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How much do you need to retire?


sitsinhedges
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It's a broad question but I'm wondering how much people have found they need to retire per year. I'm assuming no debt and a reasonable lifestyle. 

It was my intention to quit at 60 in a  year but a rotor cuff tear has stopped me doing my job and it sounds like it'll pretty much write this year off financially before it's sorted. This means a significant loss of extra pension and savings I would have earned. Plus I'm a bit bored cos I can't do much that I want to at the minute.

I'm just wondering if I can stretch my money and give up now.

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I retired in Sept 22. I'm now 48. I don't have much, but don't need much. Still have a mortgage payment but me and the Mrs decided quality of life was better than 50+ hour weeks and an early grave. It depends how you want to live. We save and leave the country for winter. It's cheaper than staying. 

About 2k per month before my wife's income. 

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1 minute ago, Paul-m said:

I retired in Sept 22. I'm now 48. I don't have much, but don't need much. Still have a mortgage payment but me and the Mrs decided quality of life was better than 50+ hour weeks and an early grave. It depends how you want to live. We save and leave the country for winter. It's cheaper than staying. 

About 2k per month before my wife's income. 

If you have 2k per month at your age you've done well for yourself. That was what I was kind of hoping for but it looks as if I may have to cut it back a little.

I enjoy my work in many ways but the body suffers for it after being a site carpenter for 40yrs.

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I finished at 63, lived in savings till the state pension started, got through about 20k. Now living on a total of £1100 a month,a bit less than when working 32 hours. Some people just never have enough, my brother in law has property and cash worth about 1 million and still works for 24 hours a week at 62 think he’s aiming to be the richest man in the graveyard!

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I think a lot less than you would imagine - we are indoctrinated to work work work - which i did

Soon as half a chance came i was out and happy as larry - we spend very little and are very very lucky that we have a bit of land that i can do stuff in each day 

 

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Asking how much you need to live on when you retire is really a very difficult question as everyone have a slightly different lifestyle , I was a jobbing bricklayer and pay wise I had a good job , good money and all the shooting I wanted , sound ideal but my back was suffering as I was approaching 60 , so enough was enough and I called it a day , this was on my tools , I did help on the shoots for picking up pay and a brace of birds , taking one or two clients out shooting , the odd bit of digger work in my own time , little bits and pieces came my way like getting paid to take the entrance money to one the functions the estate put on , so maybe I was fairly lucky with getting a few bob coming in here and there , I also had some savings that were making interest and some shares where I was getting some small dividends , so time I got my state pension at 65 I had used very little of my original savings , I now I live exactly how I want to live on more or less my state pension , a very small private pension and still get a decent amount of money from my savings , I run a car , got my own house , eat fairly well and haven't been away on a holiday for years , I do live in a nice county and don't need to go anywhere else as I like it where I am , all in all a very contented person .    MM

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3 minutes ago, marsh man said:

Asking how much you need to live on when you retire is really a very difficult question as everyone have a slightly different lifestyle

/\. This.

It's a question only you can answer.  I retired just before 60 and financed the 'gap' between then and pensions (modest occupational started at 65 and state at 66).  I'm now 67.  I did a lot of homework - working out what I would need to spend and also 'like' to spend.  Most I got about right and all went well and I have a safety margin now pensions are running, but as examples, some things I got wrong;

  • Energy (mainly heating) I had 'budgeted' on rising around 5% per year - but in reality one year it DOUBLED.
  • Insurance (motor and house) has gone up a LOT more than I budgeted for.

It is worth bearing in mind that if you run a very fine balance between income and 'essential' spending - things like those can catch people out, so do allow some contingency.  Also, sudden unexpected events that may apply (appliance breakdowns, veterinary bills, family crises, motoring 'mishaps' and breakdowns) can happen at the most inconvenient times!

Good luck.

 

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4 minutes ago, JohnfromUK said:

/\. This.

It's a question only you can answer.  I retired just before 60 and financed the 'gap' between then and pensions (modest occupational started at 65 and state at 66).  I'm now 67.  I did a lot of homework - working out what I would need to spend and also 'like' to spend.  Most I got about right and all went well and I have a safety margin now pensions are running, but as examples, some things I got wrong;

  • Energy (mainly heating) I had 'budgeted' on rising around 5% per year - but in reality one year it DOUBLED.
  • Insurance (motor and house) has gone up a LOT more than I budgeted for.

It is worth bearing in mind that if you run a very fine balance between income and 'essential' spending - things like those can catch people out, so do allow some contingency.  Also, sudden unexpected events that may apply (appliance breakdowns, veterinary bills, family crises, motoring 'mishaps' and breakdowns) can happen at the most inconvenient times!

Good luck.

 

That is the thing , the amount of income you think you will need can change like a flick of a switch , you do need some put away as a reserve for the unexpected as your weekly outlay wouldn't cover it , if you drive you rely on a car more than ever as you get older and live off the public transport route and faulty cars can set you back a fortune .

Take recently , as some of you know I had a water leak that took some finding , my house insurance wouldn't cover it as they said it was accidental damage which I didn't know my ( normal ) house insurance didn't cover it so I had to fund it myself which was in the region of around £1000 , thankfully I could manage it but once retired you cannot easily put it back in the bank , MM

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You have a readily usable trade, and although you may not be fit enough for a full time job, there is a massive shortage of men who can make or repair stuff, which could be done at a pace that suits you.

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42 minutes ago, amateur said:

You have a readily usable trade, and although you may not be fit enough for a full time job, there is a massive shortage of men who can make or repair stuff, which could be done at a pace that suits you.

Problem with this shoulder is I can't rely on it. Some days it's OK, others it's painful and weak. I can't really offer my services then find I can't complete a task. I'm currently at the mercy of the NHS waiting lists 🙄

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Massively depends on lifestyle. 
 

Do you holiday 2-3 times a year? Do you expect to continue to do so into retirement? Is your health and mobility still good? Or will you choose to / want to remain at home just relaxing? 
 

Will you want to be going out for meals every week, going to shows / the theatre/ cinema / trips, etc. 

Do you want to go beating a few times a month or will you be shooting on your syndicate / booking driven days? 
 

Are you reliant on a single income or are you a couple? 
 

PLEASE take into account, if you’re a couple, are you able to live off your sole income?
 

As if one of you goes into a care home, the Government may not be able to take your home whilst your wife / husband still lives in it, but your pension goes towards the care home fees… so if one of you has all the pension income and the other has none, they are very vulnerable if the wealthier one goes into a home  first etc. 

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4 minutes ago, Lloyd90 said:

Massively depends on lifestyle. 
 

Do you holiday 2-3 times a year? Do you expect to continue to do so into retirement? Is your health and mobility still good? Or will you choose to / want to remain at home just relaxing? 
 

Will you want to be going out for meals every week, going to shows / the theatre/ cinema / trips, etc. 

Do you want to go beating a few times a month or will you be shooting on your syndicate / booking driven days? 
 

Are you reliant on a single income or are you a couple? 
 

PLEASE take into account, if you’re a couple, are you able to live off your sole income?
 

As if one of you goes into a care home, the Government may not be able to take your home whilst your wife / husband still lives in it, but your pension goes towards the care home fees… so if one of you has all the pension income and the other has none, they are very vulnerable if the wealthier one goes into a home  first etc. 

Hello, Good post Lloyd, What is the amount of money your left if they take savings and pension ?

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As Lloyd says it’s all about lifestyle and your local cost of living. We pay the bills on two state pensions and one day a week with me working in London but remotely. We have no mortgage and don’t drink or smoke so not extravagant. Picking up pays for my dogs.

Personally I would say two state pensions and 10-15k pa will just about get you by. It won’t buy new cars and holidays though!

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Just about every member who is thinking about retiring or aim to retire at a certain age will have a different outcome from the member before and the one after .

I dare say one of the biggest outlays would be your rent if you didn't own your own house , or if you have still got a year or so left on your mortgage , I would find it very difficult if I had to pay rent off my state pension and the very small private pension I get , then you have to weigh up all the oncoming bills you seem to get every month , council tax , electric , gas , water + sewage to name a few without your car tax , car insurance that come round faster than ever as you get older , then you have to eat and buy the everyday items that you need to run a house.

I don't smoke or drink but we have to remember a lot of people do and both ( pastimes ) cost a fair bit of money , the amount of shooting I do nowadays cost me very little money and the exercise I get and being out in the countryside is good for my health and well being .

Do you have pets like a working dog ? , vet fees can be very costly and touch wood my dog at the present have cost me very little money since he was a pup and is now coming up to 11 , again you just never know , one day your pet can be fine and the next day it could be in the vets at the start of a very big bill .

How do you plan to spend your time as you will get a lot of it , if you say in the garden then you will need a fair size garden , holidays don't bother me but they do for a lot of people and you can have a fairly cheap holiday or splash out on an expensive one , again it all depends on your disposable income.

As you can see the list can go on and on , all I can say that if you are thinking about retiring then do it , yesterday is gone for ever , we are living today and tomorrow is at the moment untouched . time wait for no one and we have only got so much of it .  :good:   MM

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I retired 2 years ago I have a small private pension / living on savings at present time(getting smaller all the time) I get state pension next year money is tight but the odd job gives a small bit of help work out what you actually need to live on its a compromise if i don't have the money in hand i don't get or do it 

but I wouldn't have it any other way. Best thing i did and don't regret it one bit  

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Hopefully i have covered just about everything before i decided, its been 12 months planning with meeting's with financial advisor moving pensions etc to gain the most we can. 

The final figure is not one that fits all, my expenditure would be different others, our life styles are different, im not one for holidays abroad while others would think that 3 two weeks breaks abroad would be expected. 

We are buying a caravan though, and a tub of Brylcreem and some gold jewelry so we fit in with the rest of the travelers as best we can. 

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1 hour ago, Dave at kelton said:

As Lloyd says it’s all about lifestyle and your local cost of living. We pay the bills on two state pensions and one day a week with me working in London but remotely. We have no mortgage and don’t drink or smoke so not extravagant. Picking up pays for my dogs.

Personally I would say two state pensions and 10-15k pa will just about get you by. It won’t buy new cars and holidays though!


Sad to think that two people who worked all their lives may be struggling by on a £30-35k a year income. 
 

At 34 (soon to be 35) my pension is worth just under £8k a year payment. 
 

The biggest issue is going to be they keep putting the age up and up before you can access it!! 
 

I will be going as soon as possible. 

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