I think most drive BMW SUV’s if they can afford them!
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Nissan Note is the pensioner’s car of choice, my Dad’s got one. They call it Nancy and it’s a kind of metallic bronze/gold but we refer to it as hearing aid beige.
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I’ve suddenly changed my mind about retiring 
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had one of those before I retired! got rid of the fucker well before…
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Mrs FP has one, it’s a great little town car, FO thirsty though!
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Never liked jeeps either !
Sure I can find something decent that’s cheap to run
I think most people hope to maintain the lifestyle that they’ve enjoyed while working in retirement, so if they usually change their car every 3 years and go on 2 foreign holidays a year then they probably want to carry on doing that.
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By the time I go rentals will pay for
All the essentials for me.
Bills
Food
Rent ( In wife’s house , don’t ask!)
The tiny outgoings and probably a touch left over.
I’d never lease a car but I have a budget for that already
My pension will be literally spending money, don’t need 35 grand of that a year
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He can play while I hum along
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< start rant >
If I was in charge, I’d confiscate all the SUVs, put them in a field and charge people to fire NLAWS* at them until the whole lot was a smouldering pile of junk.
If someone stopped me, I’d change road tax to be based on height and width of the car and keep putting the tax up until nobody could afford to drive them.
Having an SUV is pretty much the biggest way of saying that you hate your fellow human beings that a normal person can afford
</ end >
*(other missiles are available)
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I like this, though I would allow people to apply for a dispensation based on where they live or specific reasoning for having one… e.g. living up a lane which isn’t properly kept might allow ownership.
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Back to less confrontational matters!
First, the geek in would like to point out that you’re only working for £50 a week if your pension pot isn’t rising in the background.
As for why I’m aiming for £3K / month retirement income, there are a few things, roughly in order of priority:
- 10 year old son who’s bright and expect he’ll go to university - can’t save for retirement and fees at the same time so need some slack for that
- Expect there will be some excess to provide for a rainy day / change to pension age / financial crisis. I’m a cautious person financially and my wife even more so
- Decent holidays which might be 1-2 months rather than 1-2 weeks
- Don’t want to be worrying about every penny spent or analysing outgoings every evening
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Yep, I’m not a fan of them either. Bit different for people living in the middle of nowhere in winter but these huge tanks people drive in suburbia just so that they can park on the kerb!
Can’t see a bloody thing past them either. And these pickup trucks, ok if you are a builder or something but rarely do I see one that is actually used for anything like that.
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If someone could demonstrate a legitimate need for a 4 wheel drive vehicle, they would be allowed to purchase a poverty spec original Landrover Defender (not the new ones).
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And that’s the thing, these tanks are not actually useful for anything much other than being antisocial.
On top of that there’s their impact on emissions:
Basically, if you buy an SUV you hate other humans and you also hate the planet
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Yeah, the motor industry has made huge efforts in the last 20-odd years to improve fuel economy and get more power out of smaller engines and now the whole world unwinds the benefits by moving to inherently inefficient SUVs.
I get that people feel safer in SUVs, but it’s usually at the expense of people outside their car. If a pedestrian or cyclist gets hit by an SUV they’re probably going to come out of it worse than if they get hit by a saloon car at the same speed.
I think you get used to the traffic if you ride regularly, but I rode for the first time in 3 months today and I was very conscious of big SUVs in the traffic. They use more of the lane, so pass you closer.
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Being honest this the final piece of the puzzle
Jesus Christ … if you have a ten year old kid or a huge house loan how on earth are you going to retire ?!?
That’s not aimed at FP he’s probably my favourite tri talker !
But life is a maths sum, £££ in … ££££ out
My dad retired at 47 and he could have gone five years earlier, he’s now 74 and comfortable.
I’ve found this thread almost offensive at times, stick at it tri talkers
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Serious answer, I don’t really intend to as far as I can help it. I accept that I gave up that luxury when we had her so late. We are not saddled with a large mortgage but our house is very ordinary.
It does keep me awake at night thought, worrying about her future rather than my own. On paper the burden is heavy but when you are talking about your own kids, the sacrifice is done with love.
Except driving a Scenic, no kids are worth that shit.
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12 months before I met the woman I’ll spend the rest of my life with I met a lady called Nikki.
I often wonder what would have been… she was just … there aren’t enough superlatives.
BUT ( Anything before the word BUT is just horse shit ) “Ned Stark” ( look what happened to him!) she really wanted a baby at 41-42…
I walked as I didn’t want to be an “ old “ dad and even think about the problems you talk about weekly, that said I always wanted a daughter and deprived myself of one as I was “ too old”’ when I decided I actually wanted one ?!
Life is pros and cons and sometimes I think I made a mistake, sometimes I’m glad I ran off to financial heaven and security but sometimes there’s a space in me that will never now be filled, I really hope you accept this very heart felt post, in later life we find ourselves in very different positions, I’m greatful for mine but don’t think I’m not jealous of the love you will gain and the choice you made.
The car is a shocker, you have no shame … but at least it will be full of love and defective parts
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That’s a very nice post mate. We all make our choices to a degree but so much of my life has been shaped by choices of others and the emotional and financial consequence of things that happened nearly over 25yrs ago.
I had no desire to have kids again but it was important for Mrs FP and eventually we worked it out. Had we not, we’d still be together but maybe some regret, maybe not. We miss living on the beach in Sydney and being just the two of us.
There are no right or wrongs on this stuff. I suppose in general terms, the regret of not having kids can be heavier for some women than men but the important things are to focus on what you have and not what you don’t.
I’m not anywhere near a perfect Dad. I lost my shit internally just today when thinking about some of things we’ve been dealing with lately, primary school related and thought.
"I’M NEARLY 58 FUCKING YEARS OLD, WHY THE HELL DO I HAVE TO DEAL WITH PLAYGROUND SHIT?’
Then I had a cup of tea and all was well again. 
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