How much to live on

Brighton01

Sort of! It's just below £19k but bigger lump sum or just above £19k with smaller lump sum. After tax, I could have £30 more a month or £13000 more on my lump sum.

Are you hoping to retire early too?

[Deleted User]

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/80026925#Comment_80026925

With a respectable index linked pension of £19000 a year and savings most people would dream of having I day go for it! You can always do a bit of part time work if necessary but I doubt it would be so.a

Good luck and best wishes.

Brighton01

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/80027182#Comment_80027182

Thank you! I think it's just hard to go from saving to spending! I keep thinking that my savings must be enough…& then have a bit of a panic!

Thank you also for providing your breakdown of spending in previous posts. They are very useful.

Can I just ask - I know you talk about having set amounts for different things set aside each month- do you actually have them in different accounts?

Many thanks

[Deleted User]

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/80027203#Comment_80027203

I have three current accounts two in my sole name and one joint account. The joint account is with an older relative who lives with me. I put in £550 from my own current account into the joint account monthly to cover most household bills and fuel. My older relative puts in a bit less because they have less income. From my main personal current account I pay the BT Bill, my funeral plan,icloud back amd my monthly HP Ink. My miscellaneous spends also come out of this account. I transfer £150 into my second current account (back up account). I also use this to pay for Dentist, Christmas and Birthday presents.

I transfer £300 a month into a savings account for the annual bills, subscriptions and clothes plus house and garden maintenance.

Most spending categories have an annual budget that I keep on a spreadsheet and update as spending take place.

To be honest I dont have a budget for the monthly household bills and fuel. These are mainly paid for by direct debits and rarely change. We do try to keep food, fuel and household items to about £400 a month.We put about £1000 a month between us into the joint account.We have a buffer of £500 to £600 in that account. We also pay Council Tax over 10 months so the no payment months of February and March add to the buffer.

At the moment I am adding my part time earnings to savings and my S&S ISA. When I enter full retirement in June I will reduce contributions to long term savings until my state pension kicks in next year.

I have a decent emergency fund in a cash ISA . In another savings account I have my travel money and funds for fun activities.

I have far far less savings than yourself but feel quite secure with paid for house, no debt and no dependents.

So to answer your question no I do not really have lots of accounts!

Hope this helps.

Tastiger

As someone who is about to take the leap into retirement, I'm looking to run it as follows if this helps. I should point out I have an index linked DB pension, so my strategy will run alongside this.

1. Have a bucket containing 3 years worth of cash - enough to hopefully ride out any bear markets. This and my DB will provide my annual "salary" which I have set a budget for.
2. A SIPP and S&S ISA pot.When the markets are doing well, I will draw off these to top up my cash bucket.
3. I will run both down from age 58 to 67, when my state pension will take over the role of supplementing the bucket.

Brighton01

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/80027547#Comment_80027547

Thanks again.

I think I need at least 1 more account- both in case of technical hitches but also to separate bills/annual payments from money I can spend each month.

In terms of my savings, it's hard to judge irl as it's not something I discuss with friends- that's why people like you being so open on here is so useful.

Thank you 😊

Brighton01

it does help- thank you!

I don't have a sipp but will use the lump sum to supplement my DB pension and, hopefully, my S&S ISA will start to improve soon!!

Albermarle

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/80027702#Comment_80027702

Just to give you an idea.

If you were to buy a £19,000 pa guaranteed pension for life , linked to inflation,( in the open market for annuities) at age 57 it would cost a LOT . In fact in excess of half a Million Pounds. Public sector pensions are very generous .

So with overall pension/savings/investments of maybe £750,000 on paper at least , you are way above average.

Not being critical, just putting things in perspective. It also highlights how much you really need to retire early.

Brighton01

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/80027893#Comment_80027893

Thank you. I think my worries are just because the date when I need to make a decision is suddenly very close! I do appreciate that I'm very lucky & I've been planning for this for a while. Not sure why I'm feeling so uncertain all of a sudden 🤷‍♀️

Brighton01

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/80026966#Comment_80026966

Sorry Daffodil- I missed your post.

Yes I've been living off this for a while now to try it out (a great suggestion from another forum) so it should cover most things. I do hope to do more hobbies but they are fairly low cost - & travel should be funded by the lump sum that comes with my pension.

To be honest I'm not sure what I'm asking! Just having a little panic!