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?

Its not going to cover holidays, a regular car upgrade nice clothes, hair and nails done, eating out, regular coffees. Never mind the numerous other expenses a lot of folk take for granted. But living a frugal life it would be doable.

Yes but then if your husband dies…. You only have £200 spare for any transport/additional services you may need. What if you aren’t able to clean well so need a cleaner or your boiler breaks wiping out years of spare money?

not sure “ frugal” describes a lifestyle without the examples you’ve listed. I have never been well off enough to have regular nail, expensive hair appointments, new car every few years but don’t regard it as a frugal life style. To me frugal ( especially state pensioners on their own, with no private pension) would be budgeting to every penny

Like others have said everyone’s situation is different. One of my adult children and his wife are exceptionally high earners and their lifestyle is completely different to mine - they would certainly not enjoy living on a state pension!

And anyway my maths was wildly wrong! If you work 45 years and only live another 15 without working, 45 years of earnings needs to cover 60 years of living. Is that, what, a quarter of your earnings you’d need to save to cover retirement? The people who think they’ve ’paid in all their lives’, have they paid in a quarter of their earnings or their cost of living?

Totally incorrect. Most people die before needing care

Surely it doesn’t need to be either, or. Even some savings make a difference.

It doesn't, which is why we do have a small amount of savings - but we're not in the position to build up a massive pension pot - we are living our life now when we can enjoy it to its fullest.

I agree with this. I don’t have a private or workplace pension as I’ve never earned much due to disabilities, but I’ve managed to put some savings away. It’s worth having enough savings to cover emergency dental treatment, a new boiler and (in my case) a new mobility scooter/electric wheelchair.

But only for local buses. It doesn't cover you to get a National Express, for instance.

Just under £400 a month - it helps a lot. I also don't have a car, which makes a big difference.

My mum lives on a state pension. She has always been fairly frugal so it's no different for her. She doesn't drive, doesn't wish to go on holiday now my dad has died and doesn't eat out, or want to. She can afford heating, all her usual bills and a trip to the pub once a week with friends.

She does however have savings. So any unexpected house repairs etc would come out of her savings. One advantage which a person on pension credit doesn't have, as you don't get it if you have savings. Although if you're renting it might not matter as much.

Just under £400 a month - it helps a lot. I also don't have a car, which makes a big difference

Yes, that's quite a significant amount if one is trying to live off the state pension.
I have friends who will occasionally recommend a pub/restaurant they've found and say "Why don't we go next week?" or similar. I always say I begrudge paying for a meal I could cook better at home They prob think I'm a proper miserable old git. The truth is it's going to be at least £100 and whilst we could probably afford to do it, even if it's only once a month that's £100 out of the monthly budget.

If it was a drop in the ocean (as it must be for them) fair enough.
But I can think of better ways of spending that £100.

True, at least people of working age may have options like taking on extra hours at work or extra work. I remember after we moved house and got a bit of debt I did a few shifts a month at Royal Mail sorting post in addition to the day job which cleared the debt over a year and I then stayed on another year to build a cushion.

Point is you cannot likely do this in your 70s.

We manage fine on state pension, pension credit, and PIP. No private pension or other private income. House is paid off. Council tax is paid. Live in London where we have free public transport and it goes almost everywhere we need to go. We have a car and use it about once a month. Don't pay road tax due to PIP. Lots of cheap entertainment including free swimming and gym at the council leisure centre, cheap exhibitions and places to visit (some are hugely discounted due to being on pension credit, eg £1 Tower of London, £3 Zoo). We often do theatre trips with last minute deals and DH goes as my carer. Lots of cheap/free events all over London including orchestral concerts, opera tickets, V&A, Kew, talks and public lectures. We use seat filler websites too which gets us cheap tickets to gigs, theatre, concerts etc.
Dental and optician costs are NHS, we have to pay for some things but much cheaper than private. Prescriptions are free. We get help towards bills and don't scrimp on heating (though we dress sensibly and don't walk around in shorts in winter). We get half price water bills due to medical condition. Cheap phone and broadband on a social tariff.
Socialising is mostly cheap, eg meeting up in friends' houses, a walk to the various parks. We don't spend money on things like nail treatments or coffees out, we've never done that so we don't miss it. We eat well by cooking from scratch at home, grow some of our own food in the back garden, and buying from community pantries.
We don't have a cleaner or gardener and don't feel we need one (we have all the time to clean and it doesn't get too dirty with 2 adults in the house, low maintenance garden). We do most basic maintenance and DIY on the house ourselves. No pets.
We go on holiday every couple of years, sometimes we join our dcs and dgcs so it works out quite cheap, but we've also had cruise bargains in the off season. We buy clothes when needed, not as a hobby. Things like furniture and appliances get replaced if they break, and we have enough savings to be able to pay for things like that, but it's infrequent. Pension Credit allows you to have savings up to £10k before PC is affected, which is a higher threshold than UC.
DCs will help out sometimes, eg they've given a tablet and phone as a joint gift. They live locally so no big costs for visiting them. We are able to pay for gifts for them and dgcs but nothing extravagant, but they are happy.

@CollectionFour other peoples taxes are doing you well then. You didn’t take much responsibility to save for yourself then? Just take handouts whilst owning a house?

I think early retirement is quite different to late retirement. People are more likely to want to travel and do things before their health declines, maybe a part-time job in ASDA or B&Q for a few years might give you a bit more.

This is why pension credit will be removed.

We manage fine on state pension, pension credit, and PIP.

Sure you do
Because you're getting thousands of pounds more per year on top of the state pension.

How much is you r pension credit and PIP per month?
And on top of that you get free road tax, reduced water rates, help with heating.

Do you realise how much more all of this add to the state pension of just £12K a year?

It’s not over 60. It’s over whatever state retirement is for you .

Is it just DH’s pension or do you have your own? Might be worth getting your own and benefiting from employer’s matching pension contributions.

I agree that being in the moment is important and that life is for living, but that's a bit short-sighted, imo.

I'm 59 now and the years are passing at an even faster rate as you approach retirement you think about it more. I've heard so many retired people say that they wished they'd put more money in the pot. I'd really like to have some money so that I can afford to spend the UK winters in sunny climes - Spain, Greece, Portugal... etc.

You might feel different as you get closer to Sixty.

I guess many people will be curious how you get PIP if you and your DH are so active and can manage all household tasks without help.

It is for Londoners. 60+ London Oyster photocard.

and going on holiday including cruises. Theatre, opera, concerts in London?