Andy Burdon, 70, and Sylvia Burdon, 71, said they want to prove that you can have a fulfilling retirement without a large pension

In our How I Manage My Money series, we aim to find out how people in the UK are spending, saving and investing money to meet their costs and achieve their goals.

This week we speak to Andy Burdon, 70, and Sylvia Burdon, 71, a married couple living in Staffordshire. Before retiring at the age of 60, Andy worked part-time at an estate agency, while Sylvia worked as a part-time accountant and bookkeeper. The couple also once ran a pub together. Andy and Sylvia do not think people need a large annual income in order to enjoy a comfortable retirement. The couple think the triple lock should be changed to a double lock and that pension credit should be easier to claim for those who need it.

Monthly budget

Our monthly income: As a couple, we have £1,800 coming in from state pensions each month, as well as £710 from work pensions and £416 from annuities. Our total combined income per month is £2,926 before tax.

Our monthly outgoings: We own our house outright. Council tax, £144; groceries and drinks, £420; gas and electric, £116; water, £22; petrol, insurance and tax for two cars, £127; house contents insurance, £9; entertainment and hobbies, £330; broadband and news subscriptions, £78 – we don’t have TV or magazine subscriptions. Our outgoings are around £1,246 per month. We also spend £5,000 a year to maintain our holiday home in Devon, which we do not generate any income from. We have a good surplus of cash in savings and premium bonds over and above our outgoings.

We both retired at the age of 60 in 2014 and were happy to do so as it meant we could start to do what we wanted and follow our interests.

We have always been conscious of our budget and made overpayments on our mortgage over the years to get it paid off as soon as possible. Fortunately, we are now mortgage-free. Any surplus cash we had was generally diverted into tax-efficient Isas rather than pensions.

We were keen to take part in The i Paper’s How I Manage My Money series for one main reason. We want to get the message out that you do not need an enormous income in later life. We are living proof that you do not need huge pension pots in order to enjoy a very good retirement.

We saw data from Pensions UK, previously known as the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association, recently that suggests a single person needs £43,900 a year to enjoy a comfortable retirement, rising to £60,600 for a couple.

We wish to challenge these figures and reassure people coming up to retirement that, in our view, such large incomes are not necessary.

We run two cars. One is a little runaround and 20 years old, but our main car is only four years old. We socialise at least three times a week and have a takeaway once a month. We do not eat out much as we enjoy cooking and can cook better than most restaurants we can afford to go to.

Since retiring, we have gone to the theatre a couple of times a year and have at least one two-week foreign trip a year, as well as a weekend away.

We also maintain a holiday cabin 200 miles away in Devon and drive to it from our home every few weeks. The site fees for our holiday cabin are around £5,000 a year.

Our annual income, including state pensions, occupational pensions and annuities, is around £32,000 after tax. Our regular outgoings are approximately £20,000, including our holiday home. This leaves around £12,000 per year for clothes, more expensive holidays, house maintenance, gifts, charitable donations and other impromptu expenses.

We are sure that we are not the only couple who have a perfectly comfortable life on a small budget. In our view, too much credence has been placed on the Pensions UK figures, which could cause anxiety in some new retirees. We would like to reassure people that they can have a comfortable retirement on much, much less than the numbers suggest.

As a couple, the state pension we receive is adequate, but we would only just manage if we were both on our own. We think the triple lock should be reduced to a double lock and that pension credit should be easier to claim for those who need it.

We think winter fuel payments should be made available to pensioners in the lowest three council tax bands, as they are the most likely to have inadequate insulation. Any money saved from not providing winter fuel payments to the higher bands should go into property insulation grants.

While we don’t like the idea of inheritance tax, we do believe it is generally fair in that most households will not have to pay it. However, we do think it is unfair that those with no dependents cannot benefit from certain reliefs.

For the past 18 years we have lived in a 19th century three-bedroom end-of-terrace cottage. We purchased it in 2007 for £130,000 without a mortgage and spent £20,000 renovating it before we moved in.

Being brought up as baby boomers when make-do-and-mend was the order of the day, and then being on the tail-end of the hippy movement, money has never been a great motivator for us, as long as we have enough to maintain what we see as a comfortable lifestyle.

Want to take part in How I Manage My Money? Email money@theipaper.com