Early-retirement wannabe

uk1

michaels wrote: »

I care not at all what those who see me in it think about my choice and what it says about what I can afford. I work no more than 25 hours a week, they can have their 40++ hour weeks and there branded cars if they prefer.

Personally I think nothing of you whatsoever because of the car you choose and doubt that many others even think of it. Intelligent people never judge as you seem to, “a book by it’s cover”. I judge people by the way they think and behave. As it happens many extremely wealthy people buy, keep and drive old bangers ....

With respect you do seem to be fixated about success and suffer from excessive presumptions and odd and weird stereotyping. When I started my business I actually worked less hours than when I was employed and it enabled me to retire in my early 50’s ie now working considerably less than your 25 hours weekly and have been doing so for some time. My work has bought me more leisure years.

You seem by your posts to harbour a resentment of others who have made a success of their lives and the things that they buy for their families and themselves that they want.

I think it’s called “envy”.

bluenose1

This is one of my favourite threads for early retirement advice.
Had a lovely weekend. Did the local Park Run yesterday then went to see Bohemian Rhapsody in the evening (would definitely recommend.) Today went the gym and sauna, had lunch at a garden centre then came home and made 10 jars of green tomato chutney.
Really looking forward to when I can retire and haven't got that slight feeling of dread at having to get up at 6:30am for work on a Monday morning.
When I retire I want to
*knit more
*bake lots of lovely meals/cakes
*go fo a walk several times a week
* visit all the local attractions that I have been meaning to for ages
* have at least a couple of holidays in the sun over winter.
*read more.

uk1

Thats sounds like a perfect day ... congratulations .... time well spent!

I share your love and devotion to food. My obsession is street food as I have always felt that if you wish to learn about a culture you must eat where they eat. So much of our travel is more street food safari where I watch and learn because street food is always cooked in front of you. I then try and "do it" when I get home.

The other obsession is all things dough and bread and in particular flatbreads whether it is pizza or middle-Eastern flatbreads. I make bread most days and one of the saddest things I learned was how I struggled for so many years, but after all this time understanding how easy and simple and how so little time it takes to make and how it brings a sort of rhythm and heart to a day.

Don't start me off about bread!

michaels

uk1 wrote: »

Personally I think nothing of you whatsoever because of the car you choose and doubt that many others even think of it. Intelligent people never judge as you seem to, “a book by it’s cover”. I judge people by the way they think and behave. As it happens many extremely wealthy people buy, keep and drive old bangers ....

With respect you do seem to be fixated about success and suffer from excessive presumptions and odd and weird stereotyping. When I started my business I actually worked less hours than when I was employed and it enabled me to retire in my early 50’s ie now working considerably less than your 25 hours weekly and have been doing so for some time. My work has bought me more leisure years.

You seem by your posts to harbour a resentment of others who have made a success of their lives and the things that they buy for their families and themselves that they want.

I think it’s called “envy”.

Apologies if anything I have said comes across as judgemental. Everyone makes there own tradeoffs on what to spend their money on to give them most utility and whether material goods or more leisure time are of more value. Personally I get very little extra utility from how luxurious (or fast or what colour) the tool that gets me from a to b is but don't don't object to those who do. MMM singles out automobile costs as one of the big factors impacting financial independence.

fiisch

Cars are probably my biggest obstacle to early retirement... I'm only 32, but had I not wasted so much money on cars in my 20s I could have had significantly more stashed away towards retirement.... .

My biggest mistake was a whopper - an Alfa Romeo - £22k new, sold 2 years later with 35k miles on the clock for £7.5k....

I hate my current career (IT), but is well paid and I am now pigeon-holed in that industry, so a move would inevitably mean a big pay drop and starting again. I am a contractor so time out in the future is an option, maybe.... I am desperately trying to put enough money away so that maybe in the future I could afford to change career into something more fulfilling, or indeed start my own business.

Most of my contracts see me working in London, yet I have a very expensive depreciating asset which sits in the garage and only comes out at weekends, occasionally. Stupidly, I bought a new Civic Type R in 2016, which I'm still paying off. It barely gets used, as we have another, more family-friendly, boring car, but I can't bring myself to sell it....

I should have at least gone for a classic that might appreciate/depreciate less... Although there were only 2,500 of my car sold in the UK, so maybe the depreciation curve will level out.... maybe?!

kidmugsy

Bravepants wrote: »

Clarkson's Law states that any online discussion degenerates into a discussion about cars until at some point someone compares Audi drivers to the Nazis, or Hitler and his deeds, and the discussion ends.

That's absurd. Not all Audi drivers plan to invade Poland.

Anyway, what have Audis got to do with anything? We were discussing posh cars.

k6chris

fiisch wrote: »

Cars are probably my biggest obstacle to early retirement... I'm only 32, but had I not wasted so much money on cars in my 20s I could have had significantly more stashed away towards retirement.... .

My biggest mistake was a whopper - an Alfa Romeo - £22k new, sold 2 years later with 35k miles on the clock for £7.5k....

I hate my current career (IT), but is well paid and I am now pigeon-holed in that industry, so a move would inevitably mean a big pay drop and starting again. I am a contractor so time out in the future is an option, maybe.... I am desperately trying to put enough money away so that maybe in the future I could afford to change career into something more fulfilling, or indeed start my own business.

Most of my contracts see me working in London, yet I have a very expensive depreciating asset which sits in the garage and only comes out at weekends, occasionally. Stupidly, I bought a new Civic Type R in 2016, which I'm still paying off. It barely gets used, as we have another, more family-friendly, boring car, but I can't bring myself to sell it....

I should have at least gone for a classic that might appreciate/depreciate less... Although there were only 2,500 of my car sold in the UK, so maybe the depreciation curve will level out.... maybe?!

I broke this cycle, when I discovered back when R-reg cars were 3 years old, that £12,000 would buy you a hell of a nice 3 year old car - A Saab 900 in the first instance - since then I have never spent more than £12,000 for a 3 year old car - in fact my last one, a 3 year old Mini Cooper Roadster, cost less than £9,000 from a main dealer (with warranty etc). It's not quite Bangernomics, but keeping a 3 year old car for 3 years and then starting again. provides me with the right balance of fun vs reliable vs new-ish car vs cost.

gfplux

AnotherJoe wrote: »

IPace? Gets good reviews but the forthcoming Audi eTron is getting better, heres one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJFKIXkxiSo

Need some time to see what the real range will be but the iPace isn't getting plaudits for that.

No, downsizing in size and cash from diesel X5 to possibly the Jag petrol EPace.
Decision in the next month.

Nordic walking this morning followed by Bohemian Rhapsody.

marlot

I buy new or nearly new, and keep them for about 6-8 years. Longer if I like the car.

But coming back to topic. I'm putting in my pension forms today, for retirement at Christmas. I'll be 55.

Preparation:

• Bought a puppy back in Feb, who is now ready to start going on long walks
• Started volunteering one day a week a year ago - I can ramp this up as much as needed.
• Planning to drop in on my local 'men in sheds' and see if its for me
• Planning to drop in on some local ramblers groups to see if they are for me
• Have been gradually winding down at work, so it won't be a sudden transition.

Financial planning:

• Put large amounts of additional funding into my DC pension over the last 15 years
• Have tried to strike a sensible balance between saving and spending
• Prepared a cashflow forcast for retirement - allowed me to try different scenarios (eg. when to take each pension) and to see the effect of varying assumptions.

Edited to add: I suspect the biggest financial issue will be a mental one. Making the transition from being a 'saver' to being a 'spender' won't be easy. Especially when there is a niggling fear of running out of money.

jerrysimon

I purchased a car new 4 years ago on interest free credit at £200/month just paid off. Now retired I will probably keep the car another 4 years then move to leasing. I have seen 18 month deals with no deposit no admin fees for around £150-180/month which will get me something small (I only do about 5-6k a year now) and will then hand it back for a new one after that. No MOTs and warranty should make it pretty cheap motoring.