Is the State Pension enough to live on if you are single !!

Altior

badmemory said:

With no debts & no mortgage then probably yes.  The real question of course is is surviving enough.  Then as you age & maybe not as nimble as you were are you likely to need a gardener or cleaner to help out.  What happens when cooking from scratch every day becomes a problem.  But a better chance on the new state pension than on the basic state pension

Surviving is enough if people expect others to fully fund their lifestyle. They have had 40-50 years of adulthood to prepare for this stage of their life. 

Mustbeananswer??

Altior said:

badmemory said:

With no debts & no mortgage then probably yes.  The real question of course is is surviving enough.  Then as you age & maybe not as nimble as you were are you likely to need a gardener or cleaner to help out.  What happens when cooking from scratch every day becomes a problem.  But a better chance on the new state pension than on the basic state pension

Surviving is enough if people expect others to fully fund their lifestyle. They have had 40-50 years of adulthood to prepare for this stage of their life. 

Thats deffo a bit harsh Alitor...Nobody knew what life was going to throw at people.Most of us have had to Duck and Dive a bit to get to this point??? 

barnstar2077

Mustbeananswer?? said:

Lets creat a Fictional  Person Sally/Simon(you chose).67 years old.
No Mortgage
No debts  
Small Car (Fully Legit)
Regular Diet(food Bills)
Typical Bills Gas Water Elec
Council Tax
Internet/Phone
Tv Licence
Entertainment (0nce a week)

Have they enough to survive (without dipping into the savings pot).If they havent enough to survive ....how do we expect them not to fall into debt.


Receives the Max Single State Pension 
   

It is perfectly doable, until the house or car need repairs, or the car needs replacing.  In the above scenario I would probably either give up driving and sell the car straight away, or at least assume that the car won't be replaced later.

A full state pension, with no rent or mortgage to pay, and some money in the bank to cover house maintenance wouldn't be a problem.  Without some savings it would still be doable, but it would require a lot more watching the pennies. 

Silvertabby

Mustbeananswer?? said:

Brie said:

Gas, water & electric at £95 a month?  Our gas and electric is more than twice that and the water is £40.  

Don't forget there's car insurance, MOT, maintenance, tax.  Prescriptions are free, up to a point, less things are included now.  No going out to the pub, the local kaffee klatch, art class.  Nothing for pets. Haircuts.  Clothing.

Assuming they are careful and have a savings pot (big assumptions) what happens when the fridge or oven dies, something in the plumbing springs a leak?  Car needs to be replaced? 

And hopefully they have no friends or relatives who expect birthday or Christmas cards or presents.    

So I say no.  

So what do we do to stop your Sally falling into debt and having a life of misery....hoping to die early so she can leave something for the kids.TBH I feel you are closer to the real costs with your synopsis.We pay our Pensioners far less than most civillised European Nations...you have to get to State Pensioin Age to realise.
 

To be fair, comparing the UK State pension with most Euro pensions is comparing apples with oranges.  Euro pensions are mostly hybrid schemes, part State and part (salary linked) occupational, with both employers and employees paying in way more than we do in just NI.  And contributions are compulsory, unlike UK occupational/private pensions. 

A fairer comparison would be a Euro pension with the UK State pension PLUS all the occupational/personal pensions that the UK pensioner paid into/could have paid into.

Mustbeananswer??

barnstar2077 said:

Mustbeananswer?? said:

Lets creat a Fictional  Person Sally/Simon(you chose).67 years old.
No Mortgage
No debts  
Small Car (Fully Legit)
Regular Diet(food Bills)
Typical Bills Gas Water Elec
Council Tax
Internet/Phone
Tv Licence
Entertainment (0nce a week)

Have they enough to survive (without dipping into the savings pot).If they havent enough to survive ....how do we expect them not to fall into debt.


Receives the Max Single State Pension 
   

It is perfectly doable, until the house or car need repairs, or the car needs replacing.  In the above scenario I would probably either give up driving and sell the car straight away, or at least assume that the car won't be replaced later.

A full state pension, with no rent or mortgage to pay, and some money in the bank to cover house maintenance wouldn't be a problem.  Without some savings it would still be doable, but it would require a lot more watching the pennies. 

What I dont get is this....you may own your house and have paid the mortgage off ...but once you have had a succesion of bad luck as you mention above when your contigency fund runs out....you are stuffed....its sell the house or Equity Release.....your kids will disown you ??

DT2001

My mother did for quite a few years (late 70’s to mid 80’s).

In her mid 80’s she downsized from a bungalow to a retirement flat. Expenditure moved from some categories to others - reduced fuel, council tax etc but increased although regular maintenance. In her late 80’s she dipped into savings to pay for care so at that stage the answer became a no.

xylophone

I know one woman who, for various reasons, has insufficient years to get any sort of SP and so when her OH dies she will have no income whatsoever.  Her only resource will be to sell the house they live in and hope to find some place to rent with the proceeds.  

Are you sure that she would not be entitled to any state benefits at all?

Altior

Mustbeananswer?? said:

Altior said:

badmemory said:

With no debts & no mortgage then probably yes.  The real question of course is is surviving enough.  Then as you age & maybe not as nimble as you were are you likely to need a gardener or cleaner to help out.  What happens when cooking from scratch every day becomes a problem.  But a better chance on the new state pension than on the basic state pension

Surviving is enough if people expect others to fully fund their lifestyle. They have had 40-50 years of adulthood to prepare for this stage of their life. 

Thats deffo a bit harsh Alitor...Nobody knew what life was going to throw at people.Most of us have had to Duck and Dive a bit to get to this point??? 

Not really in my opinion, although many people don't like to look at it that way, the state pension is part of the welfare framework. Welfare should be the last resort. 

There is no miracle, no fantasy, no magic wand. If the state pension was high enough for people to live comfortably, and allow for discretionary spending then lots more people would not bother saving up/ build up capital to sustain their lifestyle in retirement, and expect others to pay for it.

barnstar2077

Mustbeananswer?? said:

barnstar2077 said:

Mustbeananswer?? said:

Lets creat a Fictional  Person Sally/Simon(you chose).67 years old.
No Mortgage
No debts  
Small Car (Fully Legit)
Regular Diet(food Bills)
Typical Bills Gas Water Elec
Council Tax
Internet/Phone
Tv Licence
Entertainment (0nce a week)

Have they enough to survive (without dipping into the savings pot).If they havent enough to survive ....how do we expect them not to fall into debt.


Receives the Max Single State Pension 
   

It is perfectly doable, until the house or car need repairs, or the car needs replacing.  In the above scenario I would probably either give up driving and sell the car straight away, or at least assume that the car won't be replaced later.

A full state pension, with no rent or mortgage to pay, and some money in the bank to cover house maintenance wouldn't be a problem.  Without some savings it would still be doable, but it would require a lot more watching the pennies. 

What I dont get is this....you may own your house and have paid the mortgage off ...but once you have had a succesion of bad lauck as you mention above when your contigency fund runs out....you are stuffed....its sell the house or Equity Release.....your kids will disown you ??

Well, there is plenty of time for planning (almost a lifetime in fact), so the contingency fund should be large enough that it won't run out.  Any house repairs that are very expensive may well be covered under the house insurance, so that would help.  With a bit of thought it would work.  My current monthly bills are less than £600, for everything, food, gas, water etc.  So it is definitely doable.

Many people would not enjoy the simpler life it would force on someone in the scenario you have suggested though.  Anyone who would not like to use the bus instead of a having a car, or does not have cheap hobbies and interests needs to plan ahead if they can.

There will always be a small minority of people who through no fault of there own have ended up with next to nothing in retirement, but the vast majority of people can do something about it and avoid the worst case scenario all together.

BlackKnightMonty

Altior said:

Mustbeananswer?? said:

Altior said:

badmemory said:

With no debts & no mortgage then probably yes.  The real question of course is is surviving enough.  Then as you age & maybe not as nimble as you were are you likely to need a gardener or cleaner to help out.  What happens when cooking from scratch every day becomes a problem.  But a better chance on the new state pension than on the basic state pension

Surviving is enough if people expect others to fully fund their lifestyle. They have had 40-50 years of adulthood to prepare for this stage of their life. 

Thats deffo a bit harsh Alitor...Nobody knew what life was going to throw at people.Most of us have had to Duck and Dive a bit to get to this point??? 

Not really in my opinion, although many people don't like to look at it that way, the state pension is part of the welfare framework. Welfare should be the last resort. 

There is no miracle, no fantasy, no magic wand. If the state pension was high enough for people to live comfortably, and allow for discretionary spending then lots more people would not bother saving up/ build up capital to sustain their lifestyle in retirement, and expect others to pay for it.

This is the situation today. Back in 1977 only 37% pf households took more from benefits/services than they contributed in ALL taxes. Today it has risen to 53.8%; and will hit 60% in the 2040’s at this trajectory. With so few net contributors it is unrealistic to expect a reducing minority of wealthy people to sustain everyone else.