How much to live on

Madrick

duncanthedog said:

I am having a review with my FA in a couple of week, I will be asking for an increase in my pension pauout from November this year to cover increasing prices (last done 2 years ago) and I will also sound them out on equity release but as I have no money to top up my pot with it will be a short call.

Hi Duncan
Out of interest, how much does your FA charge you to manage your pension and general affairs?
Is it an ongoing percentage or a set fee for each session
Cheers 

203846930

Madrick said:

duncanthedog said:

I am having a review with my FA in a couple of week, I will be asking for an increase in my pension pauout from November this year to cover increasing prices (last done 2 years ago) and I will also sound them out on equity release but as I have no money to top up my pot with it will be a short call.

Hi Duncan
Out of interest, how much does your FA charge you to manage your pension and general affairs?
Is it an ongoing percentage or a set fee for each session
Cheers 

It's an ongoing percentage to manage my pension fund in association with the fund holder so it is their own best interest to make sure that it grows as much as possible. I would need to check back the paperwork to get the actual figure.

There will be a different fee for any work they do if I use them to sort out my equity release but I would expect that to be in line with what others charge.

PennyForThem_2

[Deleted User] said:

PennyForThem_2

I have looked at seashells thread. Ok pension pot was average, but savings were more than most are able to make during a working lifetime with families. Also from age 66/67 seashell and husband will have state pensions on top. (Maybe another £18000 a year between them)

You say you spend £25 to £30 thousand a year but mention turning off the heating before May. Give over! This May has been freezing!

Best wishes.

Hi Baron_Dale
Very early in the 'we must insulate our houses' scenario - I think in the 90's - I did this for the house I live in.  So cavity wall insulation and over a period of time which extended into 2000's double glazing bit by bit.  So the house is insulated.  Attic is semi converted and insulated.

As a child I grew up in a house that had little heating other than an open fire (sitting room) and oil fired night heaters.  The bathroom taps used to freeze so no water.  This was a middle class house (big as housed my parents, my grandparents, my great aunt and rent paying lodgers in the converted attic).  No central heating.

As a woman (less body mass than man) I do feel the cold but wrap up and you don't.  Exercise and you don't.  My luxury (and yes it is a luxury is my wood burning stove and I do buy wood that is sustainably harvested and semi kiln dried which I season off in a wood shed for 12months before using).  This year it will be fully kiln dried (change in the law).

So yes, I minimise heating.  I look weird because I wear a wooly hat and a shawl because it warms my back and shoulders - who cares because I live on own.   

I have thought about what happens as I grow older - have saved for that!  I know that I may need a cleaner, more heating, buying pre-cooked meals etc - that is why I still save.

Sea_shell:  I think that she is quite frugal - she came to self investing late and learnt it.  Yes, she may be younger than getting state pension.  But I think that if you are in 40-55 age range there is a lot to be learnt from the threads on Pension Forum - the priniples, the strategy.  

I know I lucked out without any thought going into what and how I saved until late 50's - although I did maximise my NHS pension.  Wasn't until we embraced IFA advice as a couple we suddenly realised that we needed to be more strategic. 

Just think about what you need/want - do you need advice to get there.  Also Think /google how much is your property worth?  You may be surprised.

littlemissbossy

This thread is so interesting and informative.... and less scary than the pensions board!
I'd like to add my details and any advice, opinions or observations would be great.

Husband 55 (in Oct)
Me 50 (in 2 weeks)
Husbands personal pensions (2) add up to a pot of £168,000.
My personal pensions (3) £100,000, at the moment.
My husband retired about 10 months ago and I'm still working.

He has decided that he wants to take a 25% tax free lump sum, £20,000 of that will go on a new car and the rest into our savings.  We then think that we will take the remainder as a fixed term annuity for 15 years (until he is (70).  From using the Money Advice Service calculator will think that will generate between £600 - £700 per month.  We have contacted his pension companies to ask for quotes and also another quote from other providers.

We are mortgage free, with no debts or children.  We have £166,000 in savings at the moment, plus the remainder of the 25% lump sum when we take it, so about £186,000.  My monthly salary is £1400.
Our monthly bills come to £1050 per month, this includes all bills, food and our "spending" money.
I am hoping to reduce my hours towards the end of year and then my salary would be around £1200 per month. Then retire myself at 54/55.

Whilst I'm still working we should only need to use our savings for a "new to us" car (every 3/4 years) and a foreign holiday every year and any other home repairs or renewals. I've put all this in to a spreadsheet where instead of £1050 as our monthly bills I've used £1400 and even when I retire our savings don't run out and I haven't included my personal pension at 55.  Then when we start to receive our State Pensions our savings should start to go back up a little. 

I'm worried that I've got a hole in my plan that I can't see ?

When we get our figures back from my husbands pension providers do you think we need to use a IFA ?

Thanks for reading and any feedback, especially to point out any errors I've made, which I really think I may have.

Ali660

littlemissbossy said:

This thread is so interesting and informative.... and less scary than the pensions board!
I'd like to add my details and any advice, opinions or observations would be great.

Husband 55 (in Oct)
Me 50 (in 2 weeks)
Husbands personal pensions (2) add up to a pot of £168,000.
My personal pensions (3) £100,000, at the moment.
My husband retired about 10 months ago and I'm still working.

He has decided that he wants to take a 25% tax free lump sum, £20,000 of that will go on a new car and the rest into our savings.  We then think that we will take the remainder as a fixed term annuity for 15 years (until he is (70).  From using the Money Advice Service calculator will think that will generate between £600 - £700 per month.  We have contacted his pension companies to ask for quotes and also another quote from other providers.

We are mortgage free, with no debts or children.  We have £166,000 in savings at the moment, plus the remainder of the 25% lump sum when we take it, so about £186,000.  My monthly salary is £1400.
Our monthly bills come to £1050 per month, this includes all bills, food and our "spending" money.
I am hoping to reduce my hours towards the end of year and then my salary would be around £1200 per month. Then retire myself at 54/55.

Whilst I'm still working we should only need to use our savings for cars (every 3/4 years) and a foreign holiday every year and any other home repairs or renewals. I've put all this in to a spreadsheet where instead of £1050 as our monthly bills I've used £1400 and even when I retire our savings don't run out and I haven't included my personal pension at 55.  Then when we start to receive our State Pensions are savings should start to go back up a little. 

I'm worried that I've got a hole in my plan that I can't see ?

When we get our figures back from my husbands pension providers do you think we need to use a IFA ?

Thanks for reading and any feedback, especially to point out any errors I've made, which I really think I may have.

Well I am very much a learner myself but you have just taught me something!  I didn't know you could purchase an annuity for a set amount of years!  I thought it was for life or nothing ... so thank you!  I would be very interested to hear the quote you receive.

Hopefully someone will cast their eye over your figures - I don't feel experienced enough yet to comment

MovingForwards

@littlemissbossy your post is perfect for the pensions board as they will give detailed responses to everything and plug any gaps with more information to consider.

The thing jumping out at me is the annuity. If that's just for your husband, you could be left short if anything happened within the 15 years it was running.

littlemissbossy

Ali660 said:

Well I am very much a learner myself but you have just taught me something!  I didn't know you could purchase an annuity for a set amount of years!  I thought it was for life or nothing ... so thank you!  I would be very interested to hear the quote you receive.

Hopefully someone will cast their eye over your figures - I don't feel experienced enough yet to comment

Thanks for your reply, I'll post some more info when we hear back from the pension companies

littlemissbossy

MovingForwards said:

@littlemissbossy your post is perfect for the pensions board as they will give detailed responses to everything and plug any gaps with more information to consider.

The thing jumping out at me is the annuity. If that's just for your husband, you could be left short if anything happened within the 15 years it was running.

Thanks for your reply, it's something to consider.  The 15 year annuity is just for my husband.  I have my own personal pension which is a smaller pot at the moment (£100,000).  We also have £50,000 of life insurance each.  Does that make it sound better?

Yes, I'll take a brave pill and post on the pensions board.

203846930

@littlemissbossy, your numbers look really good.
You may find that your routine monthly outgoings will drop a little when you stop work but then will go back up again as you get into your retired routine.
You may also find that if you use your car less with not working you won't need to change it as often and it may also be a case of finding a car that suits you better and thus you don't change it so soon.

Of course I am really not allowed to comment on others plans for retirement as I am already there and my numbers are so small, it is embarrasing.

MovingForwards

@littlemissbossy I'm very new to it all and wouldn't like to comment either way. All I can do is point things out based on the bits I've picked up. 

@duncanthedog yours are not embarrassing and you're more than entitled to comment on plans. If I wasn't planning on keeping a car going my figure wouldn't be much more than yours. You've retired early and have a gorgeous companion, that's a fantastic achievement!