Comfort Pension Level

ManAtHome

PeacefulWaters wrote: »

I've just been trying to work out my budget in retirement in today's terms and felt comfortable with a gross income of £16k for me and £8.5k for Mrs PW (both indexed). Own home, no mortgage and running a car and taking two holidays a year.

You may well be pleasantly surprised when you get there. We spend less than that and have 3 holidays a year - 6 months in the Canaries (winter), and 2 lots of 7-8 weeks in Greece (late spring, early autumn) - off tomorrow to Crete, back July. Trick is treat your jaunts as living somewhere alternative/warm rather than a must-have-a-7-star 'treat'.

You may have to put with a more-than-3-year-old car and a less-than-90"-plasma-telly, but as they say, life's a burger (or summat)...

kinger101

PasturesNew wrote: »

Well ... to be honest, at my income level most people don't even get the luxury of a bath; you get a small shower in a miniscule shower room ... tiny places..... so I'll have to take is read that [a] you've got a jacuzzi to have mentioned it you fart in the bath.

Gross.....

Ah, C'mon. Everyone farts in the bath. Even the Queen.

wary

ManAtHome wrote: »

You may well be pleasantly surprised when you get there. We spend less than that and have 3 holidays a year - 6 months in the Canaries (winter), and 2 lots of 7-8 weeks in Greece (late spring, early autumn) - off tomorrow to Crete, back July. Trick is treat your jaunts as living somewhere alternative/warm rather than a must-have-a-7-star 'treat'.

You may have to put with a more-than-3-year-old car and a less-than-90"-plasma-telly, but as they say, life's a burger (or summat)...

Where do you stay (presumably not hotels) & how do you find these places? I believe there are organisations through which you can arrange a home swap, if you're prepared to accept complete strangers staying at your pad whilst you visit theirs.

Has anyone tried to book holidays literally 2 days before departure, say? I'm just wondering whether there are some mega-bargains to be had that way. Just not being restricted to school holiday times will be a massive saving for us (son has another 2 years of school), but if you're retired and can depart at the drop of a hat, maybe there are holidays to be grabbed dirt cheap?

Personally I'd be happy with a fairly simple retirement - e.g. country walk in morning, kip in afternoon ... just so long as I didn't have the stress of work ever again. But if there are some decent affordable holidays on offer, all the better ...

PensionTech

Car (12000 miles at 40p) £4.8k

What car do you drive?! I thought my car was inefficient but even that's only about 20-25p a mile.

lazer

I think the £15k is a crazy amount, there are plenty of people working earning far less than this.

Personally, i will be aiming for state penison plus about £100 a week, however, with significant savings behind me.

Also my husbnad and I currently both own a house, so rental income from one will povide some extra money.

p00hsticks

Freecall wrote: »

I take it you live in or near a town.

But surely one of the advantages of being retired is that you can choose to live wherever you want, whether that be town or country.

Mileage of 12,000 a year (thats over 30 miles a day every day of the year) suggests to me that you're spending an awful lot of time and money trying to get away from where you currently live and would probably be better off simply moving.

Even in the country I can't see most pensioners racking up those sort of miles.

Goldiegirl

A lot of it is down to what you've been used to earning in your working life.

If you are used to having a gas guzzling car, a massive house with a huge council tax and heating bill, and replacing house hold appliances every other year, 15k would seem a pittance.

But to people who have had a more modest income, 15k is ample.

kidmugsy

Goldiegirl wrote: »

Of course, I have the security of savings behind me

That's a crucial point.

Another thing to allow for is the cost of aches, pains, and stiffness - will you be able to decorate, or will you have to hire a decorator? Will you still be up to DIY repairs? How about the garden: will you have to hire someone at least for the heavy digging? Even making the beds eventually becomes a struggle. Should you pay for a couple of hours a week domestic help?

datostar

kinger101 wrote: »

Ah, C'mon. Everyone farts in the bath. Even the Queen.

No. She has Ladies in Waiting to do it for her.

PasturesNew

atush wrote: »

Those OAP places can be expensive.

I've looked locally and many flats are half the price of regular flats.... so there's the option.

atush wrote: »

But anyway, do you earn more than the SP now? If you dont then you can live on it I guess.

Not right now, but historically yes. On average, say 2x ... but at those times I was paying mortgage/rent and having to dress for work and run a good car for commuting.

atush wrote: »

But if you are earning over 10K then you will fall short and could benefit from saving whatever you can now. And into a pension to boost it. As you can take the whole pot when you retire, no need to live to 100.

Saving for the future .... what if that means never leaving the house now, never having things, never doing things, simply staying indoors and saving every penny .... for what? So that I might live long enough to be able to eke out a similar existence?

A bit of "live for today" is in order. 10 years ago I used a calculator that showed for every £100/month I pay in now, I'd get £100/month back in pension. And that would have needed me to have £100 spare every month between then and retirement - which I can't guarantee. 10 years on I doubt that would look any better.