Retirement Living Standards (how much you (roughly) need)
Discussion
Looks like the Retirement Living Standards guide has been updated https://www.retirementlivingstandards.org.uk/
"Roughly speaking, a single person will need about £13k a year to achieve the minimum living standard, £23k a year for moderate, and £37k a year for comfortable. For couples, it’s 20k-34k-55k."
Bugger
"Roughly speaking, a single person will need about £13k a year to achieve the minimum living standard, £23k a year for moderate, and £37k a year for comfortable. For couples, it’s 20k-34k-55k."
Bugger
Absolutely mad some of them numbers? Who spends £580 clothes a year? I havent spent that in a decade.
Best way to know how much you need & what you spend it on is to track it now.
I would say I live a moderate standard of living whilst spending less than their suggested amount for minimum.
I recon this is sponsored by the government to keep people working & paying tax.
I recommend https://base.finance/ for spending tracking.
Best way to know how much you need & what you spend it on is to track it now.
I would say I live a moderate standard of living whilst spending less than their suggested amount for minimum.
I recon this is sponsored by the government to keep people working & paying tax.
I recommend https://base.finance/ for spending tracking.
Edited by m_cozzy on Monday 16th January 09:42
m_cozzy said:
Absolutely mad some of them numbers? Who spends £580 clothes a year? I havent spent that in a decade.
Best way to know how much you need & what you spend it on is to track it now.
I would say I live a moderate standard of living whilst spending less than their suggested amount for minimum.
I recon this is sponsored by the government to keep people working & paying tax.
I recommend https://base.finance/ for spending tracking.
Looks like a bit of a manual input ball ache compared to most modern phone banking apps, which are getting pretty good at categorising spending and monthly reports. Best way to know how much you need & what you spend it on is to track it now.
I would say I live a moderate standard of living whilst spending less than their suggested amount for minimum.
I recon this is sponsored by the government to keep people working & paying tax.
I recommend https://base.finance/ for spending tracking.
Edited by m_cozzy on Monday 16th January 09:42
Is it worth the extra effort?
m_cozzy said:
Absolutely mad some of them numbers? Who spends £580 clothes a year? I havent spent that in a decade.
Best way to know how much you need & what you spend it on is to track it now.
I would say I live a moderate standard of living whilst spending less than their suggested amount for minimum.
I recon this is sponsored by the government to keep people working & paying tax.
I recommend https://base.finance/ for spending tracking.
Many people wouldn't consider those numbers mad at all, if anything they look a little low. I'm pretty amazed that you manage to spend less than £58 per year on clothes, I'd guess that most people probably spend >£1k.. Best way to know how much you need & what you spend it on is to track it now.
I would say I live a moderate standard of living whilst spending less than their suggested amount for minimum.
I recon this is sponsored by the government to keep people working & paying tax.
I recommend https://base.finance/ for spending tracking.
Edited by m_cozzy on Monday 16th January 09:42
lizardbrain said:
m_cozzy said:
Absolutely mad some of them numbers? Who spends £580 clothes a year? I havent spent that in a decade.
Best way to know how much you need & what you spend it on is to track it now.
I would say I live a moderate standard of living whilst spending less than their suggested amount for minimum.
I recon this is sponsored by the government to keep people working & paying tax.
I recommend https://base.finance/ for spending tracking.
Looks like a bit of a manual input ball ache compared to most modern phone banking apps, which are getting pretty good at categorising spending and monthly reports. Best way to know how much you need & what you spend it on is to track it now.
I would say I live a moderate standard of living whilst spending less than their suggested amount for minimum.
I recon this is sponsored by the government to keep people working & paying tax.
I recommend https://base.finance/ for spending tracking.
Edited by m_cozzy on Monday 16th January 09:42
Is it worth the extra effort?
It is a manual process yes, but works in chrome on the laptop or phone so easy access.
Rough guess would say that £500/year for clothes and shoes would be about where i'm at.
I don't work in an industry that requires work specific clothes such as suits/shirts.
And i don't really do anything that requires dressing up.
So i'm basically living in the same clothes all the time. Older stuff gets demoted to gardening/garage clothes.
Few new t shirts a year. Maybe one or two pairs of shoes/trainers per year. Possibly a new coat now and then. Maybe a one-off splurge if i have an event coming up requiring a new shirt or something.
Some rough calcs suggest that for us, if we were mortgage free and the kids were self-sufficient, £1k/m each would be enough to cover the basics of food/gas/elec/water/council, plus mobile phone (sim only), leisure centre membership (about £30/m), car tax, and a bit aside towards car repairs and a little (£100/m between us) towards house maintenance.
So that's £12k pa each for basic living costs.
So £24k for a couple.
If we wanted some holidays and to save up for things like car replacements, birthday presents, etc, i reckon about £500/m each would cover that.
So that brings it to £18k pa each, or £36k pa to be fairly comfy
If we wanted to be truly comfortable, so including more holidays, treats for kids/grandkids, newer cars, etc then i would guess that a further £500-£1000pm between us would cover that.
So that would bring it to £42k-£48k..
Those figures are net income figures. So would need to be raised to vover tax.
On that basis, i reckon they're about right!
eek! better get more in the pension!
I don't work in an industry that requires work specific clothes such as suits/shirts.
And i don't really do anything that requires dressing up.
So i'm basically living in the same clothes all the time. Older stuff gets demoted to gardening/garage clothes.
Few new t shirts a year. Maybe one or two pairs of shoes/trainers per year. Possibly a new coat now and then. Maybe a one-off splurge if i have an event coming up requiring a new shirt or something.
Some rough calcs suggest that for us, if we were mortgage free and the kids were self-sufficient, £1k/m each would be enough to cover the basics of food/gas/elec/water/council, plus mobile phone (sim only), leisure centre membership (about £30/m), car tax, and a bit aside towards car repairs and a little (£100/m between us) towards house maintenance.
So that's £12k pa each for basic living costs.
So £24k for a couple.
If we wanted some holidays and to save up for things like car replacements, birthday presents, etc, i reckon about £500/m each would cover that.
So that brings it to £18k pa each, or £36k pa to be fairly comfy
If we wanted to be truly comfortable, so including more holidays, treats for kids/grandkids, newer cars, etc then i would guess that a further £500-£1000pm between us would cover that.
So that would bring it to £42k-£48k..
Those figures are net income figures. So would need to be raised to vover tax.
On that basis, i reckon they're about right!
eek! better get more in the pension!
Phooey said:
Looks like the Retirement Living Standards guide has been updated https://www.retirementlivingstandards.org.uk/
"Roughly speaking, a single person will need about £13k a year to achieve the minimum living standard, £23k a year for moderate, and £37k a year for comfortable. For couples, it’s 20k-34k-55k."
Bugger
The real pisser is how much more a single person needs to have saved than a couple."Roughly speaking, a single person will need about £13k a year to achieve the minimum living standard, £23k a year for moderate, and £37k a year for comfortable. For couples, it’s 20k-34k-55k."
Bugger
Kirkmoly said:
Seems reasonable. We would all have a different way of allocating the amounts but £55k for a couple to be comfortable feels about right, assuming they have no mortgage, rent or dependents.
Really?! We are working, paying a mortgage. Our total combined annual expenses are close to half that figure. As always, people live by a lifestyle they are accustomed to.
Based on my current budget minus the costs I won't have (mortgage, nursery fees, life and income protection insurance and reduced commuting costs) I would need £35k net to live a very comfortable retirement.
This covers all household bills (as I do now until OH finishes her midwifery degree), food, day to day spending and £10k a year for holidays.
My current pension outcome (day one based on today, contributions/growth will increase with inflation) is £40k per annum after 25% tax free. My OH will also have a NHS pension and I should have a six figure ISA sum so we will be absolutely fine.
Next task is to ensure I make it until retirement age...
This covers all household bills (as I do now until OH finishes her midwifery degree), food, day to day spending and £10k a year for holidays.
My current pension outcome (day one based on today, contributions/growth will increase with inflation) is £40k per annum after 25% tax free. My OH will also have a NHS pension and I should have a six figure ISA sum so we will be absolutely fine.
Next task is to ensure I make it until retirement age...
As a couple I would want about £1k a week to spend I think. And then some overage for holidays and larger purchases.
We have a £500 a week budget now with a random purchase pot of £1500 per month. One imagines without work taking up time there would be more time to fill/places to go which all consume money.
I guess based on that we shall need some decent sized pots.
I’m sure those numbers would drastically reduce after 75 mind you.
We have a £500 a week budget now with a random purchase pot of £1500 per month. One imagines without work taking up time there would be more time to fill/places to go which all consume money.
I guess based on that we shall need some decent sized pots.
I’m sure those numbers would drastically reduce after 75 mind you.
we're spending nowhere near that. Having totted a few things up we probably are, so looks about right. Both retired mid/ late 50's. Net take home from pensions is £4k including some other bits and bobs. Mortgage paid off, no debt. kids left home, one dog, two newish cars. Direct debit and standing order bills £754 a month, food & drink £400/ £500, fuel not much.
We do a couple of long haul holidays a year about £8k worth, don't go too mad on clothes or eating out, don't have any super expensive hobbies (gym, football, golf).
Two more pensions to come in four years (one a final salary), then state pensions.
Over the last ten years and since paying the mortgage off I've shoved loads into Vanguard and cash savings (now over £200k). That keeps growing which means we're not spending enough and if the markets recover it will grow further still. In all likelihood there may well also be a sizeable inheritance down the line.
I might have to loosen the strings be it flying business or upping the holidays to the Maldives. The problem is you can take the boy out of Yorkshire but you can't take Yorkshire out of the boy :-)
We do a couple of long haul holidays a year about £8k worth, don't go too mad on clothes or eating out, don't have any super expensive hobbies (gym, football, golf).
Two more pensions to come in four years (one a final salary), then state pensions.
Over the last ten years and since paying the mortgage off I've shoved loads into Vanguard and cash savings (now over £200k). That keeps growing which means we're not spending enough and if the markets recover it will grow further still. In all likelihood there may well also be a sizeable inheritance down the line.
I might have to loosen the strings be it flying business or upping the holidays to the Maldives. The problem is you can take the boy out of Yorkshire but you can't take Yorkshire out of the boy :-)
Jonathan27 said:
m_cozzy said:
Absolutely mad some of them numbers? Who spends £580 clothes a year? I havent spent that in a decade.
Best way to know how much you need & what you spend it on is to track it now.
I would say I live a moderate standard of living whilst spending less than their suggested amount for minimum.
I recon this is sponsored by the government to keep people working & paying tax.
I recommend https://base.finance/ for spending tracking.
Many people wouldn't consider those numbers mad at all, if anything they look a little low. I'm pretty amazed that you manage to spend less than £58 per year on clothes, I'd guess that most people probably spend >£1k.. Best way to know how much you need & what you spend it on is to track it now.
I would say I live a moderate standard of living whilst spending less than their suggested amount for minimum.
I recon this is sponsored by the government to keep people working & paying tax.
I recommend https://base.finance/ for spending tracking.
Edited by m_cozzy on Monday 16th January 09:42
I'll go with the "those numbers are mad!"
My annual pension reports that it will be roughly worth what i am paying into it when i retire (i.e for every £1000 per annum i pay in, i will get £1000 per annum back out)
On that basis, my payments into the pension would need to be roughly £40,000 per annum, which is 25% more than my gross earnings.
And I don't consider myself poor by any standards, so that means that the majority of people will be on, what, a tenth of that income when they come to retire?
My annual pension reports that it will be roughly worth what i am paying into it when i retire (i.e for every £1000 per annum i pay in, i will get £1000 per annum back out)
On that basis, my payments into the pension would need to be roughly £40,000 per annum, which is 25% more than my gross earnings.
And I don't consider myself poor by any standards, so that means that the majority of people will be on, what, a tenth of that income when they come to retire?
Carguy44 said:
Jonathan27 said:
m_cozzy said:
Absolutely mad some of them numbers? Who spends £580 clothes a year? I havent spent that in a decade.
Best way to know how much you need & what you spend it on is to track it now.
I would say I live a moderate standard of living whilst spending less than their suggested amount for minimum.
I recon this is sponsored by the government to keep people working & paying tax.
I recommend https://base.finance/ for spending tracking.
Many people wouldn't consider those numbers mad at all, if anything they look a little low. I'm pretty amazed that you manage to spend less than £58 per year on clothes, I'd guess that most people probably spend >£1k.. Best way to know how much you need & what you spend it on is to track it now.
I would say I live a moderate standard of living whilst spending less than their suggested amount for minimum.
I recon this is sponsored by the government to keep people working & paying tax.
I recommend https://base.finance/ for spending tracking.
Edited by m_cozzy on Monday 16th January 09:42
Pair of jeans. £45
Walking boots £100
Underwear £25
Polo shirts £150
Every so often I'll buy a waterproof jacket/trousers/gym stuff/shoes.
Soon adds up.
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