Is it worth saving £500 per month?

Marcusp

So, couple, in Scotland, if it makes any difference, over 65, whose joint income from pensions is £1300 per month and live in a house which has no mortgage. Just paid it off.

Possible outgoings of £800 per month for necessities, food, CT, G/E, TV, Internet etc. so £500 per month to save and £17000 of savings.

We could, if we want, spend what's left off the £15600 per year on holidays, bingo and other luxuries and leave the savings alone for emergencies such as funeral, new heating etc.

I'm all for spending it.

What do others think?

sleepless_saver

It depends if your pension will go up with inflation. If it does, then in your position I'd build up a bit more in the way of savings but then go ahead and use the spare income on things I enjoy.

If your pension is likely to lose value due to inflation as time goes by, then I'd save half the spare money each month and spend the other half on fun stuff.

Marcusp

Well hopefully our state pensions will go up every year, only £250 per month isn't index linked and will stay the same.

Why would you build up the savings?

I was going to reduce it to below £16000 and apply for CT benefit.

seven-day-weekend

And other taxpayers should pay your Council tax why, exactly? You have enough money to pay it yourself.

I would save half the money because you don't know what the future holds. There may come a day when you are glad you have the money. For example, if the roof of your house needs repairing or your boiler breaks down, or someone is unexpectedly ill and needs specialist equipment.

Spend the other half enjoying yourself.

margaretclare

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

And other taxpayers should pay your Council tax why, exactly? You have enough money to pay it yourself.

I would save half the money because you don't know what the future holds. There may come a day when you are glad you have the money. For example, if the roof of your house needs repairing or your boiler breaks down, or someone is unexpectedly ill and needs specialist equipment.

Spend the other half enjoying yourself.

My thinking exactly. It has happened to us, and I was extremely relieved and pleased that I had some savings that could be called on in a crisis.

lilac_lady

Why jump through hoops to save a little by claiming benefits when you could have a solvent fiancially stress free retirement?

Savvy_Sue

Unless there are major things which need doing or which would be highly beneficial, I wouldn't spend it JUST to get below the CT savings limit.

For one thing, that's the upper limit (I think), so you wouldn't get the full benefit.

For another, you never know what's around the corner, and £16000 doesn't last long if you're paying for help and assistance that YOU want rather than what other people think you need.

And another, it's not a case of claim it and sit back: you have to notify every change, and then there's a recalculation, and you can end up owing them money because they don't recalculate as fast as you might hope.

However, if the roof needs fixing, or the bathroom or kitchen could do with being transformed into something you'd be able to use with a zimmer frame, I'd do that kind of thing, no question. And if that happened to bring my savings below the limit, then I'd think about claiming.

And in thinking about transforming things, I wouldn't look JUST at what you need NOW, I'd also do a bit of doom-laden what ifs? Because the time to have the disruption of a new bathroom / kitchen is NOW, when you're fit and well, not when the need is urgent and you can't actually get use them any more.

BTW, I just visited a friend who moved a while ago, in her early 60s and quite fit and well apart from limited use of the arm she broke at Christmas. She says they caused the builders great hilarity when they moved in by insisting that the new bathrooms they wanted were suitable for use with a zimmer frame - which at the time neither of them looked likely to need. But they don't plan to move again, so it would be silly not to plan for a slightly more creaky future, wouldn't it? I just wish my parents had had the wit to do the same ...

pollypenny

SDw is spot on.

Enjoy your retirement, some good holidays etc. Use vouchers for meals out, perhaps using your bus passes.

But don't 'mechanically' run down savings to claim CT benefit or any other benefit. Apart from fact that I don't want my taxes to pay for them, the government may well change the criteria.

chesky369

If I were you, I'd saave a realistic amount monthly but I wouldn't let it stop me from buying things, like clothes, holidays, etc. Put it in an account where you can get at it easily with no loss. Then after six months or a year, reassesss the situation. Don't do anything in a hurry. I'd guess you're new to retirement so you don't know precisely what you will need over a year or so.

I live off my occupational pension and save the state pension - it goes automatically into an easy-access account. That way, if I overspend in a month or want something for the house like replacement windows, then I can get at it, but it's not part of my everyday account.

pollypenny

We do a similar thing, Chesky. We use the state pension for weekly housekeeping and petrol, pay the bills out of occupational pension and save the rest.

However, these are holiday savings rather than long-term. Having had to count every penny for most of my life, I am determined to enjoy myself now!

A wise friend said "our 60s are the golden years". How true is that? We've generally got our health and energy and inflation hasn't yet ruined our pensions.

Enjoy life!

[Deleted User]

if you had £15,999 in savings the CT benefit would still be reduced by £40 a week,due to the savings tarriff of £1 per £250 of savings over £6000