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

pseudodox

I enjoy a comfortable, busy & interesting life with just the SP as income.  Single household, nice house with large garden, small old car.  I do have a savings pot for emergencies, but any drawing from that cannot be replaced so I spend carefully.  I don't need latest gadgets & have done the travelling I wanted before retiring.  Never had a well paid job so was used to budgeting & never been so well off as I feel now.  Every 4 weeks a chunk of money hits my bank & there always seems to be some of the previous chunk still unused.  I do an annual review of income & expenditure from that income & it seems I am always in surplus.  So I enjoy the Mr Micawber state of happiness.  Savings pot went down last year as I had a new roof, but I already am saving on the previous regular repair outlay & with the rise in interest rates some of the capital outlay is being recouped.  If the Micawber misery looms I will downsize the house.

itsthelittlethings

Brie said:

FIREDreamer said:

Gas, electric, water and council tax is £600 per month for us. Even two state pensions will be a struggle. Thankfully prioritised pension saving since 1988 ( 2 private DB, a JL indexed annuity and a DC pot) and retiring at 60 in the summer. With auto enrolment no excuse to just have to survive on a state pension on its own in future.

But people retiring now, who may have been on benefits for a while won't have anything like this.  Add to this those who are still talked out of staying in a work pension scheme of any sort - some are reasonably intelligent and financially savvy in other ways but assume that the SP will be more than sufficient.  

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.  

Could she not get pension credit?

Marcon

itsthelittlethings said:

Brie said:

FIREDreamer said:

Gas, electric, water and council tax is £600 per month for us. Even two state pensions will be a struggle. Thankfully prioritised pension saving since 1988 ( 2 private DB, a JL indexed annuity and a DC pot) and retiring at 60 in the summer. With auto enrolment no excuse to just have to survive on a state pension on its own in future.

But people retiring now, who may have been on benefits for a while won't have anything like this.  Add to this those who are still talked out of staying in a work pension scheme of any sort - some are reasonably intelligent and financially savvy in other ways but assume that the SP will be more than sufficient.  

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.  

Could she not get pension credit?

Sounds like the usual 'I know someone [details of extreme and probably inaccurate sitaution'].

All sorts of possibilities, but doesn't make nearly such a good story if you dig in to it and point out the obvious such as pension credit, possibly inheriting state pension/OH's spousal pension, buying years of NI I own right...

barnstar2077

pseudodox said:

I enjoy a comfortable, busy & interesting life with just the SP as income.  Single household, nice house with large garden, small old car.  I do have a savings pot for emergencies, but any drawing from that cannot be replaced so I spend carefully.  I don't need latest gadgets & have done the travelling I wanted before retiring.  Never had a well paid job so was used to budgeting & never been so well off as I feel now.  Every 4 weeks a chunk of money hits my bank & there always seems to be some of the previous chunk still unused.  I do an annual review of income & expenditure from that income & it seems I am always in surplus.  So I enjoy the Mr Micawber state of happiness.  Savings pot went down last year as I had a new roof, but I already am saving on the previous regular repair outlay & with the rise in interest rates some of the capital outlay is being recouped.  If the Micawber misery looms I will downsize the house.

Can I ask how long you have been retired for please?

Do you feel the last few years of increased inflation has affected you at all?

Mustbeananswer??

pseudodox said:

I enjoy a comfortable, busy & interesting life with just the SP as income.  Single household, nice house with large garden, small old car.  I do have a savings pot for emergencies, but any drawing from that cannot be replaced so I spend carefully.  I don't need latest gadgets & have done the travelling I wanted before retiring.  Never had a well paid job so was used to budgeting & never been so well off as I feel now.  Every 4 weeks a chunk of money hits my bank & there always seems to be some of the previous chunk still unused.  I do an annual review of income & expenditure from that income & it seems I am always in surplus.  So I enjoy the Mr Micawber state of happiness.  Savings pot went down last year as I had a new roof, but I already am saving on the previous regular repair outlay & with the rise in interest rates some of the capital outlay is being recouped.  If the Micawber misery looms I will downsize the house.

This so well written and exactly the type of post I was hoping for....Thank You  

pensionpawn

JoeCrystal said:

Small Car (Fully Legit) NA
Regular Diet(food Bills) £84 per month
Typical Bills Gas Water Elec (£20+£20+£55) = £95 per month
Council Tax = £90 per month
Internet/Phone = £63 per month
Tv Licence = £14 per month
Boiler Insurance = £30 per month
Service Charge = £63 per month
Content Insurance = £22 per month

Yes, it is certainly possible if you don't have expensive luxuries like holidays. *shrugs* Easier to budget when one does not have a high income in the first place.     And there are always rooms to cut further if necessary.

I don't think my council tax was that low in the 90's! 4 bed detached in Wiltshire £302pm (25% off for single occupancy) and water is £47 for 3 adults (~£20 for 1?). Fortunately my energy bill is now currently ~£0 and with no mortgage in that scenario living off just one state pension, at it's present value, would provide a comfortable standard of living with plenty left over at the end of the month.

maman

BlackKnightMonty said:

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.

But much of that increase is because of in-work benefits where the taxpayer is subsidising employers and private landlords.

I admire those who are managing on a small fixed income but some of the figures given are not realistic where I live. My council tax, for is 3 times the example quoted although not single occupancy.

Fortunately, I don't need to worry because, as someone posted, I've had a lifetime to prepare for this and while I didn't enjoy seeing the deductions on my payslip over the years I am able to live comfortably on my occupational pension.

Sarahspangles

Mustbeananswer?? said:

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 ??

Where I live there is a campaign on social media called ‘Your Home, Your Choice’ to encourage people to consider rightsizing or moving to a more suitable property when they get older. As well as pointing out they could save money, it’s about making their housing sustainable for as long as possible so they can stay independent or manage with minimal support. One of the considerations is moving closer to family and services.

zagfles

Long thread on this a few months ago: Can you live solely off state pension? — MoneySavingExpert Forum

Mustbeananswer??

So leading onto Equity Release....if you get to the bottom of your pot for a rainy day??

Equity release means your home is secured for yourself until you go into care or pass away ...and your pot restored and probably strengthened.

is that stealing money of your kids ??Is there anything else you could do with your assett (other than sell the house and downsize).

Would it be a henious thing to do in your eyes.Would your kids rather still have you than an inheritance.I am not in that position...I hasten to add.