How would you approach our finances in retirement?

[dietmonkey]

Hi all. Looking for some outside opinions on money, as we approach retirement!

DH is going to retire at 55. I totally support this, as his job is stressful. He will take his pension then, and will receive a lump sum of £60k and £900 per month. This will happen in 2 years time.

I am going to continue with my self employment, as it's done from home and is pretty easy. I earn £2500pm in quiet months, up to £4000 in busy months.

Mortgage will be finished by then, so outgoings will be low - around £600 a month for bills, and say, £500 for food. In addition, I am going to take my pension at the same time, which will pay me £83k lump sum, and £1000pm.

My question is, do I just pay for everything from my income, and let DH keep his £900pm to himself, or, should we continue to split bills down the middle? We have always kept finances separate, as we got together later in life. Also, I should add, I am a saver, whereas he loves to spend, often buying a lot of "stuff" that I would not want to be paying half for.

My fear is that he won't have much left over for holidays etc, if he is paying half of the bills.

We haven't discussed this at all. Crazy, I know! On the one hand, I feel we should both pay, but how can that be fair if my income is so much higher than his?

Maybe I should pay for everything? All being well, he should have a hefty inheritance at some point, maybe I should pay for everything until he gets that? But that could be several years away?

Feel very confused as to the best way forward, and would love some comments from unbiased folks!

I’ll be really interested to see how he shares his hefty inheritance when the time comes.

This is my thoughts .
how can he live on as little as £900 pm for that many years , your circumstances may change and life often throws financial curveballs . He needs to get another less stressful job .

• There is no guarantee that NS&I will continue paying 4%
• You will be taxed on the majority of the interest income. You may tip into paying some 40% tax - though admittedly this would be if you had a few good months in your business, which would offset the extra tax
• inflation will happen in the meantime. It’s likely that both your pension options are shown in today’s money. If you leave your pension it will continue to grow with cpi. Your lump sum taken at 58 won’t - it might just about match it if you’re lucky, but with the world situation as it is inflation could easily outstrip your after tax savings interest

If he can't continue to pay his half of everything out of his retirement income, then he gets a PT job to make sure he can continue to pay his half

It's really very simple imo