Can you manage on just a state pension ?

We live on our state pensions. We're okay and have actually managed to save quite a bit over the past year, mainly due to not using the car much. We live simply, but then we always have. I am not particularly interested in material stuff except books, and I often buy them second hand. We travelled a bit when we were younger but usually go for short breaks in Britain. Our family in the USA want us to visit but insist that they will buy the tickets. God knows when overseas travel will be safe, anyway.

I do worry about how one of us will manage when the other one dies. That's one reason why we are thinking about downsizing. It doesn't make much sense to heat and maintain a five bedroom house for two of us. Hopefully that would reduce our outgoings a bit.

Our marriage is actually better now than it has ever been. My DH was a workaholic and he was hardly ever at home. He also used to be very snappy sometimes because he was overtired. Spending all our time together in retirement has made such a difference.

Grannynannywanny

growstuff I’m no expert but it does sound like Mealybug’s husband is entitled to attendance allowance, possibly at the higher rate if he requires care both day and night. It would make a significant difference to their income and possibly be a gateway to other help.

I'm not an expert either, but carer's allowance is different from attendance allowance.

Your income would be similar to that of a single pensioner who has a small private pension. There are a great many single pensioners who manage very well with no rent or mortgage. Bills are mostly the same whether there is one person or two in a household.

If you literally have only your state pension with no other income and savings below a certain amount you would probably be able to claim some other allowances. NHS Low Income scheme would be one but it is a bit of a minefield and worth getting someone like Age UK to help.

Personally speaking I would find it impossible.

growstuff
I'm not an expert either, but carer's allowance is different from attendance allowance

I understand that growstuff. The point I was trying to make, but maybe didn’t do it well, is that if
Mealybug was in receipt of carers allowance prior to pension age it indicates that her husband is in need of care.

She has stated that he has dementia and is bedridden but they are now both having to get by on just basic state pension. My concern was that they may be missing out on a benefit that could help to alleviate their difficult situation.

One year before my actual retirement (at age 60), I moved to part-time working, which gave me the opportunity to live within the income I believed I would have at retirement. At that time I had a small mortgage which was interest only - the idea being that I would be able to clear my mortgage from the tax-free lump sum I would be able to take at my retirement.
In fact, this worked out pretty well, although there was very little "extra" for things such as holidays, or any other large expense.
Despite of "life" throwing various "curveballs" at me (including the death of my mother, a late marriage, and a few other things), I am now reasonably situated (I have three small pensions), and am working on building more savings in order to feel a little more financially secure.
As has been previously pointed out, only you can know how much you need in order to live comfortably, and what you could "do without" if need be. Do your sums, and if (and only if) you are happy that you can live with limited means for the required period, then go ahead. There are considerable savings in not having to go to work (travel, lunches, clothes etc) and you can save a lot of money by finding new things to enjoy that cost much less than things such as theatres, cinema, drinks out etc., that may have been what you enjoyed with work colleagues. There are plenty of tips on frugal living on the internet (or in libraries, when available). Good Luck, whatever choice you make. It is only sensible to consider such things before retirement!

There is never a right time to take early retirement but too many people l know kept working and never retired they passed before they could.
So l would go for it life is full of if's but's and maybe.
Check your finances incomings and outgoings and cut your cloth accordingly, you save money on petrol, convenience food, and a whole host of other things you find you dont need.
Life in retiŕement is great! It is what you make it.Time is a precious commodity which we take for granted till it is too late.Money is not everything!

After living off Jobseekers (£73 per week)for 2 yrs just over 4 yrs ago.

Yes I will deff manage on the state pension. If I decide to retire in October.

Personally I think 6 years is a long time to start depleting saving before accessing the meagre state pension. Economies can be made in day living costs can be made but it is the one off costs like replacing the car, insurance premiums and replacing a broken washing machine which can
often break the bank. I'd go down to part time, and try living on part time earnings for a while first.

Don't advise doing that unless you are happy to spend all your days scrimping and saving. Much better to have part time job at least or you could end up with a miserable retirement. You need to be able to treat yourselves sometimes, not constantly wondering if you can afford an odd luxury or two. You have not worked all this time to be miserable.

I suppose it depends on how good a person is at managing a limited income.
Lots can and do live comfortably on state pension and credits to top it up.

Check out your state pension forecasts and NI records too as the new State Pension does seem to depend on contributions in those later years. You can pay voluntary NICs, but this could be difficult if you’re on a tight budget. They are about £15 per week. 35 years contributions straddling the old and new state pensions schemes can mean you don’t get the full new SP currently £175 per week.

Thanks again to everyone who has replied. Just to clarify DH and I are currently in good health but other than one close relative most have died in their late fifties or early 60s , which is what had prompted us to consider early retirement. Having said this we hope to live long and healthy lives and therefore need to be sure we are making the right decision for us . Once we hit state pension age we would also have a small private pension from DH previous job , so our income then would be today's equivalent of £1600 per month . We have doubled checked our pension forecast and already have enough years to qualify as have both worked since aged 16 . We currently live on under £1400 per month, which would be our income before state pension age . We have factored in price increases and will have a reserve pot of approx 20k for emergencies . We have also allowed for 2 extra years in case pension age changes so may have a bit more savings left if it does not. I have to confess I was hoping that you would all say " go for it " , but appreciate your honesty and opinions . I think a part time job may be the way forward , just to make life a little more comfortable For those of you who suggested equity release, we really wouldnt want to consider this , although it may be the right option for some

If your health isn't too good imho you should both retire. If things get tight you could consider taking equity release on your home. I know some people will recoil at this suggestion but you have both had a full working life and deserve whatever time you have together, hopefully many years. Enjoy your time together, maybe do some voluntary work and don't fret about full time work.

Thanks Mazzy9 , fortunately we are still currently in good health but would like to retire while that is the case .

Maybe you could sign up to a work agency, so you can work on an 'as and when' basis? (Or not, if you don't need to)

I don't blame you for wanting time just to "be".

Covid has given me a great insight into retirement.
I know that we can’t do much in lockdown but if we, personally, had to live on our pensions only then I think we wouldn’t be able to do much at any other time.
I want to live in our bungalow but have the option to downsize if we need to do so. I am happy to keep working part time to fund this and our holidays. I am lucky that I like my work and miss it at the moment.
We all have different requirements and I want to have some luxuries in retirement and I don’t want to worry about unexpected expenses. Your pension seems to be similar to ours and I couldn’t live on that alone. I may be able to on the whole but then we get winter and big oil bills, then it’s the car tax, MOT, then the house insurance . It’s always something.

Like others I wonder if you could work part time? You could, perhaps, do house sitting. I think you get some payment and you would have mini breaks all over the U.K.

I'm working full time and paying a mortgage on what you will be living on and putting £200 a month away in savings. Obviously it depends on what you enjoy spending money on. I'm 57 this year and want to go part time next year but will need part time wages til 67 but more free time to me means much more than money. It's what's the most important to you I would say. Good luck

There may be encouragement for early retirement in order to get younger people into jobs. It might be worth a little wait

Sandytoes,
My husband's teacher pension ( which he paid through the nose for each month) is 1400 monthly.
We have no mortgage either ( council tax is over £200 per month for 10 months a year) and we run 2 cars but we manage very well on that figure.
We are, however, looking forward to him turning 66 this year and me turning 66 in just over 2 years! Yes, it is doable and we have hobbies too.

Maybe I’m going against the grain here Sandytoes but I’d definitely say ‘go for it’.

I honestly think most people are over-cautious in calculating their needs upon retirement .

We retired 6 years pre-state pension. We enjoy a nice life. Admittedly we don’t have a mortgage or pay rent.

My WASPI state pension this last 8 months wasn’t factored in when we did our sums on the back of an envelope in 2014.

We are happy bunnies.

Good luck, whatever you decide.

Sandytoes, I took one of my work pensions early (at a reduced rate) and, at the same time, gradually reduced the days and hours I worked. So, rather than a drastic change, I had a gradual adjustment into retirement.

If you continue working, remember to take work expenses into account with your budget. It's surprising how much travel, lunches, clothes etc. cost.

On the other hand, you'll need contingency funds for a 'rainy day' too (in my case, expensive dental work).

I'm better off now than when I was working, with state pension, work pensions and property income. My expenses are lower (no dependents, mortgage or large bills).

It's difficult to strike the right balance, between working too long and retiring too early. Would you be happy to reduce or give up luxuries (holidays, meals out etc.) that we seem to need to compensate for working?

My friend didn't want to downsize, so now has two lodgers, with extra tax-free income, from the rent-a-room scheme, and is very happy.

I retired at 58 when my husband was 62. The plan had been that he would retire at 65, a year after me (at age 60, when I was supposed to get my state pension). It didn't work out like that, as the pension age changed, so neither of us will get a state pension until we are 66. My income has gone down considerably - partly because of early retirement, and partly because I was unable to pay into an occupational pension for a long time after I started work. My husband's pension is a lot better than mine, but jointly, we don't have remotely what we had planned for (a year with me getting my state pension and a better occupational pension, then, when he retired, two lots of state and occupational ones).

My husband decided to retire at 60, as he wasn't enjoying his work, and after two years of getting up and leaving the house whilst he was still in bed, I decided to join him. The house was paid for, which obviously helped, but I am a worrier, and wasn't sure how we would manage.

What I found was that not having to pay for 2 commutes, 2 lots of lunches, coffees, work clothes, (and all the things people have to pay just to go to work) made far more difference than I'd expected. Tax went right down, and although I still pay NI contributions, the voluntary ones are significantly less than in-work ones.

Some of the time since I left has been lockdown, of course, during which we have spent nothing on going out or having people round here, so expenditure hasn't been typical lately, and what with the damage to the economy caused by Covid and Brexit, things might get tighter before the state pensions kick in.

I think that a lot depends on how much you spend in order to feel happy. That's not the same as how much you spend to scrape by. You need to factor in the things that you enjoy. For some that is having a full TV package, for others a fancy phone, lots of books or being able to afford lots of lovely knitting yarn . It's doing without that sort of thing that makes people miserable, I think. It's easier to do without one big thing, like an exotic holiday, than to spend every day noticing all the little things you can't afford.

If you already have plenty of 'stuff' (many of us have too much of it by the time we get to retirement age) and your budget allows you to afford a little luxury or two, I would say go for it. Personally, I have never looked back - I know it's a cliche, but I don't know how I had time to go to work.

Doodledog The pension age for women changed in the 1990s.