Albert_dock

So after 30+ years in the US my wife and I are considering retiring back to the UK. How much income in £'s would a couple aged 56 need to be comfortable assuming no mortgage and living in a rural part of the country? We both have company pensions from US employers, 401k and on turning 62 US SS. I understand this is a very subjective question and difficult to just put a number on it. I've read lots is the threads on taxes and US SS, and found it all a bit daunting. Anyway, thanks for any responses.

robin1234

Hard to say. Just a huge generalisation/ oversimplicification, but I'd say the kind of budget you could live comfortably on in US would work in UK. With SS and company pensions, you might well have a higher income than most UK retirees. One reason for this is that retired people in the U.S. know they have to budget approximately $6,000 per annum, per person for out of pocket health care costs. Living in the UK you do not have out of pocket health care costs.

Have you been paying your British voluntary NICS over the years abroad?

robin1234

Another thought. In rural England, one car might comfortably suffice for a couple where in the U.S. you might feel two cars were necessary. It's easy to pick a place with decent bus service in the UK. Plenty of cars are priced below £10,000 too.

not2old

figure it this way, excluding property tax & that you are both healthy & will travel....

Whatever you need right now, today as a retired 50 something in the US in dollars, then that same number in pounds.

So if its $2000/mth in the states, then 2000 pounds per month living in the UK for the reason you likely will travel, eat out more, have company over as well as once per year travel to the US

If its just cost of living, everyone has a different number. How have you spent [lifestyle & money spending] the last 30 years in the states, would that change any if you remained in the states?

My wife & I are close to 70 & having read so many threads as well as posts from those that have moved back on all the different aspects of 'life back home' & having been back in the UK at the end of November - I came up with a number of less than 1000 pounds per calendar month for the 'all in living expenses' with a few niceties thrown in (excluded property tax). But that is us, factored in one trip across the pond each year, as well as a yearly 3 mth stay in Malta, small spend eating out

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Mummy in the foothills

We are mortgage free and a family of four, living off about £18000 per year before tax quite happily. but we are quite a thrifty bunch and I cook a lot.

durham_lad

As others have mentioned it very much depends on where you plan to live. In 2011 we did a trial run in the market town in Yorkshire where we have lots of friends and we are close to relatives. Really good bus service and we lived there in a 3 bed rented house for 7 months, no car except to rent sometimes when we had folks visiting. We took a number of trips around the UK by train and bus. Once you get to retirement age (66?) there are free bus passes as well.

Based on that experience we are planning to move to that same town this year, and our budget includes a car and a house plus £5,000 / year for fun travel. I know what the council tax will be for a 3 bed detached house similar to what we rented, and have estimated electricity and gas costs. I reckon it will cost us ~£1,600/month and that should be a nice lifestyle (for us).

This last 3 years in the USA our healthcare costs have been ~$9,000/year, and this year the insurance premiums alone will cost $8,364. (We are age 60 and my ex-employer retiree insurance is the best deal for us as we like to travel and need a PPO plan).

Not only is the NHS free at point of service I believe from age 60 that prescriptions and eye tests are also free.

Albert_dock

Have you been paying your British voluntary NICS over the years abroad?[/QUOTE]

We only worked 3 years in the uk before leaving, so I'll be getting zero state pension.

Albert_dock

We are thrifty....ish, and love to cook! No kids, just us.

Albert_dock

We have had a good life here. A lot of material things that at this point in our lives could do without or a lot less of. I think we want to downsize and simplify really. If we stay here and keep what we have We'll be working another 20 years! Not what we want.

not2old

get a pension forecast/statement & top it up so you will get a state pension.

https://www.gov.uk/state-pension-statement

Since you live & work outside the UK, look at class 2 NIC, they are so cheap & your payback could be less than 6 mths when you start collecting state pension.

If you do plan on returning to the UK soon, then work at something as a self employed to enable you to continue to pay class 2 NIC's

Voluntary NI contributions | The Pensions Advisory Service

https://www.gov.uk/voluntary-nationa...-contributions

https://www.gov.uk/self-employed-nat...nsurance-rates

Albert_dock

Thanks! I'll definitely look into this.

Albert_dock

Thanks everybody for the responses 👍 I'm sure I'll be surfing this forum for a long while as there is a wealth of information to be had from it. 😊

Editha

We are retired, mortgage free and living in a rural area. We are in the West Country.

Like many rural homes our central heating is oil-fired, and like most rural dwellers, we have to drive longer distances. So, our cost of living depends very much on the price of oil.

We moved here eighteen months ago, since when we've been spending large sums on house renovation and landscaping our garden. That makes it difficult to calculate what our cost of living would be without that capital expenditure, but, I reckon it is about £24,000 (Respect! MitF). Admittedly, we eat out a lot.

Albert_dock

Thanks for the reply. How long had you been in Canada for?

not2old

Have you picked a UK location that you plan on moving back to live, because that may be a factor on the cost of living, even the property prices as well as the council tax, commuter costs etc.

Major cities of Liverpool versus London (or similar), down to the rural countryside or village life?