How much to live on

helensbiggestfan

Same here, Annielyn.  Lovely post.  So glad everything has worked out so well for you.  Love that John Lennon quote.  He was bang on with that one. 

I too retired early and unexpectedly (to become my husbands carer). I was too young to draw my pension at the time and although we did struggle financially I don't regret it for a moment. Some things, like quality time with loved ones, really are more important than money.  

If necessary, one can always find a way to get money, but time, once spent, can never be regained.  

Feeling quite autumnal here today......

BrilliantButScary

annielyn said:

I've been looking back at old posts and found where I'd posted on this thread in May 2021. We were 4 years into DH's early retirement then after the job he had done for 40+ years became too much for him and we realized we needed to act before it was detrimental to his physical and mental health. I posted that our annual outgoings at the time were around £27k.

Once he had made the decision to leave work we started to plan.  Pension freedom was a relatively new thing at the time he left in 2017 and we took advice from an IPA. After working out what our  annual outgoings were, we were confident with taking some of the TFLS, the level of drawdown we arranged, and our savings, that we could live on this for the 8 years till SP kicked in.

I realize that in the context of this site, and the many threads there are about retirement planning, that this would have seemed irresponsible to many. We may not have planned for him to leave at that age but I have always been careful with our finances and we had already paid our mortgage off early after following advice on this site.

I have, over this time, also reduced my SE hours considerably so we could spend our retirement together and we have managed perfectly well on the reduced income.

The time following his retirement has had ups and downs. We have both lost parents during this time but the fact that he had finished work meant we were able to be there to help as their health deteriorated. I know if we had both been working full time this would have made dealing with this even more difficult than it already was.

There have been plenty of good times too. Spending time with family and being able to be on call to help out with grandchildren whenever needed has been a big bonus. We have travelled a bit as well and also spent a lot of time at our static caravan which has made for a lovely life balance.

We are now both a couple of months away from SP. Our average annual expenditure is now around 29k and looking back at our finances over this time, our total assets (pension included) are only 10k down on where we were in May 2021. Bearing in mind we have financed a good life during this period, and the external pressures on the markets, I think this is pretty remarkable.

We haven't obsessed over depleting the pension pot or worried too much about saving or leaving an inheritance. We are gifting to grandchildren when we can now and I know our family are not counting on a large inheritance and have told us to just enjoy life while we can.

I know we were lucky to be in this position and I have to say we have no regrets in doing what we did. It has worked out for us and I do think, if we had had a retirement plan in place, it would have been completely derailed by circumstances anyway.

In the words of a certain Beatle 'Life is what happens to you when you're busy making other plans'.

 

Great post @annielyn ,
Funnily enough, I was going to use the John Lennon quote in response to a poster contemplating retirement on the Pensions forum. I also refrained from posting 'Lets go fly a kite' from Mary Poppins!

https://disney.fandom.com/wiki/Let's_Go_Fly_a_Kite

I am 2 years into retirement and these have been my 'Halcyon Days' and like others on this forum I enjoy the 
'Simple Pleasures' .

annielyn

Thanks all for your kind comments. I love how supportive people are on this thread and it gives a safe place to land after my occasional slightly scary forays on to the pensions board!

HUSKYPAL

annielyn said:

I've been looking back at old posts and found where I'd posted on this thread in May 2021. We were 4 years into DH's early retirement then after the job he had done for 40+ years became too much for him and we realized we needed to act before it was detrimental to his physical and mental health. I posted that our annual outgoings at the time were around £27k.

Once he had made the decision to leave work we started to plan.  Pension freedom was a relatively new thing at the time he left in 2017 and we took advice from an IPA. After working out what our  annual outgoings were, we were confident with taking some of the TFLS, the level of drawdown we arranged, and our savings, that we could live on this for the 8 years till SP kicked in.

I realize that in the context of this site, and the many threads there are about retirement planning, that this would have seemed irresponsible to many. We may not have planned for him to leave at that age but I have always been careful with our finances and we had already paid our mortgage off early after following advice on this site.

I have, over this time, also reduced my SE hours considerably so we could spend our retirement together and we have managed perfectly well on the reduced income.

The time following his retirement has had ups and downs. We have both lost parents during this time but the fact that he had finished work meant we were able to be there to help as their health deteriorated. I know if we had both been working full time this would have made dealing with this even more difficult than it already was.

There have been plenty of good times too. Spending time with family and being able to be on call to help out with grandchildren whenever needed has been a big bonus. We have travelled a bit as well and also spent a lot of time at our static caravan which has made for a lovely life balance.

We are now both a couple of months away from SP. Our average annual expenditure is now around 29k and looking back at our finances over this time, our total assets (pension included) are only 10k down on where we were in May 2021. Bearing in mind we have financed a good life during this period, and the external pressures on the markets, I think this is pretty remarkable.

We haven't obsessed over depleting the pension pot or worried too much about saving or leaving an inheritance. We are gifting to grandchildren when we can now and I know our family are not counting on a large inheritance and have told us to just enjoy life while we can.

I know we were lucky to be in this position and I have to say we have no regrets in doing what we did. It has worked out for us and I do think, if we had had a retirement plan in place, it would have been completely derailed by circumstances anyway.

In the words of a certain Beatle 'Life is what happens to you when you're busy making other plans'.

 

Lovely post. Encouraging to see that your expenditure hasn't increased dramatically over the past 4 years, this is one of my worries, planning/deciding today for an unknown tomorrow.  I keep looking at ways (excuses!) to bring my date forward. Originally thought 60 would be best case, then 58, now thinking 57.1/2!! I'm getting into Adrian Mole territory and starting to count in quarters...

Albermarle

annielyn said:

I've been looking back at old posts and found where I'd posted on this thread in May 2021. We were 4 years into DH's early retirement then after the job he had done for 40+ years became too much for him and we realized we needed to act before it was detrimental to his physical and mental health. I posted that our annual outgoings at the time were around £27k.

Once he had made the decision to leave work we started to plan.  Pension freedom was a relatively new thing at the time he left in 2017 and we took advice from an IPA. After working out what our  annual outgoings were, we were confident with taking some of the TFLS, the level of drawdown we arranged, and our savings, that we could live on this for the 8 years till SP kicked in.

I realize that in the context of this site, and the many threads there are about retirement planning, that this would have seemed irresponsible to many. We may not have planned for him to leave at that age but I have always been careful with our finances and we had already paid our mortgage off early after following advice on this site.

I have, over this time, also reduced my SE hours considerably so we could spend our retirement together and we have managed perfectly well on the reduced income.

The time following his retirement has had ups and downs. We have both lost parents during this time but the fact that he had finished work meant we were able to be there to help as their health deteriorated. I know if we had both been working full time this would have made dealing with this even more difficult than it already was.

There have been plenty of good times too. Spending time with family and being able to be on call to help out with grandchildren whenever needed has been a big bonus. We have travelled a bit as well and also spent a lot of time at our static caravan which has made for a lovely life balance.

We are now both a couple of months away from SP. Our average annual expenditure is now around 29k and looking back at our finances over this time, our total assets (pension included) are only 10k down on where we were in May 2021. Bearing in mind we have financed a good life during this period, and the external pressures on the markets, I think this is pretty remarkable.

We haven't obsessed over depleting the pension pot or worried too much about saving or leaving an inheritance. We are gifting to grandchildren when we can now and I know our family are not counting on a large inheritance and have told us to just enjoy life while we can.

I know we were lucky to be in this position and I have to say we have no regrets in doing what we did. It has worked out for us and I do think, if we had had a retirement plan in place, it would have been completely derailed by circumstances anyway.

In the words of a certain Beatle 'Life is what happens to you when you're busy making other plans'.

 

Regarding the comments in bold about your finances.
Around May 2021 is when post Covid inflation started to take off . So from then to now prices have increased at least 20% on average ( some things more than others) . At the same time your expenditure has only gone up 7%, so in real terms you are spending less than you were.

On the other hand most investments and money in high interest savings accounts, will have kept up with inflation, or even a bit better if your pension is invested sensibly, despite all the bad news we hear all the time.

So the two together probably explains why your finances have held up better than you expected.

Organgrinder

Albermarle said:

annielyn said:

I've been looking back at old posts and found where I'd posted on this thread in May 2021. We were 4 years into DH's early retirement then after the job he had done for 40+ years became too much for him and we realized we needed to act before it was detrimental to his physical and mental health. I posted that our annual outgoings at the time were around £27k.

Once he had made the decision to leave work we started to plan.  Pension freedom was a relatively new thing at the time he left in 2017 and we took advice from an IPA. After working out what our  annual outgoings were, we were confident with taking some of the TFLS, the level of drawdown we arranged, and our savings, that we could live on this for the 8 years till SP kicked in.

I realize that in the context of this site, and the many threads there are about retirement planning, that this would have seemed irresponsible to many. We may not have planned for him to leave at that age but I have always been careful with our finances and we had already paid our mortgage off early after following advice on this site.

I have, over this time, also reduced my SE hours considerably so we could spend our retirement together and we have managed perfectly well on the reduced income.

The time following his retirement has had ups and downs. We have both lost parents during this time but the fact that he had finished work meant we were able to be there to help as their health deteriorated. I know if we had both been working full time this would have made dealing with this even more difficult than it already was.

There have been plenty of good times too. Spending time with family and being able to be on call to help out with grandchildren whenever needed has been a big bonus. We have travelled a bit as well and also spent a lot of time at our static caravan which has made for a lovely life balance.

We are now both a couple of months away from SP. Our average annual expenditure is now around 29k and looking back at our finances over this time, our total assets (pension included) are only 10k down on where we were in May 2021. Bearing in mind we have financed a good life during this period, and the external pressures on the markets, I think this is pretty remarkable.

We haven't obsessed over depleting the pension pot or worried too much about saving or leaving an inheritance. We are gifting to grandchildren when we can now and I know our family are not counting on a large inheritance and have told us to just enjoy life while we can.

I know we were lucky to be in this position and I have to say we have no regrets in doing what we did. It has worked out for us and I do think, if we had had a retirement plan in place, it would have been completely derailed by circumstances anyway.

In the words of a certain Beatle 'Life is what happens to you when you're busy making other plans'.

 

Regarding the comments in bold about your finances.
Around May 2021 is when post Covid inflation started to take off . So from then to now prices have increased at least 20% on average ( some things more than others) . At the same time your expenditure has only gone up 7%, so in real terms you are spending less than you were.

On the other hand most investments and money in high interest savings accounts, will have kept up with inflation, or even a bit better if your pension is invested sensibly, despite all the bad news we hear all the time.

So the two together probably explains why your finances have held up better than you expected.

Indeed. Now however things in saving accounts aren't looking so rosy. Indeed stoozing is starting to look unattractive given that the balance transfer rates are only marginally below savings rates.

I currently have over £30k stoozed. And the returns are diminishing.

However, I can't complain as I've made a fair bit this past couple of years.

Shimrod

Organgrinder said:

Albermarle said:

annielyn said:

I've been looking back at old posts and found where I'd posted on this thread in May 2021. We were 4 years into DH's early retirement then after the job he had done for 40+ years became too much for him and we realized we needed to act before it was detrimental to his physical and mental health. I posted that our annual outgoings at the time were around £27k.

Once he had made the decision to leave work we started to plan.  Pension freedom was a relatively new thing at the time he left in 2017 and we took advice from an IPA. After working out what our  annual outgoings were, we were confident with taking some of the TFLS, the level of drawdown we arranged, and our savings, that we could live on this for the 8 years till SP kicked in.

I realize that in the context of this site, and the many threads there are about retirement planning, that this would have seemed irresponsible to many. We may not have planned for him to leave at that age but I have always been careful with our finances and we had already paid our mortgage off early after following advice on this site.

I have, over this time, also reduced my SE hours considerably so we could spend our retirement together and we have managed perfectly well on the reduced income.

The time following his retirement has had ups and downs. We have both lost parents during this time but the fact that he had finished work meant we were able to be there to help as their health deteriorated. I know if we had both been working full time this would have made dealing with this even more difficult than it already was.

There have been plenty of good times too. Spending time with family and being able to be on call to help out with grandchildren whenever needed has been a big bonus. We have travelled a bit as well and also spent a lot of time at our static caravan which has made for a lovely life balance.

We are now both a couple of months away from SP. Our average annual expenditure is now around 29k and looking back at our finances over this time, our total assets (pension included) are only 10k down on where we were in May 2021. Bearing in mind we have financed a good life during this period, and the external pressures on the markets, I think this is pretty remarkable.

We haven't obsessed over depleting the pension pot or worried too much about saving or leaving an inheritance. We are gifting to grandchildren when we can now and I know our family are not counting on a large inheritance and have told us to just enjoy life while we can.

I know we were lucky to be in this position and I have to say we have no regrets in doing what we did. It has worked out for us and I do think, if we had had a retirement plan in place, it would have been completely derailed by circumstances anyway.

In the words of a certain Beatle 'Life is what happens to you when you're busy making other plans'.

 

Regarding the comments in bold about your finances.
Around May 2021 is when post Covid inflation started to take off . So from then to now prices have increased at least 20% on average ( some things more than others) . At the same time your expenditure has only gone up 7%, so in real terms you are spending less than you were.

On the other hand most investments and money in high interest savings accounts, will have kept up with inflation, or even a bit better if your pension is invested sensibly, despite all the bad news we hear all the time.

So the two together probably explains why your finances have held up better than you expected.

Indeed. Now however things in saving accounts aren't looking so rosy. Indeed stoozing is starting to look unattractive given that the balance transfer rates are only marginally below savings rates.

I currently have over £30k stoozed. And the returns are diminishing.

However, I can't complain as I've made a fair bit this past couple of years.

I was stoozing with an offset tracker mortgage at the time of the GFC. At this point, fee free deals had disappeared, but offsetting against a mortgage still delivered a good financial benefit.
With the drop in interest rates I went from profit to loss overnight on a £17k credit card transfer I had just taken.

If you have any stoozed money in variable rate savings accounts, be aware the same may happen to you.

Organgrinder

Shimrod said:

Organgrinder said:

Albermarle said:

annielyn said:

I've been looking back at old posts and found where I'd posted on this thread in May 2021. We were 4 years into DH's early retirement then after the job he had done for 40+ years became too much for him and we realized we needed to act before it was detrimental to his physical and mental health. I posted that our annual outgoings at the time were around £27k.

Once he had made the decision to leave work we started to plan.  Pension freedom was a relatively new thing at the time he left in 2017 and we took advice from an IPA. After working out what our  annual outgoings were, we were confident with taking some of the TFLS, the level of drawdown we arranged, and our savings, that we could live on this for the 8 years till SP kicked in.

I realize that in the context of this site, and the many threads there are about retirement planning, that this would have seemed irresponsible to many. We may not have planned for him to leave at that age but I have always been careful with our finances and we had already paid our mortgage off early after following advice on this site.

I have, over this time, also reduced my SE hours considerably so we could spend our retirement together and we have managed perfectly well on the reduced income.

The time following his retirement has had ups and downs. We have both lost parents during this time but the fact that he had finished work meant we were able to be there to help as their health deteriorated. I know if we had both been working full time this would have made dealing with this even more difficult than it already was.

There have been plenty of good times too. Spending time with family and being able to be on call to help out with grandchildren whenever needed has been a big bonus. We have travelled a bit as well and also spent a lot of time at our static caravan which has made for a lovely life balance.

We are now both a couple of months away from SP. Our average annual expenditure is now around 29k and looking back at our finances over this time, our total assets (pension included) are only 10k down on where we were in May 2021. Bearing in mind we have financed a good life during this period, and the external pressures on the markets, I think this is pretty remarkable.

We haven't obsessed over depleting the pension pot or worried too much about saving or leaving an inheritance. We are gifting to grandchildren when we can now and I know our family are not counting on a large inheritance and have told us to just enjoy life while we can.

I know we were lucky to be in this position and I have to say we have no regrets in doing what we did. It has worked out for us and I do think, if we had had a retirement plan in place, it would have been completely derailed by circumstances anyway.

In the words of a certain Beatle 'Life is what happens to you when you're busy making other plans'.

 

Regarding the comments in bold about your finances.
Around May 2021 is when post Covid inflation started to take off . So from then to now prices have increased at least 20% on average ( some things more than others) . At the same time your expenditure has only gone up 7%, so in real terms you are spending less than you were.

On the other hand most investments and money in high interest savings accounts, will have kept up with inflation, or even a bit better if your pension is invested sensibly, despite all the bad news we hear all the time.

So the two together probably explains why your finances have held up better than you expected.

Indeed. Now however things in saving accounts aren't looking so rosy. Indeed stoozing is starting to look unattractive given that the balance transfer rates are only marginally below savings rates.

I currently have over £30k stoozed. And the returns are diminishing.

However, I can't complain as I've made a fair bit this past couple of years.

I was stoozing with an offset tracker mortgage at the time of the GFC. At this point, fee free deals had disappeared, but offsetting against a mortgage still delivered a good financial benefit.
With the drop in interest rates I went from profit to loss overnight on a £17k credit card transfer I had just taken.

If you have any stoozed money in variable rate savings accounts, be aware the same may happen to you.

Indeed. All my stoozes are low risk, low return. 

They are either in long duration purchase cards eg 32 months and hence no BT fees or in the case of the £21k in balance transfer cards, 32 months on a 3% average fee with fixed interest rate of 4%.

Over 32 months the returns are approx £2,500. 

It's not big money by any means. Pretty insignificant when compared to my mortgage stooze.

But by the time all the current deals end I will have made between £8k and £10k overall. The mortgage gets paid off in the new year. Of my credit cards I have two purchase cards ending in March and July of next year. My balance transfer cards end in 2027 and 2028.

Depending on interest rates I may move the purchase cards. But after that I intend retiring the following year so cards may not be so easy to come by.

Ordinary_Yet_Unique

As I enter my 3rd year of full retirement I am happy with things financially, having greatly simplified things in recent months. I am content to plod along making a few pounds interest a year. I appreciate the fact that I have a decent enough pension income for myself, all of which is index linked apart from a very small income choice annuity. I have a few thousand in savings and my share of a mortgage free house provides security too.

I am saying this  after reading through some other sections of the forum this morning, where people seem to complicate things and then get upset when it goes wrong, becoming obsessed with chasing compensation and filing complaints. Each to her/his own I guess.

Nowadays I just have my own current account, a joint current account for household bills, a reward saver (virtual pots for travel and annual expenses ), a Cash ISA  and a few thousand in Premium Bonds. I also have one credit card which I use occasionally to keep active. It also has a very decent credit limit should there be a serious emergency.

Now In the second half of my 60s I know I will be neither rich nor famous and it doesn’t bother me! At the moment I have  good health and, although single, surrounded by people who love me.

However, things are not totally without worry and restriction. Since fully retiring I have had to spend a lot of my time on caring duties. At the moment personal time out and holidays are not really possible. Thankfully there are no financial worries though. 

I have  always loved the fact that I had very young parents. Now though we seem to be getting old together! However, I count myself so lucky to have one of them still around as I head towards 70. Wouldn’t change that for anything.

My grandmother reached 102 so a few more years yet hopefully!

How much to live on? I have enough.

Wednesday2000

My husband got medically retired last year and he got a letter from HMRC saying that he paid too much tax last year so we can claim a refund of almost £4,000. I told him that I thought they had worked that out wrong last year. I should have pushed him to check himself. Oh well.