Early-retirement wannabe

ex-pat_scot

crv1963 wrote: »

I had an enforced 6 months off last year following a heart attack, at my last appointment with my cardiologist (when he told me I was discharged and fitter than the average 40 year old) I told him I thought I may retire this year and he told me not to at 55, but to either carry on doing my stressful (but aren't they all, it's just our stress tolerance that varies) job, seek a new role or a new employer but not to retire before 60!


If Mrs XPS is anything like Mrs CRV she wont really want the detail but the bottom line of when, how much will we have to live on and what If the roof blows off? The whole topic of pensions and retirement planning is like talking a different language to her!

Blimey! The heart attack was a bit of a wake-up call I guess.


Glad you are recovered.


I would rather take exception to your consultant. The thought of plodding on for so much longer is pretty dire. I'm certainly thinking of a huge amount of exercise in early retirement, to make the most of my (hopefully still OK) fitness and to delay the onset of poor health and the consequent decay.
There's a world of mountains I need to revisit and explore. I have to learn to swim properly, and compete (not just complete) in triathlons. I love the idea of a camper van, even if an "off the shelf" one is eye-wateringly expensive - you can convert a late VW panel van if you know you can cope with the layout and space.


Mrs XPS and Mrs CRV sound rather similar. Talking money, pensions, savings and so on is rather like dolphin noise. It's a real blind spot. I occasionally lob the odd figure about the pot value or how much I would be worth if I keeled over, just to put her mind at rest about the biggest picture. However if I ever started discussing pot size, future values, safe withdrawal rates, SIPP mechanics, tax etc then I would immediately be ignored like the dullard I am.
The simplest message is "we are OK. There's a plan of sorts. If I die or get seriously ill then you'll be fine. At some point we will have enough to stop or slow down. We're a fair way off that right now, but it should work out".

bluenose1

[QUOTE=crv1963

I had an enforced 6 months off last year following a heart attack, at my last appointment with my cardiologist (when he told me I was discharged and fitter than the average 40 year old) I told him I thought I may retire this year and he told me not to at 55, but to either carry on doing my stressful (but aren't they all, it's just our stress tolerance that varies) job, seek a new role or a new employer but not to retire before 60!

So I either have 180 or 1275 days to the salary tap being turned off, probably the latter but certainly I'm not working past another 1275 days![/QUOTE]


What was the reason the cardiologist said not to retire before 60?
My oh retired over a year ago at 49 and is really enjoying his retired life. Much less stressed than when he was working. He has a full social life - golf, gym, football etc. In fact not enough hours in the day to do all the things he wants to. He wants to take up rambling next. I want him to take up tidying the house!!

If you can afford it and don't intend to be a couch potato then I can only see advantages to retiring. I will be going as soon as I can, no later than 55.
Looking forward to long winter holidays in the sun and doing the things I never have time for.

ggmf

Coming up for a year since I said enough was enough (59 at the time, now 60). Those family members and friends who are already retired state that there are not enough hours in the day to do what they want to do, or that they do not know how they ever found time to work. I'm beginning to understand what they mean.

Lots of home refurbishments completed in the year, so hopefully not too many large bills to come in the years ahead. The dog and I have never been fitter, so many doggie walks that I now have to rest a little due to Plantar fasciitis! (my that hurts!). De-stressed which was a major reason of mine for retiring early and I'm a lot more relaxed and happier. We have planned and booked a long holiday later in the year down-under for a couple of big family birthday celebrations and a family wedding while we are there. Will also be stopping over in Singapore on the way back to take in the sights, sounds and foods (and a gin-sling or 2).

My plan at retirement was to use savings for a year or two, supplemented by one of my DB pensions that is now paying out, and then drawdown from my SIPP, holding on to my cash buffer just in case. With the drop in fund values over the past 4 months I slightly panicked and started a part time role 4 weeks ago, with the aim to supplement my savings and still drawdown in 2 years, hopefully markets will improve. My spreadsheets still say I will be alright, and I have enough cash in the buffer to last for 5'ish years (current spending) if required. My other DB pensions click in at 65 and SP(aged 66), but the small extra from the part-time role may come in handy.

We are doing the trip down under now while we can, my father had early retirement (ill health) and passed away aged 63 without seeing the benefit of a long working life (Mum now gets 50% of his DB pension), I'm determined to live a little while we can,and this is the start. But I'm struggling to do all the things I want to do with my time, due to working 2 days per week; I might just have to consider retiring, again, we'll see...

blisteringblue

ex-pat_scot wrote: »

I would rather take exception to your consultant. The thought of plodding on for so much longer is pretty dire. I'm certainly thinking of a huge amount of exercise in early retirement, to make the most of my (hopefully still OK) fitness and to delay the onset of poor health and the consequent decay.
There's a world of mountains I need to revisit and explore. I have to learn to swim properly, and compete (not just complete) in triathlons. I love the idea of a camper van, even if an "off the shelf" one is eye-wateringly expensive - you can convert a late VW panel van if you know you can cope with the layout and space.

Got my eye on the new Bailey Motorhomes, we come from a caravan past so need it a little more plush. 2013 models are down to about 30K, that's about my max so don't mind a 5 year old one for that price when the time comes. Seen 12 year old ones still asking over 30K. It's crazy.

Totally agree about the fitness too. While not in the clinically obese zone I am a little on the portly side. This is also a 5 year plan of mine, and I have lost over a stone since January. I've always walked my only change is portion control on food. I started using MyFitnessPal to record everything that goes in my mouth!! I'm amazed at how much I was over eating

Anyway good luck all, there is a retirement light in that tunnel somewhere

stoozie1

ex-pat_scot wrote: »

Mrs XPS and Mrs CRV sound rather similar. Talking money, pensions, savings and so on is rather like dolphin noise. It's a real blind spot. I occasionally lob the odd figure about the pot value or how much I would be worth if I keeled over, just to put her mind at rest about the biggest picture. However if I ever started discussing pot size, future values, safe withdrawal rates, SIPP mechanics, tax etc then I would immediately be ignored like the dullard I am.
The simplest message is "we are OK. There's a plan of sorts. If I die or get seriously ill then you'll be fine. At some point we will have enough to stop or slow down. We're a fair way off that right now, but it should work out".

Interesting.

For us it is Mr Stoozie who hears the retirement planning as dolphin noise.

As more of it is in his name (higher earner) I feel morally obliged to sit him down in front of the spreadsheets at regular intervals, but I think I would want him to know anyway. I am glad it's not just us!

MallyGirl

stoozie1 wrote: »

Interesting.

For us it is Mr Stoozie who hears the retirement planning as dolphin noise.

As more of it is in his name (higher earner) I feel morally obliged to sit him down in front of the spreadsheets at regular intervals, but I think I would want him to know anyway. I am glad it's not just us!

Same here - Mr Mally has no idea. I have shown him the spreadsheets a couple of times so he knows that they exist. I have told him that he has a S&S ISA! I have said that I want to stop work at 60 and that we should be able to live well at that point unless something significantly changes. I have told him some of what I do financially - sal sac pension down to basic rate tax etc.
I am a fair way behind him on pension pots as I was part time for the 1st 10 years of DD's life and when I went back full time I had changed from earning more than him to earning less than half. One redundancy later and we are now more equitable again.
I am gradually simplifying things in case it is me that gets hit by a bus first (he is 2 weeks younger than me, both 51 in the next few weeks) so I have transferred my trail of old company pensions into a SIPP. I am easing out of P2P as loans mature, I have stopped stoozing and am paying off cards and closing them when the 0% expires.

OldMusicGuy

ggmf wrote: »

Coming up for a year since I said enough was enough (59 at the time, now 60). Those family members and friends who are already retired state that there are not enough hours in the day to do what they want to do, or that they do not know how they ever found time to work. I'm beginning to understand what they mean.

Only two months retired for me, but I can only agree with this. I had so many plans about what I was going to get done, few have been fulfilled so far because I am enjoying just doing "stuff". It's such a pleasure to be able to kick back and take things at my own pace.

The health benefits of having no stress or deadlines hanging over me are already apparent. My blood pressure is down and I am doing so much more exercise that my weight is also going down. I feel fitter and healthier than I have done for the last 10 years.

gfplux

ex-pat_scot wrote: »

I might have been a tad facetious in the stated accuracy! I'm counting the years, not the days.


I have deliberately not mentioned the long term game plan (exit plan) to anyone really. Certainly not to anyone in the chain of command. Or even (in any great detail) to Mrs XPS.
There are a few reasons for this:
1. you need to be seen to be ambitious. Having (or discussing) an exit plan is quite the opposite...
2. you never know when a package might come available. Keep your cards close to your chest in this area.
3. I don't have a firm plan (the gods laugh at such). I have a general direction of travel, which is to arrive at 55 with a sack full of gold and a brand new shiny key to be able to unlock it.
Quite what I do at that point is unknown:
- run (quite appealing to consider, especially at the end of a difficult day)
- scale back
- go part time (contracting)
- work closer to home (I travel down to London and home at weekends, which is frankly exhausting)
- stop
- all of the above.


If (!) pension rules remain as they currently are, then that's what I see ahead of me.
However, I equally envisage a number of unforeseen factors which might include
- parental or close family care requirements
- child issues (my youngest will be about to go off to uni, but frankly there are so many of them that some challenge will be on the cards)
- inability to access pension
- pensions freedoms revoked
- poor investment performance


etc.


So in my mind, the best approach now is to do what I can, which is to set my sails in the best direction and trim as the weather blows. Maximising contributions, maximising tax efficiency, minimising costs (transactions, holding, tax), optimising risk / reward.
Start building my list of desired activities / so that I can "retire TO" rather than "retire FROM".
Start clarifying the options with Mrs XPS as we get nearer the threshold, so that we (hopefully) come to a common plan.

In my opinion Mrs XPS is a key ingredient and should be closely involved with your thoughts, hopes and expectations.
She may have a lot to contribute and getting your thoughts aligned early on can be very important.

crv1963

ex-pat_scot wrote: »

Blimey! The heart attack was a bit of a wake-up call I guess.


Glad you are recovered.


I would rather take exception to your consultant. The thought of plodding on for so much longer is pretty dire. I'm certainly thinking of a huge amount of exercise in early retirement, to make the most of my (hopefully still OK) fitness and to delay the onset of poor health and the consequent decay.
There's a world of mountains I need to revisit and explore. I have to learn to swim properly, and compete (not just complete) in triathlons. I love the idea of a camper van, even if an "off the shelf" one is eye-wateringly expensive - you can convert a late VW panel van if you know you can cope with the layout and space.


Mrs XPS and Mrs CRV sound rather similar. Talking money, pensions, savings and so on is rather like dolphin noise. It's a real blind spot. QUOTE]



The Consultants rationale was really quite simple lots of people retire earlier at 55 and find that they either haven't budgeted properly so don't have the money to do all their plans, so end up going back into the workplace or they do more sedate activities than when rushing around at work so they become less physically fit- more so men than women.


I did challenge the last point and was told "You compare your house cleaning style and thoroughness with your wife's and you'll see my point- ask yourself why women always complain that their husband doesn't clean properly". So I did- he was right, my idea of hoovering is much less energetic and thorough than Mrs CRV!


I suppose the moral of the point is to plan to build in regular several times per week vigorous exercise, not to de-stress from a busy work schedule but to push ones self in a positive way, so building core strength.


Mrs CRV has mentioned several times wanting to explore in a camper van, they do seem expensive but if used a lot then worthwhile. There are a few options I think we may try before we would buy one - hire one for a month and give it a good try out- I'd rather spend a hire charge and find it wasn't for us than have the hassle of selling one on after finding out, or if it is for us we'd find out which of the optional extras available are for us definite must haves! Or weigh up how many cottage/ apartment rentals/ travel costs to these that we could get for the same money.


I am pleased to see from the various replies above that I am not the only one doing the planning and sorting the retirement finances out with a spouse who thinks I'm weirdly obsessive about "the number"!

OldMusicGuy

crv1963 wrote: »

The Consultants rationale was really quite simple lots of people retire earlier at 55 and find that they either haven't budgeted properly so don't have the money to do all their plans, so end up going back into the workplace or they do more sedate activities than when rushing around at work so they become less physically fit- more so men than women.

Your consultant clearly doesn't understand the modern workplace! If you're working in an Amazon warehouse or a farmer, you will be rushing round at work. However if, like me, you were in IT or a service industry, you would be spending a minimum of 10 hours a day sat in front of a computer, talking to people on the phone, attending conference calls and writing reports. The only rushing around I did was lots of unhealthy business trips which involved getting stressed at airports, sitting in planes for too many hours, eating too much hotel/conference food and spending too much time in airconditioned hotel rooms and conference venues. If your consultant thinks that's healthier than being retired, maybe he needs a bit of updating.....:rotfl:

I tried very hard to build in more time for exercise in my routine while working but it was simply impossible. All the time spent away from the desk meant that the deadlines were piling up, so work always won out over exercise. So it really depends on your working environment.

Of course the consultant is right to some degree. You have to plan your finances carefully and you have to plan how you will spend the time. There are people who live for work and once that is gone, they lose a sense of purpose. I suspect Arsene Wenger may fall into that category for example.

My plan involves a lot of physical exercise and also mindfulness. That's partly why I am getting less done than I expected, because it takes time (probably about 1.5 to 2 hours everyday). But the health benefits are already very apparent. I am also doing more gardening and other physical activities in my spare time. I am spending far less time sat in front of a computer.....