Have we got our sums right?? Appraise our plan.

cobson

If the consumer 'sucka' lifestyle doesn't appeal then living at a frugal level of spending just happens naturally. But there are plenty of people on this board who claim that they need £30-50k a year to have a 'comfortable' retirement.

Silvertabby

cobson wrote: »

If the consumer 'sucka' lifestyle doesn't appeal then living at a frugal level of spending just happens naturally. But there are plenty of people on this board who claim that they need £30-50k a year to have a 'comfortable' retirement.

That's us! (although we are currently saving nearly £1K per month). No feelings of guilt whatsoever - we both spent our childhoods in what would be, by today's standards, abject poverty. In my case, that was 5 of us in a 2-up-2-down with no central heating or ready hot water and an outside loo. We lived pay packet to pay packet, with tea the night before payday being jam butties (if we were lucky). No 'free' university for us - that was only for the better off families who could afford to do without the pay packet we were expected to bring in after leaving school at 15.

Most of our pensions come from our combined 50+ years service in the Armed Forces, hence our comfortable retirement.

Sea_Shell

I guess it boils to what each of our own definitions of "comfortable" are.

Plus, guilt should never come into it. We've earned it, it's up to us (all) how we choose to spend it.

Enjoy, no matter what your budget!!!

Silvertabby

Sea_Shell wrote: »

I guess it boils to what each of our own definitions of "comfortable" are.

Exactly. If my mum and dad were still alive, they would no doubt think that we lived like royalty.

kidmugsy

Sea_Shell wrote: »

Shop in Aldi / Primark.

We like Aldi. But the light bulbs we bought there were rubbish.

justme111

so why yu still working?

Sea_Shell

justme111 wrote: »

so why yu still working?

Good question!!;)

doubletop40

Sea_Shell wrote: »

Our current 'Pots' are as follows:
My Pension pots - £107,000 (plus potential widows pension from OH)
OH's pension pots - £130,000, plus 2 Final Salary pots expected to pay £12,000 p.a between them (or reduced Wid Pen)
Shares/Investments - £86,000
Cash (across various types of accounts) - £140,000

I've been keeping track of our spending for a few years, and think we'll need approx. £12-£15k p.a. in full Retirement.

So worst case scenario if we stopped work tomorrow, we'd have £226k available, which should last approx. 15 to 18 years, with our pensions available after that. i.e. defer as long as possible.

Does this all look do-able, or have we made a complete Horlicks of it all.

Assuming your SRP is £7k and your widows pension is £6k (at todays rates), as a widow your income is £12k+ after tax. Thats the worst case scenario. And thats if you deplete your savings and pension pots.
My wife will be in a similar position when I snuff it.
£7k SRP
£8k widows pension
£3k personal pension
Please dont let her know;)





I reckon you have worked too long already.

Sea_Shell

Sea_Shell wrote: »

Our current 'Pots' are as follows:
My Pension pots - £107,000 (plus potential widows pension from OH)
OH's pension pots - £130,000, plus 2 Final Salary pots expected to pay £12,000 p.a between them (or reduced Wid Pen)
Shares/Investments - £86,000
Cash (across various types of accounts) - £140,000

Our pots have moved on a bit since my OP. We are now...

My Pension pot - £128,000
DH's Pot - £146,000
Shares/Investments - £103,000
Cash - £123,000

These exclude any SP and DH's DB pensions.

As for my job..I enjoy it, it's the hours i want (not many!!) the benefits are pretty good too (holiday/pension). But it's nice to know i don't HAVE to keep working, if i decided not to.

Triumph13

Sea_Shell wrote: »

As for my job..I enjoy it, it's the hours i want (not many!!) the benefits are pretty good too (holiday/pension). But it's nice to know i don't HAVE to keep working, if i decided not to.

It should be even nicer to know that you could double your current spending if you wanted to, even if you did stop working now. Congratulations to you for NOT wanting to do so.