Early-retirement wannabe

SpendlessKaren

I retired at 49, I was traced by an Heir Hunter company and unexpectedly left enough of an income for life to be able to retire.

Have to say because it was unexpected it has taken some getting used to, but it is a wonderful feeling knowing I am financially secure for the rest of my life.

gallygirl

Marine_life wrote: »

There is an impending sense in the ML household that thisearly retirement journey could be about to become a reality.

ML it reads more like an impending sense of doom :rotfl:. Exciting times ahead, as soon as you've exchanged we expect a link.

What does this do in terms of timescale and grand tour etc?

Marine_life

gallygirl wrote: »

ML it reads more like an impending sense of doom :rotfl:. Exciting times ahead, as soon as you've exchanged we expect a link.

What does this do in terms of timescale and grand tour etc?

So far not much has changed.

There are some key dates for me this year (not least of which my 25th wedding anniversary - musn't forget that one ). Anyway the key dates are:

1. 1st April (I know, I know), this is the first date I could hand in my notice (as my notice period is six months from the end of the quarter in which I hand in my notice).

2. 1st October, that the most likely date I will hand in my notice which would see me potentially work until 30 June 2015 although I would hope they would let me go earlier.

3. 23 October, that's my 50th birthday and the day my pension becomes fully vested. Its a key date for me.

4. 3 November is the date we leave for Australia and New Zealand (flight tickets booked and paid for).

Within that there are various other dates with children graduating, moving house, children leaving home etc.etc. It all promises to be an exciting year.

petepool

Marine_life wrote: »

It’s clear to me that in this discussion perspective iseverything.

What do I mean by that? Well as a keen reader of MrMoneyMoustache it’s clear that hisperspective is all about cutting our all unnecessary expenditure and makingsure that every dollar spent is spent for a purpose. However the real point seems to be that heactually enjoys his approach to life (and in fact I am sure is now making atidy sum from his blog as a result).

The second point is how much of an adjustment is necessaryto achieve your goals? And here I thinkthe old adage “you never miss what you never had” starts to make perfectsense. The ML household started itsmarried life with very little cash and in fact when negative equity (rememberthat) reared its head at the beginning of the 90’s, negative cash. But over the years we’ve become complacentand while we are now able to save a large portion of our take home pay, thatcertainly wasn’t always the case.

Hi ML I'm also a keen reader of Monevator who often links to the MrMoneyMoustache site. Whilst I find his approach logical some of it is a bit extreme for me e.g. calculating the best califoric value of food per dollar.:)

I've been trying my own version of budgeting since finishing work in September and found that a lot of costs do drop off e.g. work related costs - commuting, coffees, lunches etc. but also having more time to shop sensibly has reduced bills.

For what its worth with Mrs PP still working we are tracking at around £36k pa for both of us with a large recently graduated lump still at home but working. This will reduce when we drop to 1 car but may increase holiday/travel costs when we are both retired. I'm basing all my financial projections on having £40k pa available and if I spend less than that then great.

I've had to adjust my thinking to reflect the fact that I will no longer get a salary each month but will have to generate an income for the next 30+ years (hopefully). The monevator site has been usefully in planning how to do that.

I've no regrets so far at retiring early.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

kidmugsy

petepool wrote: »

For what its worth with Mrs PP still working we are tracking at around £36k pa for both of us with a large recently graduated lump still at home but working. This will reduce when we drop to 1 car but may increase holiday/travel costs when we are both retired. I'm basing all my financial projections on having £40k pa available and if I spend less than that then great.

Before or after tax?

petepool

kidmugsy wrote: »

Before or after tax?

Target was after tax. Making use of 2 personal allowances and income from Isas.

PP

Marine_life

petepool wrote: »

I've been trying my own version of budgeting since finishing work in September and found that a lot of costs do drop off e.g. work related costs - commuting, coffees, lunches etc. but also having more time to shop sensibly has reduced bills.

My spending is already pretty lean in some respects. I am a great hater of the frothy coffee - I really like them - but I absolutely refuse to spend the money. In all my working life I have spent less than 1% of my lunch times going out to lunch. During that time let me tell you I have eaten a LOT of ham and cheese.

I used to spend a lot of money on CDs and music in general but since I took a spotify subscription that cost has gone down by around 80%. €10 a month for ALL the music you want is just unbeatable.

My fear is actually that my expenses will go up in retirement rather than down as we will likely spend more on leisure and hobbies but I am confident we are only 6 months away :T

atush

LOL my OH is like you. He drinks water and the odd cup of coffee made from instant at the office, and I/he have been making him lunch for 20+ years. He goes out once or so a month if that. He will go out for lunch more when he retires I am sure.

And yes, he has had a Lot of ham and cheese.

Sometimes if you are MSE (ie car pool, make lunches, no poncy coffees) the amt saved on retirement is lower than yo think.

FlubM

Hi all

thought I would share my thoughts with you all.

A recent spell out of work followed by a short term, lower paid role has prompted me to take stock of our retirement possibilities. We are late forties, both working full time, mortgage recently paid off, and have 2 children who will be off to uni/starting jobs at around the time we hope to retire.

We have enough pension provision to be comfortable when state pensions kick in. This is reasuring but, ideally, I would also like to: retire earlier; help children with uni fees and to get on the housing ladder; have a more comfortable retirement.

I have been trying to prioritise the three aims as I doubt all are achievable. I have decided that that our first priority is to save enough money to be able to finish work at 60. I am mindful that redundancy/illness can strike at any time and don't want to bank on us both being able to work full time to 66.

Then we have some options: we could work a little longer and/or tighten our belts to help the children or, of course, just leave them to fend for themselves!

The hardest part at the moment is knowing just how comfortable we will be on our current projected income in retirement and deciding just how much more we might want. Really, I should be satisfied that we will be able to cover utility bills comfortably, eat well, enjoy some hobbies, take a holiday every year and run a car. I know I need to shift my thinking so that I am not hankering after more holidays, a second car etc. This is definitely something I need to work on alongside deciding what to longer term re work: more demanding role and more money to save or less demanding role, less stress but ultimatley a lower retirement income. I have nine more months in my current role which gives me time to resolve this one.

Any thoughts anyone may have would be gratefully received.

atush

Or maybe you need to save harder to fund those extras you feel you will want?

Have you looked at the thread called The Number, which is what you Want/need to have to live on when you retire.

What will happen in 9 months, will you be out of work or do you have something else lined up?

Basically if you are content you have enough already to pay for the Need, all you need to do s fund the Wants.