Early-retirement wannabe

JoeCrystal

There are likely enough materials to write a book on retiring within this thread. Maybe Marine_life should write it

Cheers,
Joe

cyclonebri1

Someone said to me a page back, "don't get hung up on the figures":rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:, well believe me some here do, they try to analyse to the nth degree a subject that is subject to constant change, :o
It gets embarrassing to be honest, we don't have the answer or the forcast.

Anything these guys say is simply a guess:money:anyone?

mildredalien

Marine_life wrote: »

I think you make some valid points but I don't agree with everything you say.

There is a tendency to make generalisations about different jobs and about the amount of money you can earn. But there are so many variables that need to be taken into account that its impossible to generlaise.

...

So what's my conclusion? I think it's fine to enjoy a lifestyle that meets personal goals at the sacrifice of professional goals but that might mean also sacrificing financial potential. You know how the saying goes .....you can't have it all!

I can definitely see what you're saying but some professions or jobs just don't have the earning potential of others. If I reached the absolute height of my career, moving whenever I needed to and sacrificing job satisfaction for money (higher levels in my field tend to be more managerial than I'd like), I would still earn a fraction of what someone in a financial or engineering sector for example could potentially earn.

That being said I'm now earning well over the average salary, even if most of my life so far has been earning below it, and I know I have enough to put aside a decent percentage of my wage each month if I want to. Numbers aside the principles of saving for flexibility in retirement are still applicable. It's still a pretty long way off though so who knows what could change by the time I get there! As long as I continue to be able to live well within my means I suppose I should be comfortable with the money I can put together to retire on. Probably will involve less exotic holidays than someone with a million pound retirement pot, but as you say, you can't have it all!

cyclonebri1

mildredalien wrote: »

As long as I continue to be able to live well within my means I suppose I should be comfortable with the money I can put together to retire on. Probably will involve less exotic holidays

:T:T:TNail hit on the head:T:T:T

Marine_life

cyclonebri1 wrote: »

:T:T:TNail hit on the head:T:T:T

Is it?

In my view that's where the debate / question becomes very personal. Is "living within your means" what people really want?
Its the balance between work / life and retirement income which to me is more significant. Life is a single unique event, there's no having a second go at it. So what happens if you retire and then all of a sudden your "means" are not enough to meet the cost of all those dreams you had? But on the other hand what happens if when you get to retirement you no longer have the will or motivation to do the things you wanted to do?

......that's my last post for today, the delights of the early retirement wannabe.

gadgetmind

Marine_life wrote: »

......that's my last post for today, the delights of the early retirement wannabe.

Translation: "Even though I had a nap this afternoon, 10:30 is way past my bedtime."

gallygirl

Some advice please. There are a lot of references to Smarter Investor by Tim Hale but the latest version is 2009. Is it still as relevant today?

Thanks.

Marine_life

gadgetmind wrote: »

Translation: "Even though I had a nap this afternoon, 10:30 is way past my bedtime."

Remember I am CET ;-)

cyclonebri1

Marine_life wrote: »

Is it?

In my view that's where the debate / question becomes very personal. Is "living within your means" what people really want?
Its the balance between work / life and retirement income which to me is more significant. Life is a single unique event, there's no having a second go at it. So what happens if you retire and then all of a sudden your "means" are not enough to meet the cost of all those dreams you had? But on the other hand what happens if when you get to retirement you no longer have the will or motivation to do the things you wanted to do?

.

Problem is that is you push that too far and don't live with your means, possibly by adding to the national debt etc, you end up with morgage that's going to live longer than you will, and debts that will only ever be cleared from your estate:A:A

Not much chance of being a ERW if you run your life like that I'm afraid



The latter bit is the dilemma we all face, it's an even greater issue is you are reasonably well paid and actually have the choice of whether to go all out and save or back off the strain a little.

It's very personal and from the highlighted bit, obviously on your mind

Having worked physically hard all my life, and even enjoyed hard constructive labour, I'm afraid I'm still unconvinced by out beloved government telling me I'm going to living longer, able to work longer and fit into my 80's:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:, they should see the x rays;)

ermine

Life is a single unique event, there's no having a second go at it. So what happens if you retire and then all of a sudden your "means" are not enough to meet the cost of all those dreams you had?

Your means are not only measured in terms of money. Every single day your life is getting shorter, 24 hours at a time. And believe me, as someone who has done it, life outside an office, where you choose what to do with the next 24 hours rather than The Man, is a damn sight more interesting that where someone else gets to tell you what to do with eight of 'em.

There's a balancing act, of course, between the time and money. But an awful lot of people seem to get hung up on a particular amount of money. If they want to be entertained and live in a way as generally advertised, they'll need more money.

I'm not saying that's an issue for you ML - you are probably used to a higher material standard of living than I was, and you must come to the conclusion yourself, and congratulations for reflecting so deeply, and illuminating so many other people's path by taking that time on here. As you say, once you have executed the decision there's no going back to the same level.

But just because you can't quantify the amount of time you have left doesn't means to say it isn't running out In the end life at your earning level in a rich country like Britain is roughly a question of the time bit running out and the money bit filling up, until you retire, when both tend to start running down.

From the other side of the trenches, I am not drawing my pension at the moment, because it's a dumb thing to do before 55 even though for technical reasons I could do it. I saved a shedload of cash so I could do that, and I'm running it down. I saved my reduced pension x the number of years to drawing it, assuming I had zero other income sources. In practice if you are an active retiree you seem to accumulate some small income sources because sometimes you just can't bear to watch people struggling with problems you can fix.

I don't spend anywhere near as much as my pension will be. Not because I haven't got the money. I'm still going to fill my ISA this year and next. The problem is I haven't got the time, there's still only one of me, the world is full of really interesting stuff, and I have too many projects on the go, and need to sort myself out and get some focus and cut some. It's not money I am short of. It is Time

Many people seem to worry about being bored in retirement. What's up with that? Create, be original, be kind, learn to become a better person, originate. Any one of those is more than a lifetime's work. Do, do not consume. That is the secret to reducing lifestyle costs. I watch even less TV than I did before, I haven't switched the damn thing on for over a month now.

I spent more money when I was working because I was unhappy and because I was really short of time, largely because I was stressed and running at half speed. I extrapolated what I'd need money-wise from what I was consuming while working, because it's really had to imagine a post-retirement lifestyle from a working lifesyle.

You have greater commitments than I, and probably greater expectations, and I have absolutely no idea whether you should retire sooner or later, and I salute you for the depth of your search. What I can say is I recognise the difficulty of the internal debate, you want to be more sure you're doing the right thing. I had just the same feelings, and saved too much.

When (if? ) you do retire early, you'll probably look back and go what the hell was that all about, and why didn't I do it earlier? The wall looks bigger before you've jumped it that when you look back IMO. That unfortunately doesn't help you at this stage, because some things have to be lived. It's a big change, and stepping off into the abyss is scary. I know, I have felt that.

The decision to go was easier for me than for you because there were serious issues for me at work, I was happy with what I did but the management structure and performance management system drove me batty; an engineer's competence is measured by whether his stuff works and is to budget, not stupid tick-boxes and MBA Newspeak. You seem basically okay with what you are doing and how you are doing it, so the push to take on the change is lower.

If there's one piece of illumination I can offer from the other side of the divide, it's that much of my increased quality of life comes about from the difference how I spend my time compared to when I was working. It doesn't come from the difference in how I spend my money