Retirement Living Standards website

fluffymuffy

Having been poor all my life I am greatly encouraged by the figures on this website - https://www.retirementlivingstandards.org.uk/

I'm 60 and in poor health, but should I survive to 67 I'll have the full state person plus (at today's prices, but increasing annually) about £1000 from when I was briefly a civil servant 30 years ago. That leaves only £1000 a year to find for the minimum living standard for a single person (which is more than my current income.)

I hope to be able to come up with £20k over the next 7 years to buy a lifetime annuity of £1000 a year

I only recently looked in this MSE board and was discouraged by all the wealth talk here. Many (most?) people my age were never offered a workplace pension, never earned enough for a private pension, lived with disabilities, bankruptcies, or family responsibilities limiting career options, had bad luck, were victims of crime, or just struggled financially our whole lives for whatever reason. 

The figures on the Retirement Living Standards website make me feel like there is hope for some happy years.

michaels

There was a recent thread here on whether it was possible to 'live' on a full state pension alone (or the equivalent with pension credit).  Opinion seemed to divide pretty strongly between those who said it was impossible or the lifestyle was 'unacceptable' and those who already lived happy, fulfilled lives with that level of income who not surprisingly disagreed.

An annuity may make sense for you but others might suggest it would work better to keep the 20k as an emergency pot for unexpected expenditures or drip fed as an income top up.

Marcon

fluffymuffy said:

Having been poor all my life I am greatly encouraged by the figures on this website - https://www.retirementlivingstandards.org.uk/

I'm 60 and in poor health, but should I survive to 67 I'll have the full state person plus (at today's prices, but increasing annually) about £1000 from when I was briefly a civil servant 30 years ago. That leaves only £1000 a year to find for the minimum living standard for a single person (which is more than my current income.)

I hope to be able to come up with £20k over the next 7 years to buy a lifetime annuity of £1000 a year

I only recently looked in this MSE board and was discouraged by all the wealth talk here. Many (most?) people my age were never offered a workplace pension, never earned enough for a private pension, lived with disabilities, bankruptcies, or family responsibilities limiting career options, had bad luck, were victims of crime, or just struggled financially our whole lives for whatever reason. 

The figures on the Retirement Living Standards website make me feel like there is hope for some happy years.

Make sure you get quotes which take into account your ill health - the rates will be better than someone deemed to be in 'normal' or 'good' health.

michaels said:

There was a recent thread here on whether it was possible to 'live' on a full state pension alone (or the equivalent with pension credit).  Opinion seemed to divide pretty strongly between those who said it was impossible or the lifestyle was 'unacceptable' and those who already lived happy, fulfilled lives with that level of income who not surprisingly disagreed.

People posting here aren't exactly a representative cross section of the population, at least in financial terms. Many people have no choice but to live on the state pension - and for some, it could be a substantial proportion of any previous earnings, so they would if anything see a possible improvement in their lifestyle.

Kim1965

Do you rent or own your own home? 

[Deleted User]

Have a look at the thread in my signature  How Much to Live On. You may find it useful and encouraging.

fluffymuffy

[Deleted User] said:

Have a look at the thread in my signature  How Much to Live On. You may find it useful and encouraging.

Thanks!  That's an excellent thread, and like you say, encouraging.

On page 2 I found this -

" Many thanks for starting this thread! I follow the Pensions board where the question about how much you need to retire ('the number') is often posed and inevitably throws up answers from people with massive pension pots or incredible final salary schemes asking if £100,000 a year is enough to live on!! (exaggeration there but it's always a large number). It's refreshing to be in the real world with answers around £500 - £1000."

zagfles

This thread is also a good read: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6480972/can-you-live-solely-off-state-pension/

I'd ignore the PLSA site, they do seem to have ridiculous spending requirements, we've lived a very "comfortable" lifestyle as a family of 4 on much less than their supposed "comfortable" requirement for a couple! And as the above thread shows, plenty of people are living a comfortable life on less than their "minimum". 

It really depends as much on your ability to manage money as your income level, as I said in that thread and you said above, some people struggle on £100k income while others manage fine on £10k.

westv

I wouldn't call the PLSA figures ridiculous but, such is the nature with averages, some will actually need more and some less.

michaels

westv said:

I wouldn't call the PLSA figures ridiculous but, such is the nature with averages, some will actually need more and some less.

Not sure 'need' is the correct word there.