How much to live on

Kim1965

Pennyforthem.
Yes indeed, i am in a scenario of having to equate our number for a couple, but due to my wifes illness the number for a single retiree. 
 I think a single retiree needs 2/3 the number of a couple.. Increasingly the db spousal benefit is 37.5%, and two full sp is a good bedrock for a couple. I guess dc pots win over db in such circumstances. 

PennyForThem_2

As long as the survivor can manage the DC pot.  And the rest of the usual house budgeting.  I may be making a massive assumption but I get the feeling that often only 1 of a partnership manages the finances.

otb666

we both do finances together and know passwords etc.  My mother in law is like you suggested head in sand type and no interest.  Unfortunately my hubby has to make sure he is up to speed with their finances as he would have to sort it all if anything happened to his dad.

[Deleted User]

Just read a post on the pension forum board ,as I thought it looked interesting ,now wish I hadn't! A couple thinking of retiring this year, but not sure they have enough! Joint DB pensions of about £20000 now plus two full state pensions to come.(So say another £18000) Savings and investments of another £300000. What planet are some of these people on! Makes me feel poverty stricken. Why do they feel the need to ask others if they can retire! Thank goodness for this thread.

jevbanx1

Baron_Dale
It's posts such as those that really make me wonder what I'm doing...
I 'm on my own and fret that there's no way I can exist of some folk have such a large pot! Glad I never read it directly. 

Kim1965

[Deleted User] said:

Just read a post on the pension forum board ,as I thought it looked interesting ,now wish I hadn't! A couple thinking of retiring this year, but not sure they have enough! Joint DB pensions of about £20000 now plus two full state pensions to come.(So say another £18000) Savings and investments of another £300000. What planet are some of these people on! Makes me feel poverty stricken. Why do they feel the need to ask others if they can retire! Thank goodness for this thread.

I too am astounded by SOME of the threads. Very much depends on what the op standard of living is, while I as a singleton could be happy with 20 odd k a year in retirement, another would need 40k. Im more surprised by those who manage on 15k or less to be honest. 

MovingForwards

My stance is if I have a good life on under £18k* take-home pay a year, then being retired and having £1k a month with no mortgage will still give me the same lifestyle.

* under £5200 of that goes on my mortgage, nearly £4k goes into savings and I run a car.

blue.peter

Kim1965 said:

  Very much depends on what the op standard of living is,

Yes, exactly. As I said a week or two ago to Gin_and_Milk, it depends entirely on your own lifestyle.

A far better test than asking someone else whether you can afford to retire is to analyse your own actual spending over a period of at least a year (and preferably two or three). Just going over bank statements to see what you've spent is enough: there's no need for detailed categorisation of every payment unless you intend to alter your lifestyle significantly at the point of retirement.

Another test that you can do as you approach your intended retirement date is to try living on your expected retirement income for a year or so.

Changing the subject, inflation has bitten me again. I got another e-mail from Good Energy this morning. They're putting their prices up again on 1 July. I get my pension increase at the end of this month, and almost all of it will be going straight to them. Those of you with energy supplies subject to the Ofgem price cap should expect a substantial increase next time it's updated.

drummersdale

[Deleted User] said:

Just read a post on the pension forum board ,as I thought it looked interesting ,now wish I hadn't! A couple thinking of retiring this year, but not sure they have enough! Joint DB pensions of about £20000 now plus two full state pensions to come.(So say another £18000) Savings and investments of another £300000. What planet are some of these people on! Makes me feel poverty stricken. Why do they feel the need to ask others if they can retire! Thank goodness for this thread.

Yes I did raise a wry smile when I read that one myself - £38,000 per annum as a couple plus £300k is a problem I wouldn’t mind having lol 😂 

Kim1965

To be fair, i think the couple are 58? Require 27k pa, have 16 pa idb in two years. Have 300k savings. 
 So in my book if they spend 54 k over the next two years, 77k (60 to 67), they will be down to their last170k at 67! 
At that point they will have more money than they need and can start saving again!