Early-retirement wannabe

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  • AlanP_2
    AlanP_2 Posts: 3,250
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    Muhren wrote: »

    I earn around 33k a year and pay 6% into my company pension with 9% added by my employer. I have shares totaling around £20k all in the company I work for. My first shareshave has just finished so I am going to buy the shares at the option price then set up an ISA and go down the vanguard route.


    Not sure if you were going to or not but I would seriously consider selling the company shares once you have them and putting that cash into Vanguard if that is your choice.

    You may have meant this, or you may have meant putting the looking ahead £250 into Vanguard - I wasn't sure.

    The reason I make the point is that I know people who had company shares, some for 25+ years that had grown enormously in value - until the company got into difficulties and the price fell off a cliff.

    They lost their jobs and a lot of value on their shares as they were both tied to the same company. Some more than others obviously as some saw the writing on the wall and stared to sell up, others didn't though.
  • edinburgher
    edinburgher Posts: 13,450
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    @Muhren - I'm in a very similar position to you as regards salary and age, your work benefits sound more generous than mine (6% me/6% employer, no share incentives). Hoping to retire at or before your lower stated age.

    It's hard to offer pointers as to whether or not your plan is feasible without knowing the approximate value of your pension, but based on your projected monthly investments of £800+, I don't see why not.

    We have a bigger mortgage and a baby to consider as well.
  • atush
    atush Posts: 18,719
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    Muhren wrote: »
    So I have been reading through bits and pieces of this thread as early retirement is something that I would very much like to achieve.

    So my current situation is I am 33, single and just about to move back into my own property. I have a mortgage of £78k with the house worth approx £160k.

    I earn around 33k a year and pay 6% into my company pension with 9% added by my employer. I have shares totaling around £20k all in the company I work for. My first shareshave has just finished so I am going to buy the shares at the option price then set up an ISA and go down the vanguard route.

    I don't really want to work past 60, but if possible I would like to finish working or at least be in a position to not have to work at 55. At the moment I am paying £250 a month in to a sharesave, £150 in to another type of share purchasing scheme at work. Once I have set up my ISA I will be able to invest £250-350 a month. I wanted to find out how viable it will be for me to achieve my goal and any tips and pointers you can give me to help me along the way.


    You will def have to build up some very large S&S ISA holdings, as you probably wont be able to draw pensions from age 55, as they will most likely mirror SPA minus 10 in future. So say from 58+?
  • edinburgher
    edinburgher Posts: 13,450
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    atush wrote: »
    You will def have to build up some very large S&S ISA holdings, as you probably wont be able to draw pensions from age 55, as they will most likely mirror SPA minus 10 in future. So say from 58+?

    Agreed (and also expecting 58+).

    My plan had been to invest almost exclusively in pensions for the next decade or so (taking full advantage of salary sacrifice if it sticks around) and then to rein in the pension contributions to the minimum required for employer match and switch to S&S ISA. It's a bit of a juggling act trying to reconcile lumpy future income (different bits of pensions at different times) and tax.
  • Muhren
    Muhren Posts: 1,703
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    Thanks for the replies.

    Alan - I should have made it clearer, I am intending to transfer my sharesave money into an ISA once I have the share certificate, in addition to the £250 per month investment.

    Edinburgher - It will be interesting to see how we both get on then. I do hope to have a family one day, but I really need an other half to help with that! To answer your question I currently have around £37k over two pensions, one with my current employer and the other from my previous one. I should really look to see howmuch the fees are on my small pot from my previous employer and think about moving it over so it is all in one place.

    Atush - I will have to take that into consideration but I guess the goalposts are likely to change again by the time I retire?
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  • enthusiasticsaver
    enthusiasticsaver Posts: 15,445
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    So we are down to counting days now. My husband retires in 26 days time at the end of this month and I will be retiring on 31.12.17 so that is 452 days or just under 15 months.

    Picking up OHs car on 21.10 which is the first time he has had to buy one privately for 37 years (always had company cars). Handed over my old iPhone to him with a sim only card (bought half price with Three) as even his phone is owned by the company. Also bought two new laptops, one for him to replace the company one which goes back in a few weeks time and one to replace my aging but very reliable Dell (albeit slow and out of date).

    Interestingly enough the replacement engineer the company hired to take over from my husband lasted about two weeks before quitting due to awful hours and too much travelling. No wonder hubby retiring early!!!
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  • Marine_life
    Marine_life Posts: 1,059
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    I've been away for a while as I've been spending some time on another early retirement forum :-O

    Coming up to six years since I started this thread and I am starting to piece things together. We've moved into our retirement home which is a huge step both because it's where we really want to be but also because its massively inconvenient for work! So I've shifted to working largely from home. Essentially its a non sustainable working style so need to do something.

    I have a meeting with my employer two weeks tomorrow and have set out four options for the future. If I get what I am looking for then I would drop down to one day a week working. If they won't agree then the other option is a complete exit. Will be an interesting conversation especially as I've just had one of my most successful months ever!

    52nd birthday approaching which on my spreadsheets was always the long stop option. Financially we're in great shape and we have a really clear view on the life we want from here....what will actually happen however is anyone's guess ;-)
    Money won't buy you happiness....but I have never been in a situation where more money made things worse!
  • Marine_life
    Marine_life Posts: 1,059
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    So we are down to counting days now. My husband retires in 26 days time at the end of this month and I will be retiring on 31.12.17 so that is 452 days or just under 15 months.

    Picking up OHs car on 21.10 which is the first time he has had to buy one privately for 37 years (always had company cars). Handed over my old iPhone to him with a sim only card (bought half price with Three) as even his phone is owned by the company. Also bought two new laptops, one for him to replace the company one which goes back in a few weeks time and one to replace my aging but very reliable Dell (albeit slow and out of date).

    Interestingly enough the replacement engineer the company hired to take over from my husband lasted about two weeks before quitting due to awful hours and too much travelling. No wonder hubby retiring early!!!

    How exciting!

    Good luck with that.
    Money won't buy you happiness....but I have never been in a situation where more money made things worse!
  • Marine_life
    Marine_life Posts: 1,059
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    I just realized I made the 3000th post.....whoop!
    Money won't buy you happiness....but I have never been in a situation where more money made things worse!
  • Wednesday2000
    Wednesday2000 Posts: 7,281
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    I've been away for a while as I've been spending some time on another early retirement forum :-O

    Which one?:)
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