What does the majority of people have at 60ish

de1amo

i dont follow it because i am 48! from all the unrest about pensions in the uk at the moment i can see huge changes happening between now and 18 years time.- like someone said i can see the gov pension being means tested which may benefit me beacuse i aim to keep minimum in the uk but nothing is certain while politicians keep moving the goal posts.--

gadgetmind

de1amo wrote: »

Moving outside the Eu when you retire is very difficult because of the health cover!

Maybe. There seem to be two choices.

1) Pay huge taxes (income tax, council tax, VAT, and many more) to live in the UK so that you can subsidise everyone else. (My projections show that we will pay more tax pa in retirement than we get pa in state pensions!)
2) Move to somewhere with lower taxes, but fewer state benefits, and stand on your own two feet.

I'm not sure which of these we will choose but I will ensure (HMG and their ever changing personal pension rules permitting!) that both options are open to us.

de1amo

The expats that see Turkey as a cheap option are certainly beginning to question the wisdom of their decision. They buy cheap (compared to the uk) but soon end up realising that the places they buy cant be lived in comfortably for 12 months of the year. They either have to buy a second place here or have to keep a home back in their originating country--not cheap!- where i live is sunny for 10 months of the year but for 4 months it is cold and gch is necessary but these expat places have and never will have supply of gas and oil is prohibitively priced here.
Another thing they have not 'banked'on is the decline in the interest rates- they sold their uk homes and bought cheap and banked the rest with the plan to live off the interest. since i arrived here rates have gone from 19pc down to 9pc for savings accounts and the prime minister of turkey wants to bring lending and saving rates down to 0!!(its the muslim way as prescribed in the koran)-the expats are now eating into their capital and living meaguerly now.
İ came out here to marry my wife and to build a life seperate from the uk. i started from zero and dont mix my finances --my signature is just what i save in the uk.
My hobbies in life are 'profit' driven--i buy classic cars and look for investment opportunities in this booming economy-far more enjoyable and profitable than working!

Loughton_Monkey

gadgetmind wrote: »

Mine too, and some, but I can't bring myself to include it as part of my retirement asset pot. If I did, it would be about a third of my pot, but I don't want to be *forced* to downsize simply because I haven't accumulated sufficient liquid assets.

In our case, we have a house that's probably too big for when we get older. My projections show that if we did 'nothing', we reach about age 79, at which point our cash would be zero, and pensions only cover 60% of spending.

Living to that age is, I think, a miracle in my case. More to the point, I don't want to be managing the pool and my wife doing the garden at that age. Best to downsize and spend the money.

But I would agree that downsizing is only appropriate if there are over-riding non-financial reasons anyway, in which case the money is useful.

gadgetmind

Loughton_Monkey wrote: »

In our case, we have a house that's probably too big for when we get older.

Our house is too big now (five bedrooms for three of us) but we love the house and love the area. However, all of our parents are mid-70s, starting to get wobbly and have health issues, want to downsize, but the hassle of fettling houses for sale, and house hunting, is stretching them somewhat.

I've therefore pretty much decided we'll downsize some time between 65 and 75, but not when/where/what or anything.

My projections show that if we did 'nothing', we reach about age 79, at which point our cash would be zero, and pensions only cover 60% of spending.

Ouch.

But I would agree that downsizing is only appropriate if there are over-riding non-financial reasons anyway, in which case the money is useful.

Money is always useful. :-)

de1amo

i am considering actually buying our retirement 'home' now. We rent a 3 bed holiday home by the sea in a small turkish resort/fishing town. İts too far to commute to while we work but still within striking distance of the city.--i am considering buying it by releasing capital from my uk home thus reducing the tax exposure if i let it.--i dont really care if i still have a mortgage in later life because my daughter will have enough inheritance with my turkish homes and businesses--i will probably look to do equity release if the uk banks wont keep mortgaging to me.