1 million pounds Retirement Fund!

[dottiedodah]

Seriously how many people have this ? We are some way off Retirement ,but nowhere near this amount ! See on TV this morning this is the amount to be "comfortable !" We are in the mid bracket of around 20 k when Retired.

kjhkj Is that an annuity, you could do a drawdown, if you retire at 68 you will need to live till 98 to get all your money out

Its just the standard life pension calculator for my pot. I think it assumes I would take out the 25% lump sum.

My parents are still going strong and holidaying in their mid eighties.

I don’t have a pot as such, but my LGPS will pay out 36k a year on retirement, so am happy with that. My wage has been lower in the public sector than it would have been in the private sector though so the pension is the reward I suppose.

CountFosco I don’t want to be a doom merchant, but average life expectancy is 79- men, 82- women

Sure, but half of all people live longer than average and generally they are those from higher socio economic groups (deprivation reduces life expectancy). 3 of my grandparents lived into their 90s (as did the non-smoking identical twin of the one who died younger of a smoking related disease), so I think it's prudent to plan for a longer than average lifespan. Plus, I'd like to be able to choose my care home if I need one so saving for that is also a consideration.

My wage has been lower in the public sector than it would have been in the private sector though so the pension is the reward I suppose.

Wages in the public sector aren't lower, but the pensions are way more generous. DH paid into his last public sector scheme for 10 years, it will pay out more than 30 years in my private scheme on a similar salary.

If you're a regular working class professional, obtaining a £1million is virtually impossible unless your parents were savvy enough to invest in a pension when you were born.

I've been a higher rater tax payer for about 80% of my working life (23 years) and I put away thousands and thousands into my pension every year. I'm now putting in £1800 a month atm . If I continue investing right and putting a lot away then yes, I will just about get a £350,000K pot by the time I'm 50. But I honestly don't want to be working that hard at 50 and all this money I'm putting away is a sacrifice.

This is very disheartening for many normal folk the vast majority are not on higher rate tax earners. I don't know what the solution is but we need education about this a lot more and a better way to structure pensions so that savers can save more at an earlier age.

Life expectancy at age 65 is 84 for a man and 86 for a woman.
www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/lifeexpectancies/bulletins/lifeexpectancyatbirthandatage65bylocalareasinenglandandwales/2015-11-04

ferrier, just going by the national average,
It’s a fact, the longer you live, the longer you will live, it’s not just about age it’s your health as well

CountFosco Choose your own nursing home, that’s great when your stuck in bed all day, some of are clients are very wealthy, it makes no difference to them, they cannot spend it.

ferrier So if you get to retirement age, your pot has to last on average 19 years,

some of are clients are very wealthy, it makes no difference to them, they cannot spend it.

Well, they are spending it aren't they, on care home fees. And if you are in the sector you will know that not all care homes are equal.

I've taken mine early at 55 as I have life-length-limiting heart disease and can only hope and dream of getting to 67 when I would pick up my state pension.

Not much but with a very part time job, it is enough.

I agree the £1Million figure is very odd. Surely “comfortable” is relative?

I’m hoping that I’d have paid off the mortgage by the time I retire and so having £20K a year would be more than enough to cover the basic utilities, food, and extra for holidays/treating future grandchildren etc. £500K is a much more realistic figure to aim for, and would give the majority of people a perfectly comfortable retirement - even if paying rent surely this would be good enough, even if it’s a bit tight and would probably result in no holidays etc? I could even sell my 3 bed to buy a 1 bed flat if really needed.

I guess one thing to keep in mind is that due to inflation, £20K/year will have much less purchasing power than it does now!!

The irony is, most people who would still be renting will be the ones with lower pensions - the higher earners with better pension contributions are surely more likely to have been able to buy property and pay it off!!!

@CountFosco my specific public sector wage is certainly lower than the wage I’d get in the private sector. It’s common knowledge in my profession & I’ve worked in both.

Having seen the care homes of a number of elderly relatives, I’d want to be in the one my self-funding relative was in and not the council-funded ones I’ve seen. There was a world of difference in environment, surroundings, food etc.

My granny was still driving in her early 80s and was as sharp as a pin. If she’d have had a good pension, she would have had a fabulous time- she was a social butterfly with a full weekly calendar despite having limited funds. However, having seen her and other elderly women struggle on the state pension, I know enough that i want a nice, comfortable retirement even if that means some sacrifices now. Lots of people (but women in particular) will be very vulnerable in old age.

Did you see this report out recently?

This might be better

So a couple outside London with £18000 state pension, needs only £5500 p/a to have a reasonable retirement

But those figures are completely rubbish, aren’t they? If you’ve got high rent, care home fees, children/grandchildren to support etc etc; it all affects it. Those figures are an average and so not really applicable to anyone - they need to do their own assessment and figure out their own needs.

Dyrne It was an article from the thisismoney web site, went into detail, sorry I haven't got a link, I think its a bit of a myth how much money you need, if you retire at 67, You are in good health, that is when you can do more and need more money, the elder you get the less money you will spend, esp if your health starts to deteriorate,
If you got high rent you will need to downsize or move, if you are in a care home your money will just be going on the fees, why would you be supporting your children/grand children in your eighties, they will be looking after you, ( hopefully )

When DH retires we will have what he have now, minus the mortgage.

When I retire a few years later we should be bumped up to about £50k with a pot of £100k for investing and emergencies,anyone who can't live on that should be taken out and shot, quite frankly.

We went without a lot to build the back up pot, we have ploughed every pay rise for the last ten years back into the pot fund.

So sometimes, people may appear to be jammy but you don't know how that figure was arrived at.