How to live in retirement: ways to survive, tips and revelations of pensioners. Personal experience: How to live in retirement Ways to survive a lonely pensioner from life experience

The number of people who reached retirement age in our country in 2018 exceeded 43 million people. The size of social security in Russia is such that the elderly have to use various tricks to survive. But with rational budget planning, you can live with dignity even in retirement.

The average pension in all Russia is 8,500 rubles. It turns out that most older people live on such meager means. The amount of benefit awarded depends on the following factors:

• profession;
• income level at the last job;
• length of service;
• length of service;
• location.

In addition, a similar social payment is also provided for orphans left without a breadwinner, Chernobyl veterans, disabled people who are assigned a pension for schizophrenia or other diseases.

Of course, there are those who are more fortunate, for example, in Moscow the allowance reaches 14,500 rubles. This is due to the fact that in the capital the level of wages is higher than the national average, and there is also a wide range of additional benefits that a pensioner can receive. In other regions, the situation is as follows:

Regardless of the place of residence, an increased pension is received by:

• former employees of the public sector;
• military personnel;
• combat veterans;
• citizens who worked in the Far North;
• workers employed in production with harmful and difficult working conditions.

Measures taken by the state to support pensioners

Given the miserable existence of Russian pensioners, President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin signed a law that, from January 1, 2016, provides for a reduction in utility costs for older people due to exemption from paying contributions for major repairs.

Also, after the onset of retirement age, you can exercise the right to the following concessions, which are provided on the basis of current legislation:

• exemption from payment of property tax (house, apartment, cottage);
• preferential transport taxation;
• free connection of the house to gas without a queue;
• compensation of expenses for housing and communal services (if more than 22% of income is spent on their payment);
• service in boarding schools for the elderly without charging a fee;
• free treatment in boarding houses;
• discounted travel on public transport.

At the regional level, their own ways of supporting are provided:

• in the presence of special conditions, the social protection authorities distribute the funds at their disposal for material assistance to pensioners (the presence of the title "Veteran of Labor"; persons with the status of "Children of War");
• free medical care out of turn;
• discounted purchase of prescription drugs.

The recently discussed bill, developed by the Government of the Russian Federation on raising the retirement age, is a new social experiment.

The law provides for an increase in the retirement age for women from 55 to 63 years, for men from 60 to 65. It turns out that if the bill is approved, you will have to work 8 and 5 years more, respectively. In the conditions of constant reform of the Russian pension system, practical advice from people who have already retired will benefit future pensioners.

Rethinking Costs

Galina Semyonovna lives in the city of Kuznetsk. She retired in 2017. The assigned old-age allowance of 8,000 rubles was enough at first, since there were still savings made during work. But after six months, the savings began to come to an end, the woman began to borrow money from friends and relatives. As a result, due to the constant lack of finances and unwillingness to change the usual way of life, the pensioner had to take a loan from a bank in order to return the borrowed funds.

By this time, Galina Semyonovna realized that she needed to rethink her monthly expenses and learn how to properly distribute her pension. The pensioner could no longer go to work again, her health was undermined by hard physical labor. I also had to take into account acquired chronic diseases that had an impact on overall well-being.

To draw up her new budget, the woman wrote down all her expenses:

Living in a private house helps Galina Semyonovna spend less on paying utility bills. Instead of chain stores, a woman purchases products in the market or wholesale depots. Owning a small farm also allows you to reduce food costs.

The list of products that Galina Semyonovna buys for a month:

The pensioner receives most of the necessary medicines free of charge by prescription. The woman saves the remaining thousand rubles for unforeseen expenses.

• Use the benefits provided by the state.
• Optimize food costs.
• Cut excess costs.
• To make preparations for the winter period in the presence of a summer residence, a kitchen garden or a garden.
• Work if your health permits.

Various analytical agencies and research holdings annually conduct opinion polls, but their results from year to year remain disappointing: two-thirds of our fellow citizens are afraid of retirement, and almost every second Russian believes that retirement entails the loss of not only professional, but also social status.

Learn how to live after retirement in this article.

Retirement is a new life stage

On the one hand, old age is the final period of development, and it is no longer possible to put aside thoughts about the results of life. However, on the other hand, retirement is the emergence of a large amount of free time, a measured life without a rigid rhythm and restrictions, an opportunity to do what you love, for which there was not enough time before. For old age to be a joy, you need to prepare for it in advance, you need to be aware that retirement age is just another life stage.

You need to start preparing for retirement from the age of fifty, so that in 5-10 years you won’t feel on the sidelines of life. Today, there are many ways to support yourself financially in this new status. Firstly, you need not only to mentally prepare for the end of your professional activity, but also to provide yourself with a material "airbag", come up with a new hobby.

How to secure a decent pension?

How to secure an additional source of income in old age? The very first thing that comes to mind for people of active age is to buy an apartment and rent it out, receiving a solid monthly pension increase. Indeed, this item of income may even exceed the size of the pension. By the way, you can rent not only an apartment, but also a cottage.

However, the purchase and subsequent rental of real estate is not the only way to ensure a decent old age.

If a future pensioner plans to ensure his prosperous future through investments, you can bet on a long-term bank deposit - a more reliable and safe tool for saving and increasing funds has not yet been invented. Recall that today each deposit of individuals is insured by the state for 1.4 million rubles.

By the way, you need to prepare not only in material terms. Closer to old age, psychologists recommend, if possible, expanding your social circle and strengthening the existing one, so that in old age you do not find yourself alone, do not fall out of the social environment, in order to be in demand and needed by someone.

How to live on a small pension?

Learn to spend money wisely. With retirement, the family or personal budget "sinks" noticeably, and in order to stay afloat, you have to optimize costs.

Cost planning is a whole science, which almost every one of us has to learn with the onset of retirement age. It makes it possible not only to have everything you need in life, but also sometimes save a pretty penny for large purchases.

After receiving the next pension, distribute it into parts: for paying utility bills, buying food, purchasing medicines, etc.

The budget for food, and this is the main item of expenditure, divide by days and, based on the amount received, make a list of products. Always take only the amount you can afford to the store.

How to improve your financial situation in retirement?

First, do not rush to leave for a well-deserved rest. If you feel strong in yourself, continue to work - working pensioners live much easier. If there is no desire or opportunity to stay in the same place, try to find other options. The best solution would be to work with a flexible schedule, part-time, etc.

If work activity does not suit you for some reason, try to start with what you always liked to do before, devote some of your free time to your hobby. Perhaps you are into beekeeping or you love growing violets. And why not turn your favorite hobby into a profitable occupation? Try to use your hobby as a source of albeit a small, but much-needed additional income.

If you have the strength and desire, devote yourself to your favorite dacha - grow vegetables, fruits and berries. Nowadays, a natural product is highly valued, so there will be no problems with the sale of products. It is not necessary to stand on the market yourself, you can simply hand over the harvest to "outbid".

In any case, doing what you love, you will remain "in the black": even if such an activity does not bring profit, it will help to cope with depression.

Have you ever thought about how much our pensioners receive from the state? How does it assess the contribution of our grandparents, fathers and mothers to the development of the country? With what baggage do they enter the rest from many years of work?

How are they

Let's turn to the all-knowing statistics. The average pension in Russia last year amounted to a little more than 8,000 rubles, in European countries this figure is about 8 times higher. The retirement age in Europe is generally higher, as is life expectancy. From this we can draw a simple conclusion - European pensioners live better and longer, respectively, their health is more stable and life after retirement is richer.

Like we have

In our country, they live quite modestly, often after paying all the mandatory payments, there is no money left even for quality food, not to mention hobbies and recreation. Especially when you have to compare the size of pensions and the price level. The question inevitably arises how to live in retirement? How to plan expenses in such a way as not to count pennies and borrow from relatives and friends?

Planning Secrets

The main thing in this matter is to carefully plan everything and stick to the planned expenses, read up-to-date information on pension reform and current news on pensiyaportal.ru. Here are a few points that will help you keep finances in your pockets longer.

Useful video

Let's look at the advice of experienced pensioners:

Conclusion

If you are retired, but active yourself, want to communicate with positive people and earn extra money for your retirement, be positive and optimistic. This will prolong life, and registration in the company will allow you to earn good money.

How to live on a meager pension? This question is asked every day by thousands of pensioners. It is especially difficult for lonely old people who have no one to support. Magazine Reconomica interviewed a pensioner who shared her experience of distributing a pension of less than 10,000 rubles. How to save, what to eat, what to give up, how to live at the end of the month, when the next pension is still a week away - about this in today's material.

At the beginning of 2015 and I, Ilmira Imelevna Gavrilova , replenished the huge 42 millionth army of pensioners in our country. Frankly, I was looking forward to this moment and left the job with pleasure. I wanted to live freely: take care of my health, my beloved grandchildren, devote more time to hobbies and reading, and not jump up and run every morning to “work hard”.

Maybe this wouldn't have happened. In connection with the “optimization”, with 22 years of teaching experience, she became unemployed, she had to get a job as a seller in a grocery store for a private trader on the basis of a mutual agreement without registration.

Therefore, the size of the pension, despite the total 30 years of service, turned out to be slightly higher than the minimum, equal to the subsistence level per capita in our region - 8200 rubles.

What problem did I face in the first months of retirement

This is what my pension looks like

The first months of "free" life rushed by instantly: I did not feel a lack of funds - my small savings helped. But everything comes to an end: the savings have dried up, and the bare old-age pension has become the main means of subsistence. Out of habit of living in a “big way”, I continued to spend money twice the size of my allowance. In the end, she got into debt with friends, took out loans ...

Former optimism diminished and the constant question “how to continue to live on 8,000 rubles” haunted. Eg, . And I'm worse? I don't understand why this is so unfair. How can I live on half the money?

What to do when the pension is not enough?

Why the problem of lack of money is relevant for pensioners

The number of pensioners in our country is growing rapidly, it is becoming increasingly difficult for the younger generation to feed us, the unemployed, so it is not necessary to wait for an increase in benefits as “manna from heaven”.

Most older people are not able to work because of poor health, and the crisis, the growth of unemployment does not give them the opportunity to find it. I do not argue that not all pensioners are “offended”: hundreds of thousands of former officials,management staff, military, judges, oil and gas workersget a lot. These are only a few hundred thousand people, and after all, the remaining millions: disabled people,victims of radiation disasters,orphans without a breadwinner,old age pensionerslive on funds ranging from 7,000 rubles. up to 14,000 rubles

It turns out that millions of people have the same miserable means as my pension - 8,000 rubles, in most cases even less. But you should not despair about this, you can live, and you need to learn how to live on what you have.

I offer a few tips for solving this problem, acquired from personal experience. I hope that the knowledge I acquired during the first years of retirement will help you not only learn how to live within your means, but also change your outlook on life itself.

How I looked for an increase in my pension

I will tell you about the methods of increasing the pension that I have excluded. I don't recommend for retirees.

Get ready for hard physical work.

Feeling the first financial difficulties, I immediately went back to the store as a sales assistant, since they respected me there and did not forget me. I worked for three months, paid off debts and closed loans ... But hard physical work and 12 hours of being on my feet shook my health: my joints ached. The doctors explained that senile changes in the body cannot be cured, but can only be slowed down: reduce physical activity and alleviate with the help of painkillers ... There was no question of continuing the work ... The cost of medicines increased significantly.

Take loans.

Loans to pensioners are issued without guarantors and unnecessary documentary evidence: easily and quickly, but it is almost impossible to pay on time from a small allowance. I have already talked about my experience of this before. A big risk - getting stuck in a debt hole for a long time - is also not a suitable option for replenishing the budget.

How I Found the Right Method and Started Budgeting

Leaving my job, which gave me the opportunity to get out of the debt hole, but finally undermined my health, I began to learn to live in a new way, within my means. Changing the whole way of life and attitude towards it in accordance with the sudden onset of physical and material shortcomings was difficult, but it turns out to be possible.

First, I calculated all my expenses:

• communal,
• nutrition,
• cloth,
• medicines,
• gifts to relatives,
• feasts on holidays,
• necessary household goods,
• repair

And so on for a month. The result was an impressive amount, far exceeding my allowance. Crossed out everything that is not urgently needed at the moment. The list contains the most necessary things for each month:

• communal,
• food,
• medicines,
• household goods.

The total amount of money that used to go to this list did not suit me: if utility costs remained within a certain amount, then the costs of food and medicine were large and changed not for the better.

Advice: utility bills can be reduced,.

It was necessary to change the set of products and reduce drugs, reduce the cost of household goods. This means changing the lifestyle, lifestyle: diet, a set of medicines and the necessary goods. My new life principle of “eat half as much, move twice as much outdoors” helped bring them into line with retirement.

How do I spend my pension of 8000 rubles. Specific plan of my budget for the month

I divided the expenses for the month into several groups.

Calculation of utility costs

Communal payments. I live in my own house, so the cost of sewerage and general repairs is not included here.

• heating (gas) - 1600 - 1700 rubles.
• electricity - 300 - 350 rubles.
• water - 100 rubles.

Total - (to the maximum) 2150 rubles.

How to live on 3000 rubles a month: a list of products

Going to the store is now only with a list!

Nutrition. Probably, many are interested in the pensioner's menu for 3 thousand rubles. Indeed, for this small amount you can eat normally. I excluded from the diet expensive meat products, sausages, canned food, smoked meats, overseas fruits and other food delights imposed on people by a voracious trading industry.

Here is my grocery list for the month:

• Bread- 1/2 roll per day, that is, 15 pcs. - 300 rubles.
• cereals:
• oatmeal (most of all) 5 kg - 150 rubles.
• barley 3 kg - 90 rubles.
• semolina 1 kg - 45 rubles.
• buckwheat (favorite) 3 kg - 210 rubles.
• millet (cheap) 2kg - 50 rubles.
• rice 3 kg - 150 rubles.
• peas 3 kg - 75 rubles.
• Flour 2kg - 70 rubles.
• Meat and fish(usually chicken and cheap pollock) - 1000 rubles.
• Dairy and 2 liters of cheap sunflower oil - 300 rubles.
• Eggs 3 dozen - 180 rubles.
• Sugar 2 kg - 100 rubles.
• Vegetables and fruits(the most necessary):
• potatoes 10 kg - 200 rubles.
• apples 1 kg - 65 rubles.
• cabbage 3 kg - 60 rubles.
• onion 3 kg and garlic 3 pcs. - 100 rubles.
• salt and seasonings - 100 rubles.

Total - 3245 rubles.

How to save money on medicines

Here are the most unnecessary medicines (calculated for me, you can change the list, but instead of the recommended expensive imported ones, choose cheap analogues of domestic production, eliminating the risk of buying a fake as much as possible):

• The drug for hypertension (every day a tablet) 1 pack - 250 rubles.
• paracetamol 2-3 packs (in case of a cold, fever, joint pain) - 180 rubles.
• nimesulide 1-2 packs (for joint pain) - 120 rubles.

Total - 550 rubles.

How much is the minimum set of household goods for a month

Household goods (the most necessary):

• Washing powder 1 pack - 50 rubles.
• toilet soap 2 pcs - 30 rubles.
• toilet paper 5 rolls - 50 rubles.
• dishwashing detergent - 50 rubles.
• toothpaste and razor - 150 rubles.

Total - 330 rubles.

We create an emergency reserve

The total amount of expenses is obtained in the range of 6275 - 6300 rubles per month. Of the remaining amount of 1700 rubles, 700 rubles. I put it in my wallet (for unplanned expenses), and I remove 1000 rubles for a “rainy day”. Of course, you can spend them right there, but the ability to withstand the onslaught of “habitual” desires and needs, to be content with the minimum, denying yourself the pleasure of eating delicious food and flaunting fashionable clothes, and there is a new way of life.

I even noticed an improvement in my health on a meager diet of cereals with water and vegetable oil.

Opinions of people, doctors on the problem

True, there are not enough people who agree with my current routine of life. Strict accounting of expenses and revenues of the budget and strict observance of what was planned seem almost indecent to people: like a manifestation of stinginess. But in the developed capitalist countries, people have been living like this for a long time.

Medicine has long convinced us that most people get sick due to malnutrition: excessive consumption of high-calorie protein, fatty, sweet, salty and smoked foods is bad for health. Eating carbohydrates and plant foods, on the contrary, improves health.

How to live on a pension in Russia: ways to survive, tips

So, my advice to retirees:

1. Make a budget plan and stick to it strictly.
2. Change your diet.
3. Do not spend money on expensive gifts, but rather sew, knit or make a souvenir for children or grandchildren.
4. Don't be led by the trading industry and don't buy into advertising.
5. It is beneficial to use the opportunities: garden, garden, picking berries, mushrooms and herbs.
6. Take advantage of subsidies and benefits offered by the state.

"I am 57 years old. A year ago I retired. To be honest, I never thought that retirement would be a tragedy for me. For as long as I can remember, I dreamed that someday there would come a time when you wouldn’t have to rush headlong to work, when you could do what you really wanted to do, not take minutes to clean up the apartment and cook a delicious dinner. But everything turned out to be wrong. I don't know where to put myself. The first week of my new life was spent getting enough sleep and doing a general cleaning in the apartment. I stayed with my daughter for another week (she recently moved to another city), and then everything! I get up in the morning and another empty day begins. I'm not used to watching TV for hours - I can't stand TV shows. I don’t need to go to the store, how much does a single woman need - I can easily get by with a package of yogurt and a couple of sandwiches. My health is all right, but it turns out that I buried myself alive. Before, when I came home from work, I was so tired that I simply didn’t have time for sad thoughts. And now I constantly think that old age has come. That no one needs me anymore - my daughter has grown up a long time ago, her mother-in-law, who lives in the same city, sits with her grandchildren. The husband died 7 years ago. Sometimes I don't say a single word for a week. I can't find a new job - who will hire me at that age? But before, I was respected by my colleagues, I was considered a good specialist, I was appreciated by the authorities. What now? So, when I retire, all I have to do is wait for death?” Nina Mikhailovna, Moscow region

Unfortunately, for many people, retirement is not accompanied by joy, but by stress, longing and apathy. Thoughts come to mind about impending old age, about the need to give up your job to the young, that at work they can already do without them. Particularly affected by "retirement stress" are those who were engaged in active creative work at work, and those who live alone, away from their children and grandchildren. For them, retirement sometimes becomes a real tragedy. But you want to stay in the status of a pensioner was no worse than youth or maturity. How to adjust to your new social status and continue to enjoy life after retirement, tells psychologist Irina Vasilyeva.

Step by step

As retirement age approaches, a person goes through several stages. The first is the so-called pre-retirement phase. Retirement seems to you in the distant future, but at the same time there is a feeling of anxiety. During this period, many begin to save money, begin to equip summer cottages, where they plan to spend a significant part of their time after retirement, someone begins to look after their hobbies. This approach is absolutely correct. After all, after such training, people cease to be afraid of leaving work.

The next stage is romantically called "Honeymoon". It starts immediately after retirement. A person experiences a feeling of euphoria from the newfound freedom - there is no need to rush anywhere, you can do what you love. But, unfortunately, after the “honeymoon” there often comes a phase of disappointment, which, as a rule, arises because the picture of retirement life that a person has drawn in his imagination does not correspond to reality. For example, you were sure that when you retired you would devote yourself to raising your grandchildren, and the children refuse your help. Or you have picked up a certain hobby for yourself, and your health condition does not allow you to do what you love. For many, the phase of disappointment is replaced by a stage of reorientation and stability - a person begins to realize his strengths and weaknesses and select the appropriate occupation. But there are people who, despite all efforts, cannot find themselves.

The main thing is self-confidence

Domestic and foreign psychologists agree (and this is confirmed by numerous studies) that people with average and high self-esteem adapt best to retirement. That is why those who cannot come to terms with their new status in any way, first of all, need to start treating themselves better. Remember your achievements more often, do not reproach yourself for the mistakes you have made, take every small victory (for example, you made a bargain or shared a recipe for a branded pie with a neighbor) as a big success.

You are responsible for your life

Try not to shift the responsibility for your life onto someone else. Many pensioners believe that others are to blame for their bad mood and feeling of uselessness: children who do not want to live with elderly parents, former bosses who sent a valuable specialist to retire, friends who rarely visit. After all, you are responsible for your own life. And you live first of all for yourself. It seems to many that there is no need to prepare a delicious dinner for yourself - they say, you can eat semi-finished products, you should not clean the apartment - no one comes in anyway, etc. However, it is necessary to do all this. Let first through force, forcing yourself. But over time, these simple daily activities will help you cope with longing and bad mood.

Find an activity you love

Of course, the best way to painlessly survive retirement is to find something to do for yourself. One of my friends, after her retirement, took up the arrangement of a flower garden under her own windows. By the way, gardening made her the most popular person in the stairwell. Neighbors, who for many years did not even know the name of my friend, began to communicate with her. She got acquainted with all the tenants of the house and made real friendships with some of them.

Another problem faced by "novice pensioners" is the inability to communicate with people "just like that", not on business. It seems to many that people can perceive such "talks about nothing" as importunate. It's not like that at all. There are a lot of lonely people. Do not be shy if someone does not want to maintain a dialogue with you, this is not a tragedy at all. Many in the search for new acquaintances are helped by ... a dog. Get a four-legged friend. Dog lovers are a special caste, they always have a topic for conversation and a company for a walk.