Earlybird

Parsnips, I second that - like Ian, I had a nasty surprise in this year's tax assessment, and lost out on part of the child-care tax credit I was hoping for (make that "counting on"...), on account of rental income in the UK. Your reply is *very* helpful. I'll send the relevant documents to the tax authorities, and see what happens...

Perhaps most of those replying to sugarfree's original question are indeed already retired and so have a fairly clear idea of their monthly income and expenditure? For younger people, it's not so clearcut. (Assuming I live that long, and statistically the odds are that I will) I have another twenty-five years to go before I retire (possibly more, depending on how various European governments change their retirement rules), and I lie in bed at night and worry about this very issue. I too *should* have a "reasonable" pension here in France, based on final salary, but I don't feel I can rely on that alone - policies change, and already new employees in my organisation enjoy less favourable terms for pension calculation than I received a decade ago. (Look at what's happened to Ford / Mirror Group pensioners in the UK.) In short, sugarfree, my approach between now and retirement will be to save as much as possible given my family circumstances (I have young children), and to invest in a range of options. Of course no one knows what tomorrow holds, but I'd rather make provision for a comfortable old age than find myself at 85 with regrets that I didn't save more. And if I don't live that long, at least the children should get whatever the French taxman leaves them...