Comfort Pension Level

silverwhistle

Interesting variety of responses and income levels.. I'm er.. sort of retired early although I went to a temporary job interview today. My take-home pension is getting on £1k, I'm on course to get £50+ a month from my solar panels and I've a few savings and a share PEP which I haven't touched and just rolled up since I started it. That's for when I'm really old , although not sure when that will be: I've still got 7 years to my state pension.

Some of the figures people quote for expenses seem high though: my council tax is around £1k, my power and water a bit less, as is my telecomms and insurance. I've never owned a colour TV or needed new 3-piece suites from DFS, nor do I drive 12000 miles a year. That's even driving to the Alps in ski season when I stay with friends. This month I need to splash out on a new season ticket for a premiership footie club, so I could do with some extra income, but I save for it in other ways. I'm always surprised what people fritter away their money on.

If I do get this summer job I'll go riding a few times, take a cheap holiday (staying with friends/relatives), do some home improvements and feel comfortable enough to buy myself a ticket when the touring opera comes to town. That to me feels reasonably comfortable, although I'm quite capable of spending to a higher income level...

bigfreddiel

atush wrote: »

Plus was that 15K for one person, or 15K each?

30K might approach comfortable.

The £15k was household income - didn't you read the article from the link?

'The £15,000 contentment threshold applies however many people there are in the household.' From the article

fj

atush

Of course i didn't read it- wasn't it from the Daily mail? Plus never sure about clicking a link from you lol.

Given my council tax, 15K would not cut it.

"Then when I could afford to pay into a pension it was too late and ISAs are a better choice."

When you could have, you should have. Because the new rules meant you could have taken the money in full. Which would have been boosted by 25%. Plus income and investment growth tax free. Isas would not have had the boost, so would not have been better. But this is hindsight, you could not have known about the recent changes.

kidmugsy

bigfreddiel wrote: »

The £15k was household income - didn't you read the article from the link?

'The £15,000 contentment threshold applies however many people there are in the household.' From the article

fj

It doesn't say what you claim it says. The thing is so ill-written that it could mean "The £15,000 per person contentment threshold applies however many people there are in the household." There's no telling, short of going to the original report.

atush

so 2 people 30K, 3 people 45K.

Glad I didn't wander to the dark side of the Daily Mail

Bootsox

Some interesting opinions/figures on this thread.

The 12,000 miles figure for motoring is obviously notional, to get an annual cost of running a vehicle. Halving the mileage won't half the cost.

Crikey moses, net of property rental, my monthly cash burn is £3k and I think I live quite modestly. Still working, so not an issue, but what happens when I finally retire!

kidmugsy

Bootsox wrote: »

Crikey moses, net of property rental, my monthly cash burn is £3k and I think I live quite modestly.

How many mouths are you feeding?

System

bigfreddiel wrote: »

The £15k was household income - didn't you read the article from the link?

'The £15,000 contentment threshold applies however many people there are in the household.' From the article

The article included State Pension. It obviously meant £15,000 individual income, because otherwise 2 X State Pension would nearly make up the magic £15,000 without the need for any other pension whatsoever.

If that was really what it was saying then there is no crisis at all - all couples on state pensions have nothing to worry about and are perfectly content.

greenglide

Bootsox wrote: »

my monthly cash burn is £3k and I think I live quite modestly.

Possibly you are burning it rather than spending / saving / investing it!

SeekTruth

atush wrote: »

so 2 people 30K, 3 people 45K.

Glad I didn't wander to the dark side of the Daily Mail

"... found a significant shift in quality of life among pensioners living on a household income of £15-£20k a year compared to those with less." See http://www.nestpensions.org.uk/schemeweb/NestWeb/includes/public/news/price-of-a-comfortable-retirement.html