How much pension for a comfortable life?

???

ZZZZZZ

Same sort of thing but from a person without a fortune and a small state pension (me!) How much should I try to save for contingencies? Fortunately got no mortgage but the house will need 2/3 thousand for repairs and I need to keep a car as I'm in the sticks here.

No inheritances to look forward to!!!

The best things in life are free

......but you can save that for the birds and bees, she wants Money !

I only want to enough money to sort out emergency repairs and other bad things that may come along.

As they tend to do!

I agree with many of the comments that you can easily live on 18K a year, my pension is less than that and my salary was never 30K as your husband thinks you need. Do you really need 2 cars? I am single and any couple will have a much better income with 2 pensions. You have plenty of assets and savings but you don't want to touch them. However it only costs around £700 to buy each extra NI year, which is not a great deal, to give you the full pension whilst retiring now and living on your husband's 18k a year until you are 66.
Your letter makes me wonder if there are some issues between you and your husband and whilst you say he worries about money it seems you do as well.
If I were you I would consider seeing a financial adviser for advice on savings, pension etc. Your bank may offer this service free or you can pay for more objective advice.

We have to manage on less that £15,000. We have a comfortable house, a nice car (which is mine - bought with inheritance from my Mother) we never eat out unless we are away on holiday (on the south coast in a nice hotel) - for no more than 3 days. We never have takeaways because we eat very well at home and cook together. Our neighbours seem to have many holidays - cruises, far off places etc. Quite frankly I don't know how they afford it. Having said all that - we are very happy together, have four children - scattered over Europe whom we see from time to time and chat with regularly. Sometimes I feel like Cinderella who never got to The Ball - but I have much to be grateful for - I am loved and appreciated - and I am in good health.

We live in a nice house have our son with us we do not take any money from, we have two cats, take a short holiday in UK each year, we have days out, are in a lunch club, and occasionally go to the opera. We live on £19,000. after tax and are very comfortable.

I'm of the opinion that one can start hoarding money n the same way as other possessions. Done in the mindset of lack in the past, but we have to keep in mind that life doesn't go on forever and we have to make our present as good as possible.

This has become an amazingly long thread, mainly because most of us cannot believe how anybody would not be able to manage with such large amounts of money in their accounts.The short answer ( given many times ) is 'of course you can' ....hardly a problem is it?

OH was viewing his bank statements today and told me I am not spending enough!! DD1 was there and fell about laughing . Since he is unable to get out now , my sister takes me shopping once a week and we have lunch out , so no shop raids in between !Mind you he hasn't seen my account , it is building up towards a big spend later this year when the new house starts , not bad for two pensioners lol

Good for you aggie get spending. I am in a similar position as my H never goes out and I have been severely restricted for some months now but hope that will soon change. All the fivers for two coffees soon mount up when you don't go out.
I am another one though who can't believe how this thread has run, I cannot believe it was serious in the first place unless the OP is very insecure and wanted to be assured she was very well off or she wanted to divide opinion.

Why not buy a flat or house with some of your large savings and rent it out. That will boost your pension.

Put £50000 into premium bonds, tax free and who knows, you may win £1 million and then definitely have a worry free life.

Retire and enjoy, you do not know what is around the corner!

I am always telling Mrs P that she is not spending enough, when it comes to clothes, she is always looking for a bargain rather than just buying what she really likes regardless of price.

Please will you ditch her and marry me??

Oh wobbly the fun of the game is finding the bargain! The joy of the hunt is getting an expensive piece of clothing at a discounted price!

Typical conversation.
After a shopping session.

" I found a really nice dress that I liked", "Good, did you get it ", "No it was too expensive" ---- hits head on wall.

What you need is a good financial adviser. I might be wrong but reading between the lines I think your husband won't let you retire!.
Just wondering what his reaction might be if you told him you had decided to retire and that you actually do have enough money, which is true if you take your savings into account.
You can't have it all ways. You could sell your house and downsize for instance, you need to be realistic.
£30.000 might seem like a fortune to some people, just depends what your used to, your lifestyle. HL are excellent advisers if their in your neck of the woods.
If you don't enjoy your work get out now and have some fun while you still can. Go on holiday, that sort of thing?.

Goodness me, I have read all the posts and not sure if this lady is genuine. If she is , then I feel the pension aspect is the tip of the iceberg and there are more fundamental issues to be addressed, one poster asked whether maybe the husband's insistence on working to increase their pension to 30K was really another way of keeping the lady working, and out of his way ! Must say, this definitely is what I would be thinking too. I genuinely can't get my head round the fact she is in a job, by her own admission, she doesn't enjoy, yet is incredibly wealthy and won't ever have to worry about bills or keeping a roof over her head. Surely, she should be resigning from her job, and enjoying her remaining years, however long they happen to be.

I took early retirement as I could no longer cope with the stress of my job, and the health issues it brought. My husband and I " did the sums" as recommended by my very caring GP, and discovered if we made some cutbacks and " sat on an egg less" it was doable. I don't regret a second of it, ok, we cant afford perhaps to go on lavish holidays or eat out or buy expensive gifts, but we have fun, we love each other's company and we have all we need. We help our children too with free childminding and other little extra 's and we couldn't ask for more .

I hope if this lady is genuine, she seeks the help she needs from a professional She sounds lonely to me, and not entirely happy either .

Please accept my apologies if I have assumed wrongly.

Well, no comments since Sunday from the OP. Is she genuine?? ?

Try facing retirement with no pension apart from state. Some people on here don't know they are born, worrying about holidays, cars etc. The only thing I'm glad about is I don't have a miserable old bug get of
A husband.