Is 1500 per month enough pension

[Muddle200]

no mortgage or rent

You also have to think about time. You may want to do more exciting things (spend more money) earlier on in your retirement and take it easier (spend less money) when you get older and your health may not permit as much anymore.

A lot of people just sort of semi-retire closer to pension age, working part-time, etc.

The Retirement Living Standards ( see the link I posted above) are really useful I find to give an indication of what kind of life you can expect (as a couple or a singleton) on a range of incomes:
eg Roughly speaking, a single person will need to be able to spend about £14k a year to achieve the minimum living standard, £31k a year for moderate, and £43k a year for comfortable. For couples, it’s 22k-43k-59k.'

I would say it’s doable but not comfortable. Of course this depends on running costs and the sort of lifestyle you want.
Our bills excluding mortgage come to £1200 with no fun spending but including food and petrol for one person. In this case it wouldn’t be enough.

My brother has no rent or mortgage, he spends about £4k a year, he reckons, all in. He has free hobbies and likes his life.

I only visit him in the summer though, as his house is too cold for me!

I'd the £1500/M income from a pension or from savings?
Does it include SP?
Is it index linked?
How much do you spend per month at the moment and is that likely to change in retirement?
No mortgage or rent but you must have utility bills, council tax etc etc.

Much more information / context required.

This doesn't stack up in the slightest.

First subtract council tax - even the cheapest council tax band in the cheapest council tax areas will be £900-£1k a year. So that leaves £3.1k at most, which works out at £60 a week. That would certainly be enough for food and household toiletries/cleaning items, maybe a few bus fares, but wouldn't go anywhere towards funding gas, electricity, water, TV licence, phone line/broadband...

I don't think think it's helpful to give advice based on fictional figures.

They are not fictional. He uses no heating and washes in cold water. He lives extremely frugally. He’s not on benefits but what he spends a year is similar to single person benefit rates.

Also doesn’t have phone line/ broadband

So... if you choose to live life with none of the conveniences and comforts of the 20th century, let alone the 21st, you can live on £4k a year? I'm still not sure how that information is of any practical use to the OP!

What you describe goes beyond frugality into pathology imo.

Is this £1500 in today’s money?

How much would you need to cover essentials?
Council tax
Service charge
Water
Gas and elec
Broadband
Insurance
Maintenance
Food
Clothing
Hair cuts
Medical costs

Do you need a car?

How will you spend your time? What hobbies will you have and how much are they?

Only you can say if it’s enough.

Our plan is we’d like to live in the centre of our village that has good amenities (with good transport connections to a local hospital) so no car needed. Our basic essentials today for 2 people are £1400 a month not including mortgage/rent or a car. We will live similarly to now spending time doing free/cheap hobbies so would need another £400 a month for those plus a couple of holidays a year would be nice so another £400 a month. So I’d say we need £2,200 a month but £3,000 we’d be comfortable.

Lots of pensioners get council tax support if on a low income.

Don't forget it will be taxed too once you claim state pension.

Not sure I understand this - don't you pay tax on pension income over the personal allowance even if you're not eligible for state pension? Apologies if I've misunderstood what you meant

I think that poster was meaning that if @Muddle200 gets a full state pension of £11,502 then it will almost entirely use up her personal tax allowance of £12,570 - so if this £1500 a month is pension income, then a large percentage of it will be taxed.

Even if she has no state pension at all (very unlikely) then £1500 a month annualised at £18,000 takes her over the personal allowance, so she’d still lose some of it to tax.

However, I’m not convinced that the £1500 a month is pension income. I hope @Muddle200 comes back and clarifies, so she can get more useful advice. I’ve got a feeling from other threads that she may have come into some money, and that £1500 is to be withdrawn from savings. Really hope she can give us more info.

@Testina ah ok, I read it that they were saying OP would only be taxed once they got the state pension. I'd assumed the £1500 pm was from an occupational pension, so anything over the allowance would be taxed anyway even before state pension kicks in.

Dear God, it was a light aside, al light anecdote on a related topic, you know, how conversations work, not a recommendation to anyone.

Jog on.