44 and dreading the thought of working past 50

SouthCoastBoy

Gavin83 said:

Albermarle said:

hartlepool_jono said:

Yes downsizing would definately be a plan. Maybe to release circa 250k. Sipp I could probably get up to 400k in next 6 years if similar work case than the last few. Isas I plan to max out each year going forward atleast for 1 of us if not both. 

Downsizing often does not realise the gains expected.
The main issue is that when searching for a new much cheaper property, you will probably think they are too small, or not a nice location. So your aspirations rise and you almost inevitably start looking at better more expensive  properties/locations. Especially as you might well be living there for the rest of your life.

Like a lot of things it depends. Most people don't need such a big house in retirement. Once the kids have flown the nest the amount of space required shrinks and losing a few bedrooms from your house, along with the extra space will free up some money.

The other option is to move somewhere cheaper but that'll depend on where you are. We live in a relatively expensive area in the South East. Upon retirement, if we were to move to somewhere up north we could probably get a similar sized house in a similarly nice area and pocket at least £100k, likely a lot more. Obviously the feasibility of this will vary between people though. If you already live in the cheap area then there isn't really much scope. In some respects we're quite lucky in that friends and family are scattered across the country and we could move almost anywhere and still know someone nearby. The downside is having to visit them all!

SouthCoastBoy said:

Yes university was expensive for me as a parent, estimated cost around 40 to 50k to put 2 through uni

Of course this is optional though. You don't have to pay to put your kids through uni. In fact out of everyone I know who went to uni I don't know of a single case where the parents paid for it all. Most people got loans, although several of them are still paying it off.

My kids did/do take loans, however they both received the minimum loan, about 4.5k, for the year. Impossible to live off as accommodation was 7000+ a year, neither had the time to take part time jobs, one trained to be a teacher which meant a lot of time spent in school, the other is doing a science degree so plenty of work. So I don't think it was optional, if they went to uni, I had to make up the shortfall. They couldn't live at home either, the closest uni that offered a teaching degree is around 80 miles away, and my other daughter is at quite a prestigious uni for science which is not local to us. 

There was a year when they were both at uni, the means tested loan doesn't really reflect the additional expense of having two at uni the same time, that year cost me around 13 or 14k (after tax)

hartlepool_jono

Gavin83 said:

Albermarle said:

hartlepool_jono said:

Yes downsizing would definately be a plan. Maybe to release circa 250k. Sipp I could probably get up to 400k in next 6 years if similar work case than the last few. Isas I plan to max out each year going forward atleast for 1 of us if not both. 

Downsizing often does not realise the gains expected.
The main issue is that when searching for a new much cheaper property, you will probably think they are too small, or not a nice location. So your aspirations rise and you almost inevitably start looking at better more expensive  properties/locations. Especially as you might well be living there for the rest of your life.

Like a lot of things it depends. Most people don't need such a big house in retirement. Once the kids have flown the nest the amount of space required shrinks and losing a few bedrooms from your house, along with the extra space will free up some money.

The other option is to move somewhere cheaper but that'll depend on where you are. We live in a relatively expensive area in the South East. Upon retirement, if we were to move to somewhere up north we could probably get a similar sized house in a similarly nice area and pocket at least £100k, likely a lot more. Obviously the feasibility of this will vary between people though. If you already live in the cheap area then there isn't really much scope. In some respects we're quite lucky in that friends and family are scattered across the country and we could move almost anywhere and still know someone nearby. The downside is having to visit them all!

SouthCoastBoy said:

Yes university was expensive for me as a parent, estimated cost around 40 to 50k to put 2 through uni

Of course this is optional though. You don't have to pay to put your kids through uni. In fact out of everyone I know who went to uni I don't know of a single case where the parents paid for it all. Most people got loans, although several of them are still paying it off.

I could and likely will downsize  I could by current prices easily release 200 to 300 and still have a nice smaller house/ bungalow in Nice area so dfinately something I am considering maybe in 10 years or so  

Albermarle

Gavin83 said:

Albermarle said:

hartlepool_jono said:

Yes downsizing would definately be a plan. Maybe to release circa 250k. Sipp I could probably get up to 400k in next 6 years if similar work case than the last few. Isas I plan to max out each year going forward atleast for 1 of us if not both. 

Downsizing often does not realise the gains expected.
The main issue is that when searching for a new much cheaper property, you will probably think they are too small, or not a nice location. So your aspirations rise and you almost inevitably start looking at better more expensive  properties/locations. Especially as you might well be living there for the rest of your life.

Like a lot of things it depends. Most people don't need such a big house in retirement. Once the kids have flown the nest the amount of space required shrinks and losing a few bedrooms from your house, along with the extra space will free up some money. I agree with this.

The other option is to move somewhere cheaper but that'll depend on where you are. We live in a relatively expensive area in the South East. Upon retirement, if we were to move to somewhere up north we could probably get a similar sized house in a similarly nice area and pocket at least £100k, likely a lot more. Obviously the feasibility of this will vary between people though. If you already live in the cheap area then there isn't really much scope. In some respects we're quite lucky in that friends and family are scattered across the country and we could move almost anywhere and still know someone nearby. The downside is having to visit them all!
I think the bit you are missing is human nature.
Having worked all their life and brought up family, most people would not be happy moving to a much smaller house and/or cheaper location. They might think they would until they actually started viewing properties. Comments such as this might be heard ' we have all this money why do we want to live somewhere like this'
Despite the financial logic, they are more likely to say something like 'it would be nice to have a sea view' and end up paying nearly as much for a new property as the old one.

SouthCoastBoy said:

Yes university was expensive for me as a parent, estimated cost around 40 to 50k to put 2 through uni

Of course this is optional though. You don't have to pay to put your kids through uni. In fact out of everyone I know who went to uni I don't know of a single case where the parents paid for it all. Most people got loans, although several of them are still paying it off.

I can confirm the comments of @SouthCoastBoy. Even if a full student loan is taken for the tuition fees and maintenance grant, the latter is restricted if the family has above a certain income. So it is necessary to help out and paying for accommodation seems to be quite common. Depending on the location and the quality of the accommodation, then over 3 years  it will cost between £15K and £25K.

Pat38493

Albermarle said:

I think the bit you are missing is human nature.
Having worked all their life and brought up family, most people would not be happy moving to a much smaller house and/or cheaper location. They might think they would until they actually started viewing properties. Comments such as this might be heard ' we have all this money why do we want to live somewhere like this'
Despite the financial logic, they are more likely to say something like 'it would be nice to have a sea view' and end up paying nearly as much for a new property as the old one.

I know people who found themselves in this situation that they sold their house to downsize, then took it back off the market because they couldn't find somewhere else they liked.

That said, to give another example, we are living in a large 5 bedroom house and I think it's unlikely we will want to stay here till the end of our lives.  Whether we will insist on fancy sea view I'm not sure - will probably end up being driven by the other half!   

The other point though is it's nice to have that insurance policy - if you are in a house that you know if worth a lot and is arguably too big, you have it as a kind of insurance policy against the worst possible financial scenarios, so you might choose to retire with a pot that would have worked in 95% of past scenarios instead of 100% for example.

Bobinyorkshire

From my own experience, I too felt I needed to support my children through Uni, especially as they did courses that have a lot of contact hours and placements. I paid for their accommodation and they used their student loans for tuition and living costs. I appreciate this is not always possible, but for me it had to be factored into future financial planning. Probably cost north of £25k per child (£75k) as they all did 4 year courses. They still have a lot of student loan debt, which even with well paid jobs they are very unlikely to pay off.

SouthCoastBoy

Bobinyorkshire said:

From my own experience, I too felt I needed to support my children through Uni, especially as they did courses that have a lot of contact hours and placements. I paid for their accommodation and they used their student loans for tuition and living costs. I appreciate this is not always possible, but for me it had to be factored into future financial planning. Probably cost north of £25k per child (£75k) as they all did 4 year courses. They still have a lot of student loan debt, which even with well paid jobs they are very unlikely to pay off.

Exactly what I have done, costs per child are similar.

Simon11

SouthCoastBoy said:

Bobinyorkshire said:

From my own experience, I too felt I needed to support my children through Uni, especially as they did courses that have a lot of contact hours and placements. I paid for their accommodation and they used their student loans for tuition and living costs. I appreciate this is not always possible, but for me it had to be factored into future financial planning. Probably cost north of £25k per child (£75k) as they all did 4 year courses. They still have a lot of student loan debt, which even with well paid jobs they are very unlikely to pay off.

Exactly what I have done, costs per child are similar.

Understand it is not possible for some people, however I have to wave the MSE flag!

I went to university 12 years ago where I did a 4 year course including a year working. I left university with more money than I started with (no student loan either) and earned a first too plus I didn't miss out on the social scene (went to plenty of social groups, went out regularly on student nights ect).

I did around 30 hours a week on-above minimum wage working around university courses and social life. I even did quite a few hours around my exams which was fine as I am very well organised.

I was grateful that I could remain at home, so fed & watered and then I cycled 6 miles into university saving on having a car.

As a result of leaving university with money, this made it easy to purchase my first home a year after leaving university and wealth is like a snowball, thus makes a huge difference to your starting life.

I feel that too many people just want to escape at 18 without a thought for the long-term financial impact!

MallyGirl

Bobinyorkshire said:

From my own experience, I too felt I needed to support my children through Uni, especially as they did courses that have a lot of contact hours and placements. I paid for their accommodation and they used their student loans for tuition and living costs. I appreciate this is not always possible, but for me it had to be factored into future financial planning. Probably cost north of £25k per child (£75k) as they all did 4 year courses. They still have a lot of student loan debt, which even with well paid jobs they are very unlikely to pay off.

I do the same but she is on year 4 of a 6 year degree (vet) so we still have a way to go. Her uni do not allow working during term time even if she had the capacity to take some on and, over the span of the degree, she has needed to do an additional 12 weeks pre-clinical and will need 26 weeks clinical EMS which takes up quite a bit of the holidays.

Pat38493

MallyGirl said:

Bobinyorkshire said:

From my own experience, I too felt I needed to support my children through Uni, especially as they did courses that have a lot of contact hours and placements. I paid for their accommodation and they used their student loans for tuition and living costs. I appreciate this is not always possible, but for me it had to be factored into future financial planning. Probably cost north of £25k per child (£75k) as they all did 4 year courses. They still have a lot of student loan debt, which even with well paid jobs they are very unlikely to pay off.

I do the same but she is on year 4 of a 6 year degree (vet) so we still have a way to go. Her uni do not allow working during term time even if she had the capacity to take some on and, over the span of the degree, she has needed to do an additional 12 weeks pre-clinical and will need 26 weeks clinical EMS which takes up quite a bit of the holidays.

Same here - we are generally paying the accommodation for our kids in Uni and they have to use their loan and/or get jobs to fund the rest.  Must be very difficult for students who don't have this option even with the extra funding.

6022tivo

SouthCoastBoy said:

Yes university was expensive for me as a parent, estimated cost around 40 to 50k to put 2 through uni

How?? 
They have student loans etc. Didn't cost me a penny..