Going to be claiming Housing Benefit when I retire- worth having employers pension?

Murphybear

HappyMJ wrote: »

No it's not worth doing...in my opinion...but do try and save some money for emergencies. You're allowed £10,000 cash in the bank, a car, household goods etc so make sure that by the time you do retire you've got all that sorted as new so you don't need to replace the car or any of the household goods....and also hope that you don't last much longer than about 10-15 years (the lifespan of a car and the household goods).

You don't "need" a car. I don't have one now and rely on buses which may or may not be free in retirement and trains and taxi's which I have to pay for.

that depends on where you live. Lots of rural areas where there are no buses at all. I have friends who live ~ 10 miles from the nearest bus stop:o. Where I live there are no buses after 5.15 pm, none on Sunday's. I have a bus pass (needed it for photo ID) but havent managed to use it yet due to lack of er .... buses.

Comstock

worried_jim wrote: »

We are the taxpayers who will end up paying for your lifestyle choices, did you expect a round of applause for your scheme?

"lifestyle choices" "scheme". Yes you've caught me out. I've chosen to be poor and I've chosen not to be able to buy a house. Now please do go back to your copy of the Daily Mail......


I don't regret starting this thread, because I genuinely thought I might get some helpful advice. I should perhaps have put in the title "going to be renting in retirement" because the word "benefit" tends to attract a certain type of person like flies to sh*t......

eastcorkram

In fairness though...... You've asked a question, and most people think it would be crazy not to pay into it. Including me. So, you've asked for advice, and there is the answer. What do you think of the advice?

HappyMJ

Murphybear wrote: »

that depends on where you live. Lots of rural areas where there are no buses at all. I have friends who live ~ 10 miles from the nearest bus stop:o. Where I live there are no buses after 5.15 pm, none on Sunday's. I have a bus pass (needed it for photo ID) but havent managed to use it yet due to lack of er .... buses.

Rural housing is very highly likely going to cost more than the LHA rate of Housing Benefit and therefore be unaffordable. In almost all cases a 1 bedroom flat is cheaper than a house and you don't see too many 1 bedroom flats in rural areas.

A person attempting to live solely off benefits would be much better off moving to a location that has rents around the LHA rate and that area is much more likely to have a bus service and get rid of the car.

I personally live in Burton upon Trent. The LHA rate for East Staffordshire BRMA is £81.58 per week for a 1 bedroom property. Outside of Burton itself there are very few properties available anywhere near that rate. Rural properties don't tend to have too many 1 bedroom flats so the only option would be to move to the cheaper parts of the BRMA where a 1 bedroom flat would be not much more than 120% of the LHA rate.

Comstock

HappyMJ wrote: »

A person attempting to live solely off benefits would be much better off moving to a location that has rents around the LHA rate and that area is much more likely to have a bus service and get rid of the car.

Yes, that's pretty much the plan. Funnily enough I only live about 10 miles from you and there were adverts in the local papers for retirement flats near Burton Town Hall, and they stated they accepted housing benefit. Something like that would do me nicely.

Some schemes take people at 60, so I could potentially spend my last few working years in a place of my own as well

t0rt0ise

I too have thought about this sort of thing but have done the 'right' thing and paid into three employers' pensions and saved in ISAs for retirement too. But my pensions will not be much, two of them tiny and the third not much bigger, and my savings won't last all that long. So I've wondered if I would have been better off spending my money enjoying life instead of scrimping and saving, and then living off housing benefit into retirement. I do feel that my independet streak may be my undoing.

So I do understand your dilemma, Comstock and would love to know how it all ends, so be sure to post back when you retire as will I!

Kim_kim

Comstock wrote: »

Yes, that's pretty much the plan. Funnily enough I only live about 10 miles from you and there were adverts in the local papers for retirement flats near Burton Town Hall, and they stated they accepted housing benefit. Something like that would do me nicely.

Some schemes take people at 60, so I could potentially spend my last few working years in a place of my own as well

I'm blown away by the fact that at 42 (younger than me) you sound like your coasting to retirement.
You're only halfway through your working years!

There are a lot of people who became accustomed to & cut their cloth according to a very generous benefits system.
They were in panic & dire straits when they realised they gravy train had reached the end of the line.
I would suggest you plan how you can support yourself rather than banking on benefits.

Comstock

The point, kim kim, is that i'll need to rent in retirement anyway. That makes my untypical,because even today most people still own their houses.

So therefore I need to consider if a typical pension plan is suitable for my atypical circumstances.

I still think the accusation of 'living off benefits' is ridiculous, when I will have paid 40 years rent, tax and NI by that point. So I'll hardly be getting something for nothing.

edinburgher

Let's try and remain positive. You have plenty of time to find a better paid job (and while this can mean more stressful, it doesn't have to). My first f-t job in a music shop was just as stressful as my current office job, but it paid roughly 1/3 of the wage. You don't need to depress yourself further by thinking along the lines of 'I need a £40k job', even a jump to £10/h would make a world of difference.

Long term depression is a terrible thing, it saps your confidence and fogs the brain to the point where continued depression and a lack of material 'success' do seem like the only things that you can be certain of. Rest assured there are still plenty of positive things that could happen to you in the next few decades.

As for thinking you are having a wind up, I found it an odd coincidence that your user name is the surname of the depressed character from Orwell's 'Keep the Aspidistra Flying', who spends 99% of the book skint and railing against the bloodiness of the modern world until finding a degree of success and happiness

HappyMJ

Comstock wrote: »

Yes, that's pretty much the plan. Funnily enough I only live about 10 miles from you and there were adverts in the local papers for retirement flats near Burton Town Hall, and they stated they accepted housing benefit. Something like that would do me nicely.

Some schemes take people at 60, so I could potentially spend my last few working years in a place of my own as well

How about 55 years of age. Butler Court £414.21 per month.

http://www.anchor.org.uk/our-properties/butler-court-burton-trent

HB would cover £353.51 of that so you would pay £60.70 per month from your benefits/pension.

That's my plan....retire at 55 with my private pension and savings spend the lot before I get to state pension age at 67 and live off that.