As a retired person could you live on £10,000 a year.?

[allamberedover]

To cover bills but not housing costs.

I would rather not and I won’t- I’ve been overpaying into my pension for years. I think it depends on age and capability, if you are in good health and younger retired you could possibly work part time. If you are over early 70s and don’t have savings it would be very difficult. Both DF and DGF had part-time work until their early 80s, for company and for ‘beer money’.

I'm retired and between us we have several very generous pensions, so we enjoy a good standard of living with plenty of holidays and meals out. I would hate to have to try to live on a meagre income in my old age. The answer is No!

Not without downsizing, it would hardly cover the bills. Also, as older parents our dc will still be at school when DH retires and we'll need to fund uni most likely.

How can you say no and in the same sentence say that people will have to cut their cloth? What a load of nonsense. You do realise that one day you and your children will be old?

I could probably live week to week.
Problem is when big and small things add up. Replacing household appliances, costs go up, house repairs.

I'm a widowed pensioner and could live on that, just about, with very careful budgeting, but after thirty years of working very hard as a lecturer and looking forward to retirement, it would be a miserable existence.

Both of my beloved pets have died, so I am able to travel easily now, but as a single person it does take a lot of shopping around to avoid high single supplements.

I also am having to dip into my savings far too regularly at the moment - this week I've had to pay out £40 for an emergency gutter repair, and £50 for a planned home visit from the chiropodist.

It's not only about your income, it's also about your outgoings.

I get frustrated seemingly to always say this on mumsnet. Income can only be evaluated against outgoings.

One without the other is really immaterial.

No . Maybe survive but even then I doubt it

Mr Darcy was running Pemberley on such a meagre sum. Thank goodness his tastes were only a little shooting, listening to the piano forte (probably bought on klarna) and skinny dipping in his massive fucking lake.

My mother lives pretty well on about 800 a month (own house) in London (free travel/no car/local shops walkable)

No. I don't have/want many extravagances eg. no interest in foreign holidays, clothes or perfume, beauty treatments etc.. but £10k wouldn't be enough. I need my dogs, want to pay for my (adult) kids and their partners to have meals out etc.. so £22k would be about the minimum I could live on.

This makes sense.

When I worked, I took home about £800pm and it paid for everything including fun.

I am now on the same in UC and I do just about manage.

If you earn lots, you spend lots. Someone on say £100k is not going to be geting their clothing in Primark and living in a £100k house.

Without housing cost yes

It gets tricky when you get unwell/infirm.

i’m effectively retired as I’m now too disabled to work. Wheelchairs are expensive, getting around is expensive if you can’t walk far as buses/trains are out so you need your own car or taxis. Both are pretty expensive.
many cheap or free activities aren’t accessible when disabled/infirm - walking becomes tricky, most exercise classes cost money and are too hard. There’s seated exercise classes near me for 6 quid a time. I can’t afford proper physio at 60 quid d as n hour but have been referred to a group physio class run by a charity that’s only 10 a week.

Many, many pensioners currently are on the old basic state pension currently £176.45 per week or £9175.40 per annum. A big difference

Yes l could.
My mortgage is paid, l don't own a car, l walk and cycle everywhere.
I have learnt to live on what most people would think is a little amount, yet l have never been happier. Time and freedom is more important. I live a rich and interesting life, it can be done.

I need £1000 min to pay all bills. That would be not many luxuries and everything cut to minimum.

No. The car costs in particular would really be too much.

I’ve seen similar figures elsewhere. The jump between the lower figure ‘minimum’ 13.4K and the middle figure ‘moderate’ 31.7k is huge and doesn’t seem to be reflected in the extras you can expect. I still have a pre-teen but I try to live on 2k a month as a target retirement figure, saving the rest to my pension; husband covers half the bills on a house we own. I pay for my child’s activities, clothes etc, pay into a savings account for them, pay half of a 3 person holiday abroad outside term time and all of a long weekend break. I also replace my modest model of a car every 3 years and cover my commuting costs. I guess what I am
saying is that 31.7k seems comfortable not moderate to me!

£833 per month? Only manageable if I had a savings pot for home maintainance/replacements. I'd also need to give up my car (but live walking distance to town centre so not big deal). My budget:

• Utilities/C Tax/Wifi/Phone -£450 pm (same as now)
• Annual bills (dentist, home ins etc)-£80pm av.
• Food & cleaning products -£220pm
• Social/other -£80pm (inc Vinted clothes and basic toiletries).

It would be a restricted lifestyle but not awful - I'd rotate monthly subscriptions (one only - music, netflix etc), make the most of local library, use You Tube for pilates/yoga and persuade friends living nearby to socialise at each others' home (pasta/cups of tea!).

That's the theory and a couple of weeks of that could be fine. Then the novelty wears off and the reality — day after day of rain and no money for a decent waterproof coat and boots, no impulse buy ice cream or coffee — sinks in. And then there's the question of what you do on the day you miss the last bus or last connection home after a nice day out. It happens. Earlier this year I was stranded overnight in Shrewsbury after misreading a train timetable and missing my last train home. Thank goodness for the Premier Inn. Only £50. But if you're living on an ultra-tight budget £50 is disaster.

My father died recently but he lived comfortably on this. His bills were a service charge for his flat, electric, water, council tax, insurance and food. He has a pass so he could use a lot of public transport for free. He had a couple of cheap hobbies and managed to save a bit each month too.

My council tax (band C) is £153 a month after the single occupier discount is taken off. It's my biggest bill by miles. Energy is £90 a month, water currently £25.30 but Southern Water are apparently putting that up by over 40%, the robbing bastards. Add on the internet, tv licence (I'm going to have to bin off streaming services), phone and house insurance and my household bills will be well over £300 a month.

My state pension is £900-ish a month, and I get a small occupational pension (£250 after tax). I'm still working p/t, but retiring at the end of September. I find it horrifying that more than 10% of my income will be going to the council. I won't be entitled to council tax reduction because I have a few grand in savings.

I'm hoping to move to a cheaper area and release some equity so that I can still afford to buy books and the occasional bottle of wine, pay for things like boiler and car repairs and generally have some semblance of a life.

No thank you

£833 take home a month