What monthly income do couples need for a comfortable retirement?

[sha777]

Hi.
I'm just trying to work out what we need money-wise in retirement.
Can anyone give us a real-life experience of what they live on.
Our requirements are quite simple we have no debt or mortgage.
Couple of holidays abroad per year and like to eat out once a week .
Were hoping £2500 a month will give us that.

Oh dear they're not very committed to the upkeep then are they?

@Papyrophileyes no one is really talking about the continuing financial burden of younger adults that our age group are still supporting. In Leeds now it’s almost impossible to find a rental that doesn’t ask for a garantor. She’s 26, reliable, has a decent job, always pays, but still all these companies demand a garantor. Supporting your children beyond 21 now has to be factored in to retirement budgeting when 10-15 years ago it didn’t.

We will be spending about £25k on holidays/ breaks this year. Eat out weekly in nice restaurants. And buy quality food. I have gym membership, monthly facials, massages, hair every 5 weeks. 12 gigs booked and theatre at least twice a month.
But we can! In 10 years at 77 we might not be as mobile so Im enjoying life to the full now.

The figures are low if anything.
I think they are aimed towards 45yr olds who are mid career and are 22-23yrs from state pension age.

The retirees living comfortably on £3k/mo now would need at least £5k/mo to have the same standard of living in 20yrs.

If you are younger, say 25, and in the first half of your work life, you’d need to be aiming for around £10k/mo income to match the living standard of retirees living on £3k/mo today.

This is a good point too. I draw down more from my pension investment to be able to help young relatives with certain things. They need it now not when I die.

£100 per month on your hair?

I get my hair done every 8 weeks and it is 200. It's a typical amount in a decent place for colour and styling.

The tax threshold needs to be much higher for pensioners.

I'm shocked. Mine is £100 every 8 weeks. I suppose all these things are dependant on where you live.

Are you talking about the personal allowance?

Nobody is going to be stupid enough to think £3k now will be worth the same in 10/20/30 years time 🙄
Financial projections usually include inflation and rising pension contributions.
I’ve built a Gilt ladder inside my Sipp that starts paying out in 2034 for 5 years paying an average of 4.5% a year in coupons until then but I’ve also factored in inflation so I bought 30% more in ££s so hopefully they will still be worth the equivalent of £5k a year in today’s money. It’s a gamble that inflation won’t be over 3% a year but it was much cheaper doing it my way than buying index linked gilts that pay virtually no coupons, at least I can invest my 4.5% coupons and get further growth on them.

yes

Upgrade the triple lock to a quadruple lock, where the personal tax allowance goes up for pensioners.

8kpcm

I agree! Especially for people living on the state pension as it shouldn't be taxed but is near getting there.

8k?

😱

I think so

Why would you need all that with no mortgage or debt?

Yes, of course you can live comfortably on that income and a lot of people do. Your expenses tend to taper of the older you get. You need to draw up a basic budget, see what you've left and then budget for your wants as opposed to needs.

Retirement is the time to enjoy yourself.

I don't know why you are shocked. There are endless threads on Style and Beauty on this topic. It depends on where you live, what kind of salon you use , Senior stylist or a junior, one colour or several etc. It's the same with eating out prices. Some parts of the country are much cheaper.

We have a retirement income of £4K a month. We have no mortgage, two cars, two foreign holidays a year, a ‘weekend’ (usually 2-3 days midweek) away every 4-6 weeks. We go to concerts and the theatre, and eat out fairly regularly. I feel extremely comfortable, though according to the ‘experts’ we only have a “moderate” income, not “comfortable”.

I have never felt so comfortable in my life, even though our income is a fraction of what it used to be, since our DCs are now self-sufficient.

I can enjoy myself for less! It's all subjective though.

I'm in Scotland. Sounds like a rip off to me.

More than enough!