Comfortable Pension for a Single Person

kev2009

Hi,

Not sure about part time work, i'm only 41 so got fair way to go yet but due to job, not sure would be able to do part time but may do part time in different job if wanted/able to by then, would need to see.

At the moment plan as said is to save what i can and pay what i can into mortgage which for few years will mean just saving & paying what i saved that year into mortgage but hopefully will feel reward later but may become annoying if it feels like all i'm doing is working, saving, paying mortgage and nothing else but will see how it goes. Could be a nice idea but bad in practice.

Kev

kev2009

tigerspill wrote: »

To understand what I need I have been recording every penny I spend since 1st January 2017. So I have over 2 years of actual data. I have about 20 groups I track this under so I know where every single penny goes.
I did this in preparation for me stopping work at the end of this month.

And how did it go? any surprises? will you have sufficient income or will you need to work bit longer or part time work?

I track main expenses i.e mortgage, bills etc but not every penny, i use some for bits and pieces i need or want or 1 off purchases.

Kev

Flim

I have tracked our spending for 20+ years. It does surprise me that most people don’t do this, at least at a basic level, (I only have about 10 categories), but then I suppose I’mI a bit of a sad excel geek). The information gathered over this time frame really helped our decision to go early. We actually intend to spend about 50% more during the initial years of retirement. The biggest problem is actually getting your head around the concept of “spending” and watching your pot deplete when you have spent years saving and watching it grow...can be quite scary...

JillyC8

kev2009 wrote: »

Hi,

Not sure about part time work, i'm only 41 so got fair way to go yet but due to job, not sure would be able to do part time but may do part time in different job if wanted/able to by then, would need to see.

At the moment plan as said is to save what i can and pay what i can into mortgage which for few years will mean just saving & paying what i saved that year into mortgage but hopefully will feel reward later but may become annoying if it feels like all i'm doing is working, saving, paying mortgage and nothing else but will see how it goes. Could be a nice idea but bad in practice.

Kev

I took out my latest mortgage at age 49 for 20 years and am also chipping away at it by overpaying so I can get it down so it is paid off at 65 if I possibly can. Remember also due to the pension freedoms 25% of your pension can be taken at age 55 ... I plan to take a small amount at 55 to bring my mortgage term down further so maybe that's something you could consider down the line to help things along?

I also feel like I'm focused mostly on saving /overpaying but I don't feel deprived. Some of what I was spending was wasteful (work lunches etc), but this month I won't be overpaying as I'm planning a trip to London with my daughter. I think it's a case of being sensible and making sure you still have a decent lifestyle, i.e. Mixing it up a bit.

JillyC8

Flim wrote: »

I have tracked our spending for 20+ years. It does surprise me that most people don’t do this, at least at a basic level, (I only have about 10 categories), but then I suppose I’mI a bit of a sad excel geek). The information gathered over this time frame really helped our decision to go early. We actually intend to spend about 50% more during the initial years of retirement. The biggest problem is actually getting your head around the concept of “spending” and watching your pot deplete when you have spent years saving and watching it grow...can be quite scary...

This is something I've recently started doing via a free app. Very useful.

kev2009

JillyC8 wrote: »

I took out my latest mortgage at age 49 for 20 years and am also chipping away at it by overpaying so I can get it down so it is paid off at 65 if I possibly can. Remember also due to the pension freedoms 25% of your pension can be taken at age 55 ... I plan to take a small amount at 55 to bring my mortgage term down further so maybe that's something you could consider down the line to help things along?

I also feel like I'm focused mostly on saving /overpaying but I don't feel deprived. Some of what I was spending was wasteful (work lunches etc), but this month I won't be overpaying as I'm planning a trip to London with my daughter. I think it's a case of being sensible and making sure you still have a decent lifestyle, i.e. Mixing it up a bit.

Hi,


My understanding was you only get the 25% tax free when you actually take your pension and therefore start receiving a income from your pension. Unfortunately I don’t foresee myself being able to retire at 55 so I won’t be taxing my 25% tax free probably until 65 earliest. My official state pension age will be 68 by then but I don’t particularly want to go to 68. Ideally I’d like to go around 60 but not sure that will be possible. Work pension has me down as 65 as that was my state pension age when I started and they not adjusted it so I’m working towards that with a ideal of hoping to go sooner, just depends how long it takes to pay off mortgage and when I can increase pension contributions. Also, not sure my place is a forever place but admittedly time is not on my side if I want to move as getting another mortgage will prob be difficult at 55 as paying it of in 10 years would be tough, if not impossible I suspect.

I agree needs to be a mix/balance between saving & enjoying life, at the moment I’m trying to do both with a view to reducing mortgage as much as possible.

Kev

JillyC8

kev2009 wrote: »

Hi,


My understanding was you only get the 25% tax free when you actually take your pension and therefore start receiving a income from your pension. Unfortunately I don’t foresee myself being able to retire at 55 so I won’t be taxing my 25% tax free probably until 65 earliest. My official state pension age will be 68 by then but I don’t particularly want to go to 68. Ideally I’d like to go around 60 but not sure that will be possible. Work pension has me down as 65 as that was my state pension age when I started and they not adjusted it so I’m working towards that with a ideal of hoping to go sooner, just depends how long it takes to pay off mortgage and when I can increase pension contributions. Also, not sure my place is a forever place but admittedly time is not on my side if I want to move as getting another mortgage will prob be difficult at 55 as paying it of in 10 years would be tough, if not impossible I suspect.

I agree needs to be a mix/balance between saving & enjoying life, at the moment I’m trying to do both with a view to reducing mortgage as much as possible.

Kev

I think it depends on the type of pension or pensions you have. If it's a Defined Benefit you have to wait till retirement date or take a reduced pension if taken early, but a Defined Contribution pension (the most common these days) can be accessed at 55 but I'm sure you can leave 75% invested ... someone will correct me if I'm wrong I'm sure ...

penny_less

JillyC8 wrote: »

This is something I've recently started doing via a free app. Very useful.

Which free app do you use?
Finding this thread really useful, btw

happynot

Some really interesting and potentially useful post. Thank you!

Also, there are some good threads / posts on the over 50's site, particularly, but not limited to, excelpaul and mrcrv1963.

What a lovely sunny day!

JillyC8

penny_less wrote: »

Which free app do you use?
Finding this thread really useful, btw

Hi, if you type in 'Spending Tracker' on the App Store, there are lots on there. The one I use is the MH Riley one which is an image of a brown wallet.

I'm finding this thread so useful too; I was beginning to think I was the only person who has worked all their life with an 'unsurvivable' pension pot under £250k until I started this thread! :rotfl: