I retired at 50 do most folks want never want to retire ?

bendix

Someone earlier asked what you would need to retire at 50. I am currently 44 and plan to retire from the corporate rat race at 50, when I shall return to Thailand where I have an apartment and am buying a house.

By the time I'm fifty, I will hopefully have a pension pot of 200k built up together with a cash reserve of the equivalent of at least half a million pounds. The idea is that I then work part-time for myself as a consultant from 50-55 to keep my hand in and not deplete my reserves, during which time the pension pot hopefully will increase to 250k and the cash reserves will trundle along, perhaps up to 600k. That, at least, is the strategy, and it's relatively conservative and doable.

With those sums combined, I reckon to be able to generate around 2500-3000 sterling a month, without drawing upon my capital and - hopefully - with the ability to keep growing it slightly each year.

That's the plan at least.

Little_Yellow_Dog

In my mind life is for living and so my philosophy has always been "work to live, not live to work". I always tried to find ways to increase my actual worth, ie increase my assets and lower my liabilities, and by creating a business in which I can take control of my own destiny. This is really the only way to get away from the dire pension situation that so many people are finding themselves in now - and it will only get worse as people live longer and longer.

I recommend that everyone should read Rich Dad, Poor Dad 2 Cash Flow Quadrant, by Robert Kiyosaki and any other book that he has written for that matter.

marklv

standinman2009 wrote: »

I retired at 50 and luckily still have finances, to continue in my current life style, do folks really want to work forever, i didnt ,the Government thinks they do .
I am keen to hear others views , is a twilight career in B & Q ,the nations dream ?

Unless you are in the armed forces or police retiring at 50 is not feasible for the overwhelming majority of ordinary taxpayers. Moreover, government legislation is shortly going to force people to retire no earlier than 55. Now if you have your business and are doing well with it, that's another matter altogether!

Personally, I would be delighted to retire this year if I won the lottery. For me a job is no more than a way of making ends meet, not a way of life. I keep reading tales of people who die shortly after retirement because they miss the routine of working life - what a load of BS! These people must be real bores with no life outside work. There is so much to do if you have the time - pursue your hobbies, travel the world, write books, etc.

marklv

Pee wrote: »

After repaying the mortage it would be more than possible to live on £10,000 a year although whether everyone could do what they imagine they will once retired on that remains to be seen.

Hmmm. I doubt it. Take £350 for house insurance, £1,300 for council tax, £700 for gas and electricity, £250 for water, £142.50 for TV licence - that makes £2,742.50 a year and I haven't even counted motoring costs! You also have to feed yourself, which I guess makes another £2,000 a year per person on shopping. That's nearly £5,000 a year on bills plus motoring or transport costs. Anything left over would probably go on buying clothes and home maintenance. So what would you have left to spend on enjoying yourself? Not a lot, trust me.

If you want to live decently when retired - that means having a two week holiday period a year, eating out at least twice a month and going to the movies/shows on a regular basis, you'll need at least £20k a year per person. Sadly, only a minority of people will receive this much on retirement.

EdInvestor

marklv wrote: »

If you want to live decently when retired - that means having a two week holiday period a year, eating out at least twice a month and going to the movies/shows o/a regular basis, you'll need at least £20k a year per person.

For those who don't run a car but rather use the free bus pass/cheap rail fares pensioner concessions, and don't live in London, you can probably knock the figure back down to £15k, depending on how lux the holiday is.

cyclonebri1

marklv wrote: »

Unless you are in the armed forces or police retiring at 50 is not feasible for the overwhelming majority of ordinary taxpayers. Moreover, government legislation is shortly going to force people to retire no earlier than 55. Now if you have your business and are doing well with it, that's another matter altogether!

Personally, I would be delighted to retire this year if I won the lottery. For me a job is no more than a way of making ends meet, not a way of life. I keep reading tales of people who die shortly after retirement because they miss the routine of working life - what a load of BS! These people must be real bores with no life outside work. There is so much to do if you have the time - pursue your hobbies, travel the world, write books, etc.

You know you are wrong Mark, you just have to start very young and max the contributions you make. Admittedly if your employer does not give generously to the fund, as in the examples you quote, it is very difficult.

However I do agree whole heartedly with the emotions you express:T

Bogof_Babe

£350 for house insurance? :eek: Somebody isn't using comparison sites! Just renewed ours (contents & building) for £118, and it's a 3-bed detached. (Admiral, in case anyone is looking).

If you are happy to buy almost everything you eat off the reduced counters, and clothing from charity shops, and never go out socially, you could probably just about manage the £10K. No holidays or car costs either though. A pretty miserable existence.

debtfreein4years

im 23 and have been paying into my pension ever since i was 18. even when i had debt i payed a minimum of £10 a month but that was only a reduced payment for a year. ive paid in nearly £6K over the last 5 years and it was worth it as my pension is worth 15K at last statement. i dont know how much that buys me come future years, but ideally i would love to "retire" at 55. i would say put as much away in your pension as you can afford to but also start your pension as early as you can.

bendix

debtfreein4years wrote: »

im 23 and have been paying into my pension ever since i was 18. even when i had debt i payed a minimum of £10 a month but that was only a reduced payment for a year. ive paid in nearly £6K over the last 5 years and it was worth it as my pension is worth 15K at last statement. i dont know how much that buys me come future years, but ideally i would love to "retire" at 55. i would say put as much away in your pension as you can afford to but also start your pension as early as you can.

To have a pension pot worth 15k at the age of 23 is an excellent achievement - well done. Keep it up, keep contributing and increasing thse contributions steadily throughout your workign life and you'll have no worries come retirement age.

Bogof_Babe

Doesn't anyone else think that the whole concept of pensions is a bit of a gamble these days? Look how many schemes have gone to the wall, or vastly reduced the potential pay-outs. I have a frozen work pension and in all honesty I wouldn't bank on it being worth having by the time I reach 65 (they changed the women's age to 65 in line with the men about 20 years ago - they were ahead of their time!).

I feel (slightly) safer having savings than money tied up in a pension. Unless it's in the public sector of course.