Early-retirement wannabe

jamesd

That seems like a fine plan. No requirement that I know of for you to pay school fees. You could also consider using credit in the form of a mortgage to spread the payments for school fees over 25 years to make the plan affordable while paying those fees.

dwsjarcmcd

Great thread, and pertinant to us. I will retire at 55, just over 5 years away and my wife will retire at the same time (she is 5 years younger). I have had a well paid job for many years, as has my wife, who also has a seperate income from property, so we are in a very fortunate position. Two years ago I was made (very happily) redundant which focussed our minds a bit and actually my payout has made retirement at 55 much more possible. We have been pretty lucky too in that we downsized at exactly the right time and are mortgage free and that my redundancy came just as my £1,600 p.m maintenance payments reduced significantly and my daughter had only year left at school, where I paid the school fees.

We also used the excess funds to buy an apartment in the South of France (with a mortgage) which we love it and have 3 trips scheduled this year.

There is always a downside and ours is that I found a new job paying similar money to my previous role but it is over a 100 miles from home. After several months in hotels (it was initially on an interim role, so didn't know how long it would last) I decided to buy an apartment for during the week. I paid cash for this because it was much more efficient than renting and I got a great deal on it. Living away all week isn't fun and has again made me more determined to work for only 5 more years!

I am also taking a share in a business that I think has real potential and is on my doorstep. The plan if all goes well is that in a year or so I can go and work there and in five years we sell the business. It is obviously a risky investment and we have factored in loosing all this money, although clearly that's not what we want. We have sufficient cash to pay off the mortgage in France and leave a reasonable buffer. So in 5 years we should have
- Income from my various pensions, the main one with 19 years service
- Sell, or rent out the property away from home
- Depending on whether we pay off the French mortgage, we can save between £60k and £80k p.a
- Spend more time in the SoF, or if we get fed up with it, sell or rent it out long term
- My daughter should be self sufficient!!!
- Sell my share in the business, if it is worth anything, or continue to work there part time

The, 5 years after that, my wife can take her final salary pension.

That is the plan anyway, but having read the thread accept there may be a few 'bombs' along the way!

tanith

dwsjarcmcd I'm sure you and your wife appreciate how lucky you are......... I hope things go according to plan . OH and I although our plans are much less ambitious believe we will be ok when he retires with a tiny pension in 4yrs or so, the mortgage will finish around the same time and I am already collecting my final salary pension so we'll cut back to one car between us my hubby can't wait for his working days to be over so he can spend time doing all the things he's not had time for..

dwsjarcmcd

tanith wrote: »

dwsjarcmcd I'm sure you and your wife appreciate how lucky you are......... I hope things go according to plan . OH and I although our plans are much less ambitious believe we will be ok when he retires with a tiny pension in 4yrs or so, the mortgage will finish around the same time and I am already collecting my final salary pension so we'll cut back to one car between us my hubby can't wait for his working days to be over so he can spend time doing all the things he's not had time for..

Tanith, I am aware of how lucky I am in many ways but please don't think it's all plain sailing because its not. I live away from home 4 nights a week, every week which is very tough. My daughter lives 230 miles away so I don't get to see her nearly as much as I'd like and miss her dreadfully, although I phone her every night. Also some of the decisions we took were a bit more than luck, but I understand your point.

cyclonebri1

Marine_life wrote: »

I would like to create a topic (don't see it at the moment - other than the NUMBER thread).

Who is aiming for early retirement (or who has retired early already)?
When did you begin planning and what drove the decision?

e?therWhat is the strategy for getting

How much of a relative decline in income are you prepared to take / did you take?

What are your main concerns?


For those already in early retirement - how is it progressing? What have been the good and bad surprises (financial and otherwise)?

I will post my strategy but wanted to get some thoughts

Ok, I'm into this topic very late but I would like the chance to answer?

Point by point, (in different colours:

I was/am and have done
. Retired at 55 because I wanted to, plus I also had too:(


When I was about 21, I realised I didn't have the best of health and didn't want to struggle on untill 65.

Work as hard as I could in my day job, take on other black economy jobs in my spare time, and grab all the overtime possible

About a 60% drop, yep, 1 third, Didn't feel it to be honest as all the previous stuff was focused on saving towards retirement.

I don't have any, the recent change in retirment age has by passed me by a year, that would have screwed my calcs by a year, but if the forcast is correct, I'm ok.

Retired at 55, 3 years in have not touched savings, have bought swmbo a nearly new car and have replaced a the washer, and several other domestics, plus 2x new 40 odd inch lcd tv's.
IE, carrying on as normal


I would like to add a last point if it's ok with the op???

The only issue I've found/had is the fact that my wife still works, she has recently found that she now has to work for a further 4.5 years past 60, which she didnt expect. That really does put a strain on things, be prepared if you are in a similat position. :A:A

Domain.Rider

Lois_and_CK wrote: »

What an incredible inspirational post. I can't tell you how many times I have re-read your post, and I've just read it out to my husband who also thinks what you've done is something to aspire to. This especially struck both of us:

Originally Posted by Domain.Rider:
hearing next door scraping ice off the car early in the morning before I turn over to go back to sleep can't be costed in monetary terms

How right you are. I shall be printing your post and pinning a copy to my board at work, and a copy on the fridge at home.

Thank you :T

You're very welcome! I didn't expect to be held up as a shining example, but it's nice!

I was just expressing the relief I feel at having 'done my bit' and now being free from the yoke. It is also a little scary at first - realising you're now on the final leg of the journey - a bit like turning 50, but more so

I also get the occasional pang of guilt or anxiety that I 'should be doing something' and that I'm skiving or getting a 'free ride', but then I remember that I'm past all that, I've earned it all, and that's when the grin comes back

I hope you have a smooth journey to the garden of retirement delights :beer:

Marine_life

jamesd wrote: »

That seems like a fine plan. No requirement that I know of for you to pay school fees. You could also consider using credit in the form of a mortgage to spread the payments for school fees over 25 years to make the plan affordable while paying those fees.

With the exception of our mortgage, credit is something I really do not like. The only time we were ever in debt was shortly after we married. There was a property crisis in around 1993 and we simply had to get out of the house we were in. Having no money and approximately £10,000 negative equity, we ended up taking out a Nat West gold card and putting the negative equity on that! (You could do those things in those days). Took us five years to pay it off.

The kids are doing tremendously well at school / university respectively. Lets not call it funding their education, lets call it investing in their future. Hopefully a wealthy future......with a few quid for their mum and dad!

Marine_life

cyclonebri1 wrote: »

Ok, I'm into this topic very late but I would like the chance to answer?

Point by point, (in different colours:

I was/am and have done
. Retired at 55 because I wanted to, plus I also had too:(


When I was about 21, I realised I didn't have the best of health and didn't want to struggle on untill 65.

Work as hard as I could in my day job, take on other black economy jobs in my spare time, and grab all the overtime possible

About a 60% drop, yep, 1 third, Didn't feel it to be honest as all the previous stuff was focused on saving towards retirement.

I don't have any, the recent change in retirment age has by passed me by a year, that would have screwed my calcs by a year, but if the forcast is correct, I'm ok.

Retired at 55, 3 years in have not touched savings, have bought swmbo a nearly new car and have replaced a the washer, and several other domestics, plus 2x new 40 odd inch lcd tv's.
IE, carrying on as normal


I would like to add a last point if it's ok with the op???

The only issue I've found/had is the fact that my wife still works, she has recently found that she now has to work for a further 4.5 years past 60, which she didnt expect. That really does put a strain on things, be prepared if you are in a similat position. :A:A

Excellent post - thats for the contribution.

Sick since 21? I am amazed you made it to 55! Well done!

Actually my wife has just gone back to work part time at 47 - now the kids have left home she was getting bored. So a little extra pocket money and a little less pressure on my earnings. When the day comes I will need to find a way to make sure she does not get bored.

Marine_life

dwsjarcmcd wrote: »

Great thread, and pertinant to us. I will retire at 55, just over 5 years away and my wife will retire at the same time (she is 5 years younger). I have had a well paid job for many years, as has my wife, who also has a seperate income from property, so we are in a very fortunate position. Two years ago I was made (very happily) redundant which focussed our minds a bit and actually my payout has made retirement at 55 much more possible. We have been pretty lucky too in that we downsized at exactly the right time and are mortgage free and that my redundancy came just as my £1,600 p.m maintenance payments reduced significantly and my daughter had only year left at school, where I paid the school fees.

We also used the excess funds to buy an apartment in the South of France (with a mortgage) which we love it and have 3 trips scheduled this year.

There is always a downside and ours is that I found a new job paying similar money to my previous role but it is over a 100 miles from home. After several months in hotels (it was initially on an interim role, so didn't know how long it would last) I decided to buy an apartment for during the week. I paid cash for this because it was much more efficient than renting and I got a great deal on it. Living away all week isn't fun and has again made me more determined to work for only 5 more years!

I am also taking a share in a business that I think has real potential and is on my doorstep. The plan if all goes well is that in a year or so I can go and work there and in five years we sell the business. It is obviously a risky investment and we have factored in loosing all this money, although clearly that's not what we want. We have sufficient cash to pay off the mortgage in France and leave a reasonable buffer. So in 5 years we should have
- Income from my various pensions, the main one with 19 years service
- Sell, or rent out the property away from home
- Depending on whether we pay off the French mortgage, we can save between £60k and £80k p.a
- Spend more time in the SoF, or if we get fed up with it, sell or rent it out long term
- My daughter should be self sufficient!!!
- Sell my share in the business, if it is worth anything, or continue to work there part time

The, 5 years after that, my wife can take her final salary pension.

That is the plan anyway, but having read the thread accept there may be a few 'bombs' along the way!

So you will be in the same position for the next 5 years i.e. living 100 miles away from home? That is difficult. It reminds me of the days I used to work in London but lived outside and would take the 7:31 into Liverpool street before taking a tube across London to my place of work. It was around 90 minutes commute door to door, so three hours of commuting every day. Nowadays I am lucky that I can drive to work in 30 minutes and we have on-site parking so free. One of the things that keeps me going is being to see the family in the evenings. Still, once you stop it will make retirement that much sweeter :T.

Marine_life

I've missed a few days so now it is only 1368 days to go

One of the topics I have been thinking about over the last few days (or rather have been since my wife gave me a jab in the ribs) is what will I do in retirement. I think she has the vision that I will become a couch loving beer swilling slob.

My current vision is that I might like to do something at least partially academic i.e. guest lecturing or doing some teaching of some sort. I currently teach a little as part of my day job so typically around 20 days a year. I have no idea to get into it once I leave work but that is probably something I can research over the next few year.

Secondly, plan to do lots of walking and sports, hopefully if my need holds up. I think I will also need to look at some non-impact sports, so I plan to start learning to sail this summer and I have always harboured a desire to learn golf.

Finally, I hope to play more poker (see my other thread). I am not sure whether I can legitimately call that a hobby. I do love to play and am reasonably good at it. Would be great if I could combine that with travel.......and maybe supplementing my retirement income on the side!

Other than that - I love to cook - but frequently even though we try and eat together as a family - midweek meals can be rushed. I will definitely spend more time cooking in retirement.

Anyway - it looks like my plans needs a non-financial component as well.