How will I manage as an older single person once kids have left

[Dogmam9273]

I'm currently married with two teens. Wanting to separate but have felt trapped financially and with the kids as I couldn't have provided for them if i was single as I earn minimum wage, husband a high earner.
Very soon I will file for divorce, won't get any money out of it as we have hardly any savings but i will be able to buy a small apartment /house outright so will be mortgage free.
I work full time on minimum wage, can't see this ever changing, if anything i need to work less. I have chronic painful conditions , depression and anxiety (although that may go away once apart from husband) I have 2 elderly parents that I will be caring for as I'm an only child.
I know I can claim UC whilst children are with me /in education but what about when they are adults?
My income is £1500 which won't cover my outgoings or enable me to live any kind of life that I desperately crave. I feel so trapped and can't see a way out of my situation.
How do older single people manage financially? Especially if they have health conditions?

Very soon I will file for divorce, won't get any money out of it as we have hardly any savings but i will be able to buy a small apartment /house outright so will be mortgage free.

this doesn’t make sense

Why won’t £1500 be enough if you don’t have to pay mortgage / rent? Have you tried doing a budget to see the reality of what you have to spend / where you can cut back?

when the children are adults they will be earning their own money, so will either have moved out (so bills / groceries will be cheaper) or will be contributing towards household expenses

there is a fair bit that doesn’t make sense OP

If you have a house you could take in a lodger. Or instead of buying a house buy a smaller flat which is cheaper to run and keep some cash in reserve. Or find another income stream, maybe retrain so you can find something that earns you more with less work.

Or buy with a friend and share the costs.

£1500 a month is very doable if you don’t have a mortgage to pay.

Presumably half of the value of the house will be enough to buy a flat.

If you don't have a mortgage to pay £1500 should be sufficient shouldn't it?

Does your DH have a pension? A share of that is what you need to ensure you request during the divorce.

@flipdiddle81 which part doesn't make sense?
I said I won't get any actual cash to be able to live off but we will be able to sell our home and split it 50/50 so I will be able to buy a small property

1500 a month is plenty if you are mortgage free. Don't be a martyr, get some help with your parents and some help with your health.

Of course your UC will change when your kids are 18+ and so it should. Presumably you'll get child maintenance until then.

I shall have to sit down and go over all of my expenses . Obviously at the moment with a large house, 2 cars , family of 4 our outgoings are very high.
I Just can't imagine 1500 going very far, with having no savings to fall back on I won't have anything for emergencies

husband a high earner.

So half his pension
Speak to a lawyer

Half his savings etc

If you own your property and you get child maintenance and have 1500 a month free then I'd be amazed if you'll get UC.

I'm a single person living alone my income is £1400 a month and I manage ok.

you didn’t actually clarify you had a property to sell
ok so you’ll be living mortgage free
single person
£1500 a month

seems… doable!

so your husband is presumably a very high earner

Our outgoings on a 3 bed house are £700 a month (no mortgage) you can easily live on the remaining £800. We owe no money (cars outright, no loans) but spend under £2k a month for 2 people including holidays etc.

£1500 is absolutely doable with no rent or mortgage.

I manage just fine on £1100 a month.

CM not inc in UC calculations

You say you will have enough to buy a smalll property. Could you go even smaller eg 1 bed flat to release more cash for you to live on?

If you buy a small property outright then £1500 is enough for one person to live on. Not a luxurious lifestyle, but certainly doable.

Do you have your own pension, state pension? I assume you are entitled to some of your ex h pension?

With kindness, I think you need a slight reality check.

I imagine the lifestyle you currently live whilst normal to you, is above average.

With a small, mortgage-free property and £1500 p/m you'll be living an average lifestyle. You can afford your bills, nice food, the odd treat and trip. You'll be absolutely fine.

If you have £1500 a month and no mortgage, that will be plenty when you're older. I've been on that and managed to pay rent and a lease car (admittedly cheap) too.

I've been on my own for years (and love it), children grown up and left home years ago. You can claim UC as a single person - I have when between jobs - but if you own your own property and have £1500 coming I doubt you'll qualify for anything.

I'm just at the point of claiming my state pension and will continue renting, and will still be able to live on that.

What sort of life do you want? If you mean expensive clothes and fabulous holidays several times a year well, no, you aren't going to stretch to that unless you keep a job that pays for it. You might need to go into a more admin based role if you have health problems obviously. Without knowing your exact details we can't say, but it is doable and if life is bad enough for you to be looking at divorce, surely the future will be better than your current experience? Freedom has a price but I can assure you, it's worth paying....

You're panicking because you're facing a huge life-change.

You don't need to.

You're entitled to half of the value of your house. You may also be entitled to some of your husband's pension pot.

You'll have around £1500 a month, that's not a small amount if no mortgage. Minimum wage goes up every year. You'll have CM while the children are with you. You can change jobs, why wouldn't you be able to do that? You can do anything you want to do.

At the moment you can't see the woods for the trees and you're mourning the loss of a lifestyle: it's tough, I get it. But a gilded cage is still a cage.

£1500 isn't amazing but with no mortgage/rent it's ok.

When you're looking for your new property take into account things like easy to heat / decent public transport options etc over aesthetics.

You’ll be mortgage free and have £1500 a month, that’ll be fine. See what you can get for UC whilst your DC are still children, learn to live off the £1500 and save the UC and child maintenance money to build up some emergency savings.