If you are retired and have a good life, can I ask how much pension you draw?

[User5512]

I tried some calculators and they all gave me vastly different numbers.

I’d like to know (roughly) how much money does a couple need to have a good life in retirement.

If you are retired, would you be kind enough to give me a rough idea of your lifestyle and how much pension you get?

thanks :)

I retired after a work accident. From April my pension will be £7635 net a month
plus £510 net from another company pension - its a complex calculation as its injury based - so a % of earnings paid for life.

It really depends on your outgoings and the preparations you’ve made for retirement especially in the last couple of years pre retirement. We had paid off our mortgage, done major jobs in the house (new kitchen and bathroom) and bought a new car. Our direct debits are only 500 a month and our pension income 2000 after tax between us (gross 26k total) which gives 1500 for fun and food and one off items. This is plenty but only because any major items like home improvements, new cars and holidays can come from savings. Roll on age 67 when we get the old age pension too. At current rates that would give us an annual income of 46k so savings will be less important

I'm looking to have my own pension be sufficient to comfortably live on should I (or indeed DH) find myself alone. So workplace + spouse's pensions + state pension.
Because most costs won't change and would have to be met from a single income.

We couldn't live on two thirds, we barely manage the bills now and rent etc will be much more expensive when we retire. It's not worth worrying about unless you can do something about it OP.

I'd imagine you'll be topped up with Pension Credits then.

I am 63 - I paid into a teachers pension for 38 years before retiring then returning to work part time - teachers pension plus part time gives me about £38,000 ). I will retire (all things equal) and then draw my pension. DH is similar and having watched the BBC report tonight we think that we will then be in the 'moderate' standard of living place at about £48,000 ish. So, I am 63 and have worked without a break seemingly forever and I think that is the only way employment pensions really work for you. I have friends who had time out with family and other employment breaks who get a lot less. You need to plan, pay everything off so its just day to day living.

I retired at 57. I was a teacher for almost 25 years but some of that time part time. I'm 62 so drawing my Teachers Pension which is £9500 pa plus I had a lump sum of £28,500. Plus I got a portion of exh pension in the pension sharing order. With this I bought a 10 year annuity per annum to take me to 67 so get £4500 pa until I can draw state pension. When I'm 67 state pension is likely to be in a region of £13k. Plus I'm a LL so get £28,000 rental income after mortgages paid plus DH and I have a further joint rental income of £12,500 pa after mortgages paid. So I get about £48,500 pa but my DH still works and earns a little over £60k plus his half of joint rental incomes of £6,250. He will be retiring at the end of March this year. He'll get £15,500 for his CS Classic pension he can get from 60 plus a lump sum of £46,500. Then he can't get the rest of his CS pension until he's 67. Assuming inflation rises of 2 percent pa his Classic will rise to £18,500 when he's 67 plus he'll get in the region of £9,600 at 67 from his Alpha pension. He will also get a full state pension. So he'll end up with about £28k CS pension pa plus state pension in region of £13k. At 67 DH will have a total pension of £41k and I'll get £61k. We live quite well but certainly don't waste money. Our mortgage is paid off but only in July 2023. We have a 7 bedroom holiday home in France with no mortgage. We holiday there for 3 or 4 weeks a year and hope to increase this after this summer. We never charge family members or close friends who we let borrow it when they wish. We go on cruises a couple of times each year for 2 weeks each time. We eat out quite often at least twice a week. We can help out my 3 DC with gifting and be generous to nieces and nephews too. If we want something we can afford to buy it. We sponsor an African child and give to 2 other charities Cats Protection and Centre Point. We know we are very fortunate but we have always worked hard and saved to buy rental properties. I inherited some money from my Mum about 9 years ago. We sold a rental property last year to give my youngest son a good deposit for his first home. We've also got several other properties sitting in a ltd company. We don't draw any money from the ltd company and just let income build up. Neither DH or I would have retired early if we were not absolutely sure we could afford it. DH and I both remember having to be really careful with our money years ago.

I'm confused, if you want a pension of £30k a year, how much do you need in your pension pot?

OH and i him state and private £23k a year me state and part time working £12k so £35k a year no mortgage small house and in the north so yes we are comfortable not rich

We're retired. We're living on about £20,000 (no mortgage) and supporting ds2 as he has no income yet. Can't say we feel deprived.

Assuming you’ll retire at 67/68 and will get a full state pension you would then need £18k from a private pension to make up £30k in total.

To get £18k from a private pension you would need about £450k in the pension pot at retirement (assuming you don’t take a lump sum)

Not enough. We aimed to downsize, but the housing market as it is and the cost of moving being at least 25K, it’s not possible.

We retired early so no SP for another 9yrs but have private/work pensions that give us about £36k pa between us (index linked).
We also have monthly wins on PB's and share dividends.
No mortgage or loans to worry about and any large purchases will come out of savings.
In the future we will have the SP of course and OH has a (small) school pension that can't be drawn on until SPA.

Fully admit that we are definitely in the "comfortable" camp.

It's a how long is a piece of string question. I retired at Christmas at 55. We have a good life, plenty of hobbies, eat out a couple of times a week....But don't spend much money on anything else.

I suggest you write a list/spreadsheet of what you need just to live ie what you spend now on gas, water, food, council tax....etc. Then what luxuries you can't live without sky, mobile, hair, gym whatever is your essential but you could dump if necessary.
Then a third list of the real luxuries trips out, sports events, holidays.

Use what you spend now. Then you need to look if you can meet those figures today (assume you are retiring today). This will give you an idea of whether you can have a comfortable life, a careful one or struggle.

@caringcarer I assume your DH has been informed about the McCloud judgement and that most of his Alpha can be taken as Classic if he chooses. CS pensions should provide the illustration for him to make his choice.

I earn about £3k a month but have worked out that when the mortgage is repaid and car loan gone I will need about £2200 per month to live as I do now.

I have a DB pension which will give me £15k a year at 60 and my state pension a further £10k or so at 67. I then have a private pension that I think will give me about £8k a year plus a lump sum. I think I will be ok.

It’s a nightmare for most people though. If you only have state pension, you would need a private pension fund of perhaps £3-400k to be able to have a relatively comfortable lifestyle, not many have that.

About 48k pa net between us. One car which we don't use much ( walk a lot or buses), three bed semi with usual costs, couple of holidays in Europe a year, outings and occasional meals out. DH also tithes (donates 10 % of his pre tax income to charity). We manage fine and save a bit.

DH and I have been retired 5 years, but last year was the first normal year, after Covid and we were caring for a parent which skewed our spending. We both worked and paid NI for 48 years each before retiring, so we both get the full state pension, which is about £10k each. In addition, we spent an additional £18k last year. We had a couple of weekends away, 2 weeks in Mallorca and 10 days touring France. We also spent around £2k, out if the total on house maintenance. I consider that we are not wealthy, but have enough to give us a comfotable life style for the foreseeable. Who knows what we may need in the future for mobility aids, hearing aids, and if course, care costs. Our mortgage is paid up, which is a big help.

It says that to be comfortable, you'd need £130 a week on food for a couple. That's more than we spend as a family of 4 and I think we eat well so that's bonkers.

They say 2/3 of your working income but I think that sounds a lot to me, given that my mortgage is currently 25% of my post-tax income, and I save another 20% of that income (won't save as hard once retired), not including pension savings.

I am a recent widow financially I am ok but there will never be a ‘good’ life for me.

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Sorry for your loss xxx

I live alone, I own the house outright and it's a modern house with good insulation and not in need of money spending on it.
My state pension and small private pension come to a total of less than 13k per annum. I live frugally but comfortably. Never get takeaways but eat out on average once a month and last year managed 3 budget breaks in Turkey.

I don't go out much but do enjoy wine in the house on a regular basis.

I have a couple of small work pensions & will have a full state pension, however I have no intention of working until I am 67. So am working out my other resources to try & work out when I can retire.
I have a couple of rentals & a widow's pension which bring in £3k per month but I also am a carer for my youngest (it is unlikely they will ever live independently) so I am trying to factor that into my figures but it is such an unknown as his needs could change