Early-retirement wannabe

gadgetmind

Tancred wrote: »

Of course if you esarn £100k a year then you can afford to put £50k a year in the pension pot and live reasonably well on the remaining salary

50% isn't necessary and 15%-20% from an early age is fine.

So, if you earn £30k, then lob £6k into a pension, live on the rest, and consider putting the thick end of any pay rises into the pension too.

Or ignore the issue, spend every penny you earn, and do nothing but moan.

nicknameless

gadgetmind wrote: »

50% isn't necessary and 15%-20% from an early age is fine.

So, if you earn £30k, then lob £6k into a pension, live on the rest, and consider putting the thick end of any pay rises into the pension too.

Or ignore the issue, spend every penny you earn, and do nothing but moan.

Not everyone earns 30k though. Not necessarily a case of ignoring the issue.

I read this board avidly and really appreciate the knowledge and generosity with it on offer but do have the odd double take at some of the content.

My mum and dad retired about 5 years ago. Dad working mainly factory jobs and retiring on a salary of under 14k and my mum doing care work earning less. Brought up a family etc etc.

This thread is a great read but with the scale of some of the assets on offer I can't quite believe decisions to retire could be remotely difficult unless people love the work they do.

peterg1965

It's all relative though. If you have spent a working life on a modest income with a modest lifestyle, but have managed your way through and been content, then you would probably need modest retirement income to be content in retirement. That can be said to be the case right up the income and social scale.

Whatever your income whilst working; if you do nothing to set aside funds for a retirement, then you are setting yourself up for disappointment.

nicknameless

peterg1965 wrote: »

It's all relative though. If you have spent a working life on a modest income with a modest lifestyle, but have managed your way through and been content, then you would probably need modest retirement income to be content in retirement. That can be said to be the case right up the income and social scale.

Whatever your income whilst working; if you do nothing to set aside funds for a retirement, then you are setting yourself up for disappointment.

Almost agree with you. It's the assumption that anyone who hasn't put money away must have been wasteful along the way that I object to. Some people do work hard all their lives wihtout much if any spare cash.

atush

nicknameless wrote: »

Almost agree with you. It's the assumption that anyone who hasn't put money away must have been wasteful along the way that I object to. Some people do work hard all their lives wihtout much if any spare cash.

I almost agree with you too. But the lower paid, like the higher paid make choices. and sometimes those choices can reduce or eliminate spare cash (esp in retirement). From the married women's stamp, to smoking, frequenting the local, etc.

You may not call that wasteful, but others would. it is all relative.

gadgetmind

nicknameless wrote: »

Not everyone earns 30k though.

The less you earn, the more state pension and other benefits will fill the gap, so the less you have to put away. Ultimately, we all get to choose between what we spend now versus what we salt away for the future.

Choices.

And we can also choose to invest in ourselves, and to boost our skills (particularly in any areas of weakness) and so increase our earning potential. We pay fresh grads at least £26k plus generous benefits, and the grey matter between their ears is just the same as that of others with the exception of them having crammed into it some knowledge and skills that employers such as ourselves find valuable.

Choices.

nicknameless

atush wrote: »

I almost agree with you too. But the lower paid, like the higher paid make choices. and sometimes those choices can reduce or eliminate spare cash (esp in retirement). From the married women's stamp, to smoking, frequenting the local, etc.

You may not call that wasteful, but others would. it is all relative.

Sometimes yes. But they have less choice, at least those determined monetarily.

I earn 4-5 times as much as my dad did and probably work half as hard if I'm being honest. My mrs's dad worked as a pipe fitter all his life and is now knackered in retirement through the physical labour. Different time, different set of circumstances, different opportunities.

God forbid they spend or spent ('wasted') any money on a pint or a fag rather than build their portfolios.

'choice' eh?

nicknameless

gadgetmind wrote: »

The less you earn, the more state pension and other benefits will fill the gap, so the less you have to put away. Ultimately, we all get to choose between what we spend now versus what we salt away for the future.

Choices.

And we can also choose to invest in ourselves, and to boost our skills (particularly in any areas of weakness) and so increase our earning potential. We pay fresh grads at least £26k plus generous benefits, and the grey matter between their ears is just the same as that of others with the exception of them having crammed into it some knowledge and skills that employers such as ourselves find valuable.

Choices.

Mmm ok if you say so.

nicknameless

Anyway no more thread derailing from me.

Goldiegirl

I've just seen this thread, and will go through it in more detail when I have a bit more time.

I've got an early retirement date in mind of 2016, which is when my husband turns 65, and will fully retire. I'll be 56.

I worked full time up until 2010' when I was made redundant after 28 years in the same job. I was very fortunate that I was able to to take an enhanced pension as part of my redundancy settlement. I now have a two day a week part time job, so I could be classed as semi retired.

My husband also has pension income, from a pension he took at age 57' and he works 4 days a week. He's paying into a pension at his current job, but I'm not.

At the moment we are saving as much as possible from our pensions and salaries - we no longer have a mortgage

He'll fully retire when he's 65, and we'll have our current pension income, income from the pension he's currently paying into and his state pension.

We'll also have our savings, and will at some point, in the long term, move to a smaller house, to free up equity from our house.

I believe we will be comfortable on our pensions, with a bit left over.

We currently have two cars, but would go down to one at full retirement.

We don't have a particularly extravagant lifestyle. The only thing we do like which costs a bit is to go on cruises, so would probably dip into savings for holidays. But we would be able to take advantage of last minute deals, so our expenditure could be lower for cruises.

I haven't read the whole thread yet, but from what I've looked at so far, I feel reassured that we are on the right track with our plans.

We have no kids, so it'll be nice to have some years of (hopefully) good health and freedom to spend money on holidays, and not worry about the kids inheritance, which seems to hold people back sometimes.

But it will be strange to make the transition from a saver to a spender.