Stopping work early with big change to lifestyle?

cns06

Sea_Shell wrote: »

Just an idea...

As you run your own business, is it not an option to employ someone to manage the more stressful parts of it and you go part-time??

Or would having (any) employees be even more stressful if you don't already have a "workforce".

We have tried this but as the business is retail we have found it almost impossible to find someone who is willing to work the hours at a pay level that the business could support. We last tried it about 2-3 years ago and other than the issue of the manager wanting time off every 5 minutes and making bad decisions etc as soon as we had him up to a good standard he left us for another company for a 30% pay rise. We tried again about 12 months ago, started a junior with the intention of slowly training him up this time so over 2-3 years he would become manager but again after a few months he left and took a promotion with another company. So sadly we wont be trying that again as its probably cost us money so far.

We already have c.10 employees at any given time.

cns06

rnj wrote: »

Interesting thread for me, only just come across it.

What will you do when stop working?

Firstly rest! I work around 80-90 hours a week. My last proper holiday was well over 10 years ago. I work 6 days a week so its very difficult to get any time away.

Then we would like to travel. For a few years. Once that's over we will probably buy a motorhome and full time in that for a couple of years, depending on the situation with the EU.

More day to day I would like to just do the normal stuff normal people do, go to the gym, wander round the shops, see friends, go to events and nights out etc.

I have a couple of hobbies but due to work commitments I really only get Sunday for my hobby so I could easily burn 3 days a week with that if I wanted.

I would also consider doing a degree, something I never got round to doing when I was younger.

Linton

I do not think that a step change of living standards on retirement is a good idea. Retirement is enough of a major shock anyway without imposing a level of frugality of which you have no experience.

So an alternative is to cut your expenditure now putting all the saved money into S&S ISAs and possibly pensions. At some point in the next few years your savings will be sufficient to permanently maintain your then current expenditure.

cns06

bostonerimus wrote: »

You should live for a few years on your retirement budget before you actually retire so that there are no nasty surprises.

Good advice. We are already at 80% savings rate so we are living on only a small income by default, less than what I am hoping for in retirement. Prior to that we were saving about 50% so again living on a lot less than our actual income. Now the mortgage has gone we can really crank up the savings.

lisyloo

You should live for a few years on your retirement budget before you actually retire so that there are no nasty surprises.

It’s a good idea for most but my budget will change considerably.
I currently live in London and spend on public transport and go to west end shows and eat out a lot.
When I retire I’ll be using private transport and will be going out a lot less and more cheaply.

But good idea for everyone else.

Linton

lisyloo wrote: »

It’s a good idea for most but my budget will change considerably.
I currently live in London and spend on public transport and go to west end shows and eat out a lot.
When I retire I’ll be using private transport and will be going out a lot less and more cheaply.

But good idea for everyone else.

Your choice. Other peoiple may not want to drastically cut down on those activities they currently enjoy. If they cut down less drastically now that could leave more money to continue during retirement.

Spreadsheetman

Linton wrote: »

I do not think that a step change of living standards on retirement is a good idea. Retirement is enough of a major shock anyway without imposing a level of frugality of which you have no experience.

So an alternative is to cut your expenditure now putting all the saved money into S&S ISAs and possibly pensions. At some point in the next few years your savings will be sufficient to permanently maintain your then current expenditure.

This is effectively what I did. I like the saying "pay yourself first" as that describes it well.

The only thing I have missed since "the great cutback", as I call it, is holidays outside the UK. They will definitely be coming back in retirement.

Linton

Spreadsheetman wrote: »

.....

The only thing I have missed since "the great cutback", as I call it, is holidays outside the UK. They will definitely be coming back in retirement.

This seems an excellent strategy, though perhaps stopping all foreign holidays is a little drastic. Early retirement should be looked forward to as the point when you can fully enjoy life, not the time when your options suddenly become restricted.

Spreadsheetman

Linton wrote: »

This seems an excellent strategy, though perhaps stopping all foreign holidays is a little drastic. Early retirement should be looked forward to as the point when you can fully enjoy life, not the time when your options suddenly become restricted.

It's not quite as drastic as it seems, we bought a (very) small cottage in the area that we plan to relocate to post-retirement. The cost of running a 2nd property replaces the holiday budget.

Once we have sold our current house, moved and lived in the cottage briefly, bought a new house and then sold the cottage to get to the long-term situation the holiday budget is released!

lisyloo

Linton wrote: »

Your choice. Other peoiple may not want to drastically cut down on those activities they currently enjoy. If they cut down less drastically now that could leave more money to continue during retirement.

Yes of course lifestyle is a choice.

The point was it’s not always easy to calculate if your lifestyle will inevitably change.

Some things you can alter but I can’t alter the fact that in London public transport is very practical and in most of the country it’s impractical to rely on.

We could estimate but as I’m not using private transport at the moment and don’t really know what the the usage would be then the estimates are of limited accuracy.