'number' by deducting a few costs of working, like pension payment. Travel costs, clothing costs, fees to professional bodies or unions, and any other work related expenses. Subtract that from your 'number' and see if it works.

fj