Early-retirement wannabe

HappySeagull

Great post ermine, thanks.

Got my final payslip last week, and am out the door next Friday (31st), age 55 and a half. Did the numbers some time ago, and they seem to work out, based on actual expenditure. The picture won't be clear for a while, though - we're also moving to a new area in a few weeks, so no half-measures here! There's no going back, but I wouldn't swap the uncertainty for a few years extra salary. When the dust settles on the regular incomings and outgoings, we'll need to discuss what "luxuries" we want, but I'm looking forward to the challenge. And thanks to this thread, I'm feeling confident! However, I suspect it will take a while before my brain wakes up to the new opportunities, after so many years being "trapped" in the 9-5 office routine.

cyclonebri1

I worked in a group of individuals where most were older than me, I watched all of them retire one by one.
When I bumped into them again, each had the same tale to tell, "don't know how I ever found time to go to work".

I never got that until I finished and you know what I say to folks I now meet? I bet you can guess;);)

ermine

gallygirl wrote: »

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.

Yes. The hazards and opportunities of investing don't actually change that much over time, and Tim Hale's writing is engaging and to the point. Priciples of investing books don't age as much as you'd expect - Ben Graham's The Intelligent Investor shows its age stylistically when chapter 1 opens with reference to a June 1962 financial journal headline but the principles are still relevant today. Hale's book is easier to take on, IMO.

HappySeagull wrote:

However, I suspect it will take a while before my brain wakes up to the new opportunities

Fantastic- welcome to a new world! It does take time to assimilate the changes, I am coming up for my first anniversary, and I am nowhere near using the new-found freedom to the full extent. I started work over thirty years ago, and after so long in the tunnel it takes a long time for one's eyes to adjust to the light.

itm2

I'll also be following in ermine's footsteps shortly - 6 weeks to early retirement at age 53. My main motivation has been the stress of the day job, which has increased with each step up the ladder over the last 10-15 years. The stress isn't just a health issue for me, but also affects my long-suffering wife, who has had to deal with a grumpy old sod for far too long.
I too am puzzled by the "what will you do with your time/won't you be bored?" questions. For a start, given the choice between (a) spending 40+ hours a week getting stressed and angry and (b) spending all day doing whatever the hell I want, I think on balance the risk of boredom is less likely to kill me or break up my marriage (although that remains to be seen of course).
It's crazy I know, but the limited supply of non-working hours has always given me a paranoia about wasting my precious leisure hours. I've always felt guilty about "wasting" time doing things like reading, listening to music, etc, as they would burn up my precious "free" time. The thought of being able to do the things that I enjoy, without fretting over the limited supply of leisure hours, is bliss.
There are also a whole bunch of activities which I've never explored because I didn't feel I had enough free time to devote to them. For example, I started taking weekly drum lessons a few years ago, but had to give them up because I wasn't finding the time to practise in the evenings when I got home from work. Learning another musical instrument was also a pipedream because of the required time commitments. And then there's my latent desire to do some writing...
Fortunately we don't have huge outgoings or extravagant tastes, so hopefully my cashflow forecast won't go too far off the rails. My income plans are based on a combination of drawdown, annuities and rental income. I think the most difficult thing will be trusting my choice of investments, which have been designed as "set and forget" investments in a spread of managed funds. I think that will be the likeliest source of stress in retirement, particularly when the markets hit turbulence, but I guess it's something that I'll have to learn to live with.
Other than that, I'm desperately looking forward to having the freedom to structure my days around the things that I enjoy. That's not something I've been able to do since those wonderful school summer holidays when I was a child. I suspect that establishing a structure or routine will be important, to avoid letting too many hours slip away in front of Sky Sports for example, but having the freedom to dictate my own agenda will be extremely liberating. Well, apart from the inevitable rise in requests for DIY jobs, which will probably be the 2nd likeliest source of stress ;0)
Anyway, here goes.....

HappySeagull

itm2 wrote: »

It's crazy I know, but the limited supply of non-working hours has always given me a paranoia about wasting my precious leisure hours. I've always felt guilty about "wasting" time doing things like reading, listening to music, etc, as they would burn up my precious "free" time.

I've started to *force* myself to sit down and enjoy a book! Part of my "rehearsal for retirement". But I still feel some guilt.

itm2 wrote: »

... having the freedom to dictate my own agenda will be extremely liberating. Well, apart from the inevitable rise in requests for DIY jobs, which will probably be the 2nd likeliest source of stress ;0)

You'll need to use DIY jobs as a "barrier" against shopping, etc!

Which makes me wonder - does the "Dilbert mentality" live on after retirement? Instead of battling against "The Man", will I be battling "The Woman"?

gallygirl

ermine wrote: »

Yes. The hazards and opportunities of investing don't actually change that much over time, and Tim Hale's writing is engaging and to the point. Priciples of investing books don't age as much as you'd expect - Ben Graham's The Intelligent Investor shows its age stylistically when chapter 1 opens with reference to a June 1962 financial journal headline but the principles are still relevant today. Hale's book is easier to take on, IMO.

Thanks. After reading this and a PM I decided to order - to find out there's a new edition out in October so I've pre-ordered it.

51 & 8 months here, hoping to retire at 55. Which flabbergasts me every time I think of it and makes me scuttle back to my spreadsheets to see what I've done wrong . Plan is to retire to pre-owned place in Spain with OH. Our finances are a bit complex, he will have a generous pension and I will be waiting on a few small ones, but the plan is that will be his'n'her money with OH funding big buys etc.

4 small observations to make:
- Joint plans are based on rental income from buy to lets and I'm surprised this strategy doesn't figure on here?
- I'm saving over 1/3rd of my income to pay off mortgages when the time comes - from an income lower than a lot on here are planning to retire on, but is more than I ever thought I would earn.
- Having been gung ho with my pension funds up till now - currently only 64k, did not have the income in the past - I'm having to fight the desire to be ultra cautious so I don't lose any of it - even although I know being ultra cautious means its value would be eroded, thus losing some of it etc.
- Our projected costs are very low compared to well, everyone else on here really . We're not materialistic* which has helped us accumulate and will help us retire on a lower sum than most here.

Really enjoying the discussions :T.

* We really are not. But OH's hobo tendencies (as mentioned by someone else on here) make me seem profligate .

Almo

Love this thread and how thought provoking it is. On the subject of uni and high earners, I went to a good uni, got a first in a traditional subject and have not 'used' it since. It was a requirement for a couple of the jobs I've had (and in one the subject matter was helpful although by no means essential). I loved my uni days, absolutely adored them, loved my subject and still do; I read about it for interest, although not at a particularly academic level.

I've just started working in what was traditionally a working class industry, heavily male dominated although this is no longer the case as much. It is heavily unionised and still has a final salary pension. A degree is certainly not required. The job pays over the national average and hours are strictly limited for safety reasons. There is opportunity for progression and some of the directors started right at the bottom years ago; the progression obviously does happen, it's not just lip service.

I have taken a lot of ribbing from friends and family over my decision to accept the job. I moved back to the UK a few months ago and had not been able to find a position like my previous one, so applied for this in a bit of a funny five minutes ages ago.

Anyway, after all that waffling, my point: some of my friends earn a lot more than I will but spend all their money. Clothes, consumer goods, even housing. All trappings that go with someone working in those industries. I'm sure we all know people whose spending increases with each payrise. I think what I'm getting at is what has been underlined a few times over the pages - awareness and planning is just as critical as earning a high salary. If you have both then you're laughing but a high salary is worth nothing (well, I guess the company pension contributions are worth something) if you spend it all.

Marine_life

gallygirl wrote: »

Thanks. After reading this and a PM I decided to order - to find out there's a new edition out in October so I've pre-ordered it.

51 & 8 months here, hoping to retire at 55. Which flabbergasts me every time I think of it and makes me scuttle back to my spreadsheets to see what I've done wrong . Plan is to retire to pre-owned place in Spain with OH. Our finances are a bit complex, he will have a generous pension and I will be waiting on a few small ones, but the plan is that will be his'n'her money with OH funding big buys etc.

4 small observations to make:
- Joint plans are based on rental income from buy to lets and I'm surprised this strategy doesn't figure on here?
- I'm saving over 1/3rd of my income to pay off mortgages when the time comes - from an income lower than a lot on here are planning to retire on, but is more than I ever thought I would earn.
- Having been gung ho with my pension funds up till now - currently only 64k, did not have the income in the past - I'm having to fight the desire to be ultra cautious so I don't lose any of it - even although I know being ultra cautious means its value would be eroded, thus losing some of it etc.
- Our projected costs are very low compared to well, everyone else on here really . We're not materialistic* which has helped us accumulate and will help us retire on a lower sum than most here.

Really enjoying the discussions :T.

* We really are not. But OH's hobo tendencies (as mentioned by someone else on here) make me seem profligate .

Sounds like you have a good plan.

Do you still keep your income separate - I know my brother and his wife do that and they've been married longer than we have but I remember when we had separate finances man years ago I was always lending my wife mone to pay off her credit cards! Anyway we have pooled our finances for the last 20 years (although Mrs. ML has not been working for a large part of that).

I have thought about property but to be honest we have not been very lucky with property during our married life (probably the only people in the world who have not) so we tend to steer clear of it. Also, I am not sure I want the hassle. Nevertheless we expect our property to contribute something to our retirement fund. At the end of this year we will have mortgage free property assets of around €750k so we are hoping to sell and free up arounf €300k.

One thought you should consider is health insurance when you move to Spain. I am not sure what the local provision is but you may need to consider private insurance which will be costly.

If I was honest I would say we are somewhat materialistic but not compared to others in my earning bracket. We have a decent but not huge house and both of us have new cars however we justify that becasue we hardly ever go out. We do take frequent holidays which we expect to continue in retirement although my dream is to do a complete ski season which will actually probably be quite reasonable.

Looking forward to reading your story as it develops!

gadgetmind

Marine_life wrote: »

Do you still keep your income separate - I know my brother and his wife do that and they've been married longer than we have

My wife and myself pooled our resources in 1986, many years before we married and just before we bought a house. Everything went into one account, everything came out of one account.

Still does. No regrets.

Marine_life

Almo wrote: »

I think what I'm getting at is what has been underlined a few times over the pages - awareness and planning is just as critical as earning a high salary. If you have both then you're laughing but a high salary is worth nothing (well, I guess the company pension contributions are worth something) if you spend it all.

Actually I would say that its almost difficult to continue to consume without seriously diminishing returns i.e. if you have a perfectl decent television will a new super dooper 3-D interactive TV really make your life that much better - No it won't. After a while spending seems vacuous.

I would say that it's much more fun bagging a bargain and I really hate paying full price for something (especially if I see the same thing cheaper elsewhere).

M brother-in-law sounds similar to you, he got a good degree from Oxford and could have walked into pretty much an job he wanted but he chose to become a policeman. It was a calling if you like. The important point is, you would have to be pretty mercenary to do a job you hate for 30-40 years JUST for the money. That's a heart attack waiting to happen.

What a high salary does do however, is it allows you to make mistakes and recover (you could also say it mkes you careless!). Similarly, with things like sending the children to private school - is it absolutely necessary? no it isn't! but I think its worth it. So good money is not (only) about spending - its also about choices.