Is living on the state pension really that bad?

haven't read the full thread but just to add you can take out insurance to replace your partners pension should they die. So that would teplace their lost pension. Not sure how expensive it will be but we are just looking into it as we have dependant disabled children which will prevent downsizing to release capital and which also leads to high energy costs etc.

New state pension is a few pounds above the Pension credit threshold. You will not get pension credit if getting new state pension unless you qualify for additional premiums like disability or carers premiums.

Dh and I live very comfortably on state pension with a small private pension each. But we have no mortgage and only one set of household bills between us. But we are very aware that when the inevitable happens and one of us dies our income will literally be halved over night. The comfortable financial life we live now will be very different and judging by our outgoings now it will be just about manageable but a very different lifestyle. Could live on the amount but things like repaving a car, house maintenance, being generous to adult child/grandchildren would be difficult.
So basically it seems toe that 2 pensioners together have a reasonable lifestyle with modest income but one on their own would find it difficult.

Definitely. If you own or about to own your house at retirement with no private pension then get all the repair and replacement jobs done for the house with any cash available. Upgrade energy efficiency and insulation etc. Much better than scraping savings and then losing all supports on means tests because you saved 20k.

Yes that’s all it is. People qualify for full stars pension with minimal NI contributions and/or benefits/claiming child benefit. NI contributions don’t just cover pensions. Your contributions don’t sit in some account waiting until you turn 67. It’s not a savings scheme with a guaranteed pension at the end of it. Additional rate tax payers are currently payibg huge amounts in NI (as NI increases in recent years are for the whole salary) with no guarantee the state pension will still exist. Given where we are with birth rates not sure who will actually be paying tax to fund SP in future.

Also how do you get small presents for Granchildrens birthdays or Christmas. What if the grown children have moved to other cities for work, will you be able to afford travel to visit, or this subsistence income will only allow minimal heating in winter, and covered food and utilities council tax and hopefully some insurance. No extra for that burst pipe, or leaking tap, or many other things that need to be done year in year out. There isn't even free TV license anymore, so add that to the bills. Easier as a couple but not much. Harder as a single person.

This just shows the completely lack of financial understanding amongst people.

Firstly many people don't pay in at all.

Secondly even if you do work full time for say, forty years, that's not "your whole life." The vast majority of people spend half their life, at best working. So they still need to pay for the other half.

Finally even if you thought your "paying in half of your life" covers your "paying out" half - do YOU pay £250 a week of NI now? If you do you're in the top 1% of earners because someone on the average UK salary only pays £36 a week.

Tl;Dr- most people don't directly "pay in" anywhere near enough to accrue the amount currently being paid out as state pension.

Yes you might also think "but I cobtribute financially in other ways- tax, vat, council tax" - yep and that goes towards all the other services - roads, police, government, schools, nhs, defence funding, etc....and actually over the course of their lifetimes, most people don't pay in enough for what they receive there either.

You can do much more ......To have a warm home and food on the table, occasional lunch n coffeeout, a pet cat and a UK cottage holiday twice a year plus dinners out on birthdays and anniversaries...seems like a good life to me and that's my mother's on the state pension . And yes and also a weekly yoga class and a Chinese take away every Friday. Netflix subscription tooAll doable on State pension

That's completely meaningless information, as we have no idea how much you get from your husband's private pension. Care to elucidate?

The biggest difference between being comfortable on the State Pension and having to live very frugally is whether you are single or a couple. £25000 yearly will easily pay bills, run a car and have a holiday. Two thirds of pensioners are on the old pension of £9000 a year so older single women have a fairly low income.

As one of the older single women with a small private pension, I find the huge increases in food and fuel bills means having to use savings for house repairs.

I think it depends on whether you want to maintain the lifestyle you had when you were working.
We’ve always realised that we would have to tighten our belts.
Our home is paid for and our outgoings are £450 a month not including insurances, food, fuel car tax etc. We have one state pension coming in.
It’s tight, we have a small pension coming in, all of a sudden we were paying half in tax. After enquiries to HMRC, they had decided to do this to decrease our yearly tax bill for next year😣 The tax bills are a killer, on interest earned from savings and pension payouts you’ve already paid tax on 😡
Once I get my pension, I can put some money back in the coffers that we’ve been dipping into to stay afloat 🙂

I think part of the problem is we don’t know what will happen with the State Pension. Will it always be a benefit for everyone or will it move to means tested as the population ages and it gets more expensive. My dad worked in pensions & wealth management in the 90s / 2000s and he was telling me as a teenager to start a pension as he wasn’t sure how long the State Pension would last in its current form. They’re already looking to move goalposts with pensions and IHT etc, who knows what they’ll do in the future.
My current plan is to pay down the house as young as possible, then funnel money into pensions and stocks / shares. I work in a profession that I can go self employed, and it’s not physically taxing, so I’m hoping close to retirement age I can do that to have a smaller income in early retirement. I also had my daughter later (37) so she’ll be hitting an age where I’d like to be able to help her at around the same time I’d ideally like to start winding down a bit 😬 At the end of the day though, none of us can see into the future, which makes planning limited.

Pension credit is a gateway benefit, meaning it unlocks access to other benefits which can be worth thousands every year.

Have you heard of this thing called home maintenance @cateringday ? What you're responsible for (roofing, boilers, gutters, plumbing, electrics, decoration, insurance, white goods to replace) with no landlord to pay for these things?

Look at your outgoings, is £250 a week enough for your outgoings, food, a few treats and socialising, a holiday once a year?
£250 a week would barely cover our necessary bills and food..

This is a very common misconception, but no you haven't. The state pension is not like a personal defined contribution pension pot that you "pay into". You and I currently pay NI contribution. These pay for current pensions for the pensioners today. We get NI credits for every year we make a full NI contribution. The number of years of full NI credits determines how much of the state pension we will be entitled to at retirement age. When you and I retire in the future, it will be the future workforce paying our pensions.

New state pension works out to £1009 a month not £800.

This is true. On MN everyone thinks everyone could go to university and then get a very well paid job if they only work 'hard' enough. Many don't have the capability to get into university or well paid jobs and career ladder stuff.

You can do much more ......To have a warm home and food on the table, occasional lunch n coffeeout, a pet cat and a UK cottage holiday twice a year plus dinners out on birthdays and anniversaries...seems like a good life to me and that's my mother's on the state pension . And yes and also a weekly yoga class and a Chinese take away every Friday. Netflix subscription tooAll doable on State pension

If you own your own home you need enough to cover house maintenance and unexpected repairs that aren't covered by insurance. So even if you didn't want holidays, eating out etc you'd need to have some savings as a buffer. State pension alone would give you no safety net.

I retired two years before my pension kicks in, so I am living on savings for the next two years. I budgeted very carefully and saved so I could give up work at 65, and so I know exactly almost to the penny what my bills are (as long as I don't run the heating massively). I am looking forward to being £200 odd a week richer when my pension kicks in!
But I own my own house, no mortgage. If I was still renting I would be extremely worried.

My wage (part time) is £12,500 per year, which is roughly the same as state pension will be when I retire. It's absolutely fine. I've long paid off my mortgage and it easily covers utilities, food, car costs, and a few short breaks each year. But I've been accustomed to living within my means, i.e. no car leases, always shopping around for utility, phone, TV contracts, shopping around the supermarkets for offers etc.

I have no worries about moving from a wage to state pension. I also have some savings which I'm currently not withdrawing from, so I do have a back up for any odd "one offs".

I think it's home mortgage/rent which is the killer as its the single biggest expense for most people.

Good cleaners are always in demand so if you are fit and enjoy cleaning (or dog walking/admin/DIY etc) a few hours a week could bring in a nice little cash in hand income.

Seriously?

What would you think of someone of working age who made an OAP scrub the floor? I'd be absolutely mortified having a 75 year old clean up after me.

Not every pensioner gets 'everything paid for by the state'. I get my free bus pass, eye tests and prescriptions, for which I'm grateful. But I still have all my bills, household and clothing needs, repairs, insurance etc. I'm not struggling because I planned carefully and don't live extravagantly, but everybody's life is different. Just because you don't know any struggling pensioners doesn't mean there aren't any.

Have a look at the Retirement Living Standards, I am not good at links, but it is easy to find.
very helpful to see how to allocate money and the difference between a modest and comfort retirement in terms of of income