Cloud Cuckoo Land

trevjl

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68222807

Been discussed many times I know, but what planet do these people live on.

JSL_2

£43,100 for a couple for a moderate lifestyle seems well high. I'm semi retired and soon fully retired. I'm hoping 35k will give us a moderate lifestyle (as we live just now), my sums seem to work out that way. We have a large costly to run house and I Play Golf but Still should be ok around 35k .
Be interesting to see what everyone else's views are  !

kuratowski

trevjl said:

Been discussed many times I know

Just so...

Avoiding going back over old ground, the £8k a year increase for moderate living standards for a retiree living on their own seems a bit steep.  I know inflation has been a bit high lately, but 35%?  The news article mentions an expectation of supporting grandchildren, but if we're talking help with house deposits etc, that's surely capital expenditure, so should not be included in income requirements.

ewaste

trevjl said:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68222807

Been discussed many times I know, but what planet do these people live on.

It's the PLSA (Pension and Lifetime Savings Association) which is a Pensions industry body. I mean maybe, just maybe, they'd like people to contribute more toward pensions. I couldn't possibly think why though 🤷‍♂️

That isn't a bad thing considering many contribute minimal amounts and don't have a clue about their likely outcome.

artyboy

I know this is an MSE site and some people seem to be frugal more as a badge of honour rather than out of necessity, but personally I want to enjoy my retirement in a way that will involve spending quite a bit on travel, eating out, treating family etc.

So I do not consider these figures at all excessive.

Chacun à son goût...

Mr.Generous

artyboy said:

I know this is an MSE site and some people seem to be frugal more as a badge of honour rather than out of necessity, but personally I want to enjoy my retirement in a way that will involve spending quite a bit on travel, eating out, treating family etc.

So I do not consider these figures at all excessive.

Chacun à son goût...

I'd agree, but I'd consider that a good lifestyle, and a good living. They are talking about requiring £43k for a moderate lifestyle. By retirement hopefully you have no mortgage or loans, the money is mostly for discretionary spending.

I've invested cash into my property business for the last 10 years, its a long time since I had an annual wage of £50k - next year will be a milestone back to what I was earning in a stressful demanding job. I consider I have a nice lifestyle, with no overhead I managed it on a lot less than the figures they show.

MallyGirl

@artyboy - same here. That is why my 'number' is personal to me. Some don't enjoy eating out and that is their choice whereas I love to and would work a bit longer to ensure that I can still do that sort of thing in retirement without having to sacrifice something else. 

westv

Are can't remember if these figures are gross or net. 
At the moment our number is around £36,000 net a year but we won't have any grandchildren to sponge off us!

zagfles

ewaste said:

trevjl said:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68222807

Been discussed many times I know, but what planet do these people live on.

It's the PLSA (Pension and Lifetime Savings Association) which is a Pensions industry body. I mean maybe, just maybe, they'd like people to contribute more toward pensions. I couldn't possibly think why though 🤷‍♂️

That isn't a bad thing considering many contribute minimal amounts and don't have a clue about their likely outcome.

Although reading this sort of drivel could lead to people simply giving up and thinking they'll need to work till they die. I know some people like that. It's very sad.

zagfles

artyboy said:

I know this is an MSE site and some people seem to be frugal more as a badge of honour rather than out of necessity, but personally I want to enjoy my retirement in a way that will involve spending quite a bit on travel, eating out, treating family etc.

So I do not consider these figures at all excessive.

Chacun à son goût...

We do all those things and spend about £35k a year. That's for a couple including grown kids part time and at least 4 foreign holidays a year. I think the key is to cut out the often expensive superficial fluff which doesn't add much value, and not to assume a correlation between price and quality.

Anyway, it's all been discussed to death here:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6417010/standard-of-living-minimum-moderate-or-comfortable-figures-released-today-12-january-2023/p1

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6282632/actual-spending-in-retirement-against-expectations/p7

GibbsRule_No3.

How much are the people on these three rates earning while working?  The bottom one seems a bit low the next two high. When I thought I was retiring it looked like I’d be about £1000 - 1500 less a year than what I was earning and decided that would not be a big impact on my life, so long as my rent and council tax, electric did not go up too much per year. There were a few things, like phone, Sky, Amazon contracts I could cut back on if it got really tight. I might not be able to visit my US friends as often but should still be able to do a UK holiday with UK friends. Single income but nothing new for me, assume that a married couple where one dies before the other more might struggle with their new lifestyle when left alone with one income.