How much to live on

sevenhills

Having read the first page and a poster stated that they spend £400 per month, I have a 95 year old relative and I would say that he spends around £300 per month.
He is really tight and wants the cheapest of everything. I spend less than £1,000 month, but I am not retired and paying a mortgage. 

in_my_wellies

otb666 said:

we were made redundant in pandemic hubby mar21 aged 57 me jan 22 aged 56, we had severances which paid off mortgage and debt which left 35k in savings and 5500 pa DB pension and drawdown pension 18000 pa. which will take us up to state pension age.  We use 600 food 600 bills and 600 everything else per month.  The electric and gas are fixed until feb 24 just under the current SVT at 240pm after that it will be 300pm.  Hopefully got wiggle room.  Unfortunately since retirement time has been taken up looking after parent who insists on staying at home. We have also had a son return home but hopefully both will be for the short term only otherwise its like we never stopped work as work pressures has been replaced by home responsibilities pressures 

Are you getting NI Credits towards your SP? The doctor can sign the form if they aren't receiving AA or another qualifying benefit

Time4T_Accounts

I packed in four years ago, aged 60. I’m completely savings / DC.  The  25% tax free has been bridging the gap to SP. My overall retirement fund (investments plus cash) is currently up about 7.5% on when I finished work (which I’m very happy with, given how much I’ve spent).  I’ve recently taken a big chunk of tax free to cover living costs for the next 4 years - given the whisperings about recession, I figured I’d rather face inflation than having to sell investments at recessionary prices.  I did keep my mind engaged during lockdown by doing some self-employed work at my last firm, but the pay for that has been saved ‘outside’ retirement planning.

On balance, I’m’up’ against the retirement financial plan, and so am very happy so far.

Good luck, all

otb666

@in_my_wellies i have full  SP credits already Hubby only 15p off full SP having checked Already online.  We do about 18 hours a week 9 each so short for carers benefit and we are hoping to reduce this after xmas As hoping to convince him to pay for a professional as FIL gets AA.  Also dont want to be indebted to him and have a benefit off his back as he will then treat us differently if we are kinda employed by him.

Albermarle

Steve_PL_too said:

I packed in four years ago, aged 60. I’m completely savings / DC.  The  25% tax free has been bridging the gap to SP. My overall retirement fund (investments plus cash) is currently up about 7.5% on when I finished work (which I’m very happy with, given how much I’ve spent).  I’ve recently taken a big chunk of tax free to cover living costs for the next 4 years - given the whisperings about recession, I figured I’d rather face inflation than having to sell investments at recessionary prices.  I did keep my mind engaged during lockdown by doing some self-employed work at my last firm, but the pay for that has been saved ‘outside’ retirement planning.

On balance, I’m’up’ against the retirement financial plan, and so am very happy so far.

Good luck, all

given the whisperings about recession, I figured I’d rather face inflation than having to sell investments at recessionary prices. 
You should try and resist second guessing the market. For example, some kind of recession in UK/Europe is expected by nearly everybody, so the market will already have priced it in. Also the US, which is over 60% of the global financial markets looks like it might avoid one altogether.

Personally I retired just over a year ago, and of course the real value of my cash savings is going down, the real value of my modest DB pension is going down (increased by only 4% this year) and the real and actual value of my DC pots/investments have gone down. If I add it all up, I am a large and slightly scary amount down in real terms from when I retired. However I worked probably three more years than I really needed to, so I have a big buffer, so not losing much sleep about it (yet ) 

I am a lot more worried about persistent high inflation than the stock markets. They have done well for many years and now having a bit of a rough patch. That's the way investing works, and in fact have added to investments in last 6 months, with varying results so far.

Time4T_Accounts

Albermarle said:

Steve_PL_too said:

I packed in four years ago, aged 60. I’m completely savings / DC.  The  25% tax free has been bridging the gap to SP. My overall retirement fund (investments plus cash) is currently up about 7.5% on when I finished work (which I’m very happy with, given how much I’ve spent).  I’ve recently taken a big chunk of tax free to cover living costs for the next 4 years - given the whisperings about recession, I figured I’d rather face inflation than having to sell investments at recessionary prices.  I did keep my mind engaged during lockdown by doing some self-employed work at my last firm, but the pay for that has been saved ‘outside’ retirement planning.

On balance, I’m’up’ against the retirement financial plan, and so am very happy so far.

Good luck, all

given the whisperings about recession, I figured I’d rather face inflation than having to sell investments at recessionary prices. 
You should try and resist second guessing the market. For example, some kind of recession in UK/Europe is expected by nearly everybody, so the market will already have priced it in. Also the US, which is over 60% of the global financial markets looks like it might avoid one altogether.

Personally I retired just over a year ago, and of course the real value of my cash savings is going down, the real value of my modest DB pension is going down (increased by only 4% this year) and the real and actual value of my DC pots/investments have gone down. If I add it all up, I am a large and slightly scary amount down in real terms from when I retired. However I worked probably three more years than I really needed to, so I have a big buffer, so not losing much sleep about it (yet ) 

I am a lot more worried about persistent high inflation than the stock markets. They have done well for many years and now having a bit of a rough patch. That's the way investing works, and in fact have added to investments in last 6 months, with varying results so far.

Thanks, but I certainly don’t believe in trying to second guess, or time the market : my decision was all about having  peace of mind for the next few years.  My wife has a DB pension, and she has far greater peace of mind than I do! 

Roger175

Kim1965 said:

Many people have contribuzed to this thread over the last 1 and half years. Those already retired, im interested if their retirement finances have been robust in the current climate? Likewise those approaching retirement, have your plans altered?
 Im nearly 58, working still. Plan to go at 60 (or do a bit of very part time work). I could go part time now but feel the need to accumulate more. 
 Anybody feeling the pinch? Or working on? 

I'm 58½ and could almost certainly afford to go now. My wife (59 next month) retired in August and I always intended following within a year or so. I add the 'or so' because I'm a freelance consultant in the construction industry and my projects have a duration. I can't just retire on a given day as I have to see out those projects to which I commit to, so it's a question of when do I turn off the tap in terms of taking on new work. 

Although I'm reasonably sure we have enough retirement provision, I just feel the need to keep accumulating. My perception is that things are going to get very messy and that's affecting my judgement on when to press that button. We're certainly not feeling the pinch as you put it, but we could do in years to come if I make the wrong call now.

Albermarle

Although I'm reasonably sure we have enough retirement provision, I just feel the need to keep accumulating. My perception is that things are going to get very messy and that's affecting my judgement on when to press that button. We're certainly not feeling the pinch as you put it, but we could do in years to come if I make the wrong call now.

Maybe you have the so called OMY (one more year) syndrome?

If you go this forum Pensions, annuities & retirement planning — MoneySavingExpert Forum and post your financial position, you will get (mainly) informed comments about whether you can afford to retire or not, and maybe some useful pointers. Best to include as much detail as possible, including your planned expenditure.

Normally the answer is that you could retire now, as typical MSE readers tend to be a bit on the cautious side. 

Roger175

Albermarle said:

Although I'm reasonably sure we have enough retirement provision, I just feel the need to keep accumulating. My perception is that things are going to get very messy and that's affecting my judgement on when to press that button. We're certainly not feeling the pinch as you put it, but we could do in years to come if I make the wrong call now.

Maybe you have the so called OMY (one more year) syndrome?

If you go this forum Pensions, annuities & retirement planning — MoneySavingExpert Forum and post your financial position, you will get (mainly) informed comments about whether you can afford to retire or not, and maybe some useful pointers. Best to include as much detail as possible, including your planned expenditure.

Normally the answer is that you could retire now, as typical MSE readers tend to be a bit on the cautious side. 

Did that earlier this year. In fact, you were one of the kind contributors, although the response was pretty limited. see here:- https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6329254/thoughts-on-our-early-retirement-plans#latest

Albermarle

Roger175 said:

Albermarle said:

Although I'm reasonably sure we have enough retirement provision, I just feel the need to keep accumulating. My perception is that things are going to get very messy and that's affecting my judgement on when to press that button. We're certainly not feeling the pinch as you put it, but we could do in years to come if I make the wrong call now.

Maybe you have the so called OMY (one more year) syndrome?

If you go this forum Pensions, annuities & retirement planning — MoneySavingExpert Forum and post your financial position, you will get (mainly) informed comments about whether you can afford to retire or not, and maybe some useful pointers. Best to include as much detail as possible, including your planned expenditure.

Normally the answer is that you could retire now, as typical MSE readers tend to be a bit on the cautious side. 

Did that earlier this year. In fact, you were one of the kind contributors, although the response was pretty limited. see here:- https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6329254/thoughts-on-our-early-retirement-plans#latest

The amount of responses does vary. Probably in your case, it was clear you had a pretty good grasp of the situation ( running scenarios through Voyant for example) and the questions you were asking about drawdown strategies,cash flow modelling etc  would have meant some detailed answers pretty much amounting to real personal financial advice. In this case you would probably be better paying for advice, rather than relying on people on an internet forum. If you had just asked 'do you think I have got enough' you would have probably got more responses. It looks like you do have enough by the way.