A Paupers Pension Tale (Not many nuts to dig up)

[Deleted User]

Nebulous2 

I have never claimed to be at the pauper level. This thread was started by another poster. I merely added my comments.
I cannot fund the so called ‘luxurious’ retirement until I collect my state pension at 66. I calculated my costs from age 66  as a single person. The reason being that the person who shares some of today’s costs with me is nearly 20 years older than myself. 

Albermarle

Just to throw some figures at you all which I did not do on my original post, our "number" is 12k per year to live comfortably and not having to worry about bills etc. We are lucky I suppose that we live in the North West in a lovely village with the countryside on our doorstep

No car (S) ?

More seriously the worry for me would be the lack of back up money, in case of some very expensive unexpected items.

A neighbour of ours found rot in the roofing timbers and the whole roof had to be replaced , which cost a few Grand.

Someone else I know was almost forced , due to serious ongoing pain , to pay for a private operation . Again quite a few Grand

Another had to help out desperate family member in serious debt etc 

gambleruk

Albermarle said:

Just to throw some figures at you all which I did not do on my original post, our "number" is 12k per year to live comfortably and not having to worry about bills etc. We are lucky I suppose that we live in the North West in a lovely village with the countryside on our doorstep

No car (S) ?

More seriously the worry for me would be the lack of back up money, in case of some very expensive unexpected items.

A neighbour of ours found rot in the roofing timbers and the whole roof had to be replaced , which cost a few Grand.

Someone else I know was almost forced , due to serious ongoing pain , to pay for a private operation . Again quite a few Grand

Another had to help out desperate family member in serious debt etc 

We have one car which is 10 years old and we will run it into the ground then pick another second hand one up, thankfully cars last a lot longer nowadays than they did many years ago, we will only need a cheap run around as do not travel very far. There is no point worrying about what expenditure might occur in the future when we have no control over it,like I said in my original post my biggest fear is one of the dogs falling ill, house was built in 1988 and well maintained so hopefully nothing major will go wrong with it, At the end of the day I will be amazed if no curve ball comes flying through in the next few years but to me that is part of the challenge. And if the worse happens then as mentioned by other people part time work to help the finances along but also the wife does earn more than the 12k, approx 17k so there will always be a bit of leeway for extra expenses there. 

I know it's not a perfect plan and 16 more years until state pension (just turned 51) is a long long time but I really cannot see myself regretting enjoying my life now just for the sake of building up a huge pension pot which I would probably never use to it's full value. 

gambleruk

Well thought I would just give an update on things as I said I would, first of all this is the first month we have gone over budget, mainly because of a massive shop at the beginning of the month to make the most of Tesco's 25% of 6 bottles of wine (not enough to last us til Xmas hopefully lol), bought tickets for two gigs later in the year which worked out at £120 altogether and needed new running shoes which cost £57. Also been the pub twice though just for drinks which was another £72. On the plus side with time on my hands my buildings and contents house insurance I got for £54 when it was normally £130, car insurance due in another month so hoping for another big saving there. Having saved money for the past few months been easy to balance the books.
Life itself is still going along smoothly, was sat in the local on Monday afternoon with the wife and she said she was impressed on how I have structure in my life and that she would struggle to do what I do. I have said all along I don't think early retirement would suit everyone but if you have hobbies and interests especially time consuming ones then I think you will be fine. I was walking one of the dogs on Tuesday morning finding new local footpaths and had to shelter under a tree from a rain shower but I just stood there thinking how lucky I am that I am able to do this during the week when once upon a time I would have been stuck behind a desk, no extra money in the world could have made me feel any happier than I felt at that moment.
I am still doing a lot of reading up on pensions and investments and keep one eye on my pots, I decided to transfer my old works Now Pension (16k) into a Vanguard Vls60 as charges and performance were both poor plus the fact it would have needed doing in the future as the only option was to take the whole thing as a lump sum according to their advisor. Still pondering what to do with my main Aviva pension but probably going to leave that until the end of the year now.
Well I hope some people find this useful and like I have posted before more than happy to answer any questions and or receive any criticism as my main aim when I started this post was to try and help people avoid any mistakes I might make.

Nick9967

It's a great post gambleruk, I'm 54 this year (younger wife) and have slowly watched many people i have been close to leave us over the past couple of years, not old, not unhealthy , mostly just bad luck ! but too many for me to work then drop!
I'm not morbid but I am damn certain that I will maximise my time enjoying life and not working , plenty of hobbies and will no doubt add more, will down size to a forever home! kids won't be around forever ! will spend Friday afternoons in the village pub garden (in front of the fire in winter) chatting and having a pint with my mrs! we'll sod off to a B&B somewhere now and again and drive down to Spain/France for a relatively cheepish summer break for a month or so every year! she works in a school so that's quite viable.
I'm far from loaded but am also quite lucky.
I'll have:
£300k PP
£125k cash 
£250k cash to come in at the maximum age of 80 
couple of small pensions from my wife , one is a small LGPS.
2 * full State pensions
I'll work part time from 58-62 doing something i enjoy!
and the rest will be history, i won't be flush but I'll live reasonably well! 
I spend my time planning , checking my pension , making plans etc , little like waiting for Xmas as a kid!

bluenose1

Thanks gamblerUK, reallyenjoying this thread. 

They say that we get more satisfaction from experiences than buying gadgets etc, so your gig tickets should be money well spent. That’s a brilliant saving on your house insurance. 
Great that you are getting so much satisfaction from being retired, It’s true sometimes the simple free pleasures give us the greatest satisfaction. One of my favourite days out is walking in the woods to the beach and sitting on a sand dune with a flask of coffee. 

I am the same as  Nick9967, it’s a rare day that  doesn’t have me happily musing on my pension plans and spreadsheets, reading this forum for ideas and looking at pension blogs. You could say I am a tad obsessed, and yes good analogy I too feel like a kid waiting for Christmas. 

german_keeper

bluenose1 said:

You could say I am a tad obsessed, and yes good analogy I too feel like a kid waiting for Christmas. 

Plenty of people at work have taken the mickey out of me and my "obsession" over the years. All very good natured. Most have also progressed much further up the greasy pole than I have. But I am the one who went partially retired working 3 days per week at 54, and on track for full retirement next August just after my 58th birthday. Who's laughing now?

barnstar2077

Glad to see a thread like this one.

I am currently 44, and plan on retiring at 53.  I will then (hopefully) use an ISA to get me to 58, then a private pension to get me to state pension age (Which I am assuming will be 68.)  I may defer the state pension to gain the increased income later, but that will depend on my relationship status at the time.

My expenses are very low and I am happy just to go for a nice walk (followed by a cuppa and a bit of cake), so I should not need much more than 12k a year (and 10k+ emergency money.)

I will follow this thread with great interest!

Albermarle

Also been the pub twice though just for drinks which was another £72. 

Sounds like a good couple of sessions ! Especially if it was in Wetherspoons 

gambleruk

Albermarle said:

Also been the pub twice though just for drinks which was another £72. 

Sounds like a good couple of sessions ! Especially if it was in Wetherspoons 

Unfortunately was the local village pub £4.50 for a pint of moretti so we had 4 pints each on both occasions