Early retirement advice - how would those who have done it do it today?

kidmugsy wrote: »

Filling your ISAs also seems wise: I can't imagine the £20k p.a. limit surviving under a marxist government. But then your savings might not survive anyway unless you'd found a way to hold some of them abroad. In fact I wish I knew something about that myself.

Holding a globally diversified portfolio of equities and other assets is easy. And there is no need to have the administration of the portfolio done abroad. In the event of a Marxist takeover of the UK, all the assets you own abroad will still exist. In the age of cloud computing the electronic records of what you own will probably already be out of the UK Government's reach. Your most pressing concern will not be your savings but ensuring that you get a boat or plane ticket and follow them abroad.

Well, I bought my last (previous) house cash (without a mortgage) when I was 40. I kinda wish I had bought an (even) bigger house with a motgage. in retropsect....

If I were 29 and could do it all again knowing what I know now, the main thing I'd do differently is buy the most expensive property I could afford, a whole lot earlier than I did. (Whether that would be the right advice today rather than in 2001, who knows.)

I'd also, contrary to the above consensus, spend less than I did on lifestyle. I am naturally frugal in the sense that the things that make me happiest don't cost much, but I was in a relationship with a spender and ended up doing a lot of things that, while fun, weren't really worth the extra money - OK so I didn't miss out on anything, but if I'd invested it instead I'd be sitting a lot prettier now.

What I did do that has absolutely set me up is:
1. Paid the maximum into my pension for 15 years.
2. Not have kids.

I'm 45 now, and concentrating on non-pension savings plus paying off the mortgage. If things go according to plan I'll be giving up work at 50.

If you're in the 40% tax bracket, pay into an AVC or SIPP. I started doing that once I was earning enough.


I would also have started investing in a Global Index Tracker Fund a lot sooner instead of spending money on crap (Star Trek Videos and Lord of the Rings models! Jeez! !!!!!! was I thinking!).


I have my basic needs now, mortgage paid off, all the stuff I need and some great hobbies (cooking, piano, music, entertaining friends, days out, and a classic car). I travel a lot with work, but have also managed Australia for a month with my partner a few years ago. We did the Youth Hostel thing so it worked out quite reasonable!

I started thinking of early retirement when I hit 40 - should have done it sooner by stashing as much as my cash as I could.


You can actually do it quite quickly if you really, really want it...check this out:


http://earlyretirementextreme.com/


Cheers,
P

Gen_Y_Saver wrote: »

I've read about Jacob and his approach to FIRE. Seems a bit extreme for me. Interesting perspective though!


Quick q: I went for the VSL 100. I understand that this isn't a true global index tracker. I was thinking of contributing to Vanguard's All World ETF as well. Good approach?

Somewhat pointless as most shares held in one of them will also be included in the other, just in slightly different proportions.

If you want more than one fund I suggest you look at areas which are not strongly represented in a global tracker. Small company funds is one example which has been very lucrative for many years, with much better returns than the large companies which form the bulk of any global tracker.