I know a lot of this thread is serious p*** take - I really enjoy it . I wanted though to ask something.
I have been wondering about my own and other people’s experience of the financial aspects of retirement. First to be clear my wife and I are not wealthy but I suppose would be described as “comfortable.”
Until recently I hadn’t realised the extent to which not having a salary coming in was preying on my mind. In mid January I sat down worked through all our expenses for the previous 9 months, the period we have both been retired, and now fully understand our pension income ( we haven’t reached state pension age) is enough to run the house and give us a weekly budget of £cxc to cover clothing, food, going out, petrol etc. What I would deem “day to day” expenses. Some weeks we go way over, £90 on concert tickets last week, others we come in well below. After doing this exercise I feel far more comfortable. The budgets do not include holidays, if they did it wouldn’t work.
Where I struggle is the idea of spending capital, our savings. We need to use this money to fund travel, my wife is in India as I post!!!! It’s not spending that concerns me but the realisation I can no longer replace savings when I’ve spent them. Once it’s gone, it’s gone!
Am I alone or do others experience this?
I do not think you are alone with the above thoughts.
I will share my take on the situation, but, not the details of my income!
Words like "comfortable", "get by", "not well off" are rather miss-leading, in that, they mean different things, to different people.
Most people (regardless of income) regard themselves as, at best "comfortable", ie, in income terms, "the poor" starts and me, and goes down, every one above me, is "wealthy", "rich" or "well off".
My approach to money, even when I was working, was that, the less you had of it, the more vital you kept control of it.
Before I retired (age 60, five years before my State Pension "kicked in", and taking a 50% penalty on my Company Pension, for doing so), I sat down with Excel and worked out what I regarded as my "essential living costs", ie, Heat, Light, Council Tax, Fuel for Car(s), Clothing, Household items replacement, etc etc. These were clearly not exact figures, they were a budget, an estimate, call it what you will.
I then set up a separate bank account, into which we paid an amount of money to cover the above outgoings. From then on, all "bills" were paid from that account.
What ever I (we) have left in our current accounts is money we can spend on "frivolities", ie Bicycles, Holidays, Eating out, Drink, etc etc
We are now eleven years "in" to retirement, and, so far, we have kept our "heads above water", and, been able to pretty much do the things we want to do.
Some people have the ability to not concern themselves about money, that is fine, if they can sleep at night, not problem. I am not one of them, I need to know I can "pay my way", it sounds as if you too suffer this "affliction".
It is all about being in control of your finances, but, not obsessed with them IMHO.
Good luck in your retirement, may you enjoy good health, and live long enough to get all of your pension contributions back, and then some!
Now, back to the jokes and p*** taking, we cannot have too much of this serious stuff, the clock is ticking!
