Early-retirement wannabe

Marine_life

I think health and well-being is a bit like a bank i.e. in order to make withdrawals you need to make deposits.

That means if you want to eat pie and crisps, you need to go for a run (and more than one a year ;-))

westv

Marine_life wrote: »

I think health and well-being is a bit like a bank i.e. in order to make withdrawals you need to make deposits.

That means if you want to eat pie and crisps, you need to go for a run (and more than one a year ;-))

I'd suggest brisk walks. Less impact on joints.

Kit_Katt

Difficult to buy a long range electric car at a sensible price point

polyphonic99

I would like to create a topic (don't see it at the moment - other than the NUMBER thread).

1.Who is aiming for early retirement (or who has retired early already)?
2.When did you begin planning and what drove the decision?
3.What is the strategy for getting there?
4.How much of a relative decline in income are you prepared to take / did you take?
5.What are your main concerns?
6.For those already in early retirement - how is it progressing? What have been the good and bad surprises (financial and otherwise)?

I will post my strategy but wanted to get some thoughts

In response to the original questions by the OP, 252 pages previous:

1) I retired over 13 years ago when I was 49, I'm now 62, married but we don't have any children.

2) I started planning it in my early 30's. I started a DC pension that would allow me to take it at 60. I reduced my working week to 32 hours/4 days a week from when I was 39 to see how I would use the extra time and if it was going to work for me and my partner. The driver was that I had traveled and bummed around doing odd jobs most of my 20's and really enjoyed it. I went to college as a mature student and only started my proper work career when I was 29. I always valued my time over money. I saw no point working your rocks off until you were 65 and then putting your feet up. Life is too short and I wanted to spend my time how I wanted while I was still young and fit enough to enjoy it.

3) I worked freelance for 20 years as an IT specialist. The original reason to save was to give myself at least a years living expenses so that I could always walk away from a contract. I found that having that safety net gave me power and freedom when I went to interviews. I always interviewed the client rather than the other way around; did I want to work for them, they had to agree to my terms if they wanted me. For some reason they always did. Within my first year I had saved enough to be out of work for 2 further years. My strategy then was to save at least 50% plus of my earnings, buy a house and pay off the mortgage in 10 years. I did it in 8 years.

4) When I finally retired at 49 in 2005 the reduction in my earnings was to about 50% of my part time earnings, and probably down to 20% of my peak earning when I had worked full time. I had moved up the property ladder to a point where half my assets were in my home in the UK and if needed I could downsize to a smaller 4 bed home and still release 50% of my homes value. Basically the house is insurance if things go wrong. Up until the financial crisis in 2008 things were comfortable. After 2008 I had to review all my projections and as long as I could get a 3% annual return I could avoid eating into my capital and I would be fine until my private pension kicked in when I was 60. The pension had a Guaranteed Annuity Rate of 10%.

5) Obviously the main concerns were running out of funds. On top of that I knew my work IT skills would rapidly become obsolete, and I wouldn't be able to go back to work in the same capacity again, so it was a one way bet, and I had to get the timing right. Apart from funds, the next issue is health. I try to eat well and exercise every day. I don't have any private health care, but haven't needed it as yet. I was never concerned with how I would use my time, there are so many things to do, to learn about and explore.

6) How is it progressing? Great. I have never regretted my decision. A couple of years after the setback of the financial crisis my wife got an inheritance which provided an extra security blanket. Since 2008 I had put money into 5 year fixed term bonds. The last three paying a return of 5% matured in 2015 so for a year before my pension started, my income fell to below 5 figures for one year but I hadn't needed to dip into my capital over those 11 years for living expenses, though of course it hasn't grown as much as inflation. Since my private pension started things are more comfortable and I can now add to my capital again. In non financial terms I have had the time to care for my elderly ailing father, much better than putting him in a care home, and I bought a small holiday home in southern Europe a few years ago which is great to visit for a few months a year. The only downside is Brexit. Freedom of movement is always described in the media as something that the UK suffers or has to endure. But it works both ways, it gives us Brits the freedom to travel, live and work anywhere in Europe, and I've been doing that off and on since I was 18. I think it will be a real shame if 18 year olds of today don't get the same opportunities that I had, it will be a real loss of freedom and opportunity.

gfplux

Luxembourg appears to be the place for early retirement

http://delano.lu/d/detail/news/older-workers-luxembourg-2017/198378

agent69

bluenose1 wrote: »

Over last year or so really reduced to gentle jogging, weights for 30 minutes a week, bit of Tai Chi and a couple of walks a week. Enjoy it far more.

Earlier in the year my doctor said my blood pressure was going up a bit and unless I embraced some lifestyle changes I would need to start taking medication. The 3 things she recommended were exercise, less stress & less salt.


I had been thinking about giving up full time working for a while so cut down to three days a week, bought a treadmill, and started looking at salt contents on food labels. 6 months later my blood pressure is 128/84 and my belt is struggling to keep my trousers up.

BucksLady

Yes, it's important to keep a check on blood pressure levels - often no symptoms and so "a silent killer".

Wednesday2000

My husband was talking to his colleagues at work about him retiring early. They are all planning on retiring in their sixties. He said that they were saying how much money they spend on their kids. He was saying to them that us choosing not to have kids was one of the reasons that we are able to retire early.

He think his vasectomy was the best decision he ever made, lol.

He said that all they do is moan about their kids or their ex-wives. They all earn a lot more than him as well, at least £30,000 a year more.

bluenose1 wrote: »

The secret for me to being at the lightest weight since my teens despite a full time desk job is intermittent fasting. After reading Dr Jason Fungs book The Obesity Code and listening to various podcasts I am a convert to this way of life. Definitely worth considering if anyone overweight and like me has tried everything over the years like WW, Slimming World etc, etc.
Plus saves me money and time as only eating for 4 hours in every 24.

Wow, you only eat for 4 hours in every 24! Don't you get hungry?

JoeEngland

Wednesday2000 wrote: »

My husband was talking to his colleagues at work about him retiring early. They are all planning on retiring in their sixties. He said that they were saying how much money they spend on their kids. He was saying to them that us choosing not to have kids was one of the reasons that we are able to retire early.

He think his vasectomy was the best decision he ever made, lol.

He said that all they do is moan about their kids or their ex-wives. They all earn a lot more than him as well, at least £30,000 a year more.



Wow, you only eat for 4 hours in every 24! Don't you get hungry?

Good point about kids, they must add years to the age at which people with them can retire. Even if I was physically able to be working into my 60s I wouldn't want to, and thankfully that's possible as we don't have kids and are mortgage free.

Wednesday2000

JoeEngland wrote: »

Good point about kids, they must add years to the age at which people with them can retire. Even if I was physically able to be working into my 60s I wouldn't want to, and thankfully that's possible as we don't have kids and are mortgage free.

Yes, we are too, we paid our mortgage off this year.:)

What age are you planning on retiring?

We wish we had thought about it much earlier as I've been together with my husband since I was 17. Getting married to the right person also helps. Getting divorced can be costly.:D