How much pension for a comfortable life?

Abbey you don't have a passport?? That can't be correct, surely. As others have advised, stop wasting energy doing sums and worrying about what may or may not happen in the future. Do what you want to do now and move on.

We took early retirement. DH now qualifies for state pension as well as his private pension. It goes into our joint account, no way does he regard it as his, in his eyes it is all 'ours', even though his private pension is substantially more than mine. We share all monies and all expenses. I really don't understand the attitude that it's 'his' pension. Do you always operate separately abbey?

If I were you I'd be writing out my letter of resignation right now! Retire and enjoy your life and health whilst you have it, who knows what tomorrow will bring! If your husband is not happy with that tell him to find himself a little part time job to make up the supposed shortfall - being a tradesman he should have no problem finding work!

So what does your husband do all day.?It appears and correct me if I am wrong but at 65 and on a state pension then he is at home all day?.I have yet to meet someone of my gender who worries about money as much as their male partners.Buy a new pair of shoes and its 'what another pair?'
In my early days of marriage we never went abroad Hubby said too expensive.Even though we both worked I made do and mend
If he is so concerned about money and your future then there are plenty of men at 65 who can still find employment
Don't make excuses for him about past poverty he should have got over that by now.Idle hands idle minds he really should find himself something worth while to do than put the burden on you.Good luck.We sisters are united.

Confused about the max state pension being 8k (as someone said earlier). I qualified for mine in July this year and it's almost £10,500.
With private pension, I reckon I'll have about £16000 a year to live on (*before tax*)and my rent is currently £6900pa. I think that'll be enough to live on. Well, it'll have to be as I hate my job and am packing it in at the end of the year when I hope to have savings of £5k. Looking to move somewhere cheaper which will cost around £1k in removal (& associated) costs.
So, OP, you'll be comfortably off if you retire now and very comfortably off once your state pension kicks in. Good luck!

Maybe this will help regarding the difference between 30/35 years NI contributions - all depends on when you were born and whether you are in the 'old' or 'New' system
www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/state-pensions

Abbey - you have said that if you don't make 35 years contributions you will lose £5/week, so if you are four years short, that would be £20/wk or £1000/year. You have accepted that £15000 income per year would give a comfortable standard of living - this is for a couple. If you are left alone at some point in the future then having £1000 less than this as a single person should be plenty for a comfortable life. This is without your inheritance safety net.
It really isn't worth continuing in a job you are not enjoying if you are fortunate enough not to have to. Life is too short.

You need more of a voice in your financial affairs.

We have been 'enjoying' crappy interest rates, so none of our savings have grown. Most of it was from an inheritance and in early years, along with investments, we were raking in 5-7% for a FRB. I got rid of the shares before the crash so as to pay off our mortgage. Savings now... barely 1% ! Had to come up with a plan B.

I am 67, hubby is 74. I did not want to go back into shares this late in that it requires a long term commitment to see growth. I saw a friend turn her divorce proceeds over to a 'reputable' financial advisor and they totally screwed it up. And look at the high street banks now having to pay compensation for poor advice to people who were not used to investing but pressurised to do so. Also, a financial crash could happen again. Maybe he's afraid of that?

Instead of hoarding, we bought another property, fixed it up, and the rent is our new pension top up. Something your OH could do in his retirement. The income top-up from rent can relieve the pressure on you to carry on working. Put the property into a trust to keep it separate from your estate so it can pass to your designated beneficiaries.

Even if we sell, the CG will not be that bad, and further reduced if used for nursing home placement, but I intend to hold onto it and leave it in trust to the next generation to be 'their' pension. (They already have some properties from their late gran and it's worked out very well). I do not worry about a property losing value as the way shares can.

Also, when I needed a back operation, I paid for it from savings and got back to work faster, so it paid for itself (I am self-employed, no sick pay).

Get a freakin' passport then you will have it for bank ID. I had a real problem with our bank trying to transfer funds as even though I had a passport, driving licence, etc. I still had to sign all new signature stuff as they didn't like my 'current' signature! It had changed over the 25 years we'd been with that bank for our regular account. Let me tell you.. having arthritis in hands, or even just age, can change your sig. So you might want to update what they have on file. We do so much with chip and pin now, that writing a cheque never happens. It was that this cheque was over a certain sum and cause a lot of aggro!

Get that passport and go on holiday or cruise, or you will end up miserable and resentful stuck at home. There's a whole world of culture and interesting destinations out there.

Enjoy your money, you are fortunate...and who knows how long both of you will live? My brother bought an annuity for his wife ten years ago. He died in surgery this year. Thank goodness my SIL has that annuity as she only has state pension. His two large pensions died with him.

There are causes that could also use your help. Many communities are setting up Memory Cafe's to help dementia sufferers and carers have a place to meet. Small modest contributions can bring you big personal rewards. Hoarding out of fear creates anxiety.

You are so lucky... but do not let your OH make your good fortune a millstone around your necks.

Enjoy life, help others, help yourselves!

Why don't you change your job to one of finance as this is what really seems to interest you.

Ps Think about the age difference between you and your hustand. Would you really want to go straight from working to being his carer?

I am
Is this a grumble about the government, about your DH or just anxiety in general?

You have not mentioned major illnesses or other problems, you are extremely comfortably off by most standards, so take Luckygirl's advice, carpe diem.
You never know what's around the next corner.

Note to self: listen to petra

Retire! You can afford it. My husband and I are living on less than £28 grand a year and honestly we go weeks on end without big expenses. We are even adding to our savings even though we upsized again to a bigger house because we have so many hobbies!

abbey, I'm new to ths chat and we are a few years behind, but my husband has been made redundant so we are also looking at future figures. Jus be aware that there are always hidden costs that crop up, particularly on the health side as we age, unfortunately.
Also, you say you don't take holidays but quality of life, as we get older, is also important so be sure to factor in some relaxation costs, even if it's minor. Good luck

If your husband is fit and thinks that you both need more money going into the pot send him out to work .!!!
It seems to me from what you have said that you could retire now .
Think long and hard about your life would you enjoy spending day after day with your husband ?
What are your plans for retirement what will you fill your days with?
Do you have friends that you go put with.?
What do and your husband do together in your spare time?
Does he look after the house shopping etc while you are work I expect you come home to a meal every day .

I couldn't agree more with Jalima. Long before we retired I started tracking what we regularly spent , then built in the cost savings of retirement , such as less formal clothes, cheaper holidays, no work travel costs. That gave us a target which will be different for everyone If our pensions wouldn't achieve that, we would have needed drastic changes such as down sizing ( or becoming tee total )

By the way, depending on your age etc the possibility of buying additional index linked government pension currently on offer seems very attractive.

I've found a new, time - consuming hobby, called bargain hunting. I have also made fundamental changes to our spending by calculating most things as annual costs , then deciding if we want to spend so much each year e.g. We rarely pay for parking; Ive saved hundreds by going fashionably grey, and have a package of haircuts from a good salon; mobiles are on PAYG and I email anyway; If we want to eat out, it's much cheaper at lunchtime. These choices will be different for everyone. I'd be very interested to hear the choices others have made.

How odd. I usually go to www.gov.uk as this should be the horse's mouth, and they of all people should have it right.

Hey ho, who knows anyway. According to my pension statement I have 41 years of contributions but because I was opting out for much of it, I'd only get £100 under the new scheme. Full "old pension" under the old scheme, so that is what I'll get, if I can ever catch up to state pension age.

Are you in debt do you owe money?it does not sound so or ever likely to be
It is a shame your husband is so insecure over money.Wait until you actually retire and take it from there.
Does you husband have time on his hands? if so and money does seem to dominate his life then what's to stop him getting some part time work.Life does not stop at 65.There are men I know who do a few hours a week and older than your man.

www.nidirect.gov.uk/articles/qualifying-new-state-pension

Carpe Diem for goodness sake!

It sounds as though you are cutting off your nose to spite your face, working at a job when you do not want to, just to make sure you get the full state pension because the new rules bug you.

We live on vastly less than you are describing, and our savings are meagre.

We've lived on benefits since I had to give up work to care for DH. Have about £125/wk state pension and £38/month work pension. DH has ESA about £130/week and top rates DLA totalling around £550/4-weeks. I recently lost my DLA and wasn't awarded PIP, but hoping to get AA, which will help. Would love to get away for a few days holiday. Did inherit £10K from mum, which put into P2P lending scheme which is bringing in a reassuring savings fund for the dreaded rainy day/decent funeral etc, and have a further £1600 in an ISA, which I've been investing in since I was working at £30/month. I feel we can cope with most eventualities, but we can't do much with our garden, so depend on supermarket shopping, which has become vastly more expensive over last couple of months. DH is fussy about good quality food - eats next to nothing, but insists on quality butcher, cheese, eggs, fish. I'm more or less completely veggie, but like quality eggs, cheese and vegetables. Don't think I've spent more than £20 on any item of clothing/shoes in 20 years, apart from a £65 Parka 2 years ago. Think you should be able to cope reasonably comfortably and if you don't like your job, you should leave it - either find one you do like or retire altogether. Until February I had a little pin money from a paper round which I'd done for about 16-17 years since I gave up work. It kept me fit, paid towards bills/spending money/luxuries and I was benefiting my elderly/disabled customers who wouldn't have got their papers otherwise, but decided I couldn't keep going any longer.

For five years we lived on my after tax pension income of £1700 amonth .Dipped inti aavings for holidYs No mortage One car Was fine DH now claiming pensions and our income is considerably more but we no longer dip into into savings

The question is like asking 'how long is a piece of string?'

One person's idea of a comfortable retirement may be another person's idea of poverty.

I would feel very comfortable indeed if we had received a couple of substantial inheritances especially as I don't get a full state pension.

abbey you don't mention children; if you have any I hope you are not scrimping and saving and doing without in order to leave them a fortune.

No bowing required, Wobblybits - there are pension experts on here who'll probably now tell me I'm wrong!

I am sure it's only 30 years now though, not 35.

www.gov.uk/state-pension/eligibility

You really do need to get a pension forecast, abbey.

Just seen your post about the voluntary contributions - it may seem a lot but it is very good value in terms of the pension that you get for it.

Since my husband gave up work we don't have private health insurance, but we very rarely used it in any case. I've had two cataracts done this year on the NHS, locally it is done in a private hospital as this is obviously more cost effective for the NHS.

My husband has had problems with his heart and has had wonderful treatment on the NHS too.

I'm with those people who think you - and your other half - should go and see a financial advisor. They have the training and skills to work out all the permutations, and can give you actual real advice based on your whole financial picture.

If Mr Abbey is so focused on money why doesn't he go to work rather than put pressure on you. Focus on what you want out of life. Don't feel guilty. You obviously have concerns to have put this on the forum in the first place.