Standard of living - minimum, moderate or comfortable figures released today (12 January 2023)

thriftytracey

What a laugh, that was 2019, lord knows what figures they come up with now.

£400 per year on Birthday and Christmas and other gifts.
£0 per year on family support, such as paying for grandchildren's hobbies.
£50 per year on the female haircut (mobile hairdresser £12 for a trim and tidy)
£0 per year on the male haircut (DIY using dog clippers)
£0 per year on gardeners, cleaners and £60 windows cleaners (3 times a year as and when)
£100 per year on the gardening  (its full - few annuals and replacement plants as and when)
£250 per year on female clothing
£250 per year on male clothing

Yet I consider ourselves to be "comfortable".  The savings I make on the above go towards holidays and trips out (not cruises!).  We do all our own DIY within reason.

Pensions_matter_2

Have to say we do spend quite a lot on gifts/helping family out (£2500 at most) and clothes and hairdressers (may be £1000 - £1200 total for both) but none on gardeners or window cleaners. Their comfortable income does seem extremely high though. Even their moderate is a bit scary!

trevjl

I can only compare to what I spent in 2022 and it was less than their moderate retirement figure and I want for nothing and consider to have a very comfortable living. I think they live in a different world to me. 

Albermarle

trevjl said:

I can only compare to what I spent in 2022 and it was less than their moderate retirement figure and I want for nothing and consider to have a very comfortable living. I think they live in a different world to me. 

On the other side, the figure for a comfortable retirement for a couple for a whole year, could be spent on one birthday party or a new Range Rover, or a luxury holiday by the real rich. They really do live in a different world.

Kim1965

A comfortable life style for a couple is derived from 2 x full sp, plus each having £325 dc sipps According to the research. 
 Most on this board would consider this level of assets to be inadequate. 

eastcorkram

Kim1965 said:

A comfortable life style for a couple is derived from 2 x full sp, plus each having £325 dc sipps According to the research. 
 Most on this board would consider this level of assets to be inadequate. 

Do you mean £325 a week, month? Or did you mean a SIPP of £325k at retirement?

bluenose1

Albermarle said:

On the other side, the figure for a comfortable retirement for a couple for a whole year, could be spent on one birthday party or a new Range Rover, or a luxury holiday by the real rich. They really do live in a different world.

Very true, we know from reading on here that there are wide variations in requirements for retirement income. 

I listen to some of the USA retirement podcasts and the amounts quoted they require can be eye watering, I could work to a 100 and never have the income they are talking about.

I definitely spend too much on unnecessary things, like adding to my wardrobe etc, though have cut back massively compared to 5 years ago. Says me who has spent ages trying to decide on new sofas recently, though as our current ones are close to 20 years old feel sort of justified. Of course I only like the Parker Knoll expensive ones and am far too scared of the rubbish reviews to consider DFS etc. 

michaels

eastcorkram said:

Kim1965 said:

A comfortable life style for a couple is derived from 2 x full sp, plus each having £325 dc sipps According to the research. 
 Most on this board would consider this level of assets to be inadequate. 

Do you mean £325 a week, month? Or did you mean a SIPP of £325k at retirement?

325k pot which they think will allow an SWR of 6%.....

Anonymous101

As someone into the FIRE movement I really enjoy (and think it pretty essential) reading the experiences of people at both ends of the spectrum. At the lower end Jacob Lund Fisker of Early Retirement Extreme fame lives a very comfortable and enjoyable life on about £6000 a year and at the other end the FIREvsLondon blog talks about people with income floors or £250k and FI targets of £10m upwards. Neither really seems to be enjoying life any less and that's really important for me as I progress through my own financial journey.

Studies like this attempt to describe an average. For naïve or young people its a good starting guide. For most of the people on here I suppose its context, much like my extreme reading, but it won't describe our individual situation. 

DT2001

michaels said:

eastcorkram said:

Kim1965 said:

A comfortable life style for a couple is derived from 2 x full sp, plus each having £325 dc sipps According to the research. 
 Most on this board would consider this level of assets to be inadequate. 

Do you mean £325 a week, month? Or did you mean a SIPP of £325k at retirement?

325k pot which they think will allow an SWR of 6%.....

The report assumes buying an annuity at 6.2%. They do state that rates vary etc etc.
From a quick look it wouldn’t be too far off for a 67 year old in some parts of the country.

I think the report is a starting point. As has been said we are all different so need to adapt/create our own budget and decide how to generate income - use an annuity, BTL, SWR from a pot, ISA’s etc