After retiring how much in savings do people have

[Umatsu]

I just wondered after retiring and paying for, perhaps moving house etc how much do people have left in savings for their retirement.

Do you mean in the retirement fund or savings in addition to your pension?

I mean actual savings (not pensions).

This a a great question, that I posted on a few months ago and didn’t get much response

my pension income is ok, but doesn’t allow savings. I know the savings I have are all I will ever have now.
but I know that I have future liabilities that I will need to use those savings for …I’m 59, so I’d include that before I’m carried away in a box I’d need a new roof, refit kitchen, refit 1 or both bathrooms, 2 new cars, gifts for 2 sons wedding ( well maybe that’s wishful thinking) , gifts for birth of grandkids ( very wishful thinking), etc etc.
I divorced last year after 30 years of marriage. We were fortunate enough to be able to both walk away with money to buy new homes and some savings. But then my new house has turned into a bit of money sink as builders cost rose massively while I was waiting to find trades to do work- this was for essential work from survey findings and a nasty surprise the vendors lied about- so not nice to have stuff .

result is my savings would no where near meet all those liabilities above. It scares me…ok I might drop dead at anytime and not pay out on those things ..but what if I’m still going at 90?

we talk all the time about pension income, but not savings . Unless your pension income is really high it won’t cover stuff like new roofs, replacement cars. Let alone cost you describe like moving home.

one thing I do OP, is this calculation and tracking of future liabilities and estimate costs for them, as well as setting an annual budget . It helps me to see where short fall is and focuses me on ensuring I use my income and savings to minimise shortfall …chasing good interest rates fir my savings, controlling spend etc. but I do want to enjoy myself- I worked hard I don’t want to live like a hermit to save for something that I might not live long enough to need

yes it's a great question.
my pension is half what i was earning but my DH is still working and"tops me up" to what i actually took home.
I had only about 20k savings but got a lump sum so now have 100k but the house needs stuff doing-we've really left things to slide a bit through a lack of interest going on v nice trips and supporting the kids with buying property and a v expensive ( waste of money) wedding.
DH is saving while he's working so we've got his money but i can easily see how things like household repairs cars etc could demolish very quickly what you have.
on the other hand my DF has been miserly in his retirement has quite a lot of savings but is now not well enough to spend it!
so it's a difficult one.

I’m aiming for at least 100k to cover house repairs etc through retirement.

DH and I have defined benefits pensions. We currently have 430k but will have around 500k by the time we both retire. Public servants who live in a cheap area of the country who bought housing in the late 1990’s, 1 child. We used to make high risk investments. Mortgage paid off and equity of at least 200k. We have never inherited or been given any money.

£340k in savings/investments and an income of £49,000 pre tax for final salary and state pension for Dh , which will rise to £57,000 when I retire.

£80k for holidays
£60k for emergencies in premium bonds
A rental property that can be sold when we run out of the above.
Potential inheritance but don't want to rely on it.

At the moment there are two pensions here with small private pensions. As long as we're both alive we can live relatively comfortably as only one set of bills. The minute one of us dies there will be no income beyond bills and living expenses. We are both aware of this. We do dip into our small savings pot for holidays as we are not getting younger, but other than that we try not to as we will need it in the future for basic repairs, new washers, Hoovers ext. Our mortgage is paid off. We know we are relatively fortunate at present

Are savings pot is relatively small at £40000 but we feel comfortable so long as we don't dip into it much while we still have two pensions

I own a few properties only one with a relatively small mortgage, and some other illiquid assets. So my savings are in property. If I was to sell all now (not including my own London home which is mortgage free) it's about £1.5m. But I'm concerned about leaving a cushion for my kids too, and inheritance tax will be a big hit (I've looked into it and as I still get benefit from my assets, ie rent, the properties cannot be excluded from my estate thru a trust or by signing them over).

Nothing. The plan was to pay off the mortgage then save the mortgage-payment-equivalent for ten years.
A breakdown put a stop to that. Couldn't work any more. Mortgage was paid that's it.

£20 000 in savings of my own and a couple of little pension pots. I get my state pension next year (finally! Aged 66!) but don’t think I’ll inherit anything from my mother’s 5 bedroom house, as it has to be sold to pay for her long term care. Thought I’d be wealthier in my retirement then this.

Not enough!!
£30K ( isa)
£4000 per year ( pension 1)
Likely £6000 per year ( pension 2)
State pension ( full)

We’re very fortunate and have around 300k in savings and ISA’s, two mortgage free properties worth approx 500k or so and around 1million in pensions. DH still working (aged 59) and planning to retire next year with me being a bit younger and already retired.

No disrespect, but is there ANYONE on MN who isn't rich ( either in money or assets?) I totally get people have worked hard in life, but we are going to be screwed by the rising energy costs and as such, pensions are right out the window at present! 😥

@Runaround50 to be fair, we’re 59 & 58, worked since we were 16 and DH worked for his first employer for 32 years, hence building up his massive pension. He also got good bonuses along with an almost 6 figure salary in his later years so we were able to save a fair bit as our mortgage payments were low. We also made a fair bit on our property in the south and moved north.
Some of it is luck but pretty much it’s been bloody hard work getting to what we’ve got now.

I have a pension but it stopped for 3 maternity leaves and a few years as a SAHM, it isn't much but it's something. We will have less than 10k savings and no mortgage but that will only be paid off a couple of years before be retire. I really don't think I have given it as much thought as I should have.

Yes @Essexexile I'm sure you've worked extremely hard in life.
Making wise life and financial decisions is the key to success.

Just feeling a bit fed up as OH is jumping up and down fretting over bills. I've said we've just got to ride the storm, the same as everyone.

I'm total advocate of starting work early in life and having a good work ethic. Good for you.

Where about north did you move to?

Out of interest, why would you need a new kitchen and two new bathrooms? I can see why you;d need one new bathroom to adjust for mobility, but isn;t updating these things just a marketing ruse?

We still have the kitchen the previous owners installed, so it must be over 25 years old. I don't like it much but it hasn't dated horribly and it's still functioning. Same with the bathrooms we installed 20 years ago. Not fashionable but not hideously unfashionable or broken. These things are so costly, I wouldn;t waste savings on them unless they were structurally unsound at that stage in life.

I don't know why people make these OPs. How does it help to know that other people have a ton of money as their safety net?

If you have a Defined Contribution pension, don't forget that you can withdraw 25% in cash tax free. Therefore, your pension can form part of your savings.

@Runaround50 I don’t want to be too specific as it could be outing but we moved to Yorkshire.

and @blueshoes we did take the 25% out of DH’s dc pension and bought a property outright.

I retired early at 56. Now 61 and getting my Teachers Pension. I am still a Foster Carer and so still get tax free allowance. DH is 58 and will likely retire at 62. We have 18 months left to pay on our mortgage. He will get his civil service pension at 60. We have 8 btl houses that return a good level of investment. We will sell one of these around Xmas and another after April in new tax year. That will give us about £200k after capital gains tax and paying off mortgages. I have £58k on a separate pension and DH has a further £30k in his second pension. We will both get full state pension but not until 67 years. By then we will have sold a couple more of the btl's and as massed a further £300k after capital gains. We will keep last 4 btl as income source and to leave one each to our children and foster son. We will be very comfortable but we have invested in our pensions by paying I to 2 private pensions each as well as state pension, and property in order to be comfortable in old age. We have aroun DC £40k in ISA's between us too.

On the other hand my dad worked from 15 to 70, and retired with no house and no savings, often working 3 jobs when he was younger
The job had accommodation, they did buy a house and rented it out, the tenant didn't pay and destroyed the place and it was sold for way less than they paid for it
He has a small pension on top of the state one and that's it. It wasn't for lack of hard work, it was lack of education and awful luck