Comfortable Pension for a Single Person

GunJack

Only just caught up with this thread...interesting reading, but the number depends very much on the individual.

For example, I could live on far less as a single person than Mrs.G-J could. Thankfully she'll be ok if pop my clogs before her as she'll get either 50% of my DB pensions (if I've retired when it happens) OR Death In-Service lump sums plus survivor's pensions to go with her SP - she'll be ok if I go first.
If she goes first, I'll still have salary and/or DB pensions before SP kicks in.

Assuming I do get to retirement (62-63ish) we'll be better off than we are now....gross income down but disposable income up (no mortgage, NI, or pension contributions). When we both hit SPA, we'll be better off than we'll have ever been before as a couple....

...and will be easily be able to afford to grow old disgracefully together

rickinudon

Interesting thread, seems manh here have good pensions. BUT you need to be prepared for life changing events which could upset your retirement plans.

At 55 i was made redundant - so accepted early retirement as it was slightly more generous, and downsized house, left with a nice cash lump sum. Then things went downhill - couldn't get another proper job (recession starting), wife admits to massive debts, and at 59 i was divorced, no home in UK, a pension of only 11,000 GBP a year and a new wife and child ....

New wife wasn't British, and a year or 2 later the new immigration rules made getting UK settlement unlikely, and UK accommodation unaffordable. So lived abroad with wife in her home country. The lump sum soon melted away, only just made it to State pension age. I thought i could live on my DB pension, boy, was i wrong!

With State pension no longer need to eat into savings, Other changes were the new state pension (never got full amount, as contracted out, and no pension for being married). Then Brexit ..... exchange rates. Although i now get 18,000 GBP a year, in local currency nearly the same as 10 years ago :sad:

Without a house, in the UK we would need a minimum of 24,000 GBP a year as a family, just to exist. Moral - add 50% to what you think you need! And remember that laws and rules could change.

coyrls

VillageIdiot wrote: »

This does not include the cost of buying a car. For my 4,000 miles per year, I work on £15,000 divided by the 100,000 miles it should last, multiplied by 4,000, or £600 per year.

I think you are underestimating the cost of buying a car if you are depreciating it over 25 years!

bugslett

silverwhistle wrote: »

it helps to stay free in a friend's flat, and as you get older those sorts of reciprocal arrangements help. I'm probably going to chuck the fishing rod in the car this summer and head north; again staying a lot with friends and maybe even camping a bit. It's about time I visited the Highlands.. I might try and get some sailing in too, there's normally a need for crew down the sailing club. So you don't need to splash out large sums to be active..

I

My house is not in the right area, over the next few months I will consider if I want to move, but if it were in a better area, I would definitely look at doing the house swap for holiday idea. A friend of mine used to do quite a few and holidayed in some lovely areas for the cost of the travel.

I'm also dithering about a campervan and see no reason why a basic van kitted out by myself ( have watched a LOT:o of youtube videos) again in a very basic fashion, would be a cheap option. Yes, the Highlands, go visit. Beautiful up there!

Barnby

We had budgeted for my wife to receive her pension at 60 in October 2014. When the goalposts were changed it completely changed our forecasts. She will now get her pension in October 2020. I had a small private pension and state pension started August 2013 when I reached 65.
We were fortunate that we had a small savings pot which has diminished due to compensating for loss of wife's state pension.
The delay in paying female pensions until 66 in one fell swoop was financially crippling to thousands of women.
We now survive on just over £14k a year. It could have been so much better. Anybody else in similar position on female pensions?

JoeCrystal

Barnby wrote: »

We had budgeted for my wife to receive her pension at 60 in October 2014. When the goalposts were changed it completely changed our forecasts. She will now get her pension in October 2020. I had a small private pension and state pension started August 2013 when I reached 65.
We were fortunate that we had a small savings pot which has diminished due to compensating for loss of wife's state pension.
The delay in paying female pensions until 66 in one fell swoop was financially crippling to thousands of women.
We now survive on just over £14k a year. It could have been so much better. Anybody else in similar position on female pensions?

Frankly, the law increasing women's state pension age was introduced back in 1995 so you had quite a few years to plan for the increase in the retirement age.

Barnby

Why is then that there are so many disputing the action. It was not widely publicised.

OldMusicGuy

Barnby wrote: »

We now survive on just over £14k a year. It could have been so much better. Anybody else in similar position on female pensions?

Yes, my wife was affected but we were well aware of it in advance and included it in our planning. My wife certainly does not pay a lot of attention to the financial press but she knew the changes were coming.

GunJack

Barnby wrote: »

Why is then that there are so many disputing the action. It was not widely publicised.

I was an early 20's working male when the changes were announced 1994/5, I knew about it, and also that my SP age would be rising...how come you & wife didn't?

WASPI should be translated to "Head-in-Sand Syndrome", or HiSS

bugslett

Barnby wrote: »

Why is then that there are so many disputing the action. It was not widely publicised.

Well the nickname for WASPI is GRASPI. I don't know why there are so many people who didn't know about it. I did and as my 60th birthday comes in 2024 I am affected. But I knew about it in the mid 90s. It was in the papers, on the news.

I don't know if people heard and thought that was a long way off and then didn't bother. There are about 380,000 people affected by the 2011 changes, but those affected by the changes in the mid 90s, sorry it was out there.

There is a thread on discussion time about it at the moment

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5990926/thats-bloody-rich-pension-age-is-now-the-first-time-the-same-for-men-and-women-and-so-women-are-co

Far as I'm concerned, post 29 says it all.