How much pension for a comfortable life?

Advertise or scam?

Someone seems to have picked up your thread to advertise, abbey

How come this is still going two years after I posted?

rockgran -when my husband dies I will have half his pension plus my own. If I die, he will only have his own pensions plus my money and inheritances.

Don't forget to work out what would happen to your income if (when) one of you dies.

I too am mystified by the need to justify giving up work for an extra £2k when there will be £28k coming in plus substantial inheritances. Sorry, I don't see the problem.

Gosh, you are really wealthy compared to a lot of us. If you live on £13.000 a year now I would have thought you will need even less when you retire without fuel for work etc. Tell your husband to stop watching the bbc news which we all know is a load of biased crap and shut the fuck up.

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If you still need more advice, go to a financial sdvisor. They can tell you in far more detail than anyone on here just what to do with your capital to get the best return, and just what your pension position is.

Be warned, though, if they organise any investments for you, they will take a percentage of the value each year as agents (perhaps 0.09% - so if it were invested for ten years, they would have 9% of it in total. Get a clear quote before you commit yourself to anything, and work out how much that percentage means in real money)

Nothing like flogging a dead horse. { money and pensions}

Consider yourself extremely well off, in respect of others on this site.

Regarding your husband and his selfishness and being a needy man,

I bet lots here have such a partner.

I haven't the time to read all the thread, so going just by the opening post, I would say that you and your husband, with no mortgage or rent to pay, would manage perfectly well on his £18K and without any of your income at all. You would even have enough for a few luxuries.

As you seem to have substantial capital as well, there will be no problems about replacing household items that give up the ghost, or other sudden expernses. You will have that capital to fall back on when you need to pay for care, and also the value of your house.

If DH wants to know what you will need to cover your living costs, sit down with a sheet of paper ruled into several columns and write down, in the first column, a list of all the things you spend money on -

Mortgage/rent
Council tax
House and contents insurance
Personal insurance
Car repairs/maintenance/petrol
Car insurance
Electricity and gas
Holidays
Eating out
Groceries
Clothes and shoes
Christmas
and so on.

Then add the current cost of each in the second column.

In the third column write the absolute minimum for each that you could get by on if you really had to tighten your belt. Bear in mind that when neither of you commute to work, you will save a lot on travel costs (do you run two cars?) and you will not be wearing "work clothes"

Add up each column of figures.

Marvel at the difference! Then stop worrying about how you would manage.

abbey you've had 10 pages of advice going back as far as September and still you come back with further queries!

Why don't you just seek a professional financial adviser ... what more do you want from us?

Ana I would be delighted to have abbey's problem.

As abbey said in a previous post I have a lot of savings and two substantial inheritances so I don't think she would be eligible for any benefits.

The new pension does seem incredibly complex Abbey. Apparently it will be simple eventually but that doesn't really help you. I would certainly want someone who understands these things to double check before assuming it is all correct so a visit to the CAB/Financial Advisor would be well worthwhile. If you have other pension savings pots I would go for a CAB visit followed up by FA. People receiving only the full basic pension would be eligible for some benefits so, in the governments view, you will need more than that but your personal pension saving may well be enough - you will only know by finding someone to explain the choices sadly.

When you go to see the CAB/Financial Advisor don't forget to take full details of your working/non-working/student records. You need a full explanation of your options by a qualified person. Then you'll have something concrete to put before and discuss with your DH. The other advantages of early retirement, such as time to enjoy life before decrepitude sets in, only you can judge the value of as only you can assess how much satisfaction you really get from working.

Well said Wilma . Too much information given out from OP, bound to rattle people. Make a will, leave it to genuine charities , give up work, get out in your garden and thank god every day you don't have serious illness in your life.

The entire ball game changed for all of us with regard to the pension we expected and what we got !!

There's no point in dropping random bits and pieces of information - just go to CAB or a financial advisor. They can explain the workings of the DWP if you wish, and any other advice you seek.

Either you want to retire now, or you want to work on. You can afford to do whichever you wish.

Do you think Abbey really understands what she is on about. Her written word certainly doesn't make sense at times. An undergraduate? Hmmm?

And many on GN who through no fault of their own are now feeling let-down and disappointed that their pensions are not what they'd hoped for. I can think of brave resilient women on this site who are coping with a hell of a lot more difficult situations than you without all the pleas for sympathy and advice.
Harsh - yes perhaps, but I've been reading this bleating for what seem a a long time now and think of posters like annsixty like ethel like biker and many more who are coping admirably with their lives and dealing with real problems.
To quote a familiar phrase from one GNetter " FFS get a grip and get on wih it!"

Sorry, but I find it hard to believe that you've remained in ignorance about your situation as regards pension rights etc. for all this time.

I'm much older than you and not only did the DWP inform me of changes etc. plus provide a pension forecast, but all women were told back in the 70s that we had the choice to pay the full NI stamp or rely on our husband's contributions.

As you say, you're far better off than a lot of GNetters and need professional advice (or a divorce).

Thank you for your thoughts and advice.

I do not have any childrens credits as I lost my baby when he was quite young. That bis one of the reasons I did not go back to work for so long.

I once thought there were credits for full time education ( I even did student signing whilst an undergraduate) but I think they may have taken those away. The biggest problem has been the changing goal posts here.

I may well have more than many. I understand the frustration. But my frustration is that I made myself aware of the pension issues long ago and then had the whole b all game changed in 2011. Now I have no faith in an y professional ( or government) advice.

A little harsh mcem but I must say I agree with you now.

Frankly I don't think you'll ever be happy as long as you allow your husband to dictate as he does - and that will still be the case however much wealth you accumulate! All this angst over about £20 a week!!
Decide what you want to do and do it without all the meaningless whining about whether or not you'll have 'enough'!!
You've made it clear that you have way more then many posters here so stop being so tactless and crass and just get on with it!

Abbey you really need to talk to someone qualified in this area to sort out all the pros and cons.
As I have said before the amount of money required for retirement depends a great deal on your expectations. Don't forget with all these financial dealings your happiness is also important.