What do you want in Retirement?

[Retirementvisions]

I have just been reading the thread on pension pots. Some people are saving big sums for their retirements. It has left me wondering what are your visions for retirement?
Do you plan on cruising the world full time?! Etc

My pension plan is a modest private pension to top up state pension. I will downsize the family home to a small manageable home and release the equity.

I want to live in a nice area within a vibrant community to dip in and out off. I want peace and nature. I'd like the NHS /care system to be running well. I'd like good healthy food at home and to eat out occasionally. I'd like to be able to go on walks and explore the UK. I will probably read more and do a few low key/cost hobbies. I don't foresee loads of world travel at that stage of life. I'd like enough money in the pot to pay for a decent care home should it come to it.

To those who are saving what are you saving for? 🤔 I'm a bit worried I'm missing something... or being totally boring and unimaginative!

Couldn’t agree more. I was extremely fit before 18 months of chemo. Now I’m left with the permanent side effects and medication to counter them.

That fit and healthy people don’t get ill/are not struck down by illness is just not true!

It's not true in all cases - but on average it is true.

All of my Grandparents lived till 80 or in their 80's. One moved abroad in a one bedroom apartment looking out to sea but lived a lovely inexpensive life but didn't see family much. My others lived in a lovely little bungalow but saw their family all the time. Again an inexpensive one. They were all very happy.

Good health, enough money and most importantly, time. As it stands I’ll be lucky to get 10 years.

I just want to make it to retirement !

Exactly this..
My GM (all her sisters) and DA were both in homes in their late 60’s due to lewies dementia and passed very early 70’s.. They never got to live their retirement out. I have 2 pensions, my first Im able to take at 60.. I don’t want to have worked all this time and then not enjoy time with my family. The second I can’t take until I’m 67.5.. and if I’m the same as the rest of the older women in my family I will be in a care home with dementia by that point anyway..

I’d like to retire in a few years in my late 50s. I’ll Airbnb the heck out of my properties to make a little spending money for the first ten years until state and civil service pension kick in. Aiming to prioritise exercise, gardening, family and travel. I’m not interested in long haul.
i travel a lot for work so I so need to put down roots, have some regular activities for once and deepen friendships.
🤞for health to enjoy it
It’s so lovely to read about everyone’s plans and dreams. I love this thread.

For care home, Dads was £5;500 a month. So we can travel, repairs to house. Pay privately should we need a new knee or hip, belong to gym still and swim.Enjoy holidays and trips.

My DP and I try to live now and also save. We are very lucky that we don't have champagne tastes and live in a very cheap area for housing. He owns a 2 bed ground floor flat that is currently adapted and our autistic son lives there with his brother . That will be fully paid off in 3-4 years. I am starting the process of buying my own house so we will have a property to rent out/take in lodgers in the future to subsidise our pension. Currently paying extra contributions of 15% towards the pension for DP as he is a bit older than me. We want his (very modest) lump sum of around to freshen up the kitchen and bathroom at the flat.

At the moment we get 1-3 trips away a year. We do it on a shoe string, we've never paid more than £330 for a sc week away per person and by travelling in term time we typically spend £150 ish per week on self catering accommodation and flights pp. This year we are going to the south of france in June and it's costing us £85 EACH with flights and a caravan. So budget for holidays is probably going to be around £1.5 - 2k with inflation . I am also due an inheritance of around £20k and we are talking about buying a motor home to tour Europe.

Hobbies are very cheap. I am an archer, Club fees are £150 a year and equipment is probably £200 so less than £10 a week. Dp plays guitar and has several already so costs are negligible. I make stained glass so can easily supplement my income if needed. All in all we expect to be very comfortable as our needs aren't huge or extravagant at all.

I retired at 68 with not a massive private pension pot, my partner has a much bigger pension pot.
Now two years later, my partner and I are spending much more than we ever intended . We go on a nice holiday abroad once a year and several UK air b&b breaks.
We go out with friends once a week to a pub quiz, which is great fun.
We eat healthily and always cook from scratch, but the money does not stretch as you imagine it will.
We are careful with money in between holidays.
We also like to help out our children and grandchildren .
We don’t feel old and are very active and fit.
Don’t underestimate how much you’ll need.
We are really enjoying life… stress free…like being in our 20’s again but with more money!

As I wrote in that pension thread, I come from a family of people dying in their 60s/70s. I prioritise my health now, eat a good diet ( not perfect but nutritionally heavy) I exercise well and regularly. I don’t smoke and drink alcohol maybe once a week but not much.

I have one eye on retirement but I’m at least twenty years away that’s if I retire at 65. It’s bound to officially be 70 by then.

I have an NHS pension, I will have some form of long term savings. The house should be paid off in about 10-12 years. So I can bump savings up then. No inheritance in my family. I’m on a very average £24k. But we live a nice life and manage to travel which is important to me. It’s not often long haul but cheap and cheerful but the exploring is there. I’ve realised I may not have the health to travel and do lots by the time I retire.

Basically I live for now, I experience life while I’m able to but save an amount towards retirement. It’s not going to be much but it will be enough as I’m used to a lower wage anyway. Never been a high earner.

*Don’t underestimate how much you’ll need.

We are really enjoying life… stress free…like being in our 20’s again but with more money!*

Thats exactly what we’ve found, fortunately we do have a decent pension but it’s so easy to for example go for a walk and then add on a lunch out. My DH and I really can’t be trusted. We’re always doing things like this. Plus as the PP who made this point it’s nice to help the DC out too.

Very much hoping to Airbnb the house for two or three months a year to people having work done on their own homes to facilitate some travel to lower cost of living countries for a portion of the year. Apart from that - lots of long walks - evening classes - good healthy food - time for friends and family - learn to sew - buy a camper van and really get to know the British Isles - volunteer at every festival going - see lots of comedy - watch every NT live showing available - volunteer for a homeless charity - get good at yoga - learn to paint

I want to move somewhere beautiful and far flung where my English pounds will go further. I also want a simpler life which we do not currently have due to London lifestyle.

To be healthy and to be able to travel (I do). And not spend so much time each week caring for DH, DM and GC. Sometimes I seriously consider getting a job in Tesco just to have an excuse not to be available.

I completely agree with this. I'm only mid 30s but I have worked as an A&E nurse for 12 years and health is the most important thing to me for retirement Iv seen how quickly life can change.

If the freedom fighters escaped by a different route would you feel that your life had no meaning?
Just interested, as I have a similar set of skills...

I don't plan for n fully re

I plan to do lots of walking as I have great countryside on my door step.

To have the time to exercise.

To have the time to DIY and tend to the garden.

To have time to shop for bargains and cook.

To have time to research and plan bargain holidays. We fly first class and get the best rooms etc because our holiday time is precious whilst we are working. When we retire I am looking forward to planning cheaper last minute getaways.

Oops how do I delete? Meant I don't plan to ever fully retire. I'm 48 and retraining to be a Dyscalculia assessor. I have a maths degree and am a self employed maths tutor currently, love my job now but I have to work all term time. The assessing is a skills shortage area, demand will be high. I plan to work for 2 or 3 days a week in my late 50s onwards, in blocks of 6-8 weeks, then have 4-6 weeks off for travelling. New Zealand, Norway, Iceland. Its a bit of a pipe dream completely unbudgeted.
However the not going from full time to not working is important, as others have said too many people get depressed or very ill when they fully retire.

I will make exercise and healthy eating the focus of my life, the same as it is now, live frugally and enjoy my various hobbies and interests ....the same as I do know.

I'm reading this thread with interest to know people's retirement plans.
From my early 20's I've known I will most likely not make it to retirement age due to health. At that time I received a letter asking if I wanted to pay into my pension, as I had not earned enough over a couple of months to make contributions. I showed my mom and she (jokingly?) told me probably not worth paying as I most likely wouldn't live long enough to receive it. Sounds harsh but I knew there was some truth to that statement.

Since then I have not really paid much attention to pension contributions. I'm not married, and am focused on building my savings to enjoy some short holidays, cover emergencies and help my kids out later. I've still got 30-ish years left to work, so I'd like to be able to live comfortably enough for that time.

Who would want to travel for months on end? I am mid 50s retired a few years and find any more than a month on the move exhausting. 6 months in a villa in one place is ok. Other than food, heat and maintenance we live on very little every week. we eat out when we want, we holiday often and we do what we like but to be honest you get t the point where you would rather be at home. You really don't need as much as you think you do.

To be healthy and happy for as long as possible with my lovely DH. Hopefully have enough money to be comfortable to the end.. I'm not a hot weather fan so will never spend on hot weather holidays, but really hope the fuel charges don't remain as high as they are so we can be comfortably warm in winter!

This thread has really got me thinking and actually looking into how much each of my pension pots are.

I think I'd like to work less but not give up so a new aim of mine is to have 3 or 4 day weekends/working weeks as never enough hours to do All The Things in a two day weekend.