Key Post How much will you spend in retirement?

JimmyB99 said:
Is this per person or per couple?
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Pretty sure it’s for an individual.

I would guess that you would need to add around 50% to the desired income for a retired couple.

I would be very interested to hear what retired posters think of the calculator. Does it broadly line up with their own experience?
 
I found it helpful to think about what you could consider. However, the budget allocated for each item varies widely according to your expectations. For example, the 2 weeks yearly budget is as much as I plan currently for a family of 4 in peak season. I hope to be able to avoid school holidays before I am 60.
 
Sarenco said:
I would be very interested to hear what retired posters think of the calculator. Does it broadly line up with their own experience?
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That calculator is surprisingly accurate. A number of years before retiring I pulled a year's expenditure from my C/A and CC and analysed it in detail, adjusting it for my anticipated retirement lifestyle. Allowing for inflation, the figures are very similar to my post retirement outgoings. We spend more but its all discretionary, (art, eating out, gardening, local travel/weekends away etc). but the core numbers are correct. I would say however that people's expenditure varies a lot, and it is also quite feasible to live on less than this and have a reasonable quality of life. Many do.
 
Sarenco said:
Obviously this will vary enormously but I recently came across this calculator from Standard Life that I thought was quite interesting -

How much do I need to retire? | Pension Planning | Standard Life

When you're planning for retirement it's important to think about the income you'll need to live the lifestyle you want. Our calculator can help you start planning today.
www.standardlife.ie www.standardlife.ie
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To be honest no calculator provides one size fits all. I am 60 and my better half 62. We have no borrowings for well over two decades.
We do not aspire to grandeur. We both had average incomes both always a small bit better than the so called average industrial wage.during our working lives. I appreciate we are just retired and eager to travel etc. That said at this stage we would be of the opinion that to enjoy retirement and do the bucket list pretty much the same income is required for the first several years of retirement.
 
4 weeks in the sun each winter is €3,928. Seems way over the top, unless you're going to a 5* in Acapulco.

I had a week recently in southern Spain, and total cost was ~ €800. That includes flights, which wouldn't be applicable for the other three weeks, as well as general living expenses, of which a big part would already be accounted for in the €15,158 annual figure.
 
Come on! Get real, the costs there apply to the likes of Beyoncé, Cliff Richard and a few other celebrities. Callybags (above) is nearer the true mark. A good 2 bedroom apartment (front line) in Spain and centrally located costs €800 per month (off season) including internet, electricity, water, refuse. And you can get cheaper, but not centrally located etc.
 
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callybags said:
4 weeks in the sun each winter is €3,928. Seems way over the top, unless you're going to a 5* in Acapulco.

I had a week recently in southern Spain, and total cost was ~ €800. That includes flights, which wouldn't be applicable for the other three weeks, as well as general living expenses, of which a big part would already be accounted for in the €15,158 annual figure.
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Leper said:
Come on! Get real, the costs there apply to the likes of Beyoncé, Cliff Richard and a few other celebrities. Callybags (above) is nearer the true mark. A good 2 bedroom apartment (front line) in Spain and centrally located costs €800 per month (off season) including internet, electricity, water, refuse. And you can get cheaper, but not centrally located etc.
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I agree, and would be very skeptical about these generalised calculators. About as useful as the other posters who assert, without qualification, that the target pension pot "should" be €2M! :rolleyes: I would be much more inclined to start with my own existing costs/expenditure budget and work from that. Especially since people's lifestyle, expectations, and expenditure varies so much. A simple, if boring, exercise that anyone can do for themselves, rather than depending on a calculator from a source with a vested interest in sowing fear, uncertainty, and doubt.
 
I don’t think that anybody would or should “depend” on the calculator.

Still, I think it’s an interesting starting point in thinking about the level of income you might need in retirement. But you’re right, of course, it’s certainly no substitute for pulling together an individualised budget.
 
One material line item that struck me as missing from the calculator is health insurance.

I suspect health insurance premiums constitute a significant item of expenditure for a lot of retirees.

Also, there’s no allowance for gifts or charitable contributions.
 
Sarenco said:
One material line item that struck me as missing from the calculator is health insurance.

I suspect health insurance premiums constitute a significant item of expenditure for a lot of retirees.

Also, there’s no allowance for gifts or charitable contributions.
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These are probably subsumed into the base figure assuming that they take the same approach was the ISI with their Reasonable Living Expenses figures. In fact, they may actually be using those directly?
 
ClubMan said:
. In fact, they may actually be using those directly?
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No, they specify where that figure comes from at the end of the calculator.

It’s 60% of the national median income; the “at risk of poverty threshold”.

I very much doubt that somebody at that income level would have health insurance but they almost certainly would qualify for a medical card.
 
Good discussion here. Albeit from the « other end »
www.boards.ie

What is a reasonable pension pot?

I started my pension late, not very late but later than I would have liked! For this reason, last year I started doin AVC's. I'm 34, and I worry about my future.
www.boards.ie www.boards.ie

g
 
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By now you all are fairly familiar with my story of early retirement and what I've gotten up to over the last decade
And when the question is asked of me and retirement the first thing I generally ask is "how much does it cost you to live"
and I normally break that down into two sections essential and non essential spending
I view essential as as the basics like food shopping, utilities, all insurances including car, eating out and take aways
Everything else is basically non essential but sometimes the lines between the two do become blurred especially when it comes to bike related things

Below is a fairly accurate view of most of our living costs over the last 11 years for two adults living in a bog standard three bed dormer bungalow with two cars and a cat and an unhealthy obsession of all things bike related:rolleyes:

Year201220172022
Food Shopping407633614103
ESB980834680
Gas1234887992
Waste--172178
Broadband616432370
Mobile--469239
TV & Licence689761351
Health Insurance & Medical exp127028193930
Car Insurance & Maintenance70025001851
Petrol700662547
House Insurance & Maintenance11261421746
Entertainment & Takeaways46818651293
Holidays---157014500
All Things Bike175125456070
Miscellaneous Spending75014251217
Totals€14360€35854€27067
 
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Cervelo said:
By now you all are fairly familiar with my story of early retirement and what I've gotten up to over the last decade
And when the question is asked of me and retirement the first thing I generally ask is "how much does it cost you to live"
and I normally break that down into two sections essential and non essential spending
I view essential as as the basics like food shopping, utilities, all insurances including car, eating out and take aways
Everything else is basically non essential but sometimes the lines between the two do become blurred especially when it comes to bike related things

Below is a fairly accurate view of most of our living costs over the last 11 years for two adults living in a bog standard three bed dormer bungalow with two cars and a cat and an unhealthy obsession of all things bike related:rolleyes:

Year201220172020
Food Shopping407633614103
ESB980834680
Gas1234887992
Waste--172178
Broadband616432370
Mobile--469239
TV529761191
Health Insurance & Medical exp127028193930
Car Insurance & Maintenance70025001851
Petrol700662547
House Insurance & Maintenance12861421906
Entertainment & Takeaways46818651293
Holidays---157014500
All Things Bike175125456070
Miscellaneous Spending75014251217
Totals€14360€35854€27067
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Interesting, thanks. I see your energy bills are low compared to ours, house maintenance ditto. And you seem to have a trouble-free cat - no large vet bills. I think we spend more despite downsizing to one car and having lower cost holidays, so I should do a similar breakdown. We have expensive enough hobbies/pastimes too, isn't that what retirement is for?
 
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