What did you cut back on when you retired?

[Cocojazz]

I'm 60 and few years off retirement - DH is 4 years younger than me. We have a 16 year old son so I'd like to get him through the next few years of education before I finish work.

I have a good job with a decent pension but obviously it needs to see me through my retirement years.

So what I'd like to ask is, for those of you that have retired, what things did you have to cut back on to have the money to live on? I still want to be able to go to the gym as it will be important to keep myself healthy but I assume treats like pedicures and nice clothes etc. will have to be knocked on the head?

Thanks.

We didn't cut back on anything. Mortgage was paid off when we were 50. Outgoings went down as no travel to work and more time to cook. DC were at uni when I retired so still supporting them. Once they left and started work it was like a pay rise to us!

I’ve found retirement much cheaper than working. I’m saving more now I’m retired! You just need less of everything. I’m happy with a walk and a coffee. Not interested in long haul travel. Prefer walking for exercise.

Sorry, jumping in to add a bit…
Following Brexit we are now only permitted 90 days in 180 days in Europe currently.

I do a modified version of Amboseli’s, flying back and forth in the winter….hotels in the Canaries. To extend the 90 in 180 day option in Europe you can also add in Turkey (and Croatia currently) as well…to give more days.

@BunnyBettChetwynnd we don't have a home abroad but do have dual citizenship. We'll rent while we're abroad, it's very cheap and gives us flexibility.

You should definitely do it! You do have to factor in the cost of flights and health insurance though.

@VWT5 that sounds good. We're going further afield but it's good to see workarounds for the travel restrictions our dear brexiteer friends chose to saddle us with in the name of freedom 🙄(apologies for the B word in a happy thread)

Interesting how many people are saying that they are travelling more - holidays are the thing I've cut out, pretty much. I've had one since retiring 8 yrs ago - and that was only a 4 day trip to a family wedding in France 🤷🏼‍♀️.

I live in a nice part of the country, near a national park, I really don't feel the need to "get away" as I've nothing work wise to get away from! I'm on permanent holiday, doing what I want most of the time, a bit of volunteering, walking the dogs, hobbies, none of the stresses of juggling working life and children....

I don't have to spend money on coffee at the station, commuting, lunches on the go - I spend less on food and eat better as I've more time to prepare it.

Meeting friends for coffee is a lot cheaper than nights out with colleagues, no one know or cares if I stay in my gardening gear all day..

I do very much get you on the holidays, our next one is quite relaxing where we would normally read a lot of books. This week I was doing just that in my own garden (heaven!) and did comment that we really don’t need to go away to do it.
I still very much want to go away to visit the places I have always wanted to see & to try new restaurants/ cuisines / different cultures. I can see it potentially waning after a few years flurry of trips just because we can. We shall see!

We are better off now than we've ever been. Trouble is I have several health issues which has clipped our wings somewhat with regard to travel but we've got a lovely home in a smashing part of the country - so although there are places that I'll never see now, we are so lucky.

We're lucky that we've not had to cut back on anything even though our monthly income is much reduced. Mortgage was paid off long before we retired, we've always saved and invested. We took lump sums - as PP said you are likely to need more money early in your retirement. Also need to factor in your state pension once you reach that age.

I retired in 2010. Interest on savings were shit, so I decided to spend my lump sum in ensuring my house wouldn't need expenditure on it, in the foreseeable future.

So, new windows, new roof, rewired, new central heating ect.it

then I set about having a jolly good time. My health deteriorated two years ago, and since then I've built up a nest egg that I neither want nor need.

Not working saved me more money than I imagined, and now I can no longer eat out or holiday so regularly (well, not all) I've accrued even more.

it's so sad really. I was a single parent for so many years, struggling to make ends meet, and now I've got cash I cannot spend. Crazy

You need to start tracking your income and spending now OP if you don't already.

We're not completely retired but the part time income we do have goes on holidays and fun stuff. When the state pension kicks in, that will make up for our PT incomes.

You don't want to be miserable in retirement and we find we need to be out more now the social contact from work has gone. We don't miss the stress that used to go with it though!

We spend less on:

Housing (mortgage is paid off).

Kids - although we do help them out a bit as their housing costs are high and have student loans to pay off

Clothes - I sometimes buy from (and donate to) charity shops and have time to look for bargains although don't buy as much anyway. DH never used to spend much.

Food - rising costs have pushed this up of course, but time makes a big difference, we cook from scratch, use the freezer and don't throw as much away. As you get older, you don't need to eat so much either!

Fuel - free bus pass and concessions mean we don't drive quite as much, although DH no longer has a company car with free fuel.

Eating out - we budget for this so that money goes on holidays instead.

We spend more on:

Travel - we're having some big holidays before we're too old and taking more short breaks.

House renovations - more time at home means we notice stuff needs doing.

Heating - because prices have risen and we're home in the day.

Sporting activities - golf, health club - more time to do these.

Everyone will be different!

Start planning now - there's a good podcast I listen to call the Retirement Answers Man - he's based in the US but still has useful information about the financial and psychological aspects of this stage of life.

A season ticket to London, a half decent work suit/ties/shoes, £5 a day in Pret for lunchtime sarnies....

I miss a printed newspaper but what will be in it tomorrow is on the Graun's website by 7pm tonight...

Taxis. I’m not in a hurry now.

I don’t have to spend out on work clothes - suit and shirt every day for years - but equally it’s taken a while and judicious shopping to expand my non-work wardrobe to cover me 24/7.

Thanks everyone! This has given me a lot to think about and plan over the next few years.

Current joint income is about £48k net. We are trying to save £16k and live on £32k, which is what we anticipate needing to live on in retirement.

State pension will be about £20k and we should have about £7k of defined benefit pension, so would need another £5k a year to make £32k, so might need £150k for this for 30.

If we retire at 56 we might need 12 x £32k to get us to state pension age with no income. So just under £400k for this.

Then a bit more needed as spare money for other things, maybe £50k.

We reckon £600k should do it and that is what we are aiming to save by 56. If all goes to plan we should achieve our goal.

We value our time and are happy to live simply. We had our fair share of nice holidays abroad and meals out and don't really need them anymore.

I'm 62 and technically retired..I got my work pension at 60. I'm still working two days a week though and I think I'll probably be doing that til State Pension age.
DH is only 56 so he has at least four years to go.
TBH I would struggle to live on my pension alone. We live in London and have got used to going out a lot. Dinner/gigs/theatre. I need to get used to having less disposable income.
I buy most of my clothes from ebay..the price of new clothes horrifies me.
I thought I'd be going to loads of cheap theatre matinees but theatre prices have become ridiculous and day seats don't seem to be a thing any more.
I confess I'm struggling to adjust. I'd give up a lot of things before I lose the cleaner though.

We haven't had to cut back at all. Part of that is because we had to give up the car after DH's stroke, but we did get a power wheelchair which means we can get about locally. I do my shopping online and I like that because I don't impulse buy food any more. We eat just as well as we used to but waste less.

I don't save much on clothes because I still buy clothing, but at least now it's all what I want and not what I need.

Giving up the car saved us a fortune, and DH's private pension went up by a lot in April so in terms of spendable cash we are probably a little better off now (which I hadn't thought would be the case).

We took early retirement about 5 years ago now and the only thing we cut back on was savings. We had been saving 40% income over pensions, SIPPs and ISAs for 3 years prior to retirement as we worked out our income after retirement and tried to live off that and save the rest. Now we occasionally draw on the savings but in all other respects our occupational pensions cover our outgoings including holidays and gym memberships, meals out etc. DH gets his state pension next year and I get mine in 2.5 years time so hopefully we can stop drawing down on savings then.

We downsized a couple of years from retirement. DH unexpectedly lost his job a year after moving. Went to work,to be told the place has liquidated there and then. I had just given my notice in the previous week (I had a round trip commute of just over 100 miles a day. Had got a local part time job. Rang, rescinded my notice, because I got high cost living,outer London weighting , went full time. DH out of work 12 months. I have state pension very small NHS one (12 years contribution) he's 7 years younger,had to stop work 3 years ago, owing to injury,no benefits because I was working FT. We were very careful. Had new doors, windows, soffits, while we were both working. Don't bother with holidays,last one was 14 years ago, but we live 10 minutes away from the sea,dogs and big garden. He finally got to pension age this year, spent lump sum on better car, using his as deposit,had solar panels installed and with no electricity bill or gas,am up £180 per month at the moment My 15 years old astra estate went to my son.lockdown couldn't get a hairdresser appointment anyway,so grew the hair out (white, previously blond)always done my own nails. Have had some health issues, unable to get Dr appointment, eventually had to go private after a year of agony.

Just looking for something in a file,I realised that after managing to keep them up for 2 years, because of how much basic food,fuel for car has gone up....I cancelled my charity subscriptions,I was paying to hospices,GOSH, dogs,cats,cancer,was really shocked at the amounts, but have paid in for many years.

@BunnyBettChetwynnd @Amboseli @VWT5 I'll chip in on the wintering/ home abroad theme if I may. 😊🌞🌴

DH and I (early 60s) took the plunge and bought a little second home in southern Spain pre Covid, and it is our joy. We bought it because it had a beautiful garden, and it is our family refuge. We are on a golf resort in Southern Spain. Our resort fees are a fraction of what they would be on a caravan site in the UK, include tv package and house insurance, and we have three beautiful pools and community gardens between around 40 properties. From here we can travel or fly to many interesting places.

We find there are plenty of people our age to get to know, and you can either get involved in things or not, just as you like. The bird song and flying displays are incredible mornings and evenings, and beautiful beaches are 25 minutes pleasant drive away.

A couple of things we never factored in, but which are brilliant:

• the cost of living here is a fraction of the UK. We went out to lunch with friends on Tuesday to a pleasant restaurant. Menu del dia was salad, then starter, then main course, then pudding, plus a drink (including eg wine or beer), then coffee. Cost per person - €12. Not a typo.

• Fuel bills are lower than UK.

• If you wish you can travel very light, and save a load of money and hassle by not having big cases. True luxury!

We still go to other places, but love spending several months a year here.

Prices here are much cheaper than other places in Spain, and there are currently some real bargains as the "bad" bank sells off the last of the crash properties on the various golf resorts. The day it stops giving us joy we'll sell it., but prices are gradually going up in the meantime.

For us it works well. DH is EU citizen so I'm not bound so tightly by the 90/180 days rule, but Spain is pushing for that to be relaxed for British people. You could get a visa for over 90 days subject to certain requirements.

Only bad thing? Too hot in July and August, but that's fine, we don't want to be there then.

@SeatonCarew that sounds idyllic! What are the temperatures like in the winter? You're very fortunate that your DH is an EU citizen.

I assume you still have a property here so have to factor into your budget the higher cost of living when in the UK and running your UK property even if not living there?

Our plan is something similar. Neither of us is EU 😥but we have dual nationality with a warm low cost country further away so we'll spend winters there.

We won't have to cut back on anything as we don't live an extravagant life now. Biggest costs are supporting DC through university. Once that's done we could very easily live on 30k pa. Not into clothes cars etc. We live in London and have been out to so many top restaurants, theatre, concerts, galleries, exhibitions etc etc over the years I feel I've done it all enough and apart from an occasional day or meal out I'm happy at home.

@Nannyfannybanny the downsizing or rightsizing nettle is the next we have to grasp, and it's not an easy one. I'm glad you've got that one under your belt. It was always part of the plan in the UK, we have an old house and far too many stairs for our knees, but because of the interest rates, it seems that everyone in our generation who thought about moving has put their house on the market right now. We'll see what's what, but your dogs, garden and coastal life sound wonderful.

We are looking forward to spending some days on the UK coast this summer and watching the dogs on our favourite beach. 😊

@Amboseli I attach a year round chart of average temperatures. In winter they are often warmer but can be a bit chilly at night (though rarely damp like the UK). That's actually quite nice, it's lovely to see the sun and get some vitamin D during the day, then hunker down and get cosy during the evening with candles, blankets and some heating. The quality of the light makes such a difference to one's mood.

Really interesting thread.