I know that this is sort of how long is a piece of string question but for a couple in mid 60s, no mortgage, would like 2/3 months each year in the sun, not extravagant lifestyle by any means, how much approx. would they need each month €3k./€4k. ?????
I think €5k a month in today’s money is a really good number.
Most surveys/studies seem to suggest that a (net) income of around €50k pa would fund a very comfortable lifestyle for most couples, with a mortgage-free home.
It is very much an open ended question and really depends on what type of lifestyle an individual or couple wants to pursue in retirement
While €5k per month and €50k a year might seem like excessive amounts to some people I can see very easily how this much can be spent and then some when providing for a "very comfortable" lifestyle but the thing is everybody's Idea of "very comfortable" is going to be different
I've mentioned here a few times that I track all of our spending and have been doing it consistently on Excel for the last 20 odd years.
It has given me a great insight into how and where I have been spending but more importantly it gives me a fairly rock solid idea of how much money I'm going to need for essential and non-essential spending for the coming year and the foreseeable future.
So for pig-iron, we are a mid fifties retired couple living in a 3 bed semi D with no kids or loans of any kind
Essential spending for us is all our grocery shopping, all utility bills, all running costs for two cars, medical insurance and all other medical expenses (very small at the moment), eating out at least once a month and a takeaway once a week and any small house or appliance repairs or replacements.
This cost has averaged out over the last five years at €15k per year, I should add that there is plenty of wiggle room in that should the need arise
Non-essential spending is everything else like personal spending, foreign travel, cigarettes for herself, cycling stuff for myself etc etc
Its hard to put an actual figure on this as it can very so much from year to year compared to the essential spending but the average spend per year would be somewhere €20k and €25k
Our most expensive year was 2018 where we spent just shy of €50k but this included 4 months for me in Spain, a week for herself visiting me in Spain, a two week road trip with herself traveling back from Spain, a months road trip in North east America and finally a week for herself in Spain with a friend (travel total just shy of €23k)
So for us €35k to €40k a year usually is more than enough to provide us a "very comfortable" lifestyle with a good bit of foreign travel
The thread has lots of couples enjoying their golden years together.
So how what's the experience of somebody who is single with retirement?
I know your question is aimed at a single persons experience but I would just like to add that I don't think a persons relationship status should be a barrier to a person enjoying their life, if there is something you would like to do or some place you'd like to travel to don't be afraid to give it a go just because your single, you never know where it might lead you to and likewise if you're coupled up and would like to do something that you know your partner would have no interest in, talk to them you might be surprised by their answer
