What would a retirement on £3,145 a month look like?

[serin]

DH has retired. He is 10 years older than me and wants me to retire as well. His reckoning is that if I work another 10 years he will be 77! Just 3 years off 80 and it won't give him long to have the freedom to travel much as a couple etc.
If I retired tomrw our joint income would be £3145 per month. If I took my small private pension it would be £3800 in total.
Does that sound like a reasonable amount to live on or am I deluded?

We own the house outright and do have some savings. Our DC have flown the nest.
I grew up in absolute poverty and even whilst our children were small there were times we were really struggling. I think this has affected my attitude to money and I'm terrified of not having a steady income and returning to egg on toast every night.

Does £3800 seem ok as a long term situation? My friends are of a similar age, some retired and some not, money is never discussed so I have nothing to compare with.

Luxury. I don’t earn that working 52 hrs a week.

PO you might benefit from a free chat with Pension Wise, I found them very helpful. https://www.moneyhelper.org.uk/en/pensions-and-retirement/pension-wise

TBH yes, this was 'trending' hence the number of replies.

It might be best to hold off posting unless you are retired, or almost. so OP gets perspective from people in the same boat.

Lifestyles and expectations are different. Older people are concerned not just about holidays and cruises, but health costs, long term care etc and inheritance planning.

What I would say @serin is that considering the age gap with you, this should have been discussed 10 years ago when your H was working towards his own retirement. You both always knew that he would retire sooner (if that was his choice.)

My H is retired and started getting occupational pension predictions at 60 with a sliding scale of how it would pay if had he retired then, at 65 or older.
We also both got out state pension predictions years before we were eligible.
We did a detailed spread sheet of our current outgoings, how much we'd have on retirement and any costs we needed to rein in.

Your H needs to 'get a life' now outside of work and not expect you to be joined at the hip just because he has retired.

The elderly parents board is often full of exasperated adult children who are dealing with retired parents who won't put their hands in the pockets to buy in extra help that they desperately need...they are often incredibly well off but absolutely convinced that they are poverty stricken. In fact in my own family we have one elderly relative who is actually very well off but won't put the heating on. It's exasperating. I know the op isn't at that stage yet but I genuinely don't understand how people can be so totally oblivious. Surely you must know what the average salary in the UK is? Surely you must know how much rents and mortgages cost people? What do you think other people live on?

That's hardly answering the question is it- we don't know anything about you or what you do or could do between now and 65.

Sounds fine to me (assuming you want to retire) but depending where you live.
Is downsizing your house an option to get a lump some from yours and reduce bills?
Do you have a car each at the moment, would you go down to one car if you retired and have you factored in that saving?
Also you could consider going part time in your job or getting a different part time job. Or if you aren’t ready maybe compromise on working until you’re 60.
You also need to make sure you’ll be ok if your DH dies before you, is there any provision in his pension for you, or any life insurance?
Ultimately though life is short and I can see your DHs point wanting to travel etc now while you both still can.

Ultimately though life is short and I can see your DHs point wanting to travel etc now while you both still can.

The issue is that he's older by ten years.

If he dies at the life expectancy age for men, (83 ish) he has another 15 or so years.

By which time OP will be a young 72 year old who may live to 90+.
And she will lose half of his pension.
They need to look at what she will be left to live on combining half his pension, her work pension and her state pension.
And if it's worth her working longer now for more money in her early 70s.
Or as you say if she would downsize and have any equity to live off.

You need to make sure you have factored in savings for the large costs that will come up. If you are retiring young you will probably need new kitchen/bathroom/new roof/new boiler as well as a couple of replacement cars and potentially contributing towards DCs weddings/deposits etc.

That income should be perfectly comfortable for retirement. I would certainly do it but would want to make sure provisions were j place shops he doesn't before you or your state pension age.

For perspective my DH and I have just had a year off with our one year old child and spent apx. 16k on living expenses including groceries, everything the baby needed, utilities, car insurance, travel, days out, frequent coffee and occasional lunches. This was in Central Europe which is a bit cheaper though not much and we were being economical

OP, as you can see, there are far too many people who are bitter, resentful, and jealous.

My advice for you and your husband is to take good care of your money, spend it wisely, make smart choices, have fun, pay your bills and taxes, and make sure others don’t take more than necessary. Also, avoid leaving room for unfair shares and focus on clear communication and agreements with others.

I understand the fear of taking that step & whether the amount is future proof. I would suggest doing some serious spreadsheeting. I am SE & am terrified of giving up a lucrative job that fits around the other aspects of my life & then finding out at some future point that my monthly income isn't enough to have the lifestyle that I want.
I was widowed at 42 & also know how short life can be but so too is your security & independence.
Your age difference is significant & for me that would be a factor, my age gap is 17 years but as its a 2nd relationship our finances are totally separate. If anything he is more dependant on me than i would ever be on him.
I am currently in my early 50's & looking to retire within the next 2 years, however I am also a carer for my early adult DC & will always have that responsibility both mentally & financially so my monthly outgoings are higher than most.
How much are you looking to spend per year on holidays? £2k europe or £10k safari or cruise each holiday
What do you want your retirement to look like? Is downsizing or changing area a consideration
Think about what you wish to do together & as well as what you would do alone

My 81yr mom is going though this at the moment, her income has halved after my dad died but running a big house still the same, panicking about money for the first time in a long time worked until they were 71yrs old. She is downsizing.

I am on a pension . One holiday a year , clothes from vinted or ebay . Very small car . Batch cooking but do also get lazy meals from aldi and the likes . Not really sure but I do manage ok and have a small savings account for emergencies .

Op can you do bank work this will enable you to work when you want, but if you wanted to travel that allows you the time, you can pick up a couple of shifts per week when your not travelling

If you think you'd end up doing voluntary work if you retired now, then why retire? The odds are that you will probably outlive your husband so you need to secure your own pension and savings. If you could go part-time, that may be a compromise. Personally, I'd stay in work and expect him be the house husband.

This sounds like a lot 😭😭

I hope this isnt a stealth post

This has to be one of the key drivers in your decision making. In your opinion will that be enough for you to live off and be enough to fund the sort of lifestyle you want if you are on your own?

Sorry, I was relying on memory but I think my amount is too low.

I think your pension is great for a pot that size, that's not what the pension calculators are telling me.

I guess you don’t mean this but frankly I could do without hearing about the struggles of someone on over £3k/month

Then why open a thread where the title clearly states what it's about? 🙄

I would base your decision on whether you can live on whatever you’d get if your DH died. He is 10 years older than you, and could leave you with years to live on very little of his pension dies with him.

If you couldn’t afford to live without him, then work out how to stuff money in to your own retirement funds while you continue working. If DH is really keen on you retiring, he’ll be up for spending 5 years or so prioritising your retirement funds so that you can retire too.

Can you do temp work/agency/seasonal? Not committed but able to have an income. Maybe your employer would welcome someone who could step in at busy times.

Could you compromise and work part time? If you did say 3 days a week, you could have extra short breaks, then use AL for longer holidays.

Definitely this.
I was only 57 when my DP suddenly died. He was older and already retired but it did blow a hole in my retirement plans.

Me and DH both retired early. We have a lot less than your figures to live on and are managing just fine. We wanted to retire while we still both have good health.
You need to work out how you would live if he unfortunately died, what would your income look like.

Sounds more than enough to me and certainly more than my husband and I receive as retired teachers including our state pensions. I think you will be fine, we are Aldi shoppers! 😄