Early-retirement wannabe

Almo

Monkey_Master wrote: »

Hi,

I have actively started planning for early retirement this year. I am currently 33 and we plan with my wife to retire at 35. That's a very aggressive timeline but I've been doing the maths and it should work out.

I even started writing a blog to share our new way of thinking (search for Monkeyism). I define it as a life changing perspective because we can't keep the same lifestyle if we stop working for a salary. But we can keep the same quality of life. The difference being moving to a cheaper place with no dependency on distance from work, growing some of our food, taking care of our own children instead of paying for childcare, etc...

It is always dauting to think this way because we always worry about whether we'll have enough money to live off. But currently, we spend around A$ 1000 a month on all expenses except housing costs. So if we own our house, we could live off A$ 500,000 until we pass away. At the moment, the savings rate in Australia is 5% (we live in Sydney). So if we have that amount of capital, the interests are pretty much paying for our expenses without us touching the initial capital.

There are always risks to the plan (rates going down, cost of living going up etc...) and we'll adjust accordingly with some contingency. But overall, it is achievable. And we are not die-hard thrifters or millionaire for that matter. I personally think it is just a matter of realising when we have enough rather than looking for more.

Wow, that is a very low spend. We moved back from Melbourne in December and I can't imagine spending $1000 on everything except housing. Fair play!

Supernova

Hi all,

I'm on the brink of redundancy from corporate life at 54 and plan to bump up my pension pot to about £500K and have ISAs of 110K by the time I reach 55. I will use phased drawdown for an income of about £24K.

That's quite close to my current outgoings and I will work on more enjoyable artistic pursuits to try and generate a small boost to that income.

Does that seem feasible for the next 30 years? Other pensions will come along at 65 and 66 as well.

I will be giving up luxuries like private health insurance and premier league football and it will be a massive change of lifestyle.

Cheers

Almo

cyclonebri,

My partner and I are not quite 30 and are not high income earners, although we're not low income earners either. We are waiting to see how exactly our finances pan out as my OH has the potential to earn significant commission, far more than his basic salary, and I am awaiting the outcome of union negotiations on pay and will also take home some commission, although it is not likely to be particularly amazing - perhaps 3k or so a year, possibly less. I have been in the job less than two weeks and OH has only just moved into this commission earning role.

As I've hinted, I wrestle with long hours and high earnings vs quality of life and to be honest I flip flop around about what I should do. For me, the jobs (at present) that would bring in high earnings would not be enjoyable, I should clarify that. Others will find something that pays well and that they enjoy.

My OH and I are trying to educate ourselves about investing, pensions etc. It is a lot to learn and there are many opinions but we are determined to make informed decisions and hopefully set ourselves on course for financial security.

I relish hearing the stories and successes here and I am learning a huge amount.

And now, I will stop bombarding the thread with posts!

atush

Almo wrote: »

This needs to be more than just something in brackets. My brother turned down a couple of fascinating overseas postings because of his partner, whose career could not have been transferred overseas.

I would probably have had a better shot at getting a job in the line of work I used to do had we moved to London but my partner would not be able to transfer his career there (and it was a mutual decision to move here, I must add).

I don't know many couples, at this stage of their lives, where one partner would give up their career to be the trailing spouse. That might change in the future, of course, as careers develop (or not, which might be an influencing factor).

I quit my job and moved all over with my OH, really restricted my work prospects- some countries I wasn't allowed to work at all.

elantan

Triffid wrote: »

Geez.......... this thread has turned into a braggarts charter. Look how massively huge my pension pot is! and I bet its bigger than yours....tone it down folks its depressing for the rest of us!

We get it ....if we'd worked as hard in our lives as you did ....we could have done it too.....but we didn't and its too late now!

See I disagree here ... I have worked exceptionally hard all my days but don't have anywhere near the amount of money some others have, I wouldn't say I am the dumbest but I obviously ain't been the brightest either when it's came to finances, but I'm learning a lot here, if you don't like it or find it offensive, you can always not read, it's not like your being held to read this thread by gunpoint

Move on if you don't like it, let the rest get back to the discussion and let it go, life is to short for you to sweat the small stuff so don't

gallygirl

I agree with El. No-one is boasting at all and what strikes me is that it is those with the largest pension pots who are the most apprehensive about taking the plunge.

Realistically, we can't all earn massive salaries, but what you do with your money and how you earn it can have a massive impact. Triffid, can I recommend you read The Millionaire Next Door and Rich Dad, Poor Dad? They made a big impact on me, I wish I had read them years ago, though I have stumbled into almost the right path. (Well, just off the fairway, with a slightly obscured view of the green .) If nothing else, they've given me good excuses for not giving DS & DD any more money :rotfl:.

And to answer Triffid's point - our retirement will be based on around 20k, though we do have more in reserve to be fair.

Marine_life

Triffid wrote: »

I saw that............. but I think you also said he had 100k in savings?

The 100k was mainly the lump sum he was allowed to take when he retired.

Let me ask a question - how old are you and what's your position (job wise, family wise, savings etc.)? It's important as you don't go from having little to having a lot in a short time (unless you win the lottery!). When I was in my early 30's I has nothing saved (in fact negative savings).

Since then a combination of good fortune, hard work, ability and sacrifice (yes, sacrifice - 25 years of ham and cheese sandwiches) has put me where I am.

Maybe there's some ideas people here could share with you.

atush

Since then a combination of good fortune, hard work, ability and sacrifice (yes, sacrifice - 25 years of ham and cheese sandwiches) has put me where I am.

So true. My OH is fairly high level/highly paid. But has packed his lunch daily (well I did it for him for years but recently stopped lol) for decades. He only eats out if there is a lunch meeting/seminar etc.

He works all the hours god sends, incl every sat (unpaid) for at least 5 years except when we were on holiday. He has stopped having to do this thank goodness with his new job.

Moby

Triffid wrote: »

ML..... I'm 52 and I did get some advice on this thread I started:-

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4399127

Looks like a ham and cheese sandwich diet for you for the next 25 years mate!;)

gadgetmind

Ham! Ham! What kind of MSE peep can justify ham!