Dennis Friend was paid three shillings a day when he worked for the Royal Air Force in his twenties. He was smart with his pay cheque — he kept half and sent the other one shilling and sixpence to his mother.
“I told her to spend it, but she didn’t. She opened an account for me without me knowing and put it all in there,” Friend said. “When I came out of the air force three years later, I had quite a nice sum of money.”
It became a savings habit that Friend kept throughout his working life. Now aged 100, he is reaping the benefits, living his later years as a proud spender.
Friend, who lives in a care home in Sidmouth, Devon, loves to shop. His favourite is Marks & Spencer — where he stocks up on cans of bloody marys and other cocktails for his mini fridge — and for his 100th birthday in January he treated 12 friends to steak, chips, onion rings, “plenty of drinks” and a magician.
“I was brought up to save. My father was adamant that I didn’t waste money, so I saved all my life. It’s as simple as that,” Friend said. “When I retired I thought, I’m not going to keep saving. It’s time to spend some of it now.”
Friend is part of a growing number of centenarians in the UK. There were 16,140 people aged over 100 in 2023, more than double the 7,980 in 2003. Most are women (13,180 of them), so Friend is in an elite club of men to reach the 100 mark.
That number is expected to grow. A 30-year-old woman today has a one-in-ten chance of living to 100, while a man the same age has similar odds to live to 99.
Living ten decades is no easy feat — and neither is stretching your finances longer than expected. Here’s what Friend has learnt.
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Don’t waste it
As a lifelong saver, Friend’s advice is simple: “Save some for a rainy day. Live your life and enjoy it, but don’t waste money — you’ll need it when you’re older.”
Friend believes his money habits come from his parents. “I was lucky,” he said. “I had good parents, so I never really knew how to be any other way.”
Even now, having a few savings accounts with different building societies gives him peace of mind.
Alan Barral, a financial planner at Quilter, said that a strong emergency buffer was perhaps even more important in retirement than during your working life. He said: “With no earnings in retirement, having at least 6–12 months’ worth of accessible savings is important and helps avoid selling investments in your pension if markets are down.”
Don’t miss out on extra support either. Melanie Wright from Rest Less, a digital community for the over-fifties, said that many older people overlooked Attendance Allowance, a non-means-tested benefit to help with extra costs if you need someone to look after you.
Dennis Friend turned 100 in January, and treated his friends to steak, “plenty of drinks” and a magician
WAYNE PERRY FOR THE SUNDAY TIMES
Don’t forget to enjoy it
When Friend retired from NatWest at 58, he had a generous pension — a third of his final salary for life and a lump sum. He knows it’s a good deal: “It sounds idyllic, doesn’t it? It is nice to have a decent pension. You don’t have to scrape.”
Despite his saving habit, he used the lump sum to travel with his partner, Norman. They toured India on the “palace on wheels”, a train of Maharaja coaches, then spent a week at the beach.
“It was amazing,” said Friend, recounting the trip 43 years later. “It was luxurious but primitive, the only shower was a cold tap and you had to sit on the bathroom floor to use it.”
He and Norman, who were together for 66 years until Norman died three years ago, travelled the world using his savings: Sri Lanka, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa, the Falkland Islands and Italy.
The type of pension Friend enjoys, a defined benefit pension, is increasingly rare in the private sector. It pays a guaranteed, inflation-linked income for life. Most people today rely on defined contribution pensions, where your retirement pot depends on how much you pay in and investment performance.
Tom Selby from the investment platform AJ Bell said: “It’s impossible to know how long your pot needs to last. As a rough rule, experts suggest you can take 3 to 4 per cent of your pot each year, and be confident that it will last throughout retirement.”
Those wanting a guaranteed income can buy an annuity, where you swap a lump sum for and get a set payment for life. Many opt to do this later in retirement when they no longer want to manage their pot.
Clear your debts
Friend bought his first home, a bungalow, for £1,900 aged 35. He was working for NatWest and got a good deal through his employer. “The interest rate was about 2.5 per cent,” said Friend, who rose from a “junior boy” at the bank to managing a department.
He took out an insurance policy linked to the mortgage. When it matured in his mid-fifties, he used the payout to clear the loan.
While it used to be common to clear your mortgage by retirement, longer mortgage terms and the rising age of first-time buyers mean many still have housing costs in retirement. The English Housing Survey says about a quarter of older households still pay a mortgage or rent.
If you still have a mortgage in retirement, you might consider using a lump sum from your pension to clear the debt. You can usually withdraw up to 25 per cent of your pot tax-free from age 55, rising to 57 from 2028. However, weigh this against the long-term value of keeping your pension invested and talk to a financial adviser if you’re not sure.
Downsizing is another option, as you can sell your home to buy a cheaper one outright. Moving can be costly, though, and many want to stay near friends and family.
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Another option is equity release. It lets you borrow against your home, and you only pay back the loan and interest when you move into long-term care or die. According to Key, an equity release adviser, a third of those who used equity release in 2023 did so to pay off their mortgage. It can be expensive, as the interest “rolls up” and is added to the loan at the end. It could leave you with significantly less to pass on as an inheritance.
Wright added that budgeting for future home adaptations — such as stair lifts or walk-in showers — is essential.
Prepare for care
Friend pays about £2,000 a month for his care home. He loves where he lives and makes it a rule to smile at everyone he sees. He said: “I always smile at people in the halls. When I smile, they smile back. It’s lovely. I probably look a bit cuckoo, but there you go.”
Thanks to his savings he doesn’t stress about the cost. He said: “I saved all my life for old age, so I knew it was there. That was always the plan: a comfortable retirement where I could still do things, go out, take holidays and not worry.”
Under present rules, people with more than £23,250 in savings are not eligible for government help with care costs. Many end up selling their homes to fund care, which costs as much as £1,400 a week on average, according to Lottie, a service that helps you find a care home.
“Most people don’t want to move into a care home, but by your nineties, independent living isn’t always possible,” Wright said. “It’s vital to think about how you’ll cover those costs.”
Sarah Coles from the investment platform Hargreaves Lansdown suggests using pension savings to prepare for care, as the money you pay in benefits from tax relief and employer top-ups. Once you need care, you could consider an immediate needs annuity. This product provides a guaranteed, tax-free income for life, paid directly to the care provider.
Friend has no financial regrets. A dedicated saver from his twenties to sixties, he’s since enjoyed four decades of joyful, exciting retirement.
“I was glad I had those savings to enjoy. I was still relatively young and fit when I retired. That’s what retirement is about, enjoying yourself while you still can,” Friend said.
“When you’ve saved all your life, it was a job to start spending — but once I did, oh boy did I enjoy myself.”
