What is a GOOD pension Pot to retire on??

bigfreddiel

Our household income from pensions including state pensions is £32k net

We seem to have as much if not more disposable income now than when I was working!

No mortgage, no pension payment, no commuting, and generous tax allowance bands (£17k tax free for my wife :-) ) helps this.

So it's all good right now. Also have a nice cushion of cash, and equities, a few hundred k, which is reinvested right now as no need for the income.

And we've both never really made any effort to save into a pension, just taken the company offerings, luckily the majority were final salary schemes with very low contribution rates, and we both had full state pension records. Cheers fj

enthusiasticsaver

My OH retires this year and I plan to retire in 2018. This is something we have been hoping to do for the last 5 years and have been preparing by building up our savings and recording all our spends so we know what we need to live on. Like you I came up with around £1500-£2000 net per month to be comfortable and ideally a capital buffer with savings and lump sum of around £100k considering we will have probably at least 20-25 years in retirement. We have no mortgage any more. We were working on keeping to our existing spending patterns but without saving at the level we do now. 2 holidays a year, enough for 2-3 days out a week and our existing spending should be covered with around £20-24k net per annum.

EdGasket

I am hoping £12K a year will be enough for me and the Mrs until state pension kicks in. We own our house outright. We do view the odd trip to a coffee shop as a luxury. Our interests don't really cost anything. Having more 'time to kill' does not have to equate to spending more; it can be the opposite for instance if you grow your own veg.

Techno

Can I assume that the numbers everyone is quoting is household income rather than individual?
OH has hit 55 and my turn next year. We are debating on taking early retirement next year and using the sipps to fund us until 60 when the work pensions kick in - looking at a net, annual household income of £25k (from sipps initially and then company pensions) with savings in isas to draw on for capital expenditure and big holidays etc.
State pension will kick in at 67 (at least I hope so as we may well have spent quite a bit of the savings pot by then as we intend to travel)

Pennysmakepounds

Good to see my 20k net is about right.

I'm hoping to achieve that from buy to let properties on the whole with some small amount from my OH pension.

All being well the next 15 years I intend to build up a portfolio of about 5/6 cheapish properties that can yield about 2k net per month.

Hopefully they will see me through retirement and will make a nice inheritance for the kids..

Now all I have to do is find some properties for about 5/10k each. Lol

Thank you all.

atush

And the new tax regime re BTL hasnt put you off?

Pennysmakepounds

atush wrote: »

And the new tax regime re BTL hasnt put you off?

A bit, but still worth it in the long run in my opinion.

MEM62

westv wrote: »

You would like to think that most people who retire will own their own property so leaving that out of the figures, is there really much difference in living costs around the country?

Perhaps not in the future - home ownership is declining UK-wide and affordability, particularly in the south, is becoming a real problem. I can see the majority being renters in retirement unless something changes.

MEM62

atush wrote: »

And the new tax regime re BTL hasnt put you off?

It may put some off but not those in my position. I didn't BTL but lived in my own property in the West London / Surrey area. When my girlfriend and I decided to buy a house together I kept it. The mortgage is small enough that the rent covers the cost and it is now a retirement investment rather than a home. (I am 54 and hope that retirement for me will be circa 10 years or so away - sooner if I can pick the right 6 numbers!)

atush

Pennysmakepounds wrote: »

A bit, but still worth it in the long run in my opinion.

The income is taxed, the capital gain is taxed, and you pay an extra 3% stamp duty? As opposed to a pension where you get tax relief ont he way in, and the gain isnt taxed (except as income when taken out and you can use your PA).

Doesnt make a whole lot of sense to me, unless you are going for HOMO near hospitals or universities.