o no wife making demands, no interest in a spendy holiday

To be fair this is more about seeing here family overseas for the first time since 2018 that a 7 star hotel.

Id be saying /thinking thats another two years until I retire if i spend that much.

this is exactly how I’m thinking!

To be fair this is more about seeing here family overseas for the first time since 2018 that a 7 star hotel.

Yeah, that’s a specific kind of problem, especially as a family. However I do know folk who’ve simply had to accept the fact that sort of trip is unaffordable any more than once/twice in a lifetime. Particularly folk who’ve moved to Australia. Shit dilemma to be facing though.

I couldnt imagine spending for than a few hundred on a bathroom refit

your idea of a refit and others may differ

2 tins of paint and new lino?

40k is a fair old lump. 4 years living for us now.
we are at the stage where the car we have will be our last, for the trips we do it will be cheaper to ditch a car and costs and use a taxi.

and holidays are done on the bikes, as that is what we enjoy.

you dont have to spend lots of money to have a good life and a good retirement.

“your idea of a refit and others may differ
2 tins of paint and new lino?”

2 tins? Unnecessarily extravagant. 1 at a push.

“you dont have to spend lots of money to have a good life and a good retirement.”

This. It took the last few covid years for me to fully realise how little money is actually needed.

Super tough choice really.  You have no idea what will happen next year and life isn’t just about bathrooms.  It’s difficult to call without know the numbers but I tend to trade off against lower average spend and some very special peaks rather than a slightly higher average overall but all at the same level.  It’s a choice you make together though so you may decide just to live with the bathroom or put it off for a few more years in order to take the trip.

40k is a fair old lump. 4 years living for us now.

5 for me

“you dont have to spend lots of money to have a good life and a good retirement”
^ plus another one 😊

Unfortunately our bathroom is at the point that it’s causing concern, the point of “living with it for a few years” was reached a couple of years ago. Although we haven’t changed it for 10 years, it was installed a good 5-10 years before that.

And, as I said, floor to ceiling tiles on a partition wall can’t be removed without enough damage to need the wall sorting on the bathroom side, and the ceiling/spots is very bad due to rusted spots and a leakin the roof, I can’t see this being cheap – but maybe it will!

Anyway, maybe I just have to work for a few more years to replace the dent in the savings and assume that in the next 10 years theyll be enough of a recovery that means our pensions will start to show increases. Maybe I’ve also misjudged how much is needed post retirement according to the above.

I will be 52.5. It would have made more sense to keep going till 55 for another 100k in the pension but I’m done

Id love to know what job you have whereby you can save £50k a year!!

Is it just me that’s confused about the arithmetic here?

Given that he’s close to retirement I’d expect his increase in a normal year to outstrip his contributions, no?

But back to your question about priorities, you gotta find a happy medium. No point in saving too much for too long and missing your fitter years.

My missus has just booked new bathrooms in January for just south of thirty grand. Part of me thinks it’s a waste of money but then…
Most of our life we’ve prioritised travel, adventures and sports kit. Fair enough if she wants to waste some of it now 🙂
It’ll bolster the value of the house for when we sell it.
She earns most of the money so she can do what she wants with it.

It would be nice to retire two years earlier, but…

The best way to know how much you need and what you spend it on is to track it now.
I’ve been using the below for years.

https://2qip.com/

Maybe I’ve also misjudged how much is needed post retirement according to the above.

I think there are two basic approaches to this:

1: decide when you want to retire and then live on as much as you have at that point
2: Decide how much money you need then work until you have that

I took 1 and retired at 60.  My total income is around £8000 pa but no mortgage.  Its doable but it tight if you want to do stuff  This is why last summer I cycled and camped rather than drove and stayed in hotels.  I am lucky (ha!) in a way tho as I do have a chunk of capital I can dip into if needed

And I am fully aware how privileged that makes me

Edit  I have had to cut my cloth accordingly and very much reduce the cost of my lifestyle to suit.  Stuff like I spent 3 hours on buses each way to visit a pal.  It would have been under an hour by car

@daveylad I think you must be my doppelganger.

Being doing the exact same and also retire march 31st.

Happy April (fools).

I sort of retired by accident during Covid and moved to Portugal, I would’ve carried on as normal but what with Brexshit, mortgage finished, Covid and being immune surpressed, our daughter who had already settled here encouraging us ….. we suddenly found ourselves on a ferry heading to Santander on a stormy night in Oct 20.
Two years on, if we’d known then how hard it would be (bureaucracy and associated crap) we probably wouldn’t have started but two years on I’m so glad we did it!

Having seen what some of you are living on I’ll be reducing my forecast final retirement date! Thanks all

2 tins? Unnecessarily extravagant. 1 at a push

Pah, sugar soap and refresh with what was left from the last time
Change the colour? Mix all the colours that were left from the last time

Well I played with various retirement calculators last night, and as a couple we’d have an income of £14k from my age 60 and £22k (all per annum) from my age 67. It doesn’t feel as though that’s quite the comfort blanket I want but it’s interesting to watch others experience of actual financial needs, but it looks as though I’ll be working harder for longer than I thought, and praying that markets returned to normal / grow over the next 9-16 years.

Re planning my future over the Christmas break will be job number 3 after putting new batteries in the house alarm siren and selling my youngest Frog bike.

Must be a challenge living on 8k a year,not sure i want that level of challenge in retirement.

I’d not be putting much store in some of the numbers being quoted here, especially if you have children. I was lucky enough not to need any financial support from my parents once I started work but I’m keenly aware that subsequent generations have a tougher time. I’m happy to help my daughter out on a regular basis and would like to keep doing so, especially if that means she is able to pursue opportunities that aren’t just about maximising her income at all costs.

I’m planning on tapering slowly into retirement but probs working till I’m 70, so at 58 already gone down to 4 days & hoping to take extended leave at 60 for a world “tour” seeing family etc. Also plan to downsize to somewhere cheap to run & with good transport links so we can ditch the car & cut our expenditure but live well.

I’m keenly aware that subsequent generations have a tougher time.

This.

I will probably end up working a fair bit longer than I could get away with, to support my kids.

I’ve just realised (yes, I’m slow) that it makes sense to continue to contribute to your pension after you’ve retired, e.g. by shifting money from other investments to a pension fund. Any thoughts on the best way to do that? Open a SIPP account maybe?

Would feel very selfish to turn down a good salary if you can see them struggling to get a foothold (where I had it easy.)

60 here and going down to 1 day/week from Jan and then 1day/2 weeks from April.  As much as I love what I do I’m done with work. Will live off wife’s pension until mine kicks in.  Expect lots of DIY threads starting in 2 weeks time 🙂

your pension after you’ve retired, e.g. by shifting money from other investments to a pension fund. Any thoughts on the best way to do that? Open a SIPP account maybe?

Hmmm. Confused, tell me more.
What are you living on when you retire? If pension then bear in mind your annual contribution tax thingy will decrease by 90% if you start taking pension.

Hmmm. Confused, tell me more.
What are you living on when you retire? If pension then bear in mind your annual contribution tax thingy will decrease by 90% if you start taking pension.

I could be living on eg savings, or pensions that are not “flexibly accessed” {not 100% sure I understand what that means, but seems to allow receiving an annuity). Some info here:
https://www.hl.co.uk/pensions/insights/can-i-still-contribute-to-a-pension-after-retirement

To answer my own question, one good way looks like a SIPP account with Vanguard (if you like their funds).

To the people living on £8k a year – how do you factor the state pension in?

It’s £9.5k a year – if you’re under 67 are you expecting your income to double in a few years time? Or something else?

the wife and myself 57 and 58 years old, are living quite comfortably on 19k a year.
we also have a tidy lump sum in the bank, so by the time state pension comes along we will be a bit better off.

I was working on a very simplistic formula.
£300 a week till state pension age, then £100 a week to top up the state pension.
Plus, you will need a lump sum for emergency things, not £30k for a bathroom but new roof, central heating system, car (s), teeth etc. This is hard to judge, but its probably over £25k.

So £250,000 give or take in ppp’s should see you stop in your 50’s. If your not on a final salary sheme.

Surprised by some of the figures on here based on what I have read:
https://www.plsa.co.uk/press-centre/news/article/retirement-living-standards-updated-to-reflect-expectations-changed-by-lockdown-living

I guess these are figures from companies who want you to save! But they are saying for a comfortable living standard you need £33,600 a year for a single person and £49,700 for a couple.

I d expect to live like a king on 34k. Assume no debts I reckon 20k net is a decent standard of living as long as you have a cash pot to dip into for a new roof, car etc.

With utiliy prices as they are it’s worth it leaving your boiler on frost protect and taking a winter rental somewhere warm.

Yeah that figure is for the ‘comfortable’ level and I imagine I’d certainly be pretty comfortable on that.

https://www.hl.co.uk/pensions/insights/can-i-still-contribute-to-a-pension-after-retirement

In the most part I don’t really see who this article applies to. There must be a very limited number of people who have enough of an income (AFTER finishing work!) to put some of that income into the pension, for the income tax breaks…and not actually draw the pension.

IHT avoidance is a good reason for having money in a pension, but again a limited number of people must be in a position to plan on inheritance via that route (they must be either very lucky or, erm, very unlucky)

£14k from my age 60 and £22k (all per annum) from my age 67.

If I was looking at that sort of income there’s no way I’d be spending 40k on a bathroom car and a holiday. £5k on a bathroom, 10 if you want it to be high end. £1k flights per person will get you anywhere in the world, and a couple of grand whilst you’re there you’ll have just as nice a time as if you’re spending more. £5k will get you a car that works.

£40k on the 3 is fine if your retirement income is double-triple what you’re looking at. On £600 per month per person I’d be sitting staring at my gruel cursing my younger self for being so frivolous.

Gosh.   On holiday on a warm and familiar island, Mrs K and I went food shopping in our basic no frills AC only hard plastics Suzuki Vitara hire car yesterday.

At the end of the trip we sat in the car and said “really, do we need anything more than this?”  (Lifestyle in general not the car) It’s a thought on my mind as I sit on a porch with coffee and toast watching the morning unravel.

We are familiar with and cautious of romanticising holidays, but 48hrs of simple (island) life has latched on to us very quickly, no doubt our increasing age is a factor .

Makes you think – a lot.

Also not helped by her uncle -same age as me – being part of the holiday party.  He’s a contracting Software Engineer of a high standard, forced (his words) into a permanent role becuase IR35.  He said yesterday he’s worked for 30yrs to build hefty savings, but the desire to work is leaving him becuase  – and the same is true in my industry – where there were 4-5 major players tech/advancement/globalisation has allowed that to multiply to 30-40 competitors or new entrants and it’s just hard to keep up when “the game” is constantly changing.  His analogy – each working week is like trying to solve a Rubik’s cube from scratch by Friday only for the rules to have changed by Thursday morning. Frustrating.

Anyway, just musing….

Well I should be retired and could be, but I’m a arse when I’m not working and I like buying guitars so I do assorted graphics work when bit games up and throw bags of fertiliser and gravel around the garden centre when it doesn’t. Been doing a two days a week there scraping algae from inside the Koi tanks plus my weekend shifts.

Very physical and pleasant as you can switch off, watch the fish and try to put off the muscle pain.

I’m doing it while i can knowing I’m not dipping into savings and having a whale if a time.

Retirement and an e-bike lay ahead of me, but not yet God please.

Increasingly frustrated at work, and 55 next year – accepting there’d be penalties but I am considering checking out what they would actually pay me, packing in the current job and looking to pick up 2-3 days a week part time work.

Theres a couple of very sensible reasons not to do this, but even so….

I was more or less forced to retire in March, when I was made redundant. I’d have been perfectly happy carrying on working, I enjoyed my job, it was stress-free and payed fairly well, but it seemed like it might be the right time as I turned 69 in July, so put in for my state pension at the beginning of March.

What was a nice surprise was my state pension of £948, plus a lump sum of £12300! My SP has also gone up to £1023/month, so I’m ticking over at the moment, not having to spend £60 on fuel twice a month for work; however, I’ve got a number of workplace pensions, plus two remaining private pensions left from the six I set up to pay off my mortgage, and give me a chunk of money as well.

The mortgage was paid off around three years ago, so that’s out of the way, so I’ve got an independent financial advisor working on getting all of the separate pensions all in one place, giving me an annuity to add to my SP. There’s one sticking point, the two pensions left over from the mortgage are a significant chunk of money, but the entity holding them is really dragging its feet when it comes to releasing the funds! I signed letters of authority in April, they were saying they needed a signed letters of authority in July, IIRC, and were told they’d had them on April 18th! 🤬

Hopefully, once A**** have got their collective heads out of their backsides and my team can get everything sorted, I should be on something like a final salary pension, which will be nice.

Must be a challenge living on 8k a year,not sure i want that level of challenge in retirement.

As he said though, he’s capital to dip into so the £8k is what he’s ‘choosing’ to live on (NHS Pension?) and if he needs more he’ll use savings and once at 66/67 will also get at least the same again with his State Pension.  Single bloke and no mortgage/rent plus didn’t he say he’d a rental too?  All adds up.

I d expect to live like a king on 34k. Assume no debts I reckon 20k net is a decent standard of living as long as you have a cash pot to dip into for a new roof, car etc.

You’ve to realise that your monthly pension(s) and any savings/capital are actually all the same monies – most folk could live on £20k if they’d a big pot of cash to dip into for everything but just ‘living’.

Intheborders speaks the truth. People who claim to live on X whilst also having a y lump sum available ( or perhaps even an additional z of rental income) are completely misrepresenting the situation.

Similarly to ITB, I could easily live on an income of five quid a week. If I had a dipping pot of a mil.

so many varied opinions on how much of an overall pot for a decent living though.  I’m hoping to retire in 4 yrs, ish, just into my 60’s and the various calculators throw up a huge variety of numbers.  We will have no mortgage, kids will be away, and will have a reasonable private pension pot, maybe 500k and hopefully a bit more, but hard to work out what that actually means in real terms and standard of living.