Retirement age US vs UK. Opinions needed.
Nov 14th 2008, 6:30 am
#46
Heading for Poppyland
Joined: Jul 2007
Location: North Norfolk and northern New York State
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Re: Retirement age US vs UK. Opinions needed.
Wow...do you turn the lights on at night, or do you sit mostly in the dark? 
In all seriousness, we recently also cancelled the cable (only have 'basic' channels now). The bill went from $170 to $85. And we plan on getting a programmable thermostat to control energy costs. I agree that most people need to really look at those 'necessities' and evaluate what they really need. They'd probably get a huge shock to realize just how much more they could be saving if they got rid of them.
In all seriousness, we recently also cancelled the cable (only have 'basic' channels now). The bill went from $170 to $85. And we plan on getting a programmable thermostat to control energy costs. I agree that most people need to really look at those 'necessities' and evaluate what they really need. They'd probably get a huge shock to realize just how much more they could be saving if they got rid of them.http://www.victorianweb.org/art/illu...n/carol/02.jpg
Nov 14th 2008, 7:10 am
#47
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Re: Retirement age US vs UK. Opinions needed.
And we plan on getting a programmable thermostat to control energy costs. I agree that most people need to really look at those 'necessities' and evaluate what they really need. They'd probably get a huge shock to realize just how much more they could be saving if they got rid of them.
Nov 14th 2008, 7:17 am
#48
BE Site Lead
Joined: Aug 2004
Location: MA, USA
Posts: 92,176
Re: Retirement age US vs UK. Opinions needed.
Anyway, we've got it set to 62 all day, because of the baby, and use an electric heater thats on a timer to bump up her room temp a little before bed etc.
Nov 14th 2008, 7:43 am
#49
The Kwisatz Haderach
Joined: Aug 2008
Location: North Wales
Posts: 8,080
Re: Retirement age US vs UK. Opinions needed.
We set the thermostat to about 65 during the day, unless I have the woodstove on. I turn off the heat (and a/c in summer) at night, no one seems to notice, or we are just used to it.
No cable TV for us, just basic TV and DSL and phone in a package including long distance, international calls are nice and cheap on this package about a penny a minute to UK and my bill is about $80 a month.
Gas is $55 a month and Electric is about $800 -$1,000 a year.
It's possible to cut the bills down and not live like scrooge.
No cable TV for us, just basic TV and DSL and phone in a package including long distance, international calls are nice and cheap on this package about a penny a minute to UK and my bill is about $80 a month.
Gas is $55 a month and Electric is about $800 -$1,000 a year.
It's possible to cut the bills down and not live like scrooge.
Nov 14th 2008, 7:50 am
#50
Queen of my house
Joined: Aug 2007
Location: Ohio
Posts: 5,043
Re: Retirement age US vs UK. Opinions needed.
I thought you only made a saving over a 2 degree differential, any more than that and you'd lose the savings in trying to raise the temp back up?
Anyway, we've got it set to 62 all day, because of the baby, and use an electric heater thats on a timer to bump up her room temp a little before bed etc.
Anyway, we've got it set to 62 all day, because of the baby, and use an electric heater thats on a timer to bump up her room temp a little before bed etc.
Nov 14th 2008, 8:46 am
#51
Heading for Poppyland
Joined: Jul 2007
Location: North Norfolk and northern New York State
Posts: 14,727
Re: Retirement age US vs UK. Opinions needed.
That's what I thought, also. We keep ours at 63 during day because of our baby (Linus, our 4-lb Morkie) and 67 when we're asleep. DH would have it lower if I let him. We converted both fireplaces to natural gas (furnace too new to replace just yet) so we turn one or both on (depending on temp. & if we're having company, etc.) and it has made a tremendous difference in our energy expenses.
Nov 14th 2008, 11:30 am
#52
Queen of my house
Joined: Aug 2007
Location: Ohio
Posts: 5,043
Re: Retirement age US vs UK. Opinions needed.
We keep our heat off at night & during the day, and have it at about 50 degrees in the evening when we're at home sitting around the woodstove. When it gets cold, then we have to leave the heat on 24 hrs a day. That usually starts in late December (we can easily get -30 or -40F here.)
Nov 14th 2008, 10:01 pm
#53
Ping-ponger
Joined: Jul 2002
Location: Dreich Alba
Posts: 12,025
Re: Retirement age US vs UK. Opinions needed.
I am an ex-pat that has worked in the US for the past 25 years in a good position in a major corporation. I am 54 years old. The salary and benefits are good and we have put two kids through good colleges. That being said, the earliest I can see retiring is in another 5-6 years when I’ll be 60ish.
One thing that I just cannot work out is how my friends, in similar large companies in the UK can afford to retire at around 54. I have just got an email from a friend in the same company I work for in the UK, and he is retiring at 54. It makes no sense to me when the salaries are lower, the taxes higher, the house and car prices the same. The only things that cost more in the US are what we spend on our kid’s education, health care, what we have to put aside for care in retirement.
This has puzzled me for years, and I am very interested in a comparison of the net worth of people in similar positions in the UK and in the US and what their annual taxes and expenditures break out to be. Are the pension plans that much better in the UK than in the US? Is social security that much higher?
I am very interested in your opinions on this. I am ready to retire!
Paul
One thing that I just cannot work out is how my friends, in similar large companies in the UK can afford to retire at around 54. I have just got an email from a friend in the same company I work for in the UK, and he is retiring at 54. It makes no sense to me when the salaries are lower, the taxes higher, the house and car prices the same. The only things that cost more in the US are what we spend on our kid’s education, health care, what we have to put aside for care in retirement.
This has puzzled me for years, and I am very interested in a comparison of the net worth of people in similar positions in the UK and in the US and what their annual taxes and expenditures break out to be. Are the pension plans that much better in the UK than in the US? Is social security that much higher?
I am very interested in your opinions on this. I am ready to retire!
Paul
My experience when I think "How can someone possibly afford to ....?" is that their wealth usually has little to do with their job and everything to do with inheritance or luck/good timing. For most working- and middle-class people, paying into a pension fund or investing in the stock market does not make them rich enough to retire early or afford a half-million dollar/pound house.
Of course, a major difference in the UK is that some people are still in defined-benefit ("final salary") pension schemes. There have been several articles recently showing how people in final salary schemes are anything from 3 to 8 times better off financially in retirement than people in defined-contribution schemes (where you invest your pension in the stock market and then buy an annuity with the pot when you retire).
Nov 15th 2008, 4:22 am
#55
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Re: Retirement age US vs UK. Opinions needed.
Nov 15th 2008, 5:06 am
#56
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Re: Retirement age US vs UK. Opinions needed.
It would have to drop below 48 before it would hit heat, and it's pretty unlikely to do that down here, unfortunately.
Nov 15th 2008, 9:37 am
#57
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Location: MA, USA
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Re: Retirement age US vs UK. Opinions needed.
Can't afford it any higher even if we wanted to though, but that's what winter sweaters are for
Nov 15th 2008, 11:40 am
#58
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Re: Retirement age US vs UK. Opinions needed.
Wow, must be running constantly in the summer!
Nov 17th 2008, 12:28 am
#59
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Re: Retirement age US vs UK. Opinions needed.
