£10,900 annual income needed to retire

growstuff it would be miserable compared to how it is now.
I never have to think about bills or worry about buyng things (within reason of course)
I would hate to go back to how it was on my own.

I could not eat on £20 per week. I don't know how you do.

chris8888

Wasn`t their a Tory MP complaining it was impossible to live on £81.000 plus expenses and needed a pay rise.

So the answer is no - it is not possible

Yes, it is. Since when were Conservative MPs known for telling the truth?

PS. I'm not claiming it's desirable, but it is possible and, moreover, it's possible to live reasonably well.

Maybe the Conservative MP should take some lessons from somebody surviving on Universal Credit.

Wasn`t their a Tory MP complaining it was impossible to live on £81.000 plus expenses and needed a pay rise.

So the answer is no - it is not possible

Elusivebutterfly

That article is really odd as it does not mention basic bills. Council tax, gas/electricity, water rates, insurance, TV licence, phone add up to nearly half the £10,900 figure quoted. I don't spend all that on takeaways and restaurants. Where can you find a haircut for £14?
There's another article in the Times this week saying pensioners need £50,000 a year which is mad as most working people earn much less than that.

It's intended to give three levels of lifestyle.

Before I met my partner, I hadn't spent anything on takeaways and restaurants for years and even now I think they're a waste of money. How often are people supposed to have haircuts? I agree you couldn't find one for £14, but how many haircuts do people have in a month? I don't spend £14 a week on my hair.

Shinamae

That is my state pension and the only Pension I get

Have you looked at how much Pension Credit you could receive and whether you're eligible for council tax relief? You could also be eligible for free glasses and dental care.

That article is really odd as it does not mention basic bills. Council tax, gas/electricity, water rates, insurance, TV licence, phone add up to nearly half the £10,900 figure quoted. I don't spend all that on takeaways and restaurants. Where can you find a haircut for £14?
There's another article in the Times this week saying pensioners need £50,000 a year which is mad as most working people earn much less than that.

I use buses whenever they're practical (which isn't that often because we don't have many of them). There's a man who uses the same bus every morning to go and buy his daily newspaper. I often chat to him and asked him why he doesn't use the local shop. He said he enjoys the bus journeys because they get him out of the house for an hour and there's always somebody who will chat to him.

That is my state pension and the only Pension I get

bikergran

Yes I could live quite well on this figure. Living off Job seekers for 2 yrs brings you down to earth, getting a job and having a wage (low wage) but better than JS.

I'm due to receive my state pension (6 yrs late)and Bus pass!! WOOOOHOOOOO at the end of the month I will feel rich lol.
I may pack sandwiches/drink and ride round on bus all day getting on and off lol.

Enjoy it! I've never felt so rich since I started to receive my state pension. I still have to work a bit because I have rent to pay, but I do have more time on my hands. Don't laugh, but I do enjoy planning bus journeys and finding cheapish rail journeys with my Senior Railcard. It's a bit of a problem finding cheap accommodation in the UK at the moment, but it can be found. It's almost like experiencing the adventures of Inter-railing all over again.

My pension is £7800 a year so I really do have to work, it’s only part time but then that’s an extra £600 a month which makes all the difference

We have to live in an area we can afford. If our pension can’t cover where we live then we have to move to a cheaper area. I’d love to live in London but can’t afford it. So I cut my cloth. It’s always been like this.
Do you remember the film The Railway Children, well that’s life. We go to affordable areas if you haven’t enough money. It’s sad and we leave loved ones behind. This is why people traditionally went to the seaside when they retired. We can’t rely on the state for everything.

4allweknow

Jeremy Vine radio item

well you either heard it wrong, or heard what you wanted to hear. Nonsense.

Yes I could live quite well on this figure. Living off Job seekers for 2 yrs brings you down to earth, getting a job and having a wage (low wage) but better than JS.

I'm due to receive my state pension (6 yrs late)and Bus pass!! WOOOOHOOOOO at the end of the month I will feel rich lol.
I may pack sandwiches/drink and ride round on bus all day getting on and off lol.

harrigran

I know I could not live on that, I am paying school fees for two GC and they are three times that amount.
My grocery bill for the year would probably be more than £10,000.

But paying school fees isn't basic living. I don't know how many people you're feeding, but it sounds like you have an army.

nadateturbe

If I was living alone I would have a miserable existence compared to now.
I don't know how those still paying a mortgage or rent would manage.

I don't have a miserable existence. I accepted years ago that I can't afford some material things.

PS. I confess that my life changed about 18 months ago when I got together with my current partner. He's considerably better off than I am, although I don't like accepting handouts. I'm quite shocked at how wasteful he is. I'm hoping for a rosy future, but I won't ever forget how much I've struggled at times, but still made the best of what I had.

4allweknow

Jeremy Vine radio item

Well, it's wrong.

MTDancer

We barely survive, as a couple, on £11500.
We have a very old car, pay rent, and live in a rural village. I can’t sleep at night for worrying about fuel and food costs

Are you claiming all the credits, council tax relief and housing benefit you can?

Jeremy Vine radio item

My disposable income (after housing costs) has been less than £209.61pw for years and I'm not going to pack my bags and die.

GoldenAge Who actually needs their hair colouring?

My food and household bill is £20 a week and I eat well.

The figure quoted is for a basic standard of living. Housing costs fall outside the figure.

4allweknow

There is no equality in the country. Heard in radio on Monday during item on why asylum seekers are not allowed to work that an asylum seeker is awarded £56. and a few pence per day for living expenses. That is over £20,000 a year. Many people in work and pensioners would love that income.

Who said that?

Asylum seekers are given somewhere to live and £39.63 per person a week.

www.gov.uk/asylum-support/what-youll-get

Somebody needs to do a factcheck.

There is no equality in the country. Heard in radio on Monday during item on why asylum seekers are not allowed to work that an asylum seeker is awarded £56. and a few pence per day for living expenses. That is over £20,000 a year. Many people in work and pensioners would love that income.

£209.61 is the weekly amount. Really? There are so many unchallenged assumptions in this figure - i.e., there is no rent or mortgage to be paid, no holidays to be taken, no clothes to be bought, and certainly no car to run and no occasional theatre ticket to be bought. Where I live (in a London suburb) the cost of a visit to a hairdresser for a half-head of highlights is £120, a call-out fee for a plumber to diagnose a problem (not to remedy it) is £85, and the weekly shop for two people taking into account the renewal of things like detergents, toothpaste, is £110.00. What energy is going to cost is yet another shot in the dark. I really am appalled at these silly figures which implicitly say that in retirement people are expected to change their lifestyle and become lesser beings. Yes, there may well be things on offer such as free lane swimming, reduced tennis club fees, free transport, but not everyone wants to be restricted to doing their swimming or playing their tennis between 7 and 8 in the morning. If ever there was a message that said 'pack up and die' when you stop working, this £10.900 is it.

????

If I was living alone I would have a miserable existence compared to now.
I don't know how those still paying a mortgage or rent would manage.