Early retirement on inheritance.

kidmugsy

gadgetmind wrote: »

Pension contributions for your wife are also a splendid way to make the money work harder, particularly if you're likely to still be within the triviality limit when she's 60.

You could always show low cunning and arrange a couple of "stranded pots" below the £2k threshold too.

trulys

How about speaking to some local letting agents and see if its worth investing in property and gaining a nice little rental income each month? They'll be able to tell you what kind of properties are in demand, which areas are good, and how much income/expenditure you're likely to see each month running a buy-to-let property. Its just a thought, seeing as house prices are quite low at the moment, and more and more people are finding it hard to get mortgages approved, so are looking to rent!!

innovate

trulys wrote: »

How about speaking to some local letting agents and see if its worth investing in property and gaining a nice little rental income each month?

They are the very last people I would seek balanced advice from about my retirement income because they are 100% biased towards lettings.

Doesn't mean they shouldn't be part of the fact-finding that I would do if I was considering BTL.

jackyann

I know this isn't exactly what you asked in your original advice, but if you are both as frugal as you say and as fed up as you say, I would seriously consider leaving, spreading the inheritance initially in as good an interest account as you can find, take say a month's break, and look around for part-time jobs and investment opportunities.
Oh and to the list of part-time jobs my friends do, I must add:
humanist celebrant
home sitting
I do also have friends who went into being landlords, and it really didn't work out. They do have construction skills, but you are at the vagaries of the market.

gadgetmind

kidmugsy wrote: »

You could always show low cunning and arrange a couple of "stranded pots" below the £2k threshold too.

Yes, that's another wheeze that's discussed from time-to-time, but I'm not aware of anyone that's gone ahead and done it.

bumblebee5

Hi - have you considered taking some unpaid leave from work to see what you feel like at the end of it? I did, and then at 55 decided to retire and leave the NHS. Best thing I did!!

BLB53

To do that I would need an income of around £1200 per month. Not asking a lot, am I

You will be looking for a steady return of around 4% which will rise with inflation over the years.

I would invest at least half the inheritance in around 6 or 7 income producing investment trusts. To save going into detail here, have a look at an article on RIT about generating income from ITs http://www.retirementinvestingtoday.com/2013/01/investing-for-income-via-investment.html

If you leave out some of the lower yielding trusts in the article, you should easily be able to get a starting yield of 4%.

Beware of putting too much in fixed interest investments - the starting yield is higher but the income does not grow so will be eroded by inflation over the years.

Linton

innovate wrote: »

One thing people keep saying is that once you retired, you need a lot less money - no business suits, no daily commute, a lot fewer lattes and cappucinos, a lot less on lunches and dinners, etc etc. Of course some will already have the minimum costs for that, but many people will find there's a marked reduction in monthly "necessities".

Of course, the above costs can easily be replaced by travelling or hobbies.....but it will all be a lot more fun, and it will be a lot more enjoyable than work. As long as the costs are within the budget.

As a first pass I recommend that people use current expenditure as the estimate for the post retirement net income requirement. If you can meet that you are probably OK, if you cant you have more detailed planning and balancing of options to do. Only reduce your budget if its necessary and you are happy to live with the consequences.