How much to live on

[Deleted User]

Kim1965 said:

Tps career average spousal benefit is 37.5 %, not 50. So anything acrued post 2015 is career average. 

This may depend on whether or not you are affected by the McCloud Judgement. Also rights before 2015 I believe are protected.

QrizB

This is as good a thread as any for this.

I was speaking to my parents (both in their late 70s) last week about retirement incomes. They own their own house, run two (old) cars and an (old) campervan, have a dog and take a couple of (campervan) holidays to Europe each year for 4-6 weeks at a time.

Their combined income, from two state pensions and a small CS DB pension, is approx. £17k pa.

They are enjoying life on a budget!

cbsexec

QrizB said:

This is as good a thread as any for this.

I was speaking to my parents (both in their late 70s) last week about retirement incomes. They own their own house, run two (old) cars and an (old) campervan, have a dog and take a couple of (campervan) holidays to Europe each year for 4-6 weeks at a time.

Their combined income, from two state pensions and a small CS DB pension, is approx. £17k pa.

They are enjoying life on a budget!

My sort of pension income and probably the income of a lot of others too.   These pension threads sometimes make me feel very inadequate ☹️.   

[Deleted User]

cbsexec said:

QrizB said:

This is as good a thread as any for this.

I was speaking to my parents (both in their late 70s) last week about retirement incomes. They own their own house, run two (old) cars and an (old) campervan, have a dog and take a couple of (campervan) holidays to Europe each year for 4-6 weeks at a time.

Their combined income, from two state pensions and a small CS DB pension, is approx. £17k pa.

They are enjoying life on a budget!

My sort of pension income and probably the income of a lot of others too.   These pension threads sometimes make me feel very inadequate ☹️.   

Never feel inadequate! If your retirement income suits your lifestyle the amount doesn’t matter. I have been there and know it is easy to compare yourself unfavourably to others who seem to have so much. However, as I have got older I know that good relationships, quality of life of life and health are the most important things in retirement. (And life generally). As can be seen from the post above it can be done on a budget too! Best wishes.

Nebulous2

QrizB said:

This is as good a thread as any for this.

I was speaking to my parents (both in their late 70s) last week about retirement incomes. They own their own house, run two (old) cars and an (old) campervan, have a dog and take a couple of (campervan) holidays to Europe each year for 4-6 weeks at a time.

Their combined income, from two state pensions and a small CS DB pension, is approx. £17k pa.

They are enjoying life on a budget!

That was the kind of lifestyle we aspired to in retirement. A combination of covid and caring responsibilities means it hasn't happened yet and brexit has made it more complicated in terms of timescales and dogs. I haven't given up on it completely however. 

Campsites on the continent can be very expensive, but the season is much shorter than it is here. Out of season you get an ACSI card, which gives you a site, electric and a couple of showers for a fixed price. I'm a bit out of touch, but probably around 15 euros a night now. They also do deals, like a 7 for 5, where you pay for 5 nights and get a week. Spending a few weeks in France pottering around, cycling and exploring an area is about as close to ideal as it gets for me. 

I've also struggled to come to terms with the fact that the journey can be part of the holiday. I've been used to doing a lot of driving, we've over 600 miles to get to the channel ports, and I've usually done it in one go, previously overnight. Accepting that being retired it is okay to spend 3 days getting to Dover has needed an adjustment. It's also okay to spend 5 nights on a campsite, move 50-70 miles and repeat, I don't need to do 200 miles to the next stop. 

Anyway, a hearty congratulations to your parents. They seem to have it sussed. 





 

BooJewels

These posts remind me of my parents - they had a motorhome and travelled extensively both here and overseas in it and it brought them great joy.  Dad rang my sister and I one week and invited us over for Sunday dinner and said they'd something important to tell us, but not to worry.  They both greeted us at the end of the drive when we arrived and said "sorry girls, we've spent your inheritance" and did the big reveal on a shiny new motorhome.   They'd / we'd travelled with a trailer tent before then, but decided they wanted a bit more comfort.  I think they must have been about 60 then.

That vehicle and an 'upgrade' that followed it a few years later brought immeasurable happiness for all of us - they went overland to Switzerland for 6 weeks every summer, right up to their early 80s, their last overseas holiday.  But they did a few UK trips after that.  We had many family days out and meet ups - up to 6 of us crammed around the dining table with 2 dogs trying to join in, after a day out walking or attending some event.  A lot of laughing and trying to eat without engaging the elbows. My son spent many school holidays in it with them.

One thing they did in later years @Nebulous2 to cut down on the tedious southward trip to the ferry, was to go overnight from Hull instead.  The ferry left early evening, so they'd have a nice evening on the boat having a meal, watch the sunset, then have a cabin overnight and a shower and breakfast before disembarking in Rotterdam around 9am.  The ferry cost more of course, but Dad reckoned when balanced against the petrol cost, there wasn't much in it and it certainly felt better - and certainly when compared to them splitting the trip, as you're saying and adding an overnight stop in part way which they did before they looked at the Hull departure.  I just had a quick look and it seems for a small motorhome (<7m) it starts from around £600 return with the basic set up - they went for something a bit better with drinks and meals included and twin beds instead of bunks.

My sister and I have talked recently about potential small motorhomes in our future and looked at a few for sale - I think she'll certainly end up getting one at some point - she's aiming to retire early in about 4 years.

joedenise

Can I just say to those of you with or thinking of getting motorhomes don't forget that you can stay on little village aires rather than campsites and they are open all year and tend to cost a lot less than campsites and are often free with just a small charge for water which of course isn't needed every day.

We are quite lucky as we're only an hour or so away from either Folkestone for the tunnel or Dover for the ferries.  Sometimes we prefer to travel the extra distance and go from Newhaven to Dieppe which is cheaper for over 60s as you get a 20% discount as an older person.  It also saves the journey and fuel of crossing across France if you want to travel the west coast.  

Having the motorhome means that we can have more holidays than we otherwise would and being retired we have plenty of time for them!

Kim1965

Agree, more like 50 %,if you have no mortgage, kids through uni and cease pension payments. 

Organgrinder

Kim1965 said:

Agree, more like 50 %,if you have no mortgage, kids through uni and cease pension payments. 

As a teacher I'll roughly save 20% straight away through not paying pension contributions and NI.

A quick calculation on the salary calculator website shows that someone on £36,000 retired has a higher monthly income than working full time on £45,000.

If you add in a mortgage (i'm 56 and still have one @£500 a month) then the equivalent retired income drops to £28,000.

In gross terms this is 62% of the original figure much like @[Deleted User] stated.

Now here for me is the most amazing part. If you can plug the gap between when you want to retire and SPA, your pension needs on the above basis drops to £18,000 a figure equivalent to 40% of the original gross salary.

DT2001

Elenaa said:

Estimating retirement expenses varies, but a rule of thumb is 70-80% of per-retirement income. Consider basic needs, healthcare, hobbies, and travel. Prioritize a comfortable safety net. It's about financial peace, not excess. Share insights, learn, and plan wisely.

I agree with providing financial peace however IMO there is no rule of thumb as we are all unique. My reasoning for suggesting this is the number of variables which can affect the % of expenditure to pre retirement income - level of pension/saving contributions, work costs, income variation (especially self employed/one person or small limited companies, whether you phase your retirement by reducing hours, downsizing, children leaving home etc.
Everyone needs to draw up their own budget when planning (utilising some very helpful threads on this forum) and work from there.