How much to live on

Floss

bluenose1 said:

I would still be dithering in work now if not for a new toxic member of staff, have been retired almost 3 months now and my only regret is I didn’t do it sooner. 
Great to not be accountable/answerable to a manager etc, no matter how nice they are.

That will be me in 3 years, unless I have an unexpected windfall in which case I will be out in the blink of an eye!

blue.peter

bluenose1 said:

Great to not be accountable/answerable to a manager etc, no matter how nice they are.

Oh, yes!

Dunno about you, but I had a mix of good and bad managers over the years, and two or three toxic colleagues (fortunately never more than one at a time). A fair few really pleasant colleagues, too.

Also great not to have to set the alarm clock.

Lily8

Really enjoying this thread and it's making me think. Will have a go at rich, dead or broke I'm debating leaving later this year when OH's state pension starts. Our income will be about £39k. My state pension won't start until 2029.  I have a working days countdown as my job, although only part time isn't the nicest sadly. Then I think, but if I stayed I could top up our savings. No pockets in shrouds though! Think the countdown tells me what I should do. 

in_my_wellies

My late husband was 10 years older than me. I always planned to stop working when he did at 65 so we could do things together whilst he was still young enough. I did and then he died 8 weeks later. I thought about going back to work (for about 5 seconds) but decided time is more important than money and I can manage. 

collins74

Hi everyone - great thread and thought I would post here as well as the excellent - Senior Wonder Years by Baron_Dale.

Bit about myself and my situation.

From a working class background, no property ownership in my family and didn’t have much growing up.  

Age 49, 2 kids and married.  Never went uni but was supported by some very good managers to study alongside my role and got two promotions.  Joined LG in 99 age 24 and have paid into the LGPS throughout and to an AVC since 2017.  Salary £48k.  No other pensions.

Wife in teaching role age 45 with 20 years service in TPS and also has a teachers AVC.  No inheritance due either. Salary £60k.  No other pensions.

Own our house worth about £250k and a mortgage of £20k.  Got loan and pcp debts which will bring under a mortgage later this year and will then have a mortgage for 7 years so finishing when I am 57 if we choose not to borrow again.  No credit card debts.

Have around £10k in savings but not able to add to this atm due to adding to AVCs and other commitments, plan to start LT cash savings from September this year when debts are consolidated but this will only be around £200 per month. 

In terms of retirement and pensions I am a bit obsessed and it dominates a lot of my thinking around personal finances. I have contributed £60k to my AVC and plan to have £180k/£190k in it at the time of retirement and am currently adding £1k per month, its salary sacrifice so very tax efficient.  I can take £160kish TFLS from the AVC and another £15k automatic lump sum and will buy some extra pension at 60/61 through LGPS with the residue of the AVC.

 Wife’s AVC £30k and putting in £400 per month as not as tax efficient when withdrawing and she has longer to work than me, will probably just draw this and pay the tax.  You cannot buy a scheme annuity with this AVC.

Longevity on both sides is a bit mixed and our lifestyle is okish but could be better - we like our food and drinks at weekend.  Also partial to a takeaway once a week or a meal out.

I would love to retire at 55/57 but after doing the maths it would not be affordable as my daughter is likely to be at uni and I would take such a hit in early retirement factors .  We have settled on me going at 60 or 61.  My wife is 4 years younger and would love to go at 57 but may realistically go part time at 57 then retire at 60.

With my LGPS scheme I have great planning tools that allow me to chop and change my retirement dates and salary etc.  The planner says at 60 I would be due £25k per year which doesn’t include CPI increases or the additional pension via the AVC I may get.

The TPS for my wife is hard to understand and we found the tools hard to plan with.  We have not done any projections for her and this is a bit of a blind spot.  The annual statements are ok but only give projections to full retirement age. Not sure what to do about this and my wife is not interested in looking at her pension at all.  All we know is she is on a good salary and will be thereabouts around 60.  

I have ran spreadsheets with projected budgets when we retire and factored in increases in all our bills and removed things we will no longer have to pay for.  It looks ok but feels like a lot of guesswork and gut instinct which of course it is.

I don’t factor in the state pension as not sure how it will look in 18 years. Anything will be a bonus.

Things that could disrupt/change our plans:

Health 
Redundancy - local government finance is a mess.
Supporting kids with next stages of life.
Home improvements not factored in our plans such as windows, bathroom, driveway etc - at the moment everything is ok but will need updating in the next ten years.
Increases in the state retirement age which is linked to our DB pension
Other things out of our control - changes in government, AI, climate change and possible wars in Europe and wider which I think is a real prospect!!

Plans in retirement: 

We will not scrimp and not spend anything in retirement just to leave the kids plenty of money.  We want to live a full life and if the kids get the house good luck to them.  We have saved in junior isas for them as best we can and will support them through uni, they have had a lot more than other kids and no doubt we will help if and when they get married etc.

I see colleagues who retire, have good pensions and the put the tax free money in the bank and won’t touch it.  That won’t be us, we plan to use it and make life as comfortable as we can.  I would want to be able to go for lunch, a pint and get out each day and go for a few big holidays when initially retiring.

I would love grandchildren close by and will support our kids with childcare as much as possible but still retain some time to ourselves.  We only had limited support childcare wise and we would want to be active grandparents if possible,

Would go down to one car and probably buy brand new at retirement out of the lump sums but look after and retain it.

Love my football and have season tickets for our local team - would like to keep this going as long as I am able to go.

I am a bit sad and one of things I look forward to is a free bus pass to travel around with, only problem is I need to wait 18years to get it.  I used to go on the bus all over with my granddad as a kid and am fond of using them even though I have drove for 30 years.

Another interesting point is that people I have spoken to who had retired said winters can be difficult as you cannot potter around the same as when the months are milder.  Not sure how people have found this or if it’s an issue?

One of my grandparents was very superstitious and believed that you should not plan too far ahead,  I like to think I have a balance between living for now but also planning for the future.

So this is our position with 11 years to go to when I may retire and how I envisage retirement.  I could have this all wrong and it may not come to fruition.  We will just do our best and see what life throws at us.

I will add comments on this thread when I can add value.

Thanks for reading this.

Lily8

in_my_wellies said:

My late husband was 10 years older than me. I always planned to stop working when he did at 65 so we could do things together whilst he was still young enough. I did and then he died 8 weeks later. I thought about going back to work (for about 5 seconds) but decided time is more important than money and I can manage. 

So sorry in my wellies. That's the thing, none of us know how much time we actually have do we.

Floss

Lily8 said:

in_my_wellies said:

My late husband was 10 years older than me. I always planned to stop working when he did at 65 so we could do things together whilst he was still young enough. I did and then he died 8 weeks later. I thought about going back to work (for about 5 seconds) but decided time is more important than money and I can manage. 

So sorry in my wellies. That's the thing, none of us know how much time we actually have do we.

I agree, my priorities changed after having breast cancer last year. 

helensbiggestfan

Hi Collins.  great post and some good plans.  

Re winters.  I usually try to plan my holidays so that I get away for part of the winter, sometimes up to 6 weeks.  It really breaks up the winter nicely.  Last one was a cruise to the Amazon and Caribbean. 

It's  (usually) cheaper, less crowded and not too hot and is great for a vitamin D boost.  I am perfectly happy pottering around at home in the summer, sometimes with U.K. holidays, city breaks, trips to the coast  or just out into the Peak District which is on my doorstep.  

helensbiggestfan

Inmywellies.....So sorry to hear that.  You're right bereavement does put rather a different complexion on retirement.  

My husband was 6 years younger than me. Died at just 57.  My retirement isn't what I hoped for but I do my best to live a good life.  

As Floss says, no one knows what lies ahead, a death, a serious illness .......our priorities change.  

Floss.  Hope you are keeping well.  

Floss

helensbiggestfan said:

As Floss says, no one knows what lies ahead, a death, a serious illness .......our priorities change.  

Floss.  Hope you are keeping well.  

I'm good thanks 😊