Hypothetical question regarding retirement

The age for the state pension has gone up again, for me it looks like 68! Company pension is 65 so that would be ideal.

Pensions and retirement have been discussed at work today, when people would like to stop work etc. Things are different now, today a 60 year old is generally fitter than a 60 year old, say, 20 years ago. One of the guys working with us is almost 70 and still working, doesn't need to but I suppose he would be bored if he stopped, no outside interests, no hobbies, just work then home. He and his wife have raised their kids, they have a big house and a mercedes. All very well but I personally would sell up, buy something smaller and use the money to travel. Their only holiday are visiting family in India and that is it they don't go anywhere else.
 
What is your question @Lullabelle?

I was lucky enough to retire at 58 with still some life left in the old bones, a reasonable 'teacher's pension' and a lump sum to pay off the mortgage. 8 years on, I can't imagine working full time. It would kill me off! But everything depends on individual circumstances: how fit you are, if you have a company pension, whether you can pay off the mortgage etc. In the UK, living on a state pension alone is pretty well poverty level.
 
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morning glory said:
What is your question @Lullabelle?

I was lucky enough to retire at 58 with still some life left in the old bones, a reasonable 'teacher's pension' and a lump sum to pay off the mortgage. 8 years on, I can't imagine working full time. It would kill me off! But everything depends on individual circumstances: how fit you are, if you have a company pension, whether you can pay of the mortgage etc. In the UK, living on a state pension alone is pretty well poverty level.
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Here in the states, it depends on how much you put in.
Some people live very well on a state pension and others are scraping by or need a reverse mortgage to pay the bills. A lot of it depends on lifestyle and bills.
 
Cinisajoy said:
Here in the states, it depends on how much you put in.
Some people live very well on a state pension and others are scraping by or need a reverse mortgage to pay the bills. A lot of it depends on lifestyle and bills.
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Its a different system I think. Here, as long as you pay basic National Insurance contributions for a certain number of years throughout your working life, you get a State Pension when you retire. National Insurance is automatically deducted if you are in employment.

Currently, the full new State Pension is £159.55 ($206) per week. This is the new amount and I don't receive that much.
 
morning glory said:
Its a different system I think. Here, as long as you pay basic National Insurance contributions for a certain number of years throughout your working life, you get a State Pension when you retire. National Insurance is automatically deducted if you are in employment.

Currently, the full new State Pension is £159.55 ($206) per week. This is the new amount and I don't receive that much.
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Very different system. Here if you have paid in for 40+ years and steadily increased your income to slightly less than 40k and retire at 67 and 2 months, you will get roughly 1,900 a month. If you retire at 62, you will get roughly 1,400 a month. The final payment may change in the next few years.
We thought about retiring this year but decided to wait.

Now if you quit your job at 62 but don't take retirement then but wait till full retirement age, you will get roughly half what you thought you would. A friend was supposed to get either 1200 at 62 or 1400 at 66 but she quit her job at 62 didnt take the retirement until 66 and wound up getting 700 a month because she didn't work those 4 years. It is based on work history and more what you made over the last 5 years.
 
I finally retired 4 years ago. I say finally because every time I tried to escape they asked me to stay on a bit longer. It was handy though because my mortgage repayments were rather high - I was too old to get a building society mortgage and ended up with one from my bank. I actually managed to pay it up last November - in theory it still had another 2 years to run. You could say that has helped me in a way because now my state pension and minute work pension are all my own. I got used to living on a pittance so even that amount seems a lot to me. I could never go back to work. Far too busy. Besides my health issues mean that some days I can barely move, let alone walk. I can drive though - I invested in a large comfy saloon car 12 years ago and it suits me. There's enough room in it for the mutt too. At least two advantages of keeping a greyhound are that they are the laziest creatures going (well, they have retired too!) and don't need long walks and are used to being transported..... On better days I take him to a lovely park about 6 miles away, or we go back to the kennels and walk some of the other greys that are not so lucky as him in having a home they can call their own.
 
I am semi retired never will leave this area because of my daughter and grandchild. If your healthy you could visit other countries anytime and still come back to your home when you like. Just my opinion of course.
 
I'm in the US on the West Coast. Ideally, I would love to live on the beach, but real estate is much too high here, as is the cost of living. It would be great to find a place on the beach with a lower cost of living. There are pros and cons. I like the weather as it's warm almost all year round, but the summers have gotten hotter and hotter. I like the location because it's close to everything from shopping to restaurants and every Terrain - desert, Beach, mountains and snow. The property taxes are also very high here. The mortgage is paid off thank goodness, so I wouldn't size up or buy anything more expensive. If I did sell, it would be all on one level no stairs. From what I've heard, there are retirement homes that cost as much as $4,000 a month. All things considered, I'm pretty happy here. For now.
 
Karen W said:
I'm in the US on the West Coast. Ideally, I would love to live on the beach, but real estate is much too high here, as is the cost of living. It would be great to find a place on the beach with a lower cost of living. There are pros and cons. I like the weather as it's warm almost all year round, but the summers have gotten hotter and hotter. I like the location because it's close to everything from shopping to restaurants and every Terrain - desert, Beach, mountains and snow. The property taxes are also very high here. The mortgage is paid off thank goodness, so I wouldn't size up or buy anything more expensive. If I did sell, it would be all on one level no stairs. From what I've heard, there are retirement homes that cost as much as $4,000 a month. All things considered, I'm pretty happy here. For now.
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Happy is a good thing. I just look around and see how much work it would be to move and I start to shake.
I am happy here too
 
sjm1027 said:
I am semi retired never will leave this area because of my daughter and grandchild. If your healthy you could visit other countries anytime and still come back to your home when you like. Just my opinion of course.
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I like the idea of moving abroad but don't fancy the strife that goes with it. I think we will stick with travelling and coming back home to plan the next trip :happy:
 
sjm1027 said:
Happy is a good thing. I just look around and see how much work it would be to move and I start to shake.
I am happy here too
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I do the same - but my very grown up kids have at last moved out and its just me and partner in a 4 bed Victorian house. Its not a huge house but much bigger than we need. I really need to think about 'downsizing' if only to cut down on bills. But... before I can do that I need to do a mega de-clutter. And I do mean mega!
 
65 is retirement here, although a good friend who's a butcher and 71 shrill works 4 days a week. He says he has too, as his divorce cost him a fortune. He has a shop and house, he has to sell the shop to,pay her out. I feel sorry for him. I've worked for myself for over 30 years so I'm comfortable. Small mortgage, we have our own garden and I make all our preserves so we are cheap on food bills. I do lots of swaps. Never paid for crayfish whitebait scallops or Paua. All swaps. We live well.

Russ
 
I can't see retirement as something that i would be able to do. I am sure social security will be defunct by the time i am near the age that it is suppose to start paying plus i have never had the income to afford much saving.
 
morning glory said:
I do the same - but my very grown up kids have at last moved out and its just me and partner in a 4 bed Victorian house. Its not a huge house but much bigger than we need. I really need to think about 'downsizing' if only to cut down on bills. But... before I can do that I need to do a mega de-clutter. And I do mean mega!
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Where does all this stuff come from? LOL. I've been boxing up a few things for the Salvation Army in a few days. You can go online and make an appointment, and they will pick it up for you.
 
morning glory said:
I do the same - but my very grown up kids have at last moved out and its just me and partner in a 4 bed Victorian house. Its not a huge house but much bigger than we need. I really need to think about 'downsizing' if only to cut down on bills. But... before I can do that I need to do a mega de-clutter. And I do mean mega!
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Karen W said:
Where does all this stuff come from? LOL. I've been boxing up a few things for the Salvation Army in a few days. You can go online and make an appointment, and they will pick it up for you.
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That is a very good question-where does it all come from? There has only ever been 2 of us yet we appear to have a crazy amount of stuff despite having regular clear-outs :o_o:
 
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