How much to live on

Sunnylifeover50plan

helensbiggestfan said:

The thing is......you never know when you might get hit by a curveball.   

 

Sorry for your loss but you raise an important point.
Although I had a significant health issue at 45 my cardiologist saw me through pretty much unscathed. Likely long hours climbing the greasy pole had taken it's toll.
This framed how I saw the future and I couldn't really care less about being in a well paid IT position, instead after that I started fishing for the golden ticket given the generous policy my employer had. The last thing I wanted was to be found expired on a corporate toilet after snatching an in between meetings comfort break.
VR at 49 - then a one way ticket to Spain for us.
It's astounding how much people in the UK have tied up in their main property yet, in many cases, enjoy relatively modest income streams. We decided to decouple from the UK although we concede it will be tougher to afford to go back in the future.
Good luck
   

tichtich

helensbiggestfan said:

Now my own retirement is nothing like we planned for and envisaged. I am now pushing 70, widowed and living on £12k a year.  But, actually it's fine, I have enough and am comfortable.   I have a lovely home, a small car, and (prior to covid) I even managed holidays.  Last big one was a trip to the Amazon in 2018 by 

I'm impressed that you can manage that on 12k. I'm aiming to live on 13k (inflation adjusted), and without a car or much in the way of holidays.  Perhaps I'm being too pessimistic,  and 13k will get me more than I thought! I think I'd prefer the Nile to the Amazon, though. Too many creepy-crawlies. 

helensbiggestfan

The Amazon trip was a once in a lifetime thing, funded from savings, not annual income.  I do run my car from annual income. It’s nothing fancy but it’s paid for, so just running costs, so quite affordable.  

I am hoping that my sideline business will pay for future big holidays/treats.  Don’t really want to draw down too much of my savings just yet. 

I have started selling some assets, downsizing and simplifying.  Just getting getting rid of excess “Stuff” - ready to move in a couple of years.  All stuff I no longer need or want. 

I had to clear my parents home - dad was a terrible hoarder.  It was an awful job and I’m resolved not to put my kids through the same ordeal.  

I’ve given them first pick and I’m just going to sell what I don’t want and release the cash.  Then in a couple of years I will sell my house and buy some thing smaller and easier to maintain.  

I think the main thing is to try and build up assets and not spend too much on liabilities.  For me cars are liabilities so I am not bothered about flash cars.  I do like to travel a bit so I’m happy to live simply to fund my adventures 

 I find £12k is more than enough.    I am still able to save.   I think it helps that I am both creative and have some practical skills.  

I think provided you have no debts then £13k should be fine.  

PS. I’ve done the Nile,  go for it. I’m sure you will love it. 🥂

203846930

Just thinking that if my income suddenly rose to 12k, I would be able to save or spend about 9k without having to do any adjustments to my basic life.
Oh what holidays I could have but then I don't really want to go anywhere these days and it's not just because I don't have the money.

helensbiggestfan

Just saw your post Madrick.  Sorry to hear about your wife.  So sad.  💕

Madrick

helensbiggestfan said:

Just saw your post Madrick.  Sorry to hear about your wife.  So sad.  💕

Thanks x
Yep life can be very cruel

helensbiggestfan

Sunny.....you are right, a health scare does put things into perspective.  Glad it all came out ok for you.  

Our plan had been to spend winters in Spain and summers in uk. I knew I wouldn’t want to live in Spain without my husband so we sold up in 2009 when he became too ill to travel.   (He died in 2014). 

You are right I do have most of my capital tied up in this house, but given the way the uk property market is at the moment, it’s outperforming dismal savings rates.  

I have no especial emotional attachment to my current property -  it’s not the family home. I needed somewhere
to live so invested in a fixer upper.  It’s now a pleasant and comfortable home but I don’t think it’s going to be my forever home.  

I think there’s one more move in me yet 😂

 

Korkyb

54 year old now & never had a master plan but I have fallen on my feet in that the 3 main jobs I've had throughout my life have all been "government" based and came with defined benefit (final salary) based pensions.

Also fortuitous that I was given good advice by an old hand when I was 27 years old about transferring my pension from previous employer scheme to the new employer scheme so that I now have only one combined pension to worry about.

 Further "jammy" that the job I have in my twilight working years turned out to be what I consider to be relatively well paid and as my pension is based on my final salary this makes all the difference.

  

Upshot is that I've just reduced my hours in my current job by 50% and plan to claim my pension in a couple of / few years dependent on how well I manage on my reduced pay (I do also have some savings I can dip into).

 

My NPA is 60 so if I do take the pension early there will be a financial reduction / penalty – the longer I can hold off taking it the larger the pension will be.

  

I've worked out on the back of a fag packet that if I was to take my pension (early) at 57 I should be looking at around 24k ish per year (plus a lump sum of 60k ish) after reductions 

 

My other half has had a similar working life as me but is a lower grade & has worked mostly part time. Her NPA is actually 55 so she should be looking at around 10k per year pension & a lump sum of around 25k ish when she hits that age in 3 years.

  

So in 3 years time we could feasibly both stop working and have a combined annual income of 34k ish before tax + around 85k worth of lump sum to back this up.

If we make it to 67 & our state pension kicks in we should then have a combined annual pension income of over £50k (in today's money).

  

I reckon that we will probably keep working part time but if I do claim my pension before 60 then I'll probably reduce my hours further & probably go down a grade in my job.

 We do have 2 children both at Uni (so still dependent) but our mortgage is paid off & we are debt free.

Part of me is tempted to jack in the job once the kids are independent & have a go at full time retirement but suspect that I would get bored (& of course there is a good chance that my life expectancy would be reduced due to my wife killing me for being under her feet all the time).

  

 

To be honest neither I or my other half can really get our heads around the fact that we are in, (what we feel is), a really good financial position for retirement or how we got here.

 

  

Anyway above background was really to give some context to our "number" – essentially we don't have one - we will however live to our means as we always have done.

 

 I do feel slightly guilty when see some people posting spreadsheets covering income / outgoings down to the last penny & wonder if I should be doing the same.

 My guess is that I'll just keep living with the guilt

tichtich

helensbiggestfan said:

 I find £12k is more than enough.    I am still able to save.   I think it helps that I am both creative and have some practical skills.  

I think provided you have no debts then £13k should be fine.  

PS. I’ve done the Nile,  go for it. I’m sure you will love it. 🥂

Thanks.

Maybe I should have mentioned that my 13k is supposed to cover everything,  so I'd have to save out of it for one-off bills like repairs and holidays. Also, I'll be funding part of that 13k out of a pension pot, which has to last as long as I  do. I'll have to resist the temptation to raid the pot to pay for extras. I hope this Nile cruise you're tempting me to go on isn't going to undermine my long term financial security!

Madrick

helensbiggestfan said:

 I find £12k is more than enough.    I am still able to save.   

I think provided you have no debts then £13k should be fine.  

Living on £1k per month and still being able to save for little extras
You'll need to let us know a rough breakdown of your own expenditure
Is it just your good self at home?
For us food and drink is a major cost
Where do you do food shopping?
Are you a vegetarian?
I have ventured into our Lidl in the town a couple of times, instead of the usual Sainsburys and found it considerably cheaper, but found the aisles quite small and hard to socially distance