Early Retirement Offer

getmore4less

£1k per month should be enough to cover the basic and live on as long as the house does not cost too much.

That can include the one cheap holiday and running a cheap car

£200 councill tax
£200 bills
£200 food
£100 holiday
£100 car
£200 spends

That leaves the £500 for discretionary spends and saving up for things.

Will the pensions get any better if you don't take them?
If this is a early retirement no reduction offer then it might be worth taking and topping up the savings for a year or two with some extra work when not touring.

molerat

£1500 is a good amount providing you have not got extravagent lifestyles or hobbies. I was in the same situation 18 months ago, spent every spare hour for a couple of weeks number crunching then jumped at it and have never looked back. I am drawing a small amount of my capital but have calculated that when we both reach state pension age some of that can be paid back, in fact we usually put back a small surplus amount each month anyway. It was one of the biggest decisions of my life but having many friends of our age and younger no longer with us I know it was the right thing to do, 10 years of enjoyment before you get old

rosy

We are in similar position to OP. The bulk of the pension income we would have is from my husband (mine is a lot smaller and won't be paid out till a lot later as well). One thing I have considered which hasn't been mentioned so far is, heaven forbid, what if one of you died in the period before you collected the state pension? Would there be sufficient for the other to live on? I don't know how evenly your pensions are split or if you have any dependant's benefits (I would get approx half of my husband's pension if anything happened to him and tbh even with that it wouldn't leave me with a lot and would definitely mean eating more than I would like into capital if the worst happened). Sorry to be morbid and I'm sure the money wouldn't be the first thing on my mind in that situation but it's something we knew we had to take into account.

de1amo

when i was medically retired many years ago i missed a trick--i should of bought avc's to top up my years of pension and lump sum--i dont know if these are still available or worthwhile.
i have enjoyed a long and happy retirement so far -i live abroad now and sometimes rent my home in the uk out but it isnt a necessity--i have invested in businesses abroad and do some teaching to break up the day.