Early-retirement wannabe

Marine_life

elantan wrote: »

Maybe I'm different but when people ask me what I do ( why is that asked so often ) I reply with ohhh so much I read I spend time in the garden, I go walking, go out for meals etc ... Then when they say no I mean of work I reply oh you mean that ... Well I .... Then I add some convoluted job description that ain't really interesting but it is accurate, something like I work in emergency medical intervention in a high dependency medical unit ... Basically if they are alive when I leave my job is done ..( I go long winded not because i think it makes me special but because i know then that is how the person asking me is defining me by my job ... an i like to wind them up ) But that's not really what I do .. What I do is read books spend time with family and friends etc

I spose it does come down to how you define yourself and also if you really care how others define you also

I am a bit like that - actually when i give my job description it does not really seem obvious what i do. My real job makes me sound too much like a banker and we know how popular that is thsse days. So I will generally say "if you want to buy a business I will take a look at it and tell you whether its good or bad". That seems to keep people happy. However i will often say "I am an accountant" which is my qualification not my job. But that seems to make people happier as it enable them to pigeon hole me as a loser which is sad affliction for numbers!

AlwaysLearnin

Sounds like you've made your decision - staying on for a few years yet (congrat's on the promotion!). The difference is, like you say, you have options now should you want/need them. :beer:

Out of interest, does your wife have any opinion on any of this?

mgdavid

Marine_life wrote: »

I think that rather depends on the job (see my post above). Of course there's an implication in what you say that a) Its not possible to enjoy a job and b) what we do in our free time is enjoyable! I would venture neither is completely true.

Through my work i have travelled the world and earned a lot of money and in my spare time I have have a lot of time doing jobs i hate (going to the supermarket, gardening, paying bills etc)

You may be different but i think for a lot of people the cut is not so simple.

<bold bit> - I didn't mean to imply that, of course one can enjoy a job, I enjoy mine (mostly) but would enjoy not working so much more. If what you do in your free time is not enjoyable then do something about it, it's your time and decision, surely.
If you're spending much time in supermarkets or paying bills you can't be using enough technology. If you don't like gardening then with your high-flying job you might have a fair chance of affording a gardener.
But my train of thought was actually wanting to focus on 'why' the job seems to have become the be-all and end-all of a life for some people. They strive, work hard, sacrifice home life for the travel, earn lots of money, spend lots too (though apparently not on anything they think particularly worthwhile) - and then what? Is retirement one huge vacuum?
I think you are right in one thing, I am fortunate in being different enough to have thought about and semi-planned my retirement; not on a doing level but more the mental approach to it.
Fascinating subject but in danger of becoming too philosophical perhaps!

Dragonista

Who is aiming for early retirement (or who has retired early already)?
I'm aiming for 56 but maybe earlier (my state retirement age is 68)
When did you begin planning and what drove the decision?
At 22, I'm overseas and have no state pension here or in the UK so wanted to protect myself.
What is the strategy for getting there?
Regular investment, currently 23% of my gross salary, if I return to the UK I will consider topping up my state pension and will consider workplace pensions. I also plan to invest in property when I have a deposit together and release the capital on retirement.
How much of a relative decline in income are you prepared to take / did you take?
Being young and on a graduate salary I doubt I'll have to take much less than my current income, a take home of about £19k though no doubt my salary will increase over time
What are your main concerns?
Nothing is risk free, I invested for 30 years which freaked me out a bit given my age

gamston

i'm retiring in few weeks aged 56
lucky my company has final salary pension with avc's
but our scheme has had lots of rules changes over last few years
if i was starting again, i would invest in houses and rent them out
yes the government will change rules over the years to try to get hold of the money folks tire up in homes, but over the last 40-50 years house prices have risen not always year on year but over the time, and the money you invest in the house is geared, not a total investment

Almo

Marine_life wrote: »

So when it comes to stopping work it isn’t necessarily about a desperate need to give up, its all about having the option to give up which is a whole different thing. I personally think that the comfort that comes from knowing I could throw it all in at any minute may actually lead to my not giving up. Does that sound strange?

No, not at all! I think it's quite natural.

Marine_life

AlwaysLearnin wrote: »

Out of interest, does your wife have any opinion on any of this?

Yes she does - probably nothing unexpected!

Firstly, she has a slight trepidation around my being around all the time! Although now the children are largely independent our time together is increasing anyway.

Secondly, she is largely behind me in terms of whatever I think is the right thing to do (and she herself also does not really have a firm idea about where she wants to be).

At the end of the day it will come down to deciding more precisely what the plan is...which I suspect will be to decide how many weeks "holiday" per year we will want to take in retirement versus how many we can afford.

AlwaysLearnin

Marine_life wrote: »

Firstly, she has a slight trepidation around my being around all the time! Although now the children are largely independent our time together is increasing anyway.

Quite a common concern. My mum continued working mainly on the basis that she thought she would "do some considerable harm" to my dad if she had to spend all day every day with him! When she did retire it was initially a bit rocky, but they both had individual interests which allowed some 'me time' for both, which aided the transition.

wrote:

At the end of the day it will come down to deciding more precisely what the plan is...which I suspect will be to decide how many weeks "holiday" per year we will want to take in retirement versus how many we can afford.

Hopefully the progression up the ladder doesn't have an opposite effect, moving you further away from any transition to life without work...

atush

At 22, I'm overseas and have no state pension here or in the UK so wanted to protect myself.

you can start by paying voluntary contributions if you don't think you will be back long enough to build up 35 years.

Dragonista

atush wrote: »

you can start by paying voluntary contributions if you don't think you will be back long enough to build up 35 years.

Thanks, I know. Just so up in the air as to whether we'll ever go back to the UK. Going to re-evaluate in a few years