54, had enough of the daily slog so I'm not going to do it anymore....

[erikbloodaxe]

Well I have plan at least.

1. Sell this house
2. Buy little house
3. Give notice at current job.
4. Find remote PT job
5. Earn enough to cover outgoings (no mortgage thankfully)
6. Spend my time doing what makes me happy.

I'm not spending what time I have left bloody working full time. The time between now and retirement will just be wasted years.

Wish me luck! Adventures here I come

I earned double what my OH did before we retired.

I also had more in one pension than he did in 3.

Hope that helps.

Late to this thread but, wow! Good luck to you. Go for it!

Living on one's own is very empowering. We aren't all reliant on a man for happiness as a) they seldom give us this and b) many of us do not relish sharing our space with a man ever again. It is a lot more expensive but this is why many of us downsize live on our own and set up businesses etc.I

My friends over the years who are still in a relationship have to overcompromise no end to put up with their partner's ways. I do not envy them one bit as they are all selfish men with unlikable traits of character. Bar very few exceptions. I can count on one hand the decent kind helpful likeable men I have met who are good to their women over the years.

The only advantage to living with a man is financial. Independence is bliss it just offends the patriarchy and wives pity us.

Hope this isn't veering off the point of the thread!

It is too early to spot red flags in a relationship this early op. Please give this 2 years dating/travelling/living the dream before you set up home together.

@erikbloodaxe apologies then if I got that wrong but I'm a similar age and getting a bit tired of women telling me about how they are stepping back thx to their other half covering things. It's a bit of a trigger for me. Being in your 50s means you can't escape it!

Again...... I am not asking for advice on my plan and certainly not on my relationship.

I think my only issue with your plan would be finding a reliable remote PT job that brings in enough for your needs. If you have that then the rest sounds fine.

Again...... I am not asking for advice on my plan and certainly not on my relationship.

I was quite clear earlier that I was main earner and had better pension than DH he has savings but no private pension
whether £163 is enough a week depends on what £163 has to cover, whether you have 2 people with £163 each, do you own your own home, are you still paying rent trying to run a car holidays etc?
if you have a small well insulated flat or small house on a regular bus route near to shops which you own outright in a low band for council tax you have a free bus pass so don't need a car you have freinds and family near by, then you can, my MIL saved on her state pension and had savings she spent about £50 a week on food toiletries and food for her cat, she paid little council tax as on pension credit, her heating was on most of the time but it was well insulated wee 1 bed flat so it didn't cost much, she spent maybe £10-15 a week having tea coffee with friends she got bus most days into town 4 stops ( I would walk 8 minutes) but she couldn't walk that far, she spent little on clothes she had two wardrobes full, a bit on sweets and local paper a little bit to the church which provided another aspect of social life she was content with this others of course might not be

our requirements to live each month having paid off our mortgage are about £1500 for 3, this includes all food, bills utilities phones, tv, insurances running a car and maintaining it and basic house and garden maintenance birthday christmas presents etc a fund for clothes eating out or days out and a some fun money each per month. altogether to set aside enough for the extras like holidays and other fun stuff or new phones laptops small appliances breaking etc I budget on needing around 2000 a month after tax
It doesn't include replacement vehicles, major house repairs or renovations or if DD goes to uni, we have separate funds for each of these as well as long term saving

how much you need per month is dependent on what you do, what you enjoy doing in your spare time golf costs more than rambling, how big a house and garden you have to maintain, how many holidays and where you want to go to, if you run a car or two how much you spend on things like eating out entertainment etc

I think you have a great plan. I am currently retraining to do similar myself at a similar age. I happy with charity shop
clothes , don’t feel the need for expensive cars jewellery or clothes. I want to live a frugal Existence be free from the rat race and enjoy spending my money travelling and meeting people from all over the world . Good luck your adventure awaits !

@DozyDelia Nothing has to "wash" with you. I'm glad you're happy with your plans, they're sensible ones which you can afford. I'm not preaching or trying to convince you. You asked me a question and I replied, giving my reasons. It wouldn't have been very helpful if I'd just said "yes", but perhaps that's what I should have done. I think your wrong to try to force your opinions onto others. "Raising the issue" as you put it would have been fine. But that's not what you're doing. You're trying to browbeat the OP (and me?) into agreeing with you when we've both made it clear we don't fully agree (I don't think anyone actually disagrees with how you've chosen to live your life). I do think you live in an alternate reality to poor people though and can't even begin to imagine how any of them could possibly be happy, so I tried to explain because I do think it's useful to be able to see alternative viewpoints to your own even if it's not what you like or want. Given your latest response I don't think you want to acknowledge it's possible for poor people to be happy. That's ok. You can think whatever you want to think, it's a free country.

**

For anyone worried about survival on the state pension. If that is your only income (and limited savings), it's not all you'll have. You'll get pension credit too, plus housing benefit if you're renting although it may not pay all your rent (especially if you're in private rental) so you may need to downsize. Council tax benefit pays part/all of the council tax depending on where you live in the UK. The personal tax allowance is higher, so if you do need or want to continue working part time you can earn more as a pensioner without reaching the threshold for paying tax than if you were working age. Pension credit I think qualifies you for free prescriptions, if they're not already free in your country. There may be other things too, the winter fuel allowance for example. The biggest issues I can see are making sure your rent doesn't take up a disproportionate amount of income or if you own, having somewhere that isn't likely to need major repairs before you die and of course not being in debt. If you're heading in this direction and think it sounds like hell on earth (and for some, it would be) then consider what other options and opportunities are open to you before you retire, so you can hopefully have time to carve out some other future for yourself. Or else find some way to make peace with your circumstances if you're not going to be able to change them. Whatever your situation, feeling bitter about it or being jealous of others achieves no purpose and harms only yourself.

OP it's been an interesting thread. Do you plan to keep another thread (or this one?) running with updates of your adventures or do you think you'll be too busy? Wishing you luck either way.

Anyone getting full new state pension now will not qualify for Pension credit unless there are other factors like being in receipt of a disability benefit or being a carer.

Thanks for the update @Babyroobs I was unaware 🙂

@SusanMaria I suggest you check some of this out.

For anyone worried about survival on the state pension. If that is your only income (and limited savings), it's not all you'll have.You'll get pension credit too

Not correct. You can top up a pension with pension credit but it depends on many factors including your savings and your lifetime contributions. Pension credit is not an automatic payment. The top-up is small anyway. ( I handle all my elderly Mum's finances and can assure you that you are incorrect- sorry!)

Council tax benefit pays part/all of the council tax depending on where you live in the UK

You may get something but only if you already qualify for pension credit. (and have below a certain threshold for savings) A single person gets a reduction.

The personal tax allowance is higher, so if you do need or want to continue working part time you can earn more as a pensioner without reaching the threshold for paying tax than if you were working age

This is completely untrue. Pensions plus income earned, combined, are eligible for tax at the usual personal allowance rate. (currently £12750). A combined income of state and occupational pension is taxed at the usual rates which is 40% for anyone with a good pension + state pension.

Pension credit I think qualifies you for free prescriptions, if they're not already free in your country. There may be other things too, the winter fuel allowance for example.

Free prescriptions are available to anyone over 60 in England, employed or working. So that would apply to everyone drawing a state pension. The winter fuel allowance changes whoever is in government and depends on each budget!

Blimey this is terrible I had no idea. Two people I know both receive pension credit aged 68/69. They still need to do cash in hand odd jobs for people to make ends meet. Though one runs a car plus smokes plus the other one still has a mortgage to clear and is a single parent to a 12 year old.

@SusanMaria I'm not trying to browbeat anyone into thinking 'my way'. But I do think you are downplaying how poverty in old age is ok and that people will be okay, happy etc accepting their lot (of being poor.)

My own background (parental) was very poor. My mum is currently living on not much above the state pension (plus some of my late father's occupational pension.)

You will know what the state pension is? so consider that her council tax even as a single person is around £2Kpa. Her utility bills (even being careful) were close to £2.5Kpa. Those two outgoings (and we've not even got to food or clothes yet) are almost half her annual income. She has some savings so doesn't get pension credit.

She needed a new boiler recently and all her central eating system replacing.
Several thousands of pounds. A new fridge freezer- last one broke.
And so on....

Fortunately I am in a position to help her financially if needed.

So I'm not 'browbeating' but your previous post shows a bit of a gap in your knowledge, so it's not really a good idea to suggest that the state will provide and all will be okay , or to accept poverty (well below the minimum wage.)

So they are committing fraud by earning and not declaring it as earned income.

If you have dependent children then you get a child premium on a pension claim, so that would boost the amount of pension credit they receive.

A lot of older people are struggling, especially those like your mum who do not qualify for pension credit due to a small occupational pension, they often end up worse off than those who are claiming pension credit because of all the extra freebies it gives like council tax paid in full, free dental and eye care, warm home discount, £900 a year cost of living payments for the last year and this coming year. I feel really bad for people for many years and because of a small private pension don't qualify for pension credit. It must really suck when they see those who have barely worked getting topped up. Despite what people want to believe there are an awful lot of ( usually older women) who have barely worked or for some reason did not think it beneficial to pay their stamp and therefore get topped up by pension credit and all the things that go with it. My own mum, had she not not sadly died a few years after state retirement age did not qualify for barely any pension and always worried how she would manage if my dad had died first although I guess she would have inherited some of his private pension in that situation, something she perhaps did not appreciate.

Sorry I should have also said I'm not including people who spent their lives caring . I guess now women mainly work, there will be less and less in the future qualifying for pension credit in their retirement.

I'm curious. Again going off the track here from OPs post.
But a lot of posters keep mentioning pensions and worrying about their financial freedom.
Assuming most are women and again assuming most have had children .
Don't you expect your grown up children to look after you financially, physically and emotionally etc.

Why should you as a 60 something year old woman be expected to have your own financial means?
Isn't that why you spent your life raising a family? Looking after a husband and his kids ?

I've thought this for a while now. There are a lot of people who don't need to work full time, have manageable housing costs and aren't reliant on the state for much/any of their income. If one takes the kind of mentality you describe, we're quite the untapped resource. There's been the odd allusion to it on here, actually, but I don't think we're in coordinated Nudge Unit territory yet.

Don't you expect your grown up children to look after you financially, physically and emotionally etc
@MarrymeJM
Is this a joke?

Is that a serious question?

Neither DH nor I are working to our full capacity. DH has deliberately not gone for promotions because he doesn't want the aggro and gets paid a 6 figure sum for very little responsibility.

I also don't want the aggro and stress of a well paid job so I'm staying with low level admin still not badly paid, for an easy life.

Are we "letting the side down?". Nudge theory would have no impact on us whatsoever. We'll do what works for us and our family, we're not reliant on the state, have private healthcare and DCs at private schools and pay far more into the system than we take out. What more does Jeremy want?!

@Babyroobs That is all true, yes. There are also some old people who are very canny with their savings and manage to keep them hidden so they can qualify for all the means-tested extras.