How Much Can I Spend in Retirement with a £500,000 Portfolio?

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00:00 Death of a friend
00:49 Jess & Jack’s financial situation
01:29 How much will I spend?
07:49 What everyone forgets
10:05 What about inflation & investment returns?
12:42 How long will I live?

[@JamesShack]

Do you find these types of examples useful? Are there any other situations you would like me to cover?

[@neilb8822]

Very much so as many of us are the first generations not to have a final salary pension and working this all out ourselves is stressful. New scenario would be waiting for redundancy vs leaving of own volition and working out financial implications.

[@ianwhittaker3041]

Hi James. We are a working south east based couple (ages 56 & 54 with 2 older kids) with various pensions (DB & Sipp DC), ISA's, and BTLs, and looking to spend £60k pa in retirement and travel the world. We'd like to know if we can achieve that in 2 years time when we're 58 & 56. Would you consider us for a case study? Thanks

[@themiddleagedmillenial4380]

One with public servicea defined benefit schemes both legacy and new

[@igorpuskarskis1592]

Mind blowing how much difference can 5k make in expenditure. Love how detailed and informative your vids are

[@simonunion4657]

I am 55 and retiring with 550k so interesting for me no children, don`t drive own house so out goings low see what the future holds yourself, pensioncraft and a few others like Chris Bourne all good channels 👍

[@getreal7964]

Had to put my dad in a care home a few years back. Cost me £75,000 over two years but he was very happy there and great care so wiped me out a bit but still the best decision for both of us !

[@liammullan2197]

James your videos are very generous spirited. You're a professional in the industry but while many hold their cards close to their chests you appear to genuinely care about helping others. Good on you.

[@JamesShack]

Thank you for saying so!

[@MikesGlitch]

Loved this video - very relatable example & numbers. 🙂 It's good to remember that there will always be warning signs before you run out of money, and to be willing to adapt.

[@ObediahWashe]

This was useful preparation for my R06 financial planning exam tomorrow. Thanks James 🙏

[@paulbowers3106]

If I could offer a single piece of advice if you have ageing parents - make sure you set up Power of Attorney over their health and wealth. My mum contracted Dementia and quickly lost her ability to make sound decisions and look after herself. We realised quite quickly that we needed to step in but without Power of Attorney the ability to do the simplest of things (like speaking to her bank) was nigh on impossible. We then realised it can take up to 6 months for POA to be set up. I recommend setting this up whilst they are well. Indeed if you are reaching into your 60s, I would recommend organising this for yourself so you dont place that burden on your children

[@burnt9382]

Hi James, could you do a video for 18-23 year olds. How you would plan everything from the start with all the knowledge you have now. Like a step by step, best things to do financially. Great video!

[@JamesShack]

Hopefully this is what you're looking for: kzbin.info/www/bejne/Z2HQdGmOjaibkKssi=PatYwmZomotUS7y9

[@MrKlawUK]

can that apply as a ‘parents guide’ when trying to get the message across to kids out of uni so they start saving early?

[@benjaminbushell]

Live below your means cars party holidays watches etc. Invest in property and isas all that but most importantly invest in your education or in business that adds value and income and grows. Take advice from successful friends.

[@maxflight777]

Buy property. Invest in your career. Take risks

[@michaelb462]

Thanks James - another excellent video

[@Oppledom]

James you have to be the best finance communicator. I'm of a similar age in the UK and having a large and slightly sobering view of the importance of my pension which I had overlooked massively. I am also grateful that I went to so many festivals and travelling in my twenties though. I work in Retrofit and I really think this couple and any couple should consider those astronomical energy costs. Payback on certain measures alone like loft insulation, cavity wall (though I suspect they live in a tradiation building with those bills) or even solid wall insulation could be just a few years. Solar PV now is an absolute no brainer if anyone has capital and wants to stay in their current home for at least 7 years. Especially effective if combined with heat pumps, EVs and battery storage . Thanks for your work !

[@ChrisShawUK]

This is another excellent example of a financial planning service that I'd dearly love to buy. I'm 55 and been retired for five years. I have my own home-made spreadsheets that address some of these issues, but not the stress testing with historical data. The only thing I'm not prepared to do is hand over x% of my portfolio in fees for the next few years to get the advice today. The amount of work in providing a plan like this looks fixed .... Yes it might vary by a few hours, but it should be possible to price up a service that i can buy with cash up front.

[@gregarmstrong2500]

Any chance of a video on partial retirement/flexible retirement? It seems like the ability to "retire", but still have the option to pick up part time work here and there would make a big difference to mitigating a lot of the risk. I'm 33. Talking with friends, it seems like many people my age aren't looking at a traditional "work until x, then retire" plan. Especially as we see the state pension age increasing over our lifetimes (if we even get a state pension). Many people my age are looking at building their own financial independence and having to do a lot of the sort of calculations and risk analysis that you talk about. We often look at best/worst case scenarios in terms of portfolio returns and inflation rates, but we don't often talk about active measures people can take to mitigate those scenarios at the time. Personally, I'd be happy for many of those years to jump in and out of contract/part-time/self employed work to help balance the books while still having many of the benefits of retirement. For example, if I'm looking at a 3% drawdown rate, could I maybe push that to a 3.5% if I was happy to take a work a couple of days a week when the markets were bad/inflation rates were high? Maybe I don't mind working a few days a week over winter while the weather's bad, but I want to spend my summers with lots of free time enjoying the outdoors, etc? I'd be interested to know how we might assess/analyse these sorts of options. Sorry, I know there's a lot of variables in there. It just seems like all the content I find on retirement is based on an all-or-nothing scenario, which I'm worried many of us won't have the luxury of unless we want to retire at 80.

[@stephenk0nig252]

My parents spent 3 and 7 years respecively in an expensive care home. Fees around £7k a month. They had good pensions and savings. Over that period I also had an elder sister in care but that's another story. One relative was cared for at home by her children with carers visiting. My parents had to pay for one of their parents' care when they had started a family and money was tight - this impacted on their attitude to finance. My parents rarely talked about money. I acted as power of attorney and ended up executing their Will. We avoided inheritance tax. My parents had a very happy life and enjoyed being in the care home. I never want to have to manage someone else's finances again. I need to pay an IFA to advise me now but even if I part with the £2k+ needed am unsure if I will act upon what they say. I'm 60 and have always worked. It's a good video and gets the message across. The biggest impact to someone's finances, if they are married, is divorce and this can happenat any age. If you factor in divorce all the planning goes out of the window. Divorce rate is 42%. Worth factoring that in.

[@MrEdrftgyuji]

I do find it interesting that we have to have giant warnings on investment products, stating that you can lose money, but no such warnings on getting married - when the financial consequences of divorce can be far more devastating.

[@stephenk0nig252]

@@MrEdrftgyuji Correct. I have always been single but I know many men whom have been financially ruined by a failed marriage(s).

[@montyspearo]

Friend is divorcing at 63 and definitely thrown spanner in retirement plans. The retirement saving + house for 2 people now turns into 2 houses and 2 cars.

[@richardshaw4336]

Brilliant video James. One of the most informative and relevant retirement videos I've ever seen. Some of their expenses do seem steep to me but understand its very personal. Car insurance and food bill particularly. I intend to live now and enjoy sensibly and as you say adjust if needed. Having no commitments ie Mortgage & debt changes everything. Thanks for this. Much appreciated. 👍

[@gerry2345]

I like rhis vid. Good insight and good information on this case study to make some plans ..thank you

[@GaryJDavies]

Absolutely outstanding 👍🏻 Thank you James - this so closely mirrors my own situation it’s a little weird! So, so useful 🙏🏻

[@MrAlwaysBlue]

I enjoy your in depth analyses, and the fact that you make them freely available. This particular case study is not disimilar to my situation. I have done a lot of modelling on Excel. As you say, we don''t know the future, we can only input our best guesses into the modelling and take a calculated gamble. Like yours, my modelling shows that just 1% difference in returns and/or inflation can make a big difference by the time you get to late 80s. One thing I would say, and what is in my plans, is that if my funds run short in later life, is that I would have a house to sell to pay for residential care. If that becomes exhausted then I would finally expect the state to step in, having never troubled it previously for the best part of a century, unlike many people.

[@pgarrish]

What a brilliant video. Thanks for this.

[@sarahbarnard3672]

Another great video. My father is 92 and has recently gone into a care home; it costs £1000 per week (and this is actually at the lower end of the cost of care homes). His very modest Church of England pension plus his state pension covers just half of this; the rest he has to find from his savings. We are very glad he has the money to pay but it won't last long... Definitely more focused on planning for care costs in our old age now - thank you for highlighting this James.

[@JamesShack]

Thank you for sharing this Sarah. I wish you and your father all the best.

[@tancreddehauteville764]

Is there not an £86k limit now?

[@FirstMM]

@@tancreddehauteville764 No, it was announced in 2021 that it would come into effect last year, but the Tories have have pushed it back by 2 years to the end of 2025. Since they are currently emptying the public purse to sabotage the next government, I doubt it will happen then either.

[@K4rgo]

Greetings from Denmark where care homes are free.

[@ScottishJazzman]

@@tancreddehauteville764Planned for England only, I believe. And not yet implemented.

[@Mikey_NoCap]

James, 3 years ago I had to help mum put my dad into a nursing home. Poor old boy had and still has vascular dementia. The 12 months leading to that was so hard and thinking about finance was the last thing we could do. Dad’s share of the family nest egg was soon eaten away by fees, luckily in the uk once below a level the local authorities kick in, but we are still contributing over £1700 a month to his care. He has been in there for 3 years now. Mum is now starting to falter as well so potentially she could need more care soon. It is never too early to think about the care challenges, but what I would add is seeing my dad deteriorate so quickly was a smack of mortality for me, meaning I have taken the plunge and retired just last week age 54. Unless you have been through it I would suggest people can go blind into the challenges so I would recommend have the difficult discussions early and often, rather than be forced into action.

[@JamesShack]

Thank you very much for sharing Mikey. Great point around having the difficult conversations early and often. I wish your parents the best and hope you have a great retirement !

[@Sackbutsam]

All the best @Mikey_NoCap

[@easytorememberuser]

Amazing analysis. Thank you

[@Backtoreality1873]

This might be your best video sir. Nice job thank you!🙏

[@JamesShack]

Glad you think so!

[@bighare4205]

If you want to get your head around why and how to plan your later-life finances, then this is the one-stop video to watch! This really invites you to think about what you want to do and why after full time work. It offers ideas about spending and saving adjustments that can be made and the information available to support informed and comfortable choices to avoid running out of money. It silently but powerfully underlines the fact that these decisions are most often ones to be jointly navigated by life partners and family together. It emphasises intentionality and forethought - and the need to not kick the can down the road for fear of what you might learn. It shows how combining predictions about how long the money might last, and statistics about how long it is likely you will live, gives measured reassurance about the risks of money running out at life-end. Oh, and it makes the point - think about long term care now. Don't wait. Brilliant James! Thanks.

[@andylowell7405]

I live in Canada but still find these videos very helpful. 🇨🇦

[@robdjones]

Great video and helpful information as ever 🙂 Could you share the version of the budget planner that has the before and once retired costs separated out ?

[@johnloader8611]

This is excellent James, and I believe very relevant to a lot of people. My situation is identical - about 60 with 500-600K in pension and savings, months away from paying off the house and grown-up children flown the coop etc. Also many of my colleagues, friends and family are of the same age, financial situation and all of us have agreed we need to carry on working for quite a while longer.. So it’s great to see a strategy where we can retire now with what we have - real food for thought!

[@JamesShack]

I'm glad to hear you found this useful!

[@EcomCarl]

Jack and Jess's approach to refining their retirement planning with a focus on sustainability and risk management provides a valuable blueprint for others. It's a stark reminder of the importance of balancing realistic financial expectations with the desire to maintain a certain lifestyle. 💼

[@Senna-xi1gr]

Well done James. Thanks. 👍

[@JamesShack]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@jonathangiles4854]

Excellent example James

[@johnboyginger]

Thank you for highlighting the care issue. Father in law went into home recently. Plans and savings decimated. An awful eye opener!!

[@tlangdon12]

But better to have money to be able to chose a care home, rather than hope that what the state will pay for will be any good. I would want to use my savings to give me a good quality of care in my final years.

[@mariconor242]

Good one @JamesShack

[@mrt1878]

Excellent video James. The recent news around 1st time buyers being in the most difficult position for 70 years is a situation many early retirees with children may need to consider in terms of helping children get on the housing ladder. Most will need to remove a lump sum quite early in retirement to help fund this. Would be useful to see scenarios where for example a 30K/50K lump sum is removed from the portfolio at different points to see the impact this has on long term projection and any options/choices to make this smoother.

[@ruthxo]

Got so much from this video - thank you!! 🙏

[@tonyk3654]

Amazing content James,we have learnt so much watching your channel,keep up the great content.

[@JamesShack]

I will do! Thank you for the comment!

[@lfcdw4666]

Thanks James, another great video! What are your thoughts (generally speaking) on AVCs for tax efficiency vs stocks & shares ISA for flexibility?

[@DonaldUrquhart-ds9ir]

Thanks for a really good, accessible and insightful video. My first post. Your videos have helped me to address so many questions and concerns around my own partial retirement. Your values driven and evidence based approach connect so well. Well done, thank you and please keep doing what you do. It has encouraged me to seek professional (CFP) advice not too far from you (Joe C), and experience to date has been really great. Wish I'd seen your videos decades ago. Too bad! Never too old to learn 'new tricks'.

[@JamesShack]

I'm glad you're finding the content useful, and that's great feedback for Joe! 👍

[@user-qu6sk8lg6o]

I love your videos, James, and frequently share them with friends and family. I appreciate your acknowledgement that the majority of the population are not loaded and simply want to make the best of what money they have managed to save. Keep them coming.

[@maria.ciorasteanu]

Very good video, as always. I follow your videos closely, and i love the actual example calculations you do. It's all very factual. Thank you. My only criticism is that i would like more videos released more often. 😂

[@stephengrant6394]

Great video as always James. I’ve seen a lot of content to reaching your retirement financial goals and expenditure analysis following retirement. What I’d like to see is what I do with that retirement pot e.g. SIPP or draw down and best funds to use. Thanks again

[@JamesShack]

Will do something on that soon.

[@johnm3413]

Thanks for this James. Very relatable and very helpful as this example is very similar to our situation. One question I’ve had for a while watching your videos, could you do a video on the retirement software you use to do those graphs showing the drawdown during retirement. That’s the bit I’m struggling to work out.

[@JamesShack]

The software I use is specifically designed for advisers. www.timeline.co/ and planwithvoyant.com/uk/home . There are lots of free tools available, although they are mainly US-focused.

[@tomwestcott4036]

James, please do a video talking about DB pensions, their pros and cons etc. I love your videos but as I work for the nhs I don't know how to apply them to my retirement plans. there are millions of us in the uk with DB pensions, i cant be the only one who would find this very helpful.

[@JamesShack]

There certainly are millions of people with DB pensions. The main problem with creating content about DB schemes is that they all have different rules. I could do a video discussing them at a high level, that may be the way to go. Or create a guide or do a newsletter on them in more detail.

[@themiddleagedmillenial4380]

I'll take a stab that the nhs or local government schemes are by far the largest

[@janeknight3597]

I agree. Is our DB pension going to be enough bothers all of us. I wish I had opened a SIPP to run alongside.

[@davidpearson243]

Your NHS pension is gold plated My wife has one she took hers 2 years ago on £17,000 per year indexed linked She has gone back part time and earns more than she was full time She was on a top of a grade 6 if that helps

[@ianwall9152]

How about a high level video about both dB and DC ? Which should you take tax free cash from or should you take it from both ? Does the order matter ? Thx

[@nintendokings]

I work in Income Max (basically doing the finances of putting people in care homes) and it’s shockingly expensive. A few years in a care home will wipe out a 6-figure sum

[@RichardMeikle-uv6un]

HI James - I very much like your retirement planner, which works very well for me. Will you be updating to version 3.0? Many thanks in advance!

[@mwab65]

Great information well presented.

[@JamesShack]

Glad it was helpful!

[@myleswalshe3451]

Thanks for the video James. With regards to protecting yourself, or more to the point your family, it is worth considering a care annuity aka Immediate Needs Annuity. It can be a gamble as with any policy however it means you should never chew through your savings as the annuity will cover your care costs for life. There is of course the cost benefit analysis of whether the annuity costs as much as you have in savings but it is a surprisingly unknown product which could save a lot of heartache.

[@coderider3022]

I like these real world case studies, thanks for sharing. They spend too much money based on their pension values but you identifies that in the withdrawal rate. Appears to be a recurring theme where people can’t calculate the withdraw rate.

[@michaelbatty4837]

Great to have this type of analysis and financial planning. Too many IFAs expect you to live like paupers and retain you initial capital for inheritance/care. Such a waste. Well done

[@mattlongman]

Thank you James, another excellent video.

[@JamesShack]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@mattlongman]

@@JamesShack Just used the budget planner and the numbers come out very similiar to the example. It would be helpful if the sheet could be updated to allow a second or third scenario. I'd like to compare Now, retirement in 60s versus post 70.

[@JamesShack]

@@mattlongman I normally ask clients to duplicate the first tab, and then do another version for a future time period. Would that work?

[@mattlongman]

@JamesShack yes I'm happy to duplicate. I just thought it was worth mentioning. 😀

[@pabloarroyo7952]

high quality, once again

[@JamesShack]

Glad you found it useful!

[@r1ch67]

Make sure you spend as much money and enjoy yourself instead of holding back money for care. They will strip you of all your remaining money (up to £23k) but those who have not worked or saved will get exactly the same level of care. Completely unfair but that's how the system works.

[@alanmiskimmon7851]

Spent some time in several Care Homes making observations. 2 groups of people those who have insufficient savings to be charged fees were generally happy and care free. Those who had saved diligently cried as their life long savings were eaten away. Spend your money, enjoy life while you are healthy!

[@lawrencer8673]

If you pay for your care home or if its paid for by the tax payer you will be treated the same in the care home. Spend your money while your able-bodied.

[@marlened520]

Great video James, always so well explained. I recently experienced the situation with a family member. We had to put our grandmother in a full time care facility costing more than 30K euros per year (we live in France). For now, it is managable, but we are realising it is not sustainable over the next years. So we are focusing on getting a recurring revenue through real estate to support these fees. I wish it was planned before, causing less stress on my family to find quickly a long-term solution to finance it. I promised myself I will not make the same mistake with ny parents and plan my financial future accordingly. Thank you again for your advice, it helps tremendously to achieve this goal.

[@JamesShack]

Thank you very much for sharing, I hope others can learn from this example. All the best to you and your family.

[@NickForest999]

Insightful article as always James. I suspect the reality is that Jack, having taken a knee-jerk response to a friend suddenly passing (we’ve all experienced that sadly) will probably find going from work to full retirement a very challenging adjustment. Another scenario to be considered is perhaps one of a glide path to retirement. Maybe a drop down to 2 days a week (doesn’t have to be the current job he’s in) and a career change may be very beneficial plus of course it alters the financial landscape taking the pressure off his pension in the early years?

[@mtpaley1]

A video on how fund allocation to UK/EU/US/ROTW would be interesting both on the risk and historical rewards. For instance S&P500 vs FTSE100. Risk vs reward on putting money into non UK shares/schemes and the best way to diversify risk by spreading it around the world.

[@MPD90]

Useful video. I'd be interested to know what an annuity could have guaranteed them, versus taking the risk & reward associated with keeping their pension fund invested.

[@paulbailey6840]

Very useful indeed, thanks James. Your clients are in a similar position to my partner and I so easy to make a comparison. On the topic of ideas for future content I'd like more information on the transition from SIPP to Flexi drawdown. I hold my SIPP and S&S ISA with Vanguard and intend using them both in retirement to help with the tax burden, but have no idea really of how to set this up? A video on this would be a great help to me and many others I'm sure. Thanks again Paul

[@JamesShack]

I will do something on this shortly .

[@RealStAndrews]

@@JamesShack that would be great. Thank you

[@MrKlawUK]

I’m actually surprised at this positive outcome (relatively, maybe with some adjustments and flexibility in drawdown). I’m hopeful of a similar amount, plus a small old DB income to help so this is a small reassurance. MIght be in touch when we’re a little closer

[@thomasbroker69]

Great video James, we had to put my mother-in law into a home & the expensive was massive, she had the money & was very ill so it was worth it but I realised this would be huge cost that would eat her entire estate quite quickly, unfortunately she didn’t live that long so it was worth every penny , she was lucky as A she had planned well for retirement & B had assets to cover it. Unlike her I am not fortunate to have a large pension, & while we have some assets & cash, we’d not be able to afford the same level of care. It makes me so worried about our future & as I’m 62 I feel time is running out. I also fear financial advisors after having been burnt a few times early in life with a worthless pension & an endowment. How much does something like your plan cost? I’m trying to work it on our own & just thinking we’ve managed so far with our money well keep,doing the same.

[@dawnwalton9]

Very useful thank you

[@JamesShack]

Glad it was helpful!

[@user-re6xm2vo9o]

I think you are awesome. Thankyou for all your education.

[@JamesShack]

You are so welcome

[@raulduke1010]

I work in care - the people who are happiest in a care home are ALWAYS the ones who planned ahead, went into a home on their own terms and aren't worrying about the burden on their kids. And it is a burden, at least initially. Kids often feel like they aren't doing enough, worry that they haven't found the right, safe, place and that their parents are going to be wiped out financially. Imagine believing that your parent might run out of money & thinking that they could be thrown out of their home! It's an unfounded worry, any home worth its salt will work with families in advance to find solutions that work for everyone. You'll worry about it too though when it happens. We all will, because we care about our parents and want the best for them.

[@chazzdposh]

My grandfather is 97 and is in a care home. He was a doctor in the NHS until retiring at 65, and so has a DB pension linked to inflation of around £3.7k/month. He receives around £700 a month from the government for spending on care (I think...). One of his biggest regrets was that he didn't do anything "fancy" with his money to increase his wealth whilst her worked and was retired. Luckily, the sale of his fully paid-off home and the death of his wife/my grandmother meant that he was ok going into care, but he only went into care when he 94. He was extremely lucky. He was able to sell his home for a very decent amount, and he has only needed to spend money on care for the past 3 years or so. Most people are not this lucky. Save for your retirement.....to the point where your assets don't run out by the time you die, leaving your children with nothing. Save hard.

[@tancreddehauteville764]

Your grandfather was lucky - pension is huge.

[@porschecarreras992cabriole8]

@@tancreddehauteville764all NHS consultants earning about 120k per year and save in NHS pension almost 40% so it grows a lot!

[@tancreddehauteville764]

@@porschecarreras992cabriole8 And the taxpayer has to fund their wealthy retirement!

[@michaeljohnston6811]

I hit most of these considerations. Was thinking about retiring as similar aged colleagues were being cut down around me (late 50s). Decided to give retirement a try from 55 and diagnosed with cancer and then a heart condition within a year. Doing exactly as suggested and tweaking drawdown as we go but hopeful we have a reasonable plan to ENJOY. Spend is similar to the example as are resources. Making it work so far. I would recommend anyone to seriously think, if they have that kind of pot, whether another few years of work to add to it are really that important. If you love your work and it is fulfilling then go for it but if you love one another and want to spend more time together doing things you are more passionate about then run the numbers and try and make earlier retirement work for you. If I need to top up say £10k a year then I can probably find a low wage/low impact job that would give me that.

[@richardshaw4336]

Spot on Micheal. I took a very low stress part time job at 57. Now 60 and really enjoy the sociable side of working. I love my free time though.

[@lawrencer8673]

​@@richardshaw4336what low stress job did you get?

[@richardshaw4336]

​@lawrencer8673 I work 3 days a week doing accompanied viewings for an Estate Agent. I've been an agent for 40 years next year but this is very easy and has little stress. It's really good fun and sociable. Anyone can do it if you can put up with people, like driving and an interest in adding value to the business. Gives an additional income as well. Good luck. 👍

[@lawrencer8673]

@@richardshaw4336 thanks for sharing, I appreciate you taking the time to reply.

[@spartacusptolemaida]

Another excellent video James. Would you consider making a review video of vanguard’s lifestrategy funds in 2024? Thanks.

[@craftypam9992]

I can't imagine what they are spending all that money on! My partner and I have been retired for some years. We don't travel much, having been there, done that in our younger years, but we have a comfortable life, own a detached house, heated to our preferred temperature, have one car, do whatever we want to do, eat well, etc ... we put £300 a month each into a joint account, from which all household and communal expenses are paid. We just took £2500 out of this account because it was getting too big. Personal expenses (clothing, individual activities and hobbies, gifts etc) are paid separately by each of us. If we spend £1000 a month between us, I'd be surprised. I'm even able to put money into my SIPP & ISA from my State Pension/investment income each year. They need to review their bills - I bet everything except council tax (the only thing of ours which was higher, but it's not something you can negotiate) could be drastically reduced, by changing supplier, or just getting a better deal with the current one.

[@richardlong526]

It is amazing that you can live on that amount. £300 from each of us wouldn't even cover our utilities and council tax.

[@davem.4003]

This really demonstrates the range of circumstances that different families are used to. You have no doubt lived a frugal lifestyle for most of your life and you are, by your own admission, beyond the point of enjoying the early years of your retirement, during which time you no doubt had significantly greater discretionary expenditure than you need today.

[@tlangdon12]

I too was a bit surprised at their level of expenditure, but they follow that rule that "If you have it, you spend it". One of the best pieces of advice I was given was to save first and spend what was left. This kept my expenses under control and made the transition to retirement much easier as my lifestyle got better as I could stop saving for retirement.

[@bobmclane3017]

Hi James, fantastic video as always 👍. I'm 54 this year and plan to retire asap for the very reasons you mentioned here and in previous videos (family, friends illness/death & that length of time doing things you love with the people you love etc). I use all your spreadsheets as a guide for our retirement and spending, they are fab. I noticed in this one the budget planner for Jack & jess also has columns for spend now and post retirement, is that version available so you can see what you spend now and what you could decrease once retired? Keep the videos coming they really help people make better decisions or at least think about the future more.. Thanks BoB

[@johncarter6040]

All good reasons to retire early, and there is another reason to retire early if you can afford to do so and that reason is that if you don't need the money from work, why continue to work and deny somebody else that salary who might be in need of that money ? If someone has enough funds to retire but wants for whatever reason to carry on working, why not work for no money ? I retired at age 55 and this enabled 2 engineers to move up the career ladder and for a new graduate engineer to be recruited, so 3 persons benefited from my retirement as well as myself. I worked alongside people in their 70's with multi million pound pension pots and I consider their continued working with a salary to be outright selfish.

[@nocathedral]

Aha.. this one is actually quite close to what I have in your retirement planner spreadsheet. I'm 40 and hoping to retire at 59 when the mortgage is paid off. Regarding retirement expenditure, a 25% reduction at 75 seems like a big cliff edge to me. I think I've been influenced by seeing my own mid-70s parents show no signs of slowing down. Currently we have pencilled in £37k from 59-85 and then £32k from 86 plus... to me it feels like 85 would be a more accurate prediction for when physical limitations are likely to affect ability to travel, etc. But who knows!

[@user-re5uz9ws4i]

My parents recently needed to go together into a wonderful care home which was costing them jointly 10k a month. We paid using their savings until we were able to purchase each of them an immediate needs care annuity using their pension pots. This will pay their care home fees for the rest of their lives, they have their state pensions for expenses and the family home is untouched. They are very fortunate to have built up this pension pot through spending far less in their later retirement years than they had imagined, so it just sat there growing. It was very important to them to provide and plan for their own care costs. The financial side of this care home move has been incredibly stressful to organise, but I am so grateful for their planning and power of attorney well in advance.

[@tlangdon12]

I think your point about them spending far less in their later retirement years is important as many of us over-estimate the number of active years we have left. Once health conditions start to limit what we can do, a lot of discretionary spending falls away. The power of compounding means that money that is not drawn out can, if the investment portfolio is setup correctly, increase quite rapidly. This certaily helps with future care costs. I'm pleased that your parents have managed to find a wonderful care home where they can be looked after.

[@tlangdon12]

Going down to one car is certainly feasible and was a change that we made when we retired. As retired persons, we have so much flexibility that there is rarely ever a time we both want the car at the same time. I'm also happy doing basic car maintenance, which is why we've only spent about £1,000 on maintenance over the last four years. Our car insurance also went down because no longer needed cover for commuting.

[@gadagaz]

I honestly dont understand how someone earns £4k a month and spends £3.8k of it having paid a mortgage off. I mean, surely thats the issue more than anything?

[@adriancoelho306]

I'm with you, although living with another person who has no limit to their spending could encourage you to spend more. I paid my mortgage off two years ago and since then I divert at least 1/3 of my net to savings and pensions. I don't waste money on fashion, but still get to eat out once or twice a month and still have a generally good life. Maybe I missed it but I didn't see in his budget the 1800 or thereabouts income from their government pensions. Because that would mean a drawdown of only 20 to 25k per year from their pensions.

[@thenoodlebuddy]

Agreed. Just under half of my income goes of mortgage, so if I didn't have that to pay I think I'd struggle to spend so much money

[@adriancoelho306]

@@thenoodlebuddy I also failed to understand how their food bill is so high when they eat out all the time. People who are profligate rarely know where the money goes, but also confused how they got 500k with such frivolous spending habits.

[@rossdowner6885]

As someone in their early 30s who is saving with the intent of building a sufficient initial pension size to leave the rat race for a lower income living, I’d be very much interested in an analysis of what someone should be doing in this scenario and how they can assess the opportunities vs risk with such a larger horizon to retirement.

[@pistopit7142]

Save and invest that is the most important really. The rest you will worry later when you are closer to your "sufficient initial pension size to leave the rat race". But did you ever wonder what number this needs to be for you so you can call it ""sufficient initial pension size"? For me that number is when the folowing condition is met: I am able to still cover all my mandatory annual expenses, using just 4% of my entire portfolio current value, when that portfolio is 50% down (for example due to recession in stock market). Which brings me to another advise you did not ask me: track you spendings. Not just how much you spend but also what kind of spending this is. There are two main kinds of spending in my financial dictionary: mandatory (food/mortgage/rent/bills) and not mandatory (new HiFi speakers, latest GPU, new car or in fact any car). Good luck.

[@tlangdon12]

@@pistopit7142 I agree. The most important thing is to invest! Don't be put off by it seeming to be difficult. Invest in one or two large, well-regarded and low cost funds to get started. Then use those funds to learn more about what you might invest in and how to judge whether the investment is a good one. (This should not involve looking at returns for quite a few years). Few people realise how important costs are when investing. They think that paying 1% in charges per year isn't alot, but if your return on the investment is 7% per year, you are giving away nearly 15% of your return in charges!

[@robertmarsh3588]

Thanks for posting. At almost 60 this is very pertinent. Ironically I was hoping to be included in a round of redundancies at work which would have kick started early retirement with a very nice sum but no such luck so will have to be brave enough to jump myself at some point as I think (and an IFA confirms) I have enough to meet my needs. There's always a worry re the stock market and a huge tendency to work one or two more years though.

[@JamesShack]

Good lucky taking that next step! You'll never look back.

[@michaeljohnston6811]

Leaving on your own terms is so much healthier for your mindset than waiting around to be pushed. If you can afford to: jump and don't look back (I retired at 55, currently 58).

[@tlangdon12]

@@michaeljohnston6811 I was about to hand my notice in when I got the whiff of a reorganisation so I didn't resign, and was made redundant two months earlier than I would have been happy to leave anyway (I was going to give my employer six months notice). I remember the conversation with my boss being very odd as everyone else she had had to tell that they were being made redundant was upset. I was delighted as they paid me to retire early!

[@wgj4813]

I retired at 60 and did a calculation spread sheet with no value increases except 1 % and just made the assumption that pensions from known sources were increasing at about inflation rate so all values right up to at least 85 were shown at 60 year levels except investments with a 1 % annual increase. I could then back calculate to give me an annual salary as at 60. Even calculating tax to pay. I did a reduction on expenditure when works ceased and saw the reduced figure matched the annual value so i retired - why work? "Loose cash" was invested and beat inflation by more than 1% . That happened 15 years ago and i am very pleased with myself and calcs.

[@naumanzakir8005]

What about multiple mini retirements? Like 2-3 months of time off work to do bucket list And see how they would spend time and money when off work?

[@ScottishJazzman]

Dad’s care fees are roughly £60k/yr - 40 year teacher’s pension plus state pension pays him £2100/pm, council pays the standard non-means-tested amount of around £380/wk… there’s a delta of around £1500/pm which we need to fund by selling his house and that will give us less than 3 years before it’s all gone. Planning for future is important.

[@GordonHarrison-vi7id]

Have you heard of CHC. If your Dad is that bad then he should be eligible. If he isn't that bad then I would ask why he can't get care at home ?

[@ScottishJazzman]

@@GordonHarrison-vi7id Not applicable in NHS Scotland, unfortunately. They have a different system, and a full financial assessment has led to the position we are in currently. Thanks though :)

[@matthewharrison8121]

Great thanks James. I assume the state pension was factored in as well when they became eligible?

[@JamesShack]

Yes, both will quality for the full state pension.

[@Jens-gy7bc]

How to plan for health and care cost in retirement considering the state of the NHS?

[@stogmot1]

Hi ,whats the best easy to use software to help plan theses scenarios

[@terrybrown3486]

Thanks for this. There never seems to be any use of insurance? Seen a broker Castleacre that offers a life policy that pays out if you go to long term care and a pay out on death to cover inheritance tax. Should you be looking at this as part of the advice? Thanks T

[@elephantandcastle838]

According to my calc, someone would need around £240k (so £480k for a couple )in todays money, to buy an RPI linked annuity (not enhanced ) that would deliver the same income as full state pension, on today's rates. May be useful in quantifying its worth relative to your pension pot/other investment pots. Unlikely that the RPI link will be dropped in my view. Its future taxation post crystallization/state pension age thats the big unknown..

[@user-gk8qy7ei9e]

very nice

[@GordonHarrison-vi7id]

My parent both went into care funded by the State. The managed on State Pensions , Benefits and were awarded CHC to fund private care. Both Council run homes and private care homes were similar. From this I learnt that I will go into an assisted home environment when I reach the age of say 77. In the meantime I need to use as much of my assets as I am able leaving enough to buy an apartment in a retirement complex and also having enough income to live in the complex. Once the money has gone then the State will pay. Having said that my FA looks each year at cashflow modelling and so all is good for me.

[@GordonHarrison-vi7id]

@JamesShack-HELPLINE the reply makes no sense at all.

[@CliveBluston]

Great video. In my sixties I don't drink coffee anymore and don't eat breakfast anymore. Considering that these activities were always in Cafes it saves a lot of money. We don't actually know how long someone born today will live, but I am sure that was just a slip of the tongue.

[@johnwhogan1610]

TV licence £50 per year (cheap streaming subscription?)…sign me up!! Great video! Exactly what prevents my friend in the US retiring, the inability to embrace uncertainty. Makes me cringe when people say they are expecting an inheritance. Parents may need that money for their own care.

[@sound_lounge]

A great video. Back in 2020 as the covid pandemic hit my dad was diagnosed with dementia. He had my mum there to look after him. Unfortunately my mum caught Covid in December 202 and died from it. This left me and my wife, I am an only child, to try and work and look after my dad. Once my mum had died dad went down hill rapidly and within 6 months we had no option other than to move him into a home at a cost of £1550 per week. This was a huge shock for us in that in under a year we had gone from having healthy happy parents to having to deal with the huge burden of managing health and finances. It came out of the blue. The stress of it all nearly finished me off and my health suffered badly over it. Don’t put off considering the future and what could be round the corner for your children or family members to deal with and don’t underestimate the financial . I would not wish what we went through on anyone and especially not my children. This has made me reassess my life and take the decision to retire now, at 60. I am doing everything in my power though to ensure I do not leave my children with the huge emotional and financial worry we had with my parents.

[@bobwilson4195]

Am 68 and retired at 65 due to Covid . I have worked on a spreadsheet every year and budget for the 12 months . I own my house . I get state pension . I have shares which I drawn one a year to cover my yearly expenses . I know what I need put in to a separate bank account for bills via direct debit only I put the full amount for the year. I know what my energy cost is every month and compare this year against last year +/- . I never panic about any bill coming it and have a small reserve for emergency. The only debt I have is a £200 pm for PCP .

[@montyspearo]

There is still option of going back to work even if part time in early years if finances aren't working out.

[@zedzeduk]

Great video. One question about the budget sheet you have (and sorry if I missed it): don't they have to factor in money for a new car? I mean .. maybe they won't need a car beyond 85 or something (in which case all the money goes on taxi's or something else) .. but they'd need at least 2 cars purchased during retirement, maybe 3. Obviously everyone has a different idea of what a "decent car" would cost, and in retirement they may not need anything "fancy" or new, but I still think they need to plan in £10k-£15k spend every 5 or 6 years at a minimum.

[@JamesShack]

As part of our advice process, we separate out ongoing costs (things that happen every year) vs one-off costs, even if they happen several times over a lifetime. We keep one-off cost estimates in a separate list. This means we can create the exact amount of income required to fund their monthly cashflow. And then, as the one-off costs come over the horizon, raise money for that separately. I didn't have time to go into this in detail in this video. But it's certainly something that needs to be taken into account.

[@warreng5487]

@@JamesShack ⁠I had the same thought while watching this video. Just to clarify, does your reply mean that this was taken into consideration in this case study and they would have enough money to purchase 2 or 3 cars within retirement?

[@tlangdon12]

@@JamesShack I deal with these one-off costs by saving from my retirement income. I have a car replacement fund in a Cash ISA that I pay into each month, so that when the car finally needs replacing (it's 18 years old), I will have the money ready. And I do the same with replacing the boiler, furniture and appliances and even the roof of my house, although the money for this is in Stocks and Shares ISA as I'm not expecting to need to replace the roof for 10-15years. I can't be very precise about what these items will cost, but I know I will be in a better position if i have budgeted to save for them.

[@stewartmacdonald601]

I notice when doing the budgeting you have not given any budget for purchasing new cars. Sure, they currently own their own cars, but if they live to 90, then that's 31 years of retirement. Unsure their current car will make that withour significantly more maintenance over the period. So I think it would be wise to pop in some value for a car payment throughout retirement. Cars are very expensive just now, but even £300 per month would get a reasonably nice second hand car to keep going through retirement.

[@johnimal1]

They will receive bus passes long before then that they could use. Alternatively if they are in good health that they are still able to drive in their 70,80 or 90s then they certainly won't be needing their care home money during that time. So some of that could be filtered towards car upkeep/ new car. Chances are however that health will deteriorate and the car will go long before they turn 90

[@stewartmacdonald601]

@@johnimal1 While this all could be true, none the less, for someone who seems to be all over the detail as much as James, this seems like a significant potential expense to simply overlook. The fact that a bus pass is coming does not necessarily mean that they should get rid of their vehicle. You don't know where they live. That was not divulged. The local bus service could be poor. Maybe a car is an essential. Maybe it isn't. But it shouldn't be overlooked. A £300 car payment is an extra £3,600 a year that needs factored into the calculation. And while it might not be required every year of retirement, it might be.

[@robincandy7064]

@@stewartmacdonald601 There doesn't seem to be any consideration for significant one off expenses. Changes of car, changes to the house, marriage of children, private medical operations (hip/knee ), funeral costs etc. There hasn't been enough consideration paid to what they will be using their new found time for outside of getting a gym membership and spending more on holidays. Their day to day expenses have been entered as lower and there's only an £80 a month allowance for additional leisure activities (less than they currently spend on newspapers). So jack is going to have to fill his time doing things that don't cost him any money. The model suggested also requires them to throttle in the spending at age 75 regardless of whether they want to or not as by that point they have burned through circa 70% of their investments. Their post 75 income is largely dependent on the state pension (which may or may not be triple locked by then). When one of them dies after the age of 75 the remaining investments and one lot of state pension won't be sufficient to cover the expenditure that they've indicated is essential so the survivor will have to downsize.

[@grahamscothern4319]

Very interesting James as always. I have a story My brother in laws mum passed away at 62 just when they’re were going to enjoy retirement. His father sold there house moved into something smaller.He carried on working till 69 then was taken ill. He ended up in care and all his money went on that. They sold the property to pay for care. Sadly he passed away with less than 10k in the bank. He really had no fun in retirement. Atb Graham

[@danielinman3879]

Just started on parental care package.

[@johnenglish929]

Very interesting. To what extent have Hunt’s changes affected your long term projections ? Almost anyone with savings who receives the full state pension is now a tax payer and the tax free allowances on interest and CGT have been cut dramatically. Many in retirement will get a lower return in future than they might reasonably have expected to generate.

[@beresd]

Great video and what my projections are looking like. Me and our lass don't have joint finances as we came to the marriage in our 40's and from different financial backgrounds. I am planning on my own retirement future. I always see a joint approach so wonder if we are in the minority

[@stuartdonald2302]

Both my parents ended up in care, they had to fully fund their care and in total they spent over £400,000 on a modestly priced care home. My sister and I eventually had to rent out the family home to help cover the costs. It was all rather stressful and very sad

[@JamesShack]

Thank you for sharing.

[@tlangdon12]

I'm sorry this was stressful, it's never fun being forced into becoming a landlord or having to take responsibility for other people's money, even if it is your parents. I'm also sorry that you are sad - it sounds like you acheived a very good outcome for your parents.

[@holdbacktheriver]

Hi James ,, can you tell us which cash flow modelling software you use please ,,

[@JamesShack]

We use a version on Voyant and Timeline app.

[@ghostwheelinshadow]

My parents planned carefully for their financial future, including the possibility of care. This allowed my father to die peacefully at home, and, now that my mum is 96 and has had a bad fall landing her in hospital, I cannot say how much weight it takes off my mind to know that we can afford the best care for the mummy we love so much. (She’s recovering well though!)

[@bitsandblocks7826]

I love these case studies James. I've recently had a friend die young which has focussed my mind on the viability of early retirement. I also chuckle at how many of your case studies married a Jess! 😁

[@JamesShack]

Haha - it's whatever name comes to mind at the time!

[@thestoicsteve]

Another helpful video. Thanks. But I think your 'Download Budget Planner Template' is not working. I cant enter my email address on that page.

[@JamesShack]

Thanks for letter me know. I've made an update. Does it work now?

[@thestoicsteve]

@@JamesShack yes working fine now thanks.

[@aej4510]

It’ll be interesting to have more comparisons involving a single household as most of the time it’s about a couple only. Also, involving people with less financial resources.

[@Irwell1878]

Random query: if I paid for my parents retirement in cash and left there pension growing, when they sadly pass does it get passed to me and if so is that a shrewd move for compounding long term? Not planning on doing it but it just crossed my mind?

[@Norfieldeng]

I am surprised you have not mentioned the word anuity at the point you give only two options, you sell the risk with the rates much better than in recent years, I for one am using the certainty of RPI linked anuity to spend more that my causious nature would allow using only drawdown.

[@JamesShack]

We did discuss this with the clients, but annuities were beyond the scope of this video. I cover them at length here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/g16TZKaYbampfNEsi=Nz5D9aINp199Fh53

[@1Bob4All]

Invest between 50% and 80% of your portfolio in U.S. equities and the rest in bonds. You may take 3% to 3.5% out annually. The money should last indefinitely. (Reference 1998 Trinity Study)