The Senior Wonder Years!

[Deleted User]

Many thanks for your comments. The stairlift which was installed for our grandmother (which she reluctantly agreed to at the age of 98!) has been well used by my mother who, although younger, has greater mobility issues when compared to my grandmother. Fortunately the staircase is a very simple straight up and down. We have a spiral staircase to the loft bedroom, but that is only used by younger members of the family when they choose to stay over. I am also completely mobile and hopefully will remain so for the foreseeable future.
I continue to look at the availability of both houses and bungalows along with their prices. Hopefully, the decision remains several years away. I know what I want though lol! I would like at least 3 bedrooms as I would use one as study and two bathrooms (or at least potential to add an ensuite). I do like a conservatory too. I wouldn’t mind having to carry out or organise some cosmetic work but nothing too major. I have never been one obsessed with ‘ character ‘ which can also mean expensive and high maintenance! I am certainly not adverse to a modern property or new build.

[Deleted User]

I did mention in an earlier post that I like to have £1200 in my main current account on the last day of each month. The reasons for this is that over £800 of SO and DD leave the account before my teacher’s pension arrives on the 14th of each month. My small annuity of £45 a month arrives on about the 4th of each month. After the 14th my monthly sends to the annual bills pot and my S&S ISA take place. 

I think when my state pension begins next July I will keep these arrangements the same as state pension will arrive every 4 weeks. Initially state pension will go to savings but over time I will allocate to various pots. 

joedenise

I think DH and I have the best of both worlds as we were both able to take our state pensions weekly which we have done so we get several pay days a month; my work pension and AVC both arrive monthly.  My DH has a drawdown pension pot which we only access when we need bigger sums of money, eg when we installed a new kitchen and when we changed the bath for a shower as we hadn't used the bath for several years and having to climb and in and out of the bath for a shower would only get more difficult as we got older.  It was one of the best things we have done for ourselves to be able to continue living in the bungalow by the sea. 

We didn't leave it until we retired to buy the bungalow but did it about 10 years before retirement which again was the best thing for us to do as the last house had extremely steep stairs being a Victorian terrace and think the stairs may well have been a problem sooner or later.

Organgrinder

Gosh this retirement planning is such hard work at times!

I was so worried about falling foul of tax rules on pensions I'd missed the obvious. By taking lump sums I was worried I could fall foul of recycling rules. I accept that it seems noone has ever fallen foul of these but nevertheless I didn't want to be the first!!! (yes I am that cautious).

Then I had a lightbulb moment. 
I'm not retiring....I'm going part time and taking some of my pensions early.

This actually increases my take home pay by £400 a month.

I've not used my lump sums to increase my income at all. They are all safely invested and will remain so for the next 3 tax years at least.

Any increase to my pension contributions is out of the increase in my take home pay. In other words all part of normal pension planning and therefore HMRC accept that people will want to boost their pension savings and maximise their pension benefits by funding additional contributions from their salary etc, just so long as it's not from the lump sum either directly or indirectly.

Phew!

Albermarle

Clowance said:

Just a point on the stairlifts, my uncle failed to move to more sensible accomodation when he was young enough and eventually needed a stairlift. He continue to use the suicidally steep stairs in his house as long as possible but finally gave in. However the stairlift was somewhat unreliable, and the company would take 2 or 3 days to turn up to fix it. There were occasions when he had to crawl upstairs to bed at the age of 100! My point being, that a bungalow or the ability to move downstairs to live would be a better decision.

In addition to the points above, just as important when looking at accommodation for when you are older, or for a disabled family member, is the access to the property and its location. 
There should be no steep incline/no flight of steps ( up or down) when approaching the main access door.
If you should need a wheelchair, or are on crutches, even temporarily, you might find access to the house almost impossible. Also wheelchairs are very difficult to push on grass or gravel and difficult to get over even just one high step. You can get temporary ramps but not that safe in my opinion and a full installed ramp needs a lot of flat space. So a house with a flat driveway leading to the access door is more ideal.
On the opposite side shops, doctors etc being in reasonable walking distance ( preferably with no steep hills) will make life a lot easier than living in the middle of nowhere. Living on the edge of a small town/large village centre is probably the best.

Albermarle

[Deleted User] said:

The sort of lease I was thinking about is more like a rental when you give the car back at the end of the lease period and then lease another one. This could be attractive if it included servicing, insurance etc...You would also would not have to use your capital to pay for the car. (Apart from an initial deposit payment I think.)

90% of new cars in the UK bought by the public are with Personal Contract Purchase Plans.
You pay a deposit, then monthly payments for 3 or 4 years. At the end of the lease period, you can choose between keeping the car in return for a so called balloon payment, or give the car back.
The reason PCP plans are popular is that it keeps the monthly payments lower than with buying the car with a loan or HP., although the obvious downside is that you have a big payment at the end, or have to give the car back.
I think servicing can be included or not, but I think ( not 100% sure) you would normally sort the insurance out yourself.
One issue I am aware of personally is that if you hand the car back with any sort of damage, they charge you.
Even relatively minor damage, like stone chips, very small dings etc need to be sorted out before you hand it back as they will charge you top dollar for any damage they can find ( and they look very closely). The sort of damage that if you were keeping the car you probably would never bother sorting out.
This explains it all.
Personal Contract Purchase (PCP) car finance explained (thecarexpert.co.uk)

Miser1964

If the OP's elderly mother was to be in receipt of higher rate mobility allowance then he may be able to lease a vehicle via the Motability Scheme at potentially attractive rates. 

I assume OP is up to speed on claiming carers and attendance allowance as and when.

> I have considered other options to ‘buy them out’ without selling, but I am not sure this would be the correct thing to do or more importantly affordable!<

A Lifetime Mortgage, which is a form of equity release, could be an option to fund a buy out of those who inherit a stake in the property, avoiding a forced sale.

After taking early retirement, I'm also looking at additional income for a few years until the State Pension becomes payable. Something I'm investigating is a fixed-term annuity with a guaranteed surrender value; these are available to cover periods of 2 to 25 years. As the name suggests, by putting in £x up-front you know how much you'll get each month and what %tage of £x you'll get back (50% to 75% seems common) at the end of the period.

Tastiger

Looking forward to following this thread. As a fellow teacher, I have opted to take early retirement this summer, with first pension payment in September when I turn 57. Seems weird looking at the pension site and seeing me listed as retired. Originally I was planning to just call it a day, but have been tempted back to do 3 days a week for a year, with just nice classes. The pension (and lump sum) plus pay means an affluent year ahead - though must plan it carefully so some of the "excess" can be saved for future years.

Lindlou

Looking forward to following it too. Been following the "how much to live on" for a while now and finally taking the plunge in the new year. I'll be doing 3 days too after taking one of my 2 DB pensions.  Frankly, I cannot wait! @[Deleted User] I thank you so much for sharing your thoughts and plans. Really helps to see similar figures to mine. 

[Deleted User]

@Miser1964 Thank you for your comments. Apart from being able to walk less than previously my mother is fully independent in day to day life so carers and attendance allowances are not applicable.
As far as the house is concerned I think in the longer term I will buy myself another property outright but will always consider other options if necessary.

@Albermarle. Many thanks for your comments. I think I probably go for another cash purchase regarding the car but isn’t a pressing need at the moment rather something I would like to do.