Is living on the state pension really that bad?

[cateringday]

I mean, if you own your home then you’re getting around £250 a week just for bills and spends.
i have a tiny pension and DH has none. I am always worrying about this but then realised that we will have no rent or mortgage to pay.
im just wondering if it would be as awful as people make out? I hear stuff saying you need £300000 in pension pot to have a comfortable retirement, why would you need that much?

You'll have other monthly bills. To answer your question you'll need to get them listed and work out your budget from there.

It depends on what you're used to. I would find it incredibly difficult to live on only the state pension, as a single person.

I often wonder this too. I mean its not going to be a life of luxury but without my mortgage my food and bills for two of us would be about £800 a month. So if we were both getting 250 a week state pension we would have a full state pension give or take abit spare.

happy to be corrected if i’m wrong on the state pension figures as i’m too far off it to of ever seriously looked into it

I imagine it depends on whether you want to survive or actually enjoy life?

Entirely depends on your lifestyle. DM lives on state pension and pension credit top-up.
She does not have a car (never driven), doesn't go on holiday (through choice really), lives in a council house so all repairs etc. covered. Doesn't smoke, drink, have a pet.
I'm not saying you can't have any of those things, but it's worth considering what your life is like and what you like to do.

As a couple I don’t think it’s too bad. It gets harder as a single person. It’s doable but you wouldn’t have money for travelling, eating out.

There is also the issue of future care needs. If you can't afford private provision, you have minimal choice available.

this! Will you want to go on a holiday etc?

I am living on my state pension and a proportion of my late husband's private pension. My mortgage is paid off.
I only have myself and my dog to support, and can pay all bills with a bit left over for socialising.
There isn't a lot to spare, but it is certainly doable.

Agreed, and this is worst it was meant for, to stop people dying in poverty, not for living in luxury tbh

Gosh yes because old people only really need food and shelter. Everything else that makes life worth living is just wasted on them.

You can survive on it. Living on it in a way that you are comfortable with is very individual.

Running a car, buying clothes, little treats like takeaways. Going on holiday. Any kind of socializing. All of these are very tight on state pension only .

Many would soon get fed up of being at home staring at the TV.

I hear stuff saying you need £300000 in pension pot to have a comfortable retirement, why would you need that much?

You dont get £300k at retirement. That £300k is invested to provide you with an income. Say you got 5%, thats £15k. Add that to the state pension £12k.

Care needs.

It depends on where you live and how high your bills are: eg a bigger house is more council tax and higher energy costs.

It depends on how you live pre pension, if you have a busy lifestyle with a decent income where you can enjoy meals out, shopping, frequent holidays, luxuries, expensive cars or jewelleryetc. The state pension won’t cut it.

However if you live in a small paid for terraced, have never had much money eg minimum wage type salary, run one cheap or no cars etc, have simple lifestyle that doesn’t cost £££ you’ll probably be ok.

There was a letter in the Telegraph a bit back on the subject of pensions, where the writer said that when her husband was alive, she and he had been OK living on the state pension, but now that he’d died, she wasn’t. It’s do-able for two people, but no so much for one, because a lot of your bills will be the same, but you’ll only have half as much money.

Not everyone needs care.

Is it? People have paid into this all their lives. What an attitude 😵‍💫

I think day to day income wise it's doable, but problems arise, if you don't have substantial savings, when big things need paying for, like if you need a new central heating boiler, or roof repairs

Unfortunately no one knows until the time comes.

Pretty much everyone who lives long enough does. Those who don’t are the exception

Its existence money, you’d struggle to go on many lovely holidays or eat out much but it depends on your lifestyle.
Having your own work/ private pensions to top it up makes it better but on its own it’s not a lot.

How old are you and your DH, OP?

I am enjoying life, it all depends on what sort of life you want/are used to.
My social life consists mainly of meeting friends for coffee/lunch, occasional visits to the theatre etc. I am happy with that, other people want exotic holidays etc.
I am happy with a simple life.

I don’t know any pensioner in real life who actually struggles. Including those who only have state pension. Every single one I know, own family, neighbours etc are living a very lovely life. I’m not saying pension poverty doesn’t exist, but I am saying that I personally don’t know any pensioner who is struggling.
my own grandmother is 90, gets everything paid for by the state, and doesn’t know what to do with it all every week. Her life is her little security council flat paid for, my mum takes her to withdraw her £250 every week, takes her shopping (she doesn’t eat much), pays her energy bill for her and then grandma doesn’t know what to do with the remaining. It’s not like she’s active enough to go travelling or skydiving with it.