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Early-retirement wannabe
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I must confess to finding the ins and outs of it very confusing, in particular how you calculate the amount that your fund will allow you to drawdown once retired,
Buy a copy of Tim Hale's "Smarter Investing" as it's very readable, very practical, and will be the best money you've ever spent.I am not a financial adviser and neither do I play one on television. I might occasionally give bad advice but at least it's free.
Like all religions, the Faith of the Invisible Pink Unicorns is based upon both logic and faith. We have faith that they are pink; we logically know that they are invisible because we can't see them.0 -
I retired at 53 and am financially independent and comfortable. I started planning at about 36 and put as much as possible into my pension and saved in tax free accounts. I was bringing up 2 children and lived fairly frugally. I did not have lots of new clothes or a new car...second hand old one, but it served its purpose. We had holidays but they were camping, sometimes UK, sometimes France.
I have always batch cooked from scratch and shopped carefully.
Kids were at private schools.
I worked in the public sector and had mid level salary. It was hard but worth it.
I don’t have expensive tastes even now.
I work for a charity, part time in a voluntary capacity and enjoy it. No pressure.
I love travelling and will have two long haul major trips this year.Wombling £457.410 -
No longer a wannabe as I did my last day of work today so now officially retired :jThis just happened to coincide with my 60th birthday so a double celebration.
I decided at 55 when I could first have taken early retirement I was not happy with the DB figures forecast so ploughed large sums into AVC's increasing over past 4 years, saving even more through salary sacrifice, and paid £1k a month for over 2 years until I reached an amount I was happy with. As a result of paying the AVC's for this period I have been living on approx £200 a month less than my pension will be so have no doubt I will manage fine.
My pension is nowhere near some of the figures quoted on here, but is enough for me and I am happy and looking forward to starting the next chapter of my life :jDecluttter 2022⭐Declutter 20230 -
No longer a wannabe as I did my last day of work today so now officially retired :jThis just happened to coincide with my 60th birthday so a double celebration.
I decided at 55 when I could first have taken early retirement I was not happy with the DB figures forecast so ploughed large sums into AVC's increasing over past 4 years, saving even more through salary sacrifice, and paid £1k a month for over 2 years until I reached an amount I was happy with. As a result of paying the AVC's for this period I have been living on approx £200 a month less than my pension will be so have no doubt I will manage fine.
My pension is nowhere near some of the figures quoted on here, but is enough for me and I am happy and looking forward to starting the next chapter of my life :j
Well done, hope you HAVE MANY years of bliss living...enjoy it, you've earned it.
As for figures. Each person has their own figure in mind, so don't worry about others figures.
I'm hoping for around the 2k net per month but I'm some years off yet so that's just a finger in the air estimate at this stage.:jTo be Young AGAIN!!!!...what a wonderfull thought!!!!!:rolleyes:0 -
No longer a wannabe as I did my last day of work today so now officially retired :jThis just happened to coincide with my 60th birthday so a double celebration.
I decided at 55 when I could first have taken early retirement I was not happy with the DB figures forecast so ploughed large sums into AVC's increasing over past 4 years, saving even more through salary sacrifice, and paid £1k a month for over 2 years until I reached an amount I was happy with. As a result of paying the AVC's for this period I have been living on approx £200 a month less than my pension will be so have no doubt I will manage fine.
My pension is nowhere near some of the figures quoted on here, but is enough for me and I am happy and looking forward to starting the next chapter of my life :j
Fantastic news akh, let us know how you enjoy it and happy birthday!Yes I'm bugslet, I lost my original log in details and old e-mail address.0 -
We are both nearing the finish line. OH retires in October at 60 with a DB civil service pension (43 years !) and I am debating going in April 2020 at the age of 56. I also have a DB pension but will obviously need to take a actuarially reduced pension (will lose 20% for the 4 years early retirement). As I had a higher salary until last summer I need to retire within 3 years of this finishing to use this as my best final salary, so I do need to retire before July 21 (age 57)
I never envisaged or planned early retirement as I have always enjoyed my work, but when I turned 50 I started to think differently about life. We started to get our finances in order ( we have a large mortgage after building our house) and over the last 4 years have really started to understand our spending and drive down our costs. I have been carefully (some might say obsessively) crunching the numbers and I know what our "number" is and our pensions will cover that.
We will then use our lump sums to fund travel and any other luxuries in the early part of retirement whilst we are young and fit enough to travel long haul. This will involve quite a change mindset to spending our capital
OH's SRP will kick in in 6 years and mine in 12 years (thank God I am not relying on it :eek:)
I have various spreadsheets that track our spending and savings and quite a detailed retirement plan that sets out the reduction of our savings over the next 6 years. I just need to make a decision around Christmas time....
I quite enjoy my actual work, but I find the politics wearing....too many egos and adults who behave like children. I inwardly roll my eyes about 10 times a day, so I think it is time for me to go.
We don't have any grand plans for retirement, but just intend to do more of what we enjoy now but don't have time for. So more travelling, more gardening, more reading, more exercise, more seeing family and friends....nothing earth shattering but I am tired of only doing just enough in life to keep everything going.
I am currently in a very mixed state of panic/excitement about the next stage of our lives but really getting to grips with the very detailed numbers has helped to reassure me that we will be able to live comfortably without working0 -
Busymee1- I am going to take my DB Pensions in just over 2 years at 55 as even with the reduction I have calculated I will be mid 70s before worse off. SP will have started at 67 so should be cash rich by then.
Worth any potential loss for me to retire 5 years early at 55. Similar feelings to yourself re work over last couple of years plus because I now know it's an option to retire even more keen.
My oh retired 2 years ago and doesn't regret it for a second.
Most people don't like the thought of getting older but I am really looking forward to being 55.Money SPENDING Expert0 -
No longer a wannabe as I did my last day of work today so now officially retired :jThis just happened to coincide with my 60th birthday so a double celebration.
I decided at 55 when I could first have taken early retirement I was not happy with the DB figures forecast so ploughed large sums into AVC's increasing over past 4 years, saving even more through salary sacrifice, and paid £1k a month for over 2 years until I reached an amount I was happy with. As a result of paying the AVC's for this period I have been living on approx £200 a month less than my pension will be so have no doubt I will manage fine.
My pension is nowhere near some of the figures quoted on here, but is enough for me and I am happy and looking forward to starting the next chapter of my life :j
Well done Akh43, we're doing something similar, by working to 58 I can max out my DB benefit while we try and pour money into Mrs CRV DC pension pot. With the aim of running down one of her pots to zero for when SP starts, the other DC pot she has will be drawn down at a steady rate so hopefully providing her with around 3k pa indefinitely, total income from 55 11-12 k pa, plus my DB pension.CRV1963- Light bulb moment Sept 15- Planning the great escape- aka retirement!0 -
It would be interesting to know how many are aiming for (or who have achieved) early retirement without any DB pensions? Given how DC is under pretty much continuous attack from the tax man, it's a difficult thing to achieve, and I found it hard despite a healthy income.I am not a financial adviser and neither do I play one on television. I might occasionally give bad advice but at least it's free.
Like all religions, the Faith of the Invisible Pink Unicorns is based upon both logic and faith. We have faith that they are pink; we logically know that they are invisible because we can't see them.0 -
gadgetmind wrote: »It would be interesting to know how many are aiming for (or who have achieved) early retirement without any DB pensions? Given how DC is under pretty much continuous attack from the tax man, it's a difficult thing to achieve, and I found it hard despite a healthy income.
We are - having no kids, debt or mortgage we are putting large sums in. We are putting in £65K out of a max of £80k.
Not sure what you refer to as attack. We are both effectively salary sacrifice so save income tax plus NI.0
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