Need perspective on money situation for a 54 year old

[Moneysitu]

Would love opinions please on where I’m at financially. I have friends who are far better off (and boast!) but I feel ok.

house worth about £330k, mortgage £28k
savings £21k
shares worth £9k
car worth £3k

I am a 54 year old female, no dependents as my kids have left home.

Sounds ok to me. Do you have a good salary and pension?

What about your pension?

I am a similar age and my savings are much higher. I’m responsible for my own pension, though, which might be the difference. It’s not great, but I’m hoping that other savings will make up for that.

I wish I had your pension and savings! I am 2 years older than you and will have to work until I drop!

Yes I have a good pension. I can take it in 6 months, but I’m not going to.

If I took my pension in December it would be £900pm and a lump sum of £70k

Stealth boast warning!

Hardly.
actually it isnt a great position to be in. She will need to work for many more years

That isnt a good pension .

That's a pretty frugal old age. What will it give you at 67?

Assume you pay off mortgage what are your monthly costs? Is your pension dc, so do you have a quote for an annuity?

whether or not your personal financial situation is good, is down to whether it not you can meet your needs / ambitions.

Your mortgage is easy to pay off. You seem comfortable with your retirement savings.

That sounds like a good situation, if you are happy with it.

I would focus on getting rid of your mortgage, increasing your cash savings and topping up your pension contributions.
I'd probably sell the share. You don't have enough of a cushion to ride out the risks of the fluctuations in the share price.

There are people in far far worse situations for sure.

Don't be so ridiculous.

Do you have any dependants?

Any kids in Uni you have to support for example?

What are your current monthly incomings and outgoings?

Obviously £900 per month isn't going to get you very far; mortgage, utility bills, council tax, transport, food will take more than that.

Presumably you're planning on working until you've paid off your mortgage and while you're working you'll be increasing payments into your pension, but without knowing how much you're putting in and how much your expenditure is each month, it's very difficult to say.

Sounds decent. A lot depends on where you live. The house value is good but not if you live in central London etc .

£900 pcm is not a lot to live on, but if you have a good job and enjoy it, keep working and up your pension.

Apologies, I've just seen that you have no dependants.

It’s not ridiculous. For some of us, the OP’s financial situation would be a dream. Please get real. Not everyone has property assets and huge pension pots.

900 plus state pension isn't too bad though especially with 70k lump sum.

Looks bloody marve to me so don't feel inferior to your braggy friends. If you're all single independent females even better as then you all know where you're at - all joy/life sucking deeds are over.

For those still intertwined with a partner, don't get to smugly as either things for they or the 'static' woman can and will, inevitably change, and then it might get a bit tougher on those comfortably-oiled old bones.

That seems ok. Your mortgage is almost repaid and you have savings and investments. Presumably that £900 per month would be higher if you work closer to your normal retirement date? Have you checked your state pension forecast? We retired at 58 and mapped out our income streams from about 55 so about the age you are now. As soon as the predicted pension income plus withdrawals on investments etc reached our benchmark of desired income to cover lifestyle we retired.

I would recommend you work out the minimum you need to live off and focus on increasing savings/investments/pension to reach that figure.

You're not wrong

A stealth boast that OP is probably below average for her age ?
She certainly couldn't afford to retire early but should be able to get by if she stays in work and keeps saving

• your wealth is a maximum just before retirement and you need enough accrued to live

It’s ok but not great. How early do you want to retire? You’ll probably be fine if you work to state pension age but if you want to retire early you need to build up a higher pension and savings.

Wish I could take my pension at 55!