Pension required for comfortable living

Cars are going to become a lot more expensive the next few years, with the new European ncap regulations starting in 2022 with driver monitoring in every car plus electric cars about 30% dearer becoming the norm.

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People think it’s a holiday , but not a easy holiday making a living,
You must live somewhere interesting I guess near a large town like Bordeaux? As in rural charente there certainly isn’t much to do that’s interesting, c’est mort.

I have always thought that what you spend is far more important than what you earn, my in-laws have a joint pension income of around £35k a year but that is not enough to fund their lifestyle so they dip into savings rather than cutback.

Having been out of the UK now for 14 years we’ve become used to living on less, our shopping habits have changed drastically but we don’t feel poorer for it. We will be better off when we’re retired as our costs will plummet, no cotisations to pay, only one vehicle to run, no children to support etc.

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From my many posts, it should be quite clear that I live in a small rural village.

I guess it all depends on one’s outlook and what one finds “interesting”… as well as the level to which one is prepared to get involved in the local community and beyond. :thinking:

As I have said, the article is about Retired folk, not those making a living.

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Quite right @tim
A sound business maxim defines the way to profit as being the price at which you buy… less so the price you sell at. Same meat, different gravy :wink:

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You just adapt Barrie, we live fairly close to you and there is stuff to do but it just takes a bit of time to suss things out.

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And if these figures are for pensioners, then there’s no budget line for care costs? That needs budgeting for surely…

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Care Costs are certainly not within my budget. However, we have made our home as “user-friendly” as we can, with the prospect of old-age and possible infirmities.

Having said that, I have already managed to get up and down stairs on my bottom, with my leg in plaster, so feel quietly confident that the Stannah Lift can wait yet a while. :thinking:

Those figures relate to retirement in UK - a very different proposition.

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I too live in rural Charente. How can you say there is nothing interesting going on when I can look out of our window and see this racing across our garden?


A family of deer having their breakfast…

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Anyone can join their local Comité des Fêtes - where their support and ideas will be welcomed.

This is also an excellent way to learn/improve language skills and integrate with the community. :hugs:

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Received a standard letter from DWP this morning confirming that if I continue to live in a EEA state or Switzerland and are currently entitled to an increase to the State Pension, they will continue to pay the increase for 3 years up to and including 2022-23 and that this will happen even if the UK leaves without a deal.
It continues - “The Government plans to negotiate an agreement to ensure [it] will carry on being updated in the longer term.”

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I’m intrigued to know with whom they intend to negotiate … :thinking:

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Really I haven’t found it, most people I met don’t do much except vide greniers.

What would you do with your spare time if you still lived in Britain?

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So, a couple with £35K (~€40K) struggle to maintain their lifestyle without bolstering it with their savings.

Innocently assuming that during the path to their retirement they had such a commensurate income that they had houses, boats, cars etc, and that by now they own all that they have (rather than are still paying for it), I must admit to being at a loss as to what it is that they are spending their money on ?.

Okay with holidays, cruises, new cars, etc, yes it eats money, but even if I lived on and ate and drunk an amount far less than that, I’m sure I’d be long dead before now.

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Please can you explain what you mean in your last paragraph. I’ve tried several times but I can’t understand it. Thank you.

Nearly 500 per person minimum on clothing ! If i spent a tenner a week on it I would still look like a sack tied up in the middle . I think I will save my money & continue to look " rural " french. Maybe new overalls and a cap every couple of years. Oh and clogs !

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They run three vehicles, holiday 3/4 times a year, eat out 2/3 times a week, have membership of clubs and gyms and MIL in particular has an extensive wardrobe. Not hard to see where the money goes but as they’ve worked hard all their lives why not spend it.

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There’s always things open , day and evening. Better transport to get around. Even the villages and towns are busy not dead like here. Great cycling ( North Yorkshire moors) here the scenery is nothing special. Always a bar meal or pint after a Sunday walk.
As for the communes organising things, non, things at the salle de fête and vide greniers don’t interest me after 15 years.

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Just wondering what made you settle where you are, Barrie… :thinking:

Have you any words of advice for folk trying to find “the right spot” in France??

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