How much to live on

Albermarle

littleboo said:

Regarding earlier posts and the effect of not paying into a pension, NI etc. Surely the only way to look at this is using net income? Its quite possible/likely that a retiree's income tax band can change during their retirement - when the state pension is drawn, if they become the beneficiary of a deceased DC pension etc. All my planning is based on what we actually spend now and how much net income we will have from different scenarios at different phases of retirement. Pre-tax income seems irrelevant unless you are looking to manage income to avoid crossing an income tax threshold. 

You are essentially correct, but many people and media articles about retirement etc mix up gross and net spending, so its worth just clarifying the point sometimes.

Albermarle

and if I do eventually move in with my partner it will no doubt increase my expenditure a lot more, as I am reasonably frugal and look for value for money in everything that I do, where as she is a weapon of massive consumption! :  )

Some room for 'interesting discussions' here !


Many people seem to heat their house up for an hour in the morning before going to work, which seems like a waste of money to me, if like me it only takes twenty minutes to half an hour to get up and out the door (I wash and get everything ready the night before.)
So I usually put it on for an hour or so in the evening, then use an electric fire in the bedroom for ten minutes when I go to bed.

If you live together how would your partner feel about your heating arrangements?

I think maybe you will need to agree some sort of middle ground on both topics if you move in together , or as the song goes ' there may be trouble ahead...' 

barnstar2077

Albermarle said:

and if I do eventually move in with my partner it will no doubt increase my expenditure a lot more, as I am reasonably frugal and look for value for money in everything that I do, where as she is a weapon of massive consumption! :  )

Some room for 'interesting discussions' here !


Many people seem to heat their house up for an hour in the morning before going to work, which seems like a waste of money to me, if like me it only takes twenty minutes to half an hour to get up and out the door (I wash and get everything ready the night before.)
So I usually put it on for an hour or so in the evening, then use an electric fire in the bedroom for ten minutes when I go to bed.

If you live together how would your partner feel about your heating arrangements?

I think maybe you will need to agree some sort of middle ground on both topics if you move in together , or as the song goes ' there may be trouble ahead...' 

Yes, this is why I have listed her under potential pitfalls.  A beautiful, beautiful pitfall :  )

gambleruk

barnstar2077 said:

I have been hanging out on the pensions board for a while, especially in the paupers thread, but having read through here in the last week I can see that there are other cool places to hang out on the MSE forums! :   )

I am 46 and a bit, currently working a four day week, and aim to retire at 55.  My bills, including food and a small mortgage, come to £6k a year (I don't drive, drink or smoke.)

I salary sacrifice money into my works pension (and receive a surprisingly generous amount from the company), but also add £80 to a SIPP and £333.34 into my ISA at the moment.  When I hit my ISA target I will switch to putting everything into my pension.  I currently give myself about £400 a month spending money.

I have a pretty high risk/high reward strategy of 100% equities for my pension and ISA as I am flexible as to when I stop, and I don't mind adjusting my outgoings a bit, or thinking outside the box after I am retired (if I have to.)

My current aim is to have £70k in my ISA and £200k+ in my combined pensions at 55 in order for me to pull the trigger.   I stress that this is my current plan, as it seems to change every week (I am obsessed! :   )

I am calling 55 to 57 my Party Years, as I plan on using £40k of my ISA to bridge the two year gap until I am able to access my pension.  These two years will be a celebration of completing my goal and finally retiring.  This will leave me £30k in my ISA that will be used for one off big purchases, like new boilers etc, while my pension will provide me with a monthly amount to get me to state pension age, with hopefully enough left over to supplement SP into my seventies.

If I run out of my personal pension after the age of 75 I will have had twenty years of great memories to look back on, and my £30k should still bring me peace of mind in case of needing a new roof etc.  I am painfully aware that not everyone makes it to 75 so plan on enjoying myself in my 50's and 60's (God willing!)

I currently have £40k in my ISA and £130k in my combined pensions. 

To be honest I could write pages (obsessed! :  ) but will leave it there for now.

<Edited to clarify that when I talk about my pension past the age of 55, I mean my two current pensions combined.)

That is what I have always tried to say in my paupers thread but never quite managed to put it across as good as that, 3 years plus of great memories and counting 

barnstar2077

gambleruk said:

barnstar2077 said:

I have been hanging out on the pensions board for a while, especially in the paupers thread, but having read through here in the last week I can see that there are other cool places to hang out on the MSE forums! :   )

I am 46 and a bit, currently working a four day week, and aim to retire at 55.  My bills, including food and a small mortgage, come to £6k a year (I don't drive, drink or smoke.)

I salary sacrifice money into my works pension (and receive a surprisingly generous amount from the company), but also add £80 to a SIPP and £333.34 into my ISA at the moment.  When I hit my ISA target I will switch to putting everything into my pension.  I currently give myself about £400 a month spending money.

I have a pretty high risk/high reward strategy of 100% equities for my pension and ISA as I am flexible as to when I stop, and I don't mind adjusting my outgoings a bit, or thinking outside the box after I am retired (if I have to.)

My current aim is to have £70k in my ISA and £200k+ in my combined pensions at 55 in order for me to pull the trigger.   I stress that this is my current plan, as it seems to change every week (I am obsessed! :   )

I am calling 55 to 57 my Party Years, as I plan on using £40k of my ISA to bridge the two year gap until I am able to access my pension.  These two years will be a celebration of completing my goal and finally retiring.  This will leave me £30k in my ISA that will be used for one off big purchases, like new boilers etc, while my pension will provide me with a monthly amount to get me to state pension age, with hopefully enough left over to supplement SP into my seventies.

If I run out of my personal pension after the age of 75 I will have had twenty years of great memories to look back on, and my £30k should still bring me peace of mind in case of needing a new roof etc.  I am painfully aware that not everyone makes it to 75 so plan on enjoying myself in my 50's and 60's (God willing!)

I currently have £40k in my ISA and £130k in my combined pensions. 

To be honest I could write pages (obsessed! :  ) but will leave it there for now.

<Edited to clarify that when I talk about my pension past the age of 55, I mean my two current pensions combined.)

That is what I have always tried to say in my paupers thread but never quite managed to put it across as good as that, 3 years plus of great memories and counting 

Also, I came to conclusion about five years ago that much of the money that I spend on stuff/gadgets etc is really just me trying to cheer myself up, and I hope that when I am not working that I will not feel the need to do so as I will naturally feel happier in myself.

I'm hoping that just going for a walk around the park with an ice cream (for example) will feel like a good use of my time, as I won't feel like I have to cram as much fun in as possible before the next work day.  Nor will I feel the need to order something online, or make lots of expensive future plans, just so I have something to look forward to during yet another work shift.

Has this been your experience so far? 

BooJewels

I'm not officially retired - I'm supposed to be self employed, but after a number of family bereavements and ending up as a professional executor and house clearer for about 3 years, I'm not really putting much effort into actual work.  As I only finalised latest estate last month, I'm allowing myself a little hiatus to catch my breath and catch up on some of my own overdue tasks before I go on holiday soon and I'll try and get into a better routine once I'm back.

But I am finding that it's little - often free - things that make me happy.  I'd been doing a tedious ivy clearing job in the garden in bursts over a number of days and sat down for a breather and thought I heard a buzzard calling, so grabbed my Dad's big binoculars to try and find it. I didn't, but I did see some long tailled tips arrive in my nearby tree. I got a very good view of them and found they were joined by a coal tit and a couple of baby blue tits and I found myself audibly laughing at them interacting - various combos seemed to end up perched together looking like they were having a natter.  I realised I'd been sat there, totally oblivious to anything else for about half an hour.  To me, moments like that are priceless and I know for certain that they're good for my wellbeing.

Likewise I've spent time in the last week chasing a massive dragonfly around the garden trying to get a photo, as well as a tiny blue butterfly, that I'm pretty sure now is teasing me.  My sister gave me a bat detector last year and if I catch sight of the bats, I go outside and spend time with them too.  As I'm a midge magnet, if I stand still, they get within about 18" of me and through the bat detector, it sounds like they're talking to me.  And yes, my neighbours do all think I'm potty. "That daft woman at no.56 is out shouting at the squirrels again".  "Yeah, I saw her talking to bats last night".

To me, it is a good use of my time.  It's nice to have a bit of a breather to be able to indulge in such things again.

gambleruk

barnstar2077 said:

gambleruk said:

Has this been your experience so far? 

Pretty much spot on, I think I have mentioned before that now if I want to buy something it goes in my basket or on my watch list and leave it there for at least a day usually longer to make sure we do actually need/want it, no more impulse buys and I am still amazed on how much money you can save when you have the time to shop around especially on insurance, holidays and expensive items.

barnstar2077

BooJewels said:

I'm not officially retired - I'm supposed to be self employed, but after a number of family bereavements and ending up as a professional executor and house clearer for about 3 years, I'm not really putting much effort into actual work.  As I only finalised latest estate last month, I'm allowing myself a little hiatus to catch my breath and catch up on some of my own overdue tasks before I go on holiday soon and I'll try and get into a better routine once I'm back.

But I am finding that it's little - often free - things that make me happy.  I'd been doing a tedious ivy clearing job in the garden in bursts over a number of days and sat down for a breather and thought I heard a buzzard calling, so grabbed my Dad's big binoculars to try and find it. I didn't, but I did see some long tailled tips arrive in my nearby tree. I got a very good view of them and found they were joined by a coal tit and a couple of baby blue tits and I found myself audibly laughing at them interacting - various combos seemed to end up perched together looking like they were having a natter.  I realised I'd been sat there, totally oblivious to anything else for about half an hour.  To me, moments like that are priceless and I know for certain that they're good for my wellbeing.

Likewise I've spent time in the last week chasing a massive dragonfly around the garden trying to get a photo, as well as a tiny blue butterfly, that I'm pretty sure now is teasing me.  My sister gave me a bat detector last year and if I catch sight of the bats, I go outside and spend time with them too.  As I'm a midge magnet, if I stand still, they get within about 18" of me and through the bat detector, it sounds like they're talking to me.  And yes, my neighbours do all think I'm potty. "That daft woman at no.56 is out shouting at the squirrels again".  "Yeah, I saw her talking to bats last night".

To me, it is a good use of my time.  It's nice to have a bit of a breather to be able to indulge in such things again.

I think you are right, and these moments can only really come to you once you learn to slow down and appreciate the little things in life.

One of my personal joys in life is to stop and pet dogs as I walk around the park or local beauty spot etc!  I always ask permission, and most dog people recognise a fellow dog person and we exchange a few words before I thank them for letting me briefly play with their dog before we both continue on our way.

[Deleted User]

I’ve been thinking over a nice lunch out with family about recent comments concerning enjoying life on low pension income. Each to to his/her own of course, but it simply wouldn’t work for me.

I enjoy buying clothes, decent hair cuts, good toiletries, chiropodist, dentist, eating out with friends and family. Enjoy giving others treats for birthdays and Christmas. I want to travel a bit more and have the heating on whenever I want lol. I didn’t finally retire to be frugal.

Respect to those whose plans and ideas are different but I couldn‘t, nor would I want to do it.

From last July to next June my monthly income will be about 1650 to 1700 a month net. I have  a budget that works and I can  still save about £200 to long term savings a month.

I did make sure pots for travel, voluntary NI and emergency fund were all in place first.
When state pension begins next July the travel pot can easily be replenished.

My share of the annual essential bills and payments, (including food, all annual, payments and house maintenance) comes to at least £11000 a year. My older relative contributes another £4000 to £5000 and we have a small annual surplus.

My remaining income  goes on the things outlined above including some savings.

Yes I do enjoy non cost special moments too, but probably not on the scale of some other posters. I fully accept that is probably me lacking something more than others! 😳

barnstar2077

[Deleted User] said:

I’ve been thinking over a nice lunch out with family about recent comments concerning enjoying life on low pension income. Each to to his/her own of course, but it simply wouldn’t work for me.

I enjoy buying clothes, decent hair cuts, good toiletries, chiropodist, dentist, eating out with friends and family. Enjoy giving others treats for birthdays and Christmas. I want to travel a bit more and have the heating on whenever I want lol. I didn’t finally retire to be frugal.

Respect to those whose plans and ideas are different but I couldn‘t, nor would I want to do it.

From last July to next June my monthly income will be about 1650 to 1700 a month net. I have  a budget that works and I can  still save about £200 to long term savings a month.

I did make sure pots for travel, voluntary NI and emergency fund were all in place first.
When state pension begins next July the travel pot can easily be replenished.

My share of the annual essential bills and payments, (including food, all annual, payments and house maintenance) comes to at least £11000 a year. My older relative contributes another £4000 to £5000 and we have a small annual surplus.

My remaining income  goes on the things outlined above including some savings.

It is as you say, horses for courses.  I too have the heating on whenever I want, I just don't feel the cold as some do.