Can you live solely off state pension?

coastline

borderline said:

not a chance, I don't own a house and never will. The rent alone would take the state pension. If I can, I will have to work beyond pension age 

If I had to live off state pension I could but fortunately I won't as I'll have a private pension plus savings to cover me. Your point is worth highlighting as the number of homes rented either public or private is nearly 40% of the housing stock . 

More people in England now own homes outright than have a mortgage or rent them, figures reveal | This is Money

When you consider DB pensions are rapidly being replaced with DC pension pots then those in the rented sector will need substantial savings pots just to cover the rent. Basically leaving them with little or no more than the state pension. Imagine being in the fortunate position of having a pot of 300K ( many are nowhere near today ) then a 10K safe withdrawal rate ( 3.5% ) might not even cover the rent. What will 300K be in the future ? If inflation averages just 3% a year in 20 years you'll need 600K. Could be talking a million pounds one day.  

barnstar2077

pseudodox said:

I have been researching my family tree for 20+ years.  So many instances of grinding poverty, people who were "fortunate" to live into their 60s, 70s, even 80 were still working.  The "lucky" ones died before they were 40.  One Gt Gt Grandfather was working as a Road Labourer aged 64 in 1851 and back then that would have been heavy physical work 6 days a week, 12 hours a day.  Others were agricultural labourers, stone delvers, pedlars scratching what we would not call a living.  At age 8 or 9 many children (boys and girls) were working naked in coal mines 12 hours a day, hauling trucks.  

The last time I saw someone "poor" on TV being interviewed whilst queuing for a food bank she was covered in tattoos and wearing bling and fashion clothes.  Kids with her were busy on the iPhones.  Not my idea of poverty!

As I said before, go back a generation or two and people didn't even have central heating or an inside loo.  I know of many people who are always struggling for money, but think nothing of getting another tattoo, wearing gold jewellery, Nike trainers and T-Shirts, Super Dry jackets etc.  Don't even get me started on what people wear to the gym these days! :  )

[Deleted User]

pseudodox said:

I have been researching my family tree for 20+ years.  So many instances of grinding poverty, people who were "fortunate" to live into their 60s, 70s, even 80 were still working.  The "lucky" ones died before they were 40.  One Gt Gt Grandfather was working as a Road Labourer aged 64 in 1851 and back then that would have been heavy physical work 6 days a week, 12 hours a day.  Others were agricultural labourers, stone delvers, pedlars scratching what we would not call a living.  At age 8 or 9 many children (boys and girls) were working naked in coal mines 12 hours a day, hauling trucks.  

The last time I saw someone "poor" on TV being interviewed whilst queuing for a food bank she was covered in tattoos and wearing bling and fashion clothes.  Kids with her were busy on the iPhones.  Not my idea of poverty!

Be careful not to fall for the Daily Mail stereotypes of people who ask for assistance please!

[Deleted User]

Perhaps this thread is running out of mileage. It seems to be wandering from the initial question. For me replies should contain reasons why or why not somebody could live on the state pension with posters giving reasons for their response. This should be backed up by their own facts and figures.

bluenose1

I wouldn’t want to live off just state pension, though since I have been in my 50s have stopped spending as much on unnecessary items which has allowed me to save enough to retire reasonably comfortably.  I wouldn’t want to move house and the council tax alone would be a big drain if just on state pension, plus I like foreign holidays and eating out too much.
I think poverty is all relative, we are all wealthy compared to a 100 years ago, no ending our days in a workhouse thankfully. Unfortunately I think there is growing wealth inequalities /divide  in the UK and fear it will only get worse especially for the younger age groups. 
My dad died earlier this year in his 80s and for the life he wanted to lead state pension wasn’t enough, though he was very social and enjoyed going the pub with his mates as much as he could.

zagfles

coastline said:

borderline said:

not a chance, I don't own a house and never will. The rent alone would take the state pension. If I can, I will have to work beyond pension age 

If I had to live off state pension I could but fortunately I won't as I'll have a private pension plus savings to cover me. Your point is worth highlighting as the number of homes rented either public or private is nearly 40% of the housing stock . 

More people in England now own homes outright than have a mortgage or rent them, figures reveal | This is Money

When you consider DB pensions are rapidly being replaced with DC pension pots then those in the rented sector will need substantial savings pots just to cover the rent. Basically leaving them with little or no more than the state pension. Imagine being in the fortunate position of having a pot of 300K ( many are nowhere near today ) then a 10K safe withdrawal rate ( 3.5% ) might not even cover the rent. What will 300K be in the future ? If inflation averages just 3% a year in 20 years you'll need 600K. Could be talking a million pounds one day.  

But if someone was renting and state pension was their only income they'd usually be able to claim housing benefit to cover the rent.

zagfles

[Deleted User] said:

pseudodox said:

I have been researching my family tree for 20+ years.  So many instances of grinding poverty, people who were "fortunate" to live into their 60s, 70s, even 80 were still working.  The "lucky" ones died before they were 40.  One Gt Gt Grandfather was working as a Road Labourer aged 64 in 1851 and back then that would have been heavy physical work 6 days a week, 12 hours a day.  Others were agricultural labourers, stone delvers, pedlars scratching what we would not call a living.  At age 8 or 9 many children (boys and girls) were working naked in coal mines 12 hours a day, hauling trucks.  

The last time I saw someone "poor" on TV being interviewed whilst queuing for a food bank she was covered in tattoos and wearing bling and fashion clothes.  Kids with her were busy on the iPhones.  Not my idea of poverty!

Be careful not to fall for the Daily Mail stereotypes of people who ask for assistance please!

Stereotype or not, there are a lot of people who fit it. It's no worse than the Daily Mirror/BBC/Guardian stereotype of it all being down to cuts/not enough benefits/all the government's fault etc. In reality people struggle for all sorts of reasons, bad luck, inability to budget, holes in the system etc. 

What really annoys me are useless journalists who report on eg a single mother who says she can't afford to feed her kids or heat the house, with no analysis of why, and the impression it's all down to insufficent income. IME, as someone who's done voluntary work helping people on benefits, it's usually more down to an inability to manage money, or problems with addictions eg drugs, alcohol or gambling. 

I've known loads of people coping perfectly well on minimum state benefits, some even managing to save! Maybe journalists should start interviewing them rather than those who struggle!

zagfles

barnstar2077 said:

pseudodox said:

I have been researching my family tree for 20+ years.  So many instances of grinding poverty, people who were "fortunate" to live into their 60s, 70s, even 80 were still working.  The "lucky" ones died before they were 40.  One Gt Gt Grandfather was working as a Road Labourer aged 64 in 1851 and back then that would have been heavy physical work 6 days a week, 12 hours a day.  Others were agricultural labourers, stone delvers, pedlars scratching what we would not call a living.  At age 8 or 9 many children (boys and girls) were working naked in coal mines 12 hours a day, hauling trucks.  

The last time I saw someone "poor" on TV being interviewed whilst queuing for a food bank she was covered in tattoos and wearing bling and fashion clothes.  Kids with her were busy on the iPhones.  Not my idea of poverty!

As I said before, go back a generation or two and people didn't even have central heating or an inside loo.  I know of many people who are always struggling for money, but think nothing of getting another tattoo, wearing gold jewellery, Nike trainers and T-Shirts, Super Dry jackets etc.  Don't even get me started on what people wear to the gym these days! :  )

I know a couple on well over £100k income between them and they're always struggling for money

Silvertabby

zagfles said:

[Deleted User] said:

pseudodox said:

I have been researching my family tree for 20+ years.  So many instances of grinding poverty, people who were "fortunate" to live into their 60s, 70s, even 80 were still working.  The "lucky" ones died before they were 40.  One Gt Gt Grandfather was working as a Road Labourer aged 64 in 1851 and back then that would have been heavy physical work 6 days a week, 12 hours a day.  Others were agricultural labourers, stone delvers, pedlars scratching what we would not call a living.  At age 8 or 9 many children (boys and girls) were working naked in coal mines 12 hours a day, hauling trucks.  

The last time I saw someone "poor" on TV being interviewed whilst queuing for a food bank she was covered in tattoos and wearing bling and fashion clothes.  Kids with her were busy on the iPhones.  Not my idea of poverty!

Be careful not to fall for the Daily Mail stereotypes of people who ask for assistance please!

Stereotype or not, there are a lot of people who fit it. It's no worse than the Daily Mirror/BBC/Guardian stereotype of it all being down to cuts/not enough benefits/all the government's fault etc. In reality people struggle for all sorts of reasons, bad luck, inability to budget, holes in the system etc. 

What really annoys me are useless journalists who report on eg a single mother who says she can't afford to feed her kids or heat the house, with no analysis of why, and the impression it's all down to insufficent income. IME, as someone who's done voluntary work helping people on benefits, it's usually more down to an inability to manage money, or problems with addictions eg drugs, alcohol or gambling. 

I've known loads of people coping perfectly well on minimum state benefits, some even managing to save! Maybe journalists should start interviewing them rather than those who struggle!

Pre Covid, and so pre current cost of living increases, I saw a young mum in Sainsbury's looking at the (incredibly cheap!) school uniforms.  But she put them back on the rails, and told her young son that he would have to 'stretch into' last years uniforms, because she couldn't afford to buy him any new stuff.

I felt so sorry for the poor little mite, I was tempted to offer to buy him a few bits - but when I next saw mum she was pushing a trolley full of ready meals and beer, and was in the process of spending nearly £100 on fags and scratch cards.

[Deleted User]

I will longer contribute or follow this thread as it has taken a rather ugly turn. It is so easy post stories to condemn a minority of people who claim they do not have enough who  just need to manage their money with more care. It allows those with enough to continue to live their cosy lives  blissfully ignoring the fact that many more are genuinely finding things difficult.