Anyone else thinking they’re going to be a bit fucked in retirement?

[GinghamSkirt]

I’ve seen a few threads lately where posters are discussing how much pension they’ll have, and while I’m happy for those people I’m also quietly despairing at myself for sleepwalking into a rubbish retirement.

All my fault, not blaming anyone else - series of poor life decisions and lack of forward vision and planning. Not looking for sympathy! Just trying to figure out how it’s going to work.

I’ll have the basic pension plus a few thousand per year (income will be well under 20k.

I know lots of people live on that quite happily, but I’m living on more than that that at the moment and working full time, don’t have any spare to save or invest, house (mortgaged) is crumbling around me and I don’t have enough to go on holiday as I’m clearing debts.

Not that I’m entitled to holidays of course - but I see other people on a similar income having a couple of lovely holidays per year and am just kicking myself for being so bad at money management.

The cost of living is biting very hard NOW - what’s it going to be like when my income is so much lower? I do try very hard to budget and spend money in the right way - always looking for a cheaper option, cancel unnecessary subscriptions etc, bring my lunch to work, buy clothes (and sell them) on Vinted etc.

it would be nice to hear from people in the same position (retiring in under 10 years if indeed that does happen) who have also fucked up and are contemplating a very different retirement compared to many on here! I don’t have a partner so all household bills are mine alone, no shared income pot.

I am very lucky in the sense that I own my house although it is heavily mortgaged still, but in order to pay the mortgage off I’ll have to sell it and buy somewhere else. If I want to live somewhere that’s not a total dump there won’t be anything left to invest. So it’s great that I’ll be able to live mortgage free eventually and I know that a lot of people don’t have that luxury, but I can’t really look on that as an income source either.

i couldn’t judge myself any harder than I currently am, definitely feel as though I missed an important memo somewhere in life, wasn’t working while my kids were young and then bingo - divorce 🤣

I worked full time since but have not earned enough and there were too many years to make up for. I genuinely didn’t understand how hard I should have been focusing on my retirement at that point.
NI payments are all good though 👍

There are a few mitigating factors eg supporting family members, mental health issues etc but essentially I’ve been naive and foolish - as the future comes closer to being reality and the stark facts become clear, now finally I get it.

Anyway, at the very least this thread might make you feel better about your own situation - if not, I’ll commiserate with you 😊

Same! I'm almost 55 and have 2 options. Work until I die or just end it all. I know that sounds drastic, but that's the stark reality.

I'm in my 50s, haven't worked since 2000 (was a SAHM, planned to go back to work when DS started school, but was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis so couldn't). DH has always worked, currently on £29k. We rent from a HA and have no savings to speak of. We can't afford for DH to pay into his workplace pension. I won't qualify for a state pension because I haven't made enough NI payments. I tried to claim PIP just after I was diagnosed but wasn't eligible, despite being in almost constant pain which has got worse over the years and being unable to get out of bed some days. I also inject immunosuppressant drugs weekly, the side effects of which destroy me for two or three days a week, so working with that and the illness to contend with just isn't feasible. But I'm not entitled to any benefits - the main reason I wanted to claim is to keep my NI payments up to date. But, nope.

We are completely, utterly fucked and every year that passes I get more terrified. But we see no way out of our situation. Old age will be grim as fuck.

Yes, I worry about this all the time.

i thought I had it all covered. I even had some investments. However, divorce and many, many years as a lone parent changed everything. I stay away from all the pension threads where people talk about their huge pension pots as it’s too upsetting.

Yep. Me too.

I don't think you should beat yourself up OP, mainly because you're doing this on your own. Unless you're a millionaire or a lottery winner, then everything financial is twice as hard as it is for many other people.
In your shoes I would consider downsizing your property when you can and paying off the mortgage and debts. Then you'll be in a position to pay more into pensions etc. Start by getting some independent financial advice with pension planning and take it from there.

I’ve done everything possible to alleviate the fu**up I made of my life after two disastrous marriages left me penniless.
I did equity release which paid off my mortgage and gave me a few quid, took a lodger (currently £500+\month in south east) and am lucky enough to have a flexible job in my 70s. Any one of those things will help you. Don’t want to sound smug, it’s been bloody hard, but I’ve now been fortunate to be more comfortably off than I’ve ever been. You just have to be a bit creative.

It's hard to be creative when you're unable to work, don't have a spare room but couldn't rent it out even if you did because you're renting yourself, or don't own your own home.

I'm genuinely happy for you that you've been able to turn things around but please don't imagine that because you did, everyone can.

Yes I'm having the same crisis. Bad planning on my part and certain life events but I am nearing retirement age and scared shitless

Are you able to get pension credit? That means a lot of extra free entitlements.

I think we’re in the shit too. But we had kids (was in my late 30s) and childcare costs swallowed every spare penny, nothing left for the pension. I lived on my overdraft, mostly no holidays, the few we had were UK based and done on a shoestring.

Am going to keep working as long as I can and hope for the best. And yes that’s sticking my head in the sand but I don’t have time for a second job and no money-spinning side hustle.

Maybe think about a 1 to 2 days a week job after you retire - something you're interested in which would be enjoyable and make all the difference moneywise. Even at minimum wage it would bring in an extra £800 approximately.

Solidarity to everyone who's going to be utterly and truly fucked come retirement...me included 😞

You can ask the nhs for a prediction on your pension. And also find a prediction for the state one

Exactly. How can you be creative if you're absolutely knackered, have no transferable skills and live in a tiny rented flat? Also, why should we have to keep working after retirement age? I need to step away from this thread as it's causing me even more anxiety 🙃

I guarantee you won’t be alone. And in 25 years time it will be a tsunami.

The only potential mitigation for a lot of people is inheriting money from their parents (house) - and you’d basically have to be gifted that before they die to avoid it being taxed to pay for the triple lock amongst other things. Although some seem determined to spend it before they die!

Why would you need to work until you die ? You will have a state pension, if you don't have a full state pension and no other means of support then you'd get topped up by Pension credit. If you rent and are on a low income you get help with your rent through housing benefit. There are literally thousands of pensioners currently living on these benefits .

Parents can leave up to 1million to their children free of IHT provided they are passing on the main home.
An only child whose parents have both divorced & remarried could potentially inherit 2 million free of IHT.

What about food, utilities, etc. I think I'd prefer to just check out if I have to just scrape by.

I certainly won't be getting any inheritance, unless I have a long lost rich relative that I don't know about.

You can ask your pension provider for a projection of what you will get on retirement - your retirement age will be defined in the policy. You can take a quarter of your private pension as a lump sum once you turn 55, but then of course your pension pot will be smaller when you start taking your annuity.

There’s probably more of us like you than you think…..I was planning to retire some time next year, early 60s, but just can’t hack it anymore. There’s also been a bit of a dynamic shift at work, possibly to my detriment, and I really want to say “feck it” sooner. Me and my partner will never have a lot…but we never have, so to speak…but we’re also not interested in the usual mega trips, expensive holidays, etc that peeps take…….
we’re happy to just chill out, a few cheap weekends away….stay within our means…its not a competition to go ape. If you can, and have the funds….fair play…..otherwise enjoy the simple things. So long as we have the means to cover living cost etc…..we can enjoy things of our own making.

100% agree with this. Owning your home outright is the best thing you can do imo. The government will only do you over for any savings you have anyway and use it against you when deciding on what, if any support you’re entitled to. 1p over and it’s bye bye winter fuel allowance etc. If you are well off enough to be able to squirrel away substantial amounts of money then saving for retirement is of benefit but if not, which is the bracket the larger percentage find ourselves in these days, then we are more likely to need some sort of government payment and they way things are going they’re going to be using every excuse they can to not give a penny.

Live the best you can now, focus on paying down your mortgage and other debts if you can so you’re in the best position possible. The government say we’re an aging population but in my experience the NHS is so bad and failing so many people the working class are actually dying younger, often before even getting to pension age. My mother in law was 59 and left to die in a hospital bed when a simple procedure would have saved her and something similar happened to my mother at 62. Both did everything right in life but it didn’t matter, neither were anywhere near their pensions anyway. Grab life by the short and curlies and live for today, tomorrow isn’t promised to anyone and even when you are a pensioner you’ll manage and you won’t be alone, most of us will be in the same boat.

Fearing that we’re going to be fucked in retirement (or just next year) is why at 36 I live in a small 2 bed terrace that we can pay off in ten years.

My grandparents were one income households with lower paying jobs than me, but lived in handsome detached houses, and retired at 55 on handsome pensions. I don’t begrudge them it, they were lovely, but gosh things have changed!

@GinghamSkirt do you have any geographical restrictions on where you could live in the future? If not, tell us what you’d like in your new location and you’ll get suggestions of places and if you give a budget an idea of what you can get. Might help you feel less panicked.

I don't know if owning a property is the answer. I just checked to see if my 66 year old self rather than my current 49 year self would be entitled to pension credit and the answer is no, not with a state pension, a very small private pension and £5k in savings. So on an annual gross income of £17k I would have to pay for the house maintenance, food, and utility bills. Just me. Yes, I could get a lodger and I could work (if I'm healthy enough to and if there's any jobs in 17 years I could do) but being mortgage-free when you're a pensioner isn't always the golden ticket to a happy ending.