Retirement, how much?

[ColinJ]

It's all relative I guess. I will be retiring on a narrow boat and as self sufficient as possible so my needs will be miniscule compared to some and should easily enable me to quit by 60.

At one time I quite fancied doing that, thinking that once the boat had been bought it would be a very cheap way to live. Then somebody mentioned maintenance costs on the boat plus mooring fees...

Seeing this put me off too...

 

[Oldhippy]

No moorings for me and I do my own maintenance.

 

[Blue Hills]

No moorings for me and I do my own maintenance.

how come you have no mooring fees oldhippy? Own a bit of land, have a nice friend, you are an international pirate?
Can you do ALL the maintenance on a narrowboat - don't they need lifting out of the water now and again?
(apols for divert - am just interested/nosey)

 

[Oldhippy]

Will be permanent nomadic and it only needs taking out the water every three years or so.

 

[Blue Hills]

Will be permanent nomadic and it only needs taking out the water every three years or so.

ah yes - I understand that the "requirement to keep moving" rules are very relaxed to say the least.
Something a snail with its house on its back could manage with ease.
I wouldn't be surprised if they change them if more folk take to the water. I get the feeling that more are.

 

[numbnuts]

No moorings for me and I do my own maintenance.

View: https://youtu.be/um4gHsMxXKo

 

[DCLane]

I'm starting to plan ahead and hope to retire around 60. By then I'll have put 32 years into a teacher's pension, along with a small private pension plus 'alternative' pension scheme. SWMBO will have an NHS pension as well although she's part-time.

The basic plan is to use that, plus working 2 or so days a week, until the state pension kicks in as well - if it ever does.

Hopefully that should put a decent pension from me and a bit from her into the coffers along with a couple of lump sums. Enough for a decent bike

An update to this post given the thread's moved on more pages and 4 years:

Retirement/ going part-time is planned for 60 1/2, with SWMBO now full-time plus and running her own company. She can do what she wishes but is probably retiring after me since she's very profession-focused.

By 60 1/2 the pension should be around £27k pa index-linked for the main one [I've the 'best' option available between a combination of final and career-average salary], plus £2k pa for another three combined pensions. Two days a week teaching / doing other stuff should tide me over until the state pension kicks in at 67. And there'll be a lump sum of around £80k.

SWMBO's pension will be less, around £16-20k pa index-linked, but if she continues working that'll build up since she's supposed to retire at 60, quite a bit before me as she's older. Also, her company is doing OK as well so that'll keep her busy until her state pension comes in at 67 as well. Her lump sum isn't bad at £40k estimated.

Overall it looks like we'll be OK. We put money away into savings each month for both of our sons to cover their university/car/travel/house fees so aren't funding son no. 1 now he's 21 and at university, and son no. 2 will get his fund next year when we'll stop putting money into the fund. No mortgage, no major expenses on the horizon and although we do need to replace both our cars we buy outright and never spend a huge amount.

This year we'll be doing more detailed financial planning to bung some cash into investments rather than bikes

 

[gbb]

63 and should retire at 66 i think. State pension calculator states £230 a week for me, i assume my wife calculator sum of circa £190 week will be on top of that a year later, so theoretically £420 a week. No mortgage ir rent to pay, plenty of savings (theoretically iwe could live wage free for way over a year on current income)
I have £50k in a frozen pension, i will probably drawdown some of that, plus will get a small works pension, same for my wife.

So say £500 a week (assuming im not mis calculating some of the above)...should be more than ok, surprising because we never made any particular strides re pensions. We dont spend extravagantly, have most of the stuff we need, will probably work an extra year anyway if im still fit enough, i dont have any particular plans or pastimes so have no problem working a bit longer.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

63 and should retire at 66 i think. State pension calculator states £230 a week for me, i assume my wife calculator sum of circa £190 week will be on top of that a year later, so theoretically £420 a week. No mortgage ir rent to pay, plenty of savings (theoretically iwe could live wage free for way over a year on current income)
I have £50k in a frozen pension, i will probably drawdown some of that, plus will get a small works pension, same for my wife.

So say £500 a week (assuming im not mis calculating some of the above)...should be more than ok, surprising because we never made any particular strides re pensions. We dont spend extravagantly, have most of the stuff we need, will probably work an extra year anyway if im still fit enough, i dont have any particular plans or pastimes so have no problem working a bit longer.

I presume by calculator you mean

https://www.gov.uk/check-state-pension

which looks at your NI contribution record etc.

 

[Slick]

I presume by calculator you mean

https://www.gov.uk/check-state-pension

which looks at your NI contribution record etc.

£189 a week for me.

 

[ColinJ]

State pension calculator states £230 a week for me, i assume my wife calculator sum of circa £190 week will be on top of that a year later, so theoretically £420 a week.

How did you get those figures?

The full state pension is currently £179.60/week but will rise by 3.1% to £185.17 for 2022/2023.

 

[delb0y]

Reading today's posts in this thread it strikes me how different everyone is insofar as the money needed/wanted in retirement goes. There's a spread of c£17k to £40k in just the last few posts.

I'm still trying to get the numbers to add up close enough to be able to take the plunge into the golden years. Over the break I've been adding up the "big ticket" (i.e. anything over £500) items that I think SWMBO and I might need if we live for, say, 25 years after retiring. Excluding holidays, there will be cars now and then (maybe two or three over that time), maybe a motorbike upgrade (I fancy that new Kawasaki z650!), maybe a dog? How many boiler replacements will be needed over 25 years? Carpets, beds, new TV every ten years maybe? A new laptop now and again. Possibly a block of money if we decide to to top up SWMBO's NI contributions. Add in those holidays and the required "buffer" fund starts to look quite daunting.

Still, it has to happen one day...

Derek

 

[Salad Dodger]

Mrs Salad and I spend about £1200 per month on normal expenditure: food, utility bills, council tax etc. and includes the odd inexpensive meal out.

We run one small car, which is fully paid for, and live in a small house which is fully paid for.

My occupational pension is about £1600 per month, so the difference between income and expenditure covers things like replacing domestic appliances, funding the occasional weekend away and so on.

It will be about 3 years before state pension kicks in.

We lent money to our daughter to buy her house, and she repays a sum each month. That goes into a separate account: we don't touch it, and she may need to borrow it back if she moves again!

So, all in all, it's a modest but comfortable situation that we find ourselves in.

 

[Slick]

I reckon just reading this that 20k would be comfortable, probably even a bit less. I have always done my own thing regarding cash so never really relied on pensions but its good to have a bit of an idea of what's required when planning to hang up the spurs.

 

[DCLane]

Reading today's posts in this thread it strikes me how different everyone is insofar as the money needed/wanted in retirement goes. There's a spread of c£17k to £40k in just the last few posts.

A lot depends on how you spend your money, and how much.

About 20 years ago SWMBO challenged me as to what we actually spent money on. I did a budget on paper, then onto Excel. She was surprised at how much it actually costs to live what we think is an average lifestyle (basic cars, main holiday plus 1 or 2 breaks, and to be able to buy something should we need it).

Our retirement budget is something between £40-50k pa depending upon inflation. That'll include helping children/grandchildren, travelling to family in the UK/overseas, holidays, and a fairly decent lifestyle. The lump sums will go on moving house, if we do, and a newer car for each when we retire, plus a holiday. That's obviously more than most, but should be manageable if we keep planning towards it.