Early-retirement wannabe

kangoora

Marine_life wrote: »

So here we are .....I made it.

Last week was my 50th birthday and tomorrow will be my last day in the office before a two month vacation.

We will be using that vacation both to have fun and think about next steps. Its hard to believe that the day has finally arrived but it has come around incredibly quickly.

We also had some very good news in that it now appears that the announced worsening of pension conditions will only apply to new contracts :T. This leaves my retirement fund intact and means that as of my 50th birthday I've now accrued full rights under the scheme. As of today that means an annual income of around €45,000. Combined with an old fozen pension from the UK means we have core income from age 62 of around €60,000.

So all that remains is to consider whether we have enough savings to last us from now until then - 12 years. I think we do but that's up for discussion with Mrs ML.

Congratulations, some very good news there. Personally I would put my notice in either before going on holiday or even whilst on holiday.

jamesd

Marine_life wrote: »

Last week was my 50th birthday and tomorrow will be my last day in the office before a two month vacation. ... We also had some very good news in that it now appears that the announced worsening of pension conditions will only apply to new contracts :T. This leaves my retirement fund intact and means that as of my 50th birthday I've now accrued full rights under the scheme. As of today that means an annual income of around €45,000. Combined with an old fozen pension from the UK means we have core income from age 62 of around €60,000.

Congratulations! That's an excellent position to be in!

Marine_life

Overmy last couple of days in work I had a number of colleagues completely incredulous that I had managed to swing two months off. "How did I get permission?" Permission? I wasn't actually aware that I needed permission, so whilst I've been telling people I am going I never thought I needed to ask whether I was allowed. After all I have the vacation in my vacation bank. Maybe I will get in 'trouble' but its hardly as if I am in a profession where my skills are life and death (numbers may not be added up while I am away ;-)). However, I've seen enough of my colleague to know that many would like to be doing the same thing but are held back by something (it isn't money - so I'm struggling to know exactly what).

At the end of the day I am not bothered one iota. What can they do? Sack me? Oh...please, please, please do it!

It all seems a little surreal at the moment and until we are on the plane on Monday afternoon I don't think it will seem real. I'm going to try and log every penny we spend just to see what it costs. We are not going cheap but we are also not going mega expensive. So far I am up to around €11,000 which is comprised of Airfares (2 people) €3,500, Hotels (well, mostly high end B&B's actually) for 42 nights which comes to around €6,500 and finally car hire which comes to about €1,500. I expect on the trip itself we may spend another €3-4,000 so around €14-15,000 in total. I'm not sure that feels like a lot of money or not....I'll let you know when we get back.

Goldiegirl

Have a great holiday

After two months away, there's no way I'd be going back to work afterwards.

Actually, when you return from your holiday, I'll be just about retired myself:beer:

tootallulah

I hope that you have a wonderful trip. And happy birthday. I am so pleased that you have got so far in following your early retirement dream.

YoungBusinessman

Insperational!!!!!!!! Enjoy, you deserve it!!!

TBC15

Well done and all the best. Please keep us informed how thetransition goes.

atush

Have fun on holiday. I am in my US retirement place (for when the OH actually retires) and visiting my us relatives. But working hard on the garden ( why didnt we buy a flat lol).

I am especially happy that your pension is fully vested, I thought it odd they would bring in a new rule and make it affect those who were just weeks off being vested. happy days!

Your 2 months break sounds a little pricy at 15K euros, but I have never been on holiday longer than 25 days. tell us about it on your return.

Reue

Long time lurker.

Congratulations Marine_Life, enjoy the time away. I couldnt much image going back into the office after that long off though

madeinireland_2

A belated congratulations from me as well - hope you are having a nice holiday !!!

A quick couple of questions for other folk still plodding along in their jobs.

I've been thinking about retirement for some time and recently started to use an online tool https://www.retireeasy.co.uk to plan out my finances which I found really useful and pretty much seems to confirm my own spreadsheets - although it's much more flexible than my spreadsheets.

Has anyone here used it and are there any pitfalls ?

I always thought that £30k per annum would be enough for us in retirement but it seems to suggest I won't run out even at £36k and beyond. Even when I plan some fairly large spends in retirement it suggests I can go now. I'm just not brave enough yet to take the final step. At the moment I'm just drifting along in the job - I don't enjoy it much as its very stressful - but it pays well so I keep thinking just keep plodding along for a while longer till they decide they should get rid of me. I feel I am avoiding the final decision as I'm naturally cautious - always trying to create a safety net with the finances.

Anyone else feel trapped like that ? Lets just hang on a few months for that next bonus etc.