Your Pension …

nanna8

The uk are really bad about paying overseas pensions regardless of how long you have worked there. They freeze it from the moment you start getting it. I think I get around £5 a week from the tightwads. It is an ongoing bone of contention for expats. My husband worked there for 12 years and gets a pathetic amount frozen since 2003. We get nothing from the Australian government at all.

That is not the case for every country. It applies only to countries that are not in the EEA, or with whom the UK doesn’t have a reciprocal social security arrangement (excluding New Zealand and Canada)

www.gov.uk/government/publications/state-pensions-annual-increases-if-you-live-abroad/countries-where-we-pay-an-annual-increase-in-the-state-pension

Oddly, since retiring I have become more aware of differences in income/lifestyle than when I was working.
I suppose we were all too busy at work to necessarily enjoy much more than the annual holiday and I was as happy in a cottage in this country -if not happier- than some villa in the sun.
But now I hear of retired friends going on cruise after cruise, tine shares, (inherited, possibly) second homes etc.
I don’t begrudge them their cruises or exotic trips to Thailand or Vietnam, but am aware that my “rainy day” pot will never be topped up from my pension which is less than a full one, both teachers’ and state, and I only get half of a very modest private pension DH took out despite years of not being able to work through ill health.
I have never thought of myself as being in any group income-wise, but the increase in living costs is all the more worrying as I need to keep my “rainy day” money for possible future house repairs, car, replacement carpets or whatever.
I refuse to feel poor, because I am not, but increasingly aware that I need to be careful.

I agree Maw. I have a simple lifestyle and don’t want holidays but I am very aware of people who seemingly have very good retirement incomes.

Like Maw, I worry that my modest rainy day pot won’t be refilled as my pensions fund my lifestyle quite comfortably but there isn’t a lot over to save. This morning’s visit from the roofer means that there will soon be a noticeable withdrawal from the savings, but I do know I am luckier than most, thanks partly to DH’s prudent management. Left to me there probably wouldn’t have been any savings!

I find the fact that you’re no longer earning and able to replace savings hard to come to terms with after a lifetime of work.

A good way of putting it Maw. Running costs/repairs/maintenance of a house costs a lot of money. The Forth Bridge comes to mind. Another reason why we downsized. Smaller utility bills, no garden to buy plants for or fences to creosote, no new driveway to lay or roof slates to replace. This frees up money for us which goes towards our flights to Málaga, meals out etc. That said, I think some folk would absolutely hate to be in a small apartment - especially those with hobbies that require space (or even a spare room), pets take up room too with all their needs - beds, cupboard for food etc - and ditto cooks and bakers with their Kenwood Chefs and air fryers.

I suppose choices in life get made along the way. The secret is to be happy with those choices and the life you lead. We cut our cloth to fund the lifestyle we both wanted, so a new car or a house we’re out of the question. But we feel very fortunate because luckily, we have our health, which is priceless as we all know.

Germanshepherdsmum

I agree Maw. I have a simple lifestyle and don’t want holidays but I am very aware of people who seemingly have very good retirement incomes.

I’ve noticed this too GSM. I do wonder whether some of these wealthy retirees may also have inherited some money along the way. That must make a huge difference. My late mum used to say ‘it takes a generation to earn it then a generation to spend it’.

😁

Possibly Urms. I know that a neighbour of ours with a lifestyle I couldn’t afford without draining the savings (nor do I envy it) has a good final salary pension. Oh, the luxury!

Urms I live in a small 3 bedroom modern house with a small garden which has been block paved because I could no longer cope. I could not live in a flat, I like to hang my washing outside and sit outside in the sun or shade in summer.

For various reasons I no longer go on holiday- I am happy here.

It's an interesting article and I read it this morning. As a couple we are doing fine and have a Rainy Day Fund each. We possibly are better off than we were when working as we have a few occupational pensions and investments between us, no mortgage payments, commuting costs etc. We are fairly careful with our spending but could do with updating our home decor etc. a bit, but then we choose to go away on trips, instead. I am surprised by the calculations shown on the chart which presumably only refer to disposable income after the essential bills have been paid.

A new boiler?
New hot water tank?
Thermostats on all the radiators?
Annual service?

How much?!

Sounds lovely Charleygirl and the main thing is - you’re happy with your choice. You can’t buy peace of mind.
😊

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

I so agree with Gsm, Maw and GSomerset. DH chose to take early retirement at 55, obviously with a much reduced pension. He had 10years pursuing his hobbies, until his terrible diagnosis on Christmas Eve 2015 and his final 5 years were very much up and down.
I’m not hard up, but really conscious that anything taken from savings just cannot be replaced. I don’t have a problem if it’s for something tangible, but it’s the bit here and there that I keep taking out for mundane stuff and the odd bigger bill.
Another problem I have is that DH’s friends seem to think he had some sort of life insurance, but he didn’t - a revelation to his friend who suggested I get a brand new Range Rover!!

I don't even get the basic pension. I think my husband paid AVCs for me, but I can't ask him because he has had a stroke and can't speak and has other cognitivive issues - like no memory! I wish I knew if my pension was correct. I have asked HMRC for all the money back (that he supposedly paid in AVCs) Do they EVER answer the phone?

My state pension is actually the least of my income, I do have 2 good private pensions and my Pip payment on top of that so my state pension would not go very far on it's own but with everything else added just over half way between column 2 and 3.

You need to speak to the DWP Gossamer, not HMRC.

I don’t get the full state pension either because for years Equitable Life advised it was best for me to be contracted out; the government then made payments to them for my pension but of course they got into difficulty and a lot of people lost a lot of money. I’m one of them. When the balloon went up, EL immediately advised that I shouldn’t remain contracted out. Too late. So I lost quite a chunk of my sp too for the years contracted out. I’ve long since come to terms with it and am grateful to have earned enough to have savings and investments to live off. So many don’t.

Who re-decorates their kitchen and bath every 10/15 years?

I think "lifestyle" choices are a bit different for everyone, some eat away from home, some go on holiday, some just don't spend.

Precisely, Norah. And I believe there was mention of decorating one room each year - it sounds like the Forth Bridge! Mind you, I once worked with a woman who repainted her kitchen every year instead of cleaning it!😱

Does it mean redecorating or replacing the kitchen?
I'm guilty because my new one is being installed next week. But that's because it wasn't my choice when we moved in 3 years ago despite it being nearly new.
I've tried to be sensible and this time round it will be all pull out drawers with few cupboards to crawl into.
That's IT then once we do retire, although how do I know until I get there how I will feel about spending money, if you get my drift?

I think it means replacing the kitchen Joseanne. We're between the middle and the top, and I wont get my state pension for another 5 and a half years.

My state pension is my sole income so I’m almost £3k below the first bracket as a result of being a full time carer for 25 years prior to pension age and unable to work.

Widowed, I have a rainy day pot plus a depleted savings pot for things like house maintenance and a potential move again in 7 years, if dd moves then I will follow

I would say that I am between 1 and 2, a comfortable lifestyle albeit not a galavanting lifestyle. I can afford to be warm, eat good food and run my car but always have one eye on outgoings and what is coming in. My aim this year is to save hard until december, while still on octopus fixed rate for energy.

It is quite a shock when one realises that there is no extra money coming in and income is well and truly fixed

Gsm my friend who will be 70 this years is a dab hand with a paintbrush and says it’s easier to repaint a wall than wash it - takes less than an hour, apparently. She often does this for both of her sons while childminding and decorates properly for them, One day she went out to wash her garage door down and said after that, it needed a coat of paint and was done in a trice.
I’m a GAMI - get a man in.

Another GAMI here 😂