Spend or save

"As somebody else has said, your spending is likely to reduce as you get older and usually more immobile and I don't think people should worry so much about leaving an inheritance."

Agree on inheritance part

However, if you suffer increasing mobility issues, who pays for the help you need to compensate for that?

I read a book a while ago called Die With Zero which encourages people not to save frantically but to spend what they can afford on experiences as that is what enriches your life. As somebody else has said, your spending is likely to reduce as you get older and usually more immobile and I don't think people should worry so much about leaving an inheritance. Spend what you have earned, enjoy your life, give away what you can whilst you are alive so that others can benefit when they are younger and your children or other beneficiaries will get whatever is left - if it's nothing, so what, at least you have had a hell of a ride!! Your children are not "entitled" to your money, it's your money so enjoy it.

No pockets in shrouds as my mother used to say, so I spend and save, especially for car repairs .
My daughter will inherit what is left but I intend to help her out with her mortgage once her 5 year fixed rate is up. At the age of almost 73 what else is there to save for? Don’t say care home!!!

Those % of going into care - are they including family members taking care of them?

Those numbers seem way too low

That was encouraging Casdon

Thank you Casdon for reminding me that only 4% of over 65s go into care and 15% of over 85s do.
Pretty good odds !

Yes Gran24, that £23,500 is also the limit of savings you can have for equipment for disabled eg mobility scooters, cars etc. Spend your money!

Re care home costs. Once you have over £23,500 savings (in england) you pay full amount for care home fees and. ‘Better’ care homes require. ‘Top-up’ from a third party (family). First person, from joint household value of house does not come into equation but 2nd one it does and then it will all go until you are on £23,500 mark. However, supposedly, from 2025 the maximum should be paid into care is just over £85,500 but that has been decided by todays government and we all know about u-turns. It may be a ploy to get the older voters support now. Who knows.

When we downsized and retired here we split all savings/money from the sale of our larger house 50/50. We have a joint account for bills that we both pay a set amount into each month and our own personal a/c and own savings account. This way each of us can spend our savings on whatever we want. For holidays we pay half each. It works out well for us as I'm a saver and OH is a spender.

We struggled financially at the time when we had small children, we managed through mr working at a few jobs I really didn’t enjoy. We’ve been able to do more for our children - including paying university fees and guaranteeing rent so they could live in decent accommodation, and it’s been a pleasure to see them fulfilling their ambitions and getting on in life, as many younger people we know would love to have settled accommodation.

It’s about a balance - of course one should ideally have some savings for the proverbial rainy day - but life is definitely for living! My financial advisor recommended that my last cheque should bounce!

It is a joint hobby but I wouldn’t spend so much. you say.

Why not? What is it that makes you not want to spend on something you both enjoy?

Maybe examine why you feel like this - and then discuss with your husband?
I think if you ask yourself "why?" you may be closer to an answer.

I am pleased that I spent my savings on travelling and helping my grand children? Now that I am very old and housebound what would be the good of money in the bank.
I will refuse to go into a care home as long as I can pay for home help.

Unless a house is in a trust, it may not be possible for it to be inherited, as it could be needed to be sold to pay for residential care.

dragonfly46

I think if you have been careful all your life as we have done it is hard to suddenly start spending.
We are trying to spend a little more on fun things as we have more than enough for future eventualities.

Pretty much how I feel.
A friend of my husband’s has treated himself to many hobby things and also a very posh new car and paid £15,000 for a hip replacement. That’s after being very frugal all his life.
He says “I don’t want to be the richest man in the graveyard.” 🤣

Then the answer is to compromise, find something cheaper but still fun

It is a joint hobby but I wouldn’t spend so much. He does work hard and also has to help with the cooking - arthritis and knives don’t go together, so deserves relaxation. As dragonfly46 says having struggled for so long it is difficult to start spending. It is not enough to cover care home costs. Not worried about leaving our children anything as they are better off than us!

I think you should have a think about leaving an amount as a safety net

Then.... Then you have a think about whether it is fair for husband to use a large chunk for his hobby rather than something that benefits you both

I think if you have been careful all your life as we have done it is hard to suddenly start spending.
We are trying to spend a little more on fun things as we have more than enough for future eventualities.

It is a difficult one, none of us know how long we are going to be around for or how much money we will need. Some hobbies can be expensive, joining a golf club for example but if it’s something you enjoy and can afford why not. I wonder what the hobby is, if it’s something like collecting classic cars then that could be very expensive!
Things can go expensively wrong with houses, cars, pets, health etc so you just never know what you may have to fork out for, even a trip to the dentist can cost hundreds of £’s. That’s said, life is for living and we all want to try & enjoy ourselves while we’re here.

This is a dilemma I have been facing.
My H was a careful spender but we were very generous with our two children, over generous in fact.
He died 4 years ago and I have a reasonable pension income but I also have savings.
I am now 86 and am deciding how much to spend on just me.
There is a house to inherit so they will not be left without.

OP said they were in their 70s, which could mean anything from 70 to 79. Obviously it’s ideal if your income can provide a decent standard of living and some treats, as well as topping up the pot for the unexpected. But we don’t actually have any idea of how well off they are, what their respective incomes are, how much they or each of them have in savings - nor should we - so apart from answering the question as to what we should consider saving for, there’s not a lot to be said. I suspect this is really about how much the husband is spending, but we can’t say if it’s unfair or unaffordable or leaving them vulnerable.

Keep in mind though that only 4% of over 65s, and 15% of over 85s go into care. Your home would be sold to recoup the costs if that happens to you, so you don’t need to save large amounts for it as well. You are more likely to need care support at home if you live to a very old age, so you do need to financially plan for that so you can live at home as long as possible.

How about when/if you need care? How do you plan to pay for it?

You are only 70 years old - lots of years to come

Save or spend is the proverbial, how long is a piece of string!

We have to enjoy life now without spending every penny we have - and it depends on your regular income from pensions and investments.

What is his hobby that's could take up a large percentage of your savings?