Money needed to retire

Not retired yet but I'm not thinking of life beyond 72.

If the money has run out by then I'll simply throw myself on the State and let them look after me 🤣
 
A quick read and it's all a bit vague.

Do your own calculations. What defines "comfortable" for you? Running a car, two week holiday abroad, cost of living will vary according to where you live in the country etc.
 
A quick read and it's all a bit vague.

Do your own calculations. What defines "comfortable" for you? Running a car, two week holiday abroad, cost of living will vary according to where you live in the country etc.
I agree its definitely vague and based on where you live etc.

Just trying to see what others, who have retired, thought.
 
I agree that you need to do your own calculation and it's as well to do it as far out from your intended retirement as possible. When I worked out what I needed I was surprised by how little I would need. But I have no mortgage, don't drive, get free local transport and don't have an extravagant lifestyle. Having said that, the figure in that article is way below what I think I need. Not even in lockdown.
 
Hopefully I will be in the comfortable bit when I retire, with mortgage paid off and 40 years in a decent company pension but realise many won’t be in that position
 
The £10900 figure they give as a minimum is only about £1000 a year above the state pension. Whether that state amount is enough is a another matter, but if you’ve got a reasonable income and aren’t daft with your money that additional fee k would be very very easy to achieve over a 40 year work life.
Personally I don’t think the state pension is enough, and I also realise that people on low earnings would struggle to save towards an additional pension pot after meeting basic living costs.

However.
I think there’s a big problem these days with people who have a reasonable income who are daft with their money. There’s plenty of £4-500 a month leases whizzing up and down the a19 at rush hour, and new estates don’t seem to have any trouble selling “luxury” homes. All very nice. But if you haven’t saved anything towards retirement while chasing that lifestyle, it’s going to turn into borderline poverty literally overnight when you hit retirement. That’s going to be some bump back down to earth!
 
Agree with all the advice above - basically plan well ahead if possible. Of course it depends on what type of person you are, your circumstances, your expectations and what it takes to 'keep you happy'. if you own your own home and have paid off the mortgage that will make a big difference. I've been retired about 6 years now and my sole income is only £700 in UK state pension per month (although I live in France) plus a few extra quid here and there. I'm also lucky in that my partner is still working so that provides a buffer, although we are completely independent financially and share all bills.

The things that make me happy like cycling, walking amongst other interests cost little or nothing and I have enough money to eat and drink as well as I could wish - I often say i live like a king. Heating is going to be a greater concern for many old people in the future, but I use a wood-burning insert and source most of the wood from my land and only use the gas heating in the depths of winter. Holidays - I personally feel less inclined to travel as i get older (and I know other people of my age who feel the same - even coming back to the UK is a chew) and a couple of weeks in another region and a few weekends away is enough. I feel like I'm on holiday every day here anyway, so basically you don't need a large income to be happy.
 
The £10900 figure they give as a minimum is only about £1000 a year above the state pension. Whether that state amount is enough is a another matter, but if you’ve got a reasonable income and aren’t daft with your money that additional fee k would be very very easy to achieve over a 40 year work life.
Personally I don’t think the state pension is enough, and I also realise that people on low earnings would struggle to save towards an additional pension pot after meeting basic living costs.

However.
I think there’s a big problem these days with people who have a reasonable income who are daft with their money. There’s plenty of £4-500 a month leases whizzing up and down the a19 at rush hour, and new estates don’t seem to have any trouble selling “luxury” homes. All very nice. But if you haven’t saved anything towards retirement while chasing that lifestyle, it’s going to turn into borderline poverty literally overnight when you hit retirement. That’s going to be some bump back down to earth!
Great post gramercy.

It would frighten the life out of me to take on a mortgage or a rental at the levels I'm hearing about.

There's a house on our road went up for rent at £1500 a month and was snapped up in a day!

From hereon in I'm cutting back, reining in so I can have a half decent retirement.

At some point we'll downsize the house then lose one of the cars.
 
I think some people make the mistake of trying to work out how much they need to retire, as opposed to how little. Every circumstance is individual, however, but I’d always recommend seeing a PensionWise adviser, which is a free service once you hit 50. At least it will give you some clarity as to how the various pension rules work, and help you avoid painful tax bills if you get it wrong.
I was lucky enough to retire early, albeit poor health was the main reason I quit early. Our outgoings are way higher than the figures quoted, but we’ve got kids at Uni and enjoy lots of holidays etc. I do expect to trim our budget as we get on a bit more.
 
Great post gramercy.

It would frighten the life out of me to take on a mortgage or a rental at the levels I'm hearing about.

There's a house on or road went up for rent at £1500 a month and was snapped up in a day!

From hereon in I'm cutting back, reining in so I can have a half decent retirement.

At some point we'll downsize thevhouse then lose one of the cars.
I’ve had conversations with people I’ve worked with on similar incomes to me who live that way. When asked what they’re going to do later in life, they usually say something along the lines of “Lifes for living I’ll work till I drop”. When you ask them what they’ll do if they don’t manage to work till they drop, they usually laugh it off something like “win the lottery” or “our young un will end up a footballer”
Dont get me wrong, life is for living and there’s a balance to be found. But as I said above it’s some adjustment going from leasing a nice Audi, having holidays a few times a year etc. To being put on a similar income to Jobseeker’s Allowance overnight.
 
Best bit of advice I heard was to start putting the same percentage of your salary into a private pension as your age when you start. That was a rule-of-thumb calculation of a financial adviser if you expected to maintain a similar lifestyle after retirement. I imagine very few do, although many do enjoy defined benefit schemes, especially those in public service, which can make life more comfortabl.
 
I agree that you need to do your own calculation and it's as well to do it as far out from your intended retirement as possible. When I worked out what I needed I was surprised by how little I would need. But I have no mortgage, don't drive, get free local transport and don't have an extravagant lifestyle. Having said that, the figure in that article is way below what I think I need. Not even in lockdown.
So you don't need very much but think the figures stated are way below what you need?

I'm in a much better position than most, paid into a company pension for a long time, have a final salary pension, no mortgage etc but looking at my pension predictions at state retirement age they are still well below the "comfortable" level.

I don't want to work until 67 - dad died at 65 ,3 months into his retirement and brother died at 53 so was hoping to take early retirement at some point.

Thanks for all the replies, interesting read
 
Looking forward to calling it a day next october when i am 62, i think I could retire now & probaly another 12 I will be ready, an end to shifts after what seems forever

Its going in to the unknown which is the worry but exciting
 
The way energy prices are going, £10k a year will be needed just to stop you freezing to death
 
Do people retire these days, or do they instead all go and work part time in B&Q or Tesco?

Saving you own pension to give only £1k per year over and above the basic state pension is surely achievable for almost anyone? Frankly, I don't think that sounds like enough, and the article doesn't scare me as much as many other other pension articles that I have read.
 
Looking forward to calling it a day next october when i am 62, i think I could retire now & probaly another 12 I will be ready, an end to shifts after what seems forever

Its going in to the unknown which is the worry but exciting
Erimus doing your job is there any way you could gradually ease into retirement by reducing your hours over time rather than having that cliff-edge moment?

I'm really starting to think about the prospect of doing 4 days a week for a couple of years then down to 3 days and so on.

It sounds great on paper but I don't know if it would be allowed or if indeed I could afford to do that 🤔
 
I suppose it all depends on what you plan to do in retirement.

If you see that as a life of endless cruises, playing golf, lambswool sweaters and deck shoes etc, you are going to need fairly deep pockets.

If you can take pleasure in the simple things, have your mortgage paid off etc, I think £1500 PM + State pension would be doable.
 
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