Please help - desperate to retire early!!

MABLE

I deal with complaints all day. I know every letter I receive, every phone call is going to be someone moaning. So many of my colleagues go off with stress and every month our work is monitored etc. We have to achieve targets and it is very demoralizing. However the good news is I have decided to retired at the end of the finanancial year. I certainly will not be wealthy but my happiness has to come first. I am still a spring chicken of 57.

firesidemaid

hi there

OP, i can really understand where you are coming from. when there is a mortgage to pay and you have a good job, you feel pressured into continuing it even if you want to do something else - well i do anyway......

my plan is also to pay off the mortgage asap - hopefully in 3 to 5 years.

in 3 years time i will have built up exactly half an nhs pension and will also be 40 - that is my cut-off for 'retirement'.

there will be no rent/mortgage to pay, i can do whatever job i choose (i fancy just locuming - have done it before and it was so enjoyable). i also have a mr. sazzacat, so between us we will be fine both in a few years and at retirement - there is also future potential for downsizing at 60 should we need to.

this plan is what keeps me going amongst the daily grind. if anyone can see a flaw in my plan please let me know?!

good luck to you miss penny pincher x

djbd1973

Miss_Penny_Pincher wrote: »

The ultimate dream would be to have income from savings of £1,000pm but would need a nest egg of around £300k in savings to earn that much interest and maybe that should be my plan…?

Hi Miss Penny Pincher.

Firstly, I understand how you feel because I feel that way all too often. I thought things would change for me when the company I worked for went into liquidation and I started up my own company which is doing well but I work silly hours now.

You mentioned £300k in savings but I would personally worry as to whether this would be able to keep up with inflation in a savings account because when you are 60, the equivalent value could be very small indeed.

I personally would take professional advice that involved all the issues of state pension etc because short term happiness could geopardise your life in the future. Good luck

chesky369

Oh Miss Penny Pincher. What goes around comes around I guess - you say your dream is to be a housewife......... in the 60s & 70s, my friends and I were bursting to leave behind the boring toil of housewifery and get out into the world and DO something - anything. I can't make up my mind whether I'm amused or frustrated by you - bit of both I dare say. I think it must be the human condition to always want other than you have but I am worried that you're seeking to be a housewife because you can't think of anything else you'd rather do.

This has very little to do with money which I suspect is the least of your problems.

Paul_Herring

chesky369 wrote: »

I think it must be the human condition to always want other than you have

It's "the grass is greener" syndrome. I went through it 9 years ago (after 9 years in one industry,) I'm going through it again now (in another.)

Admittedly it's with careers rather than going from career to no career, but the OP isn't the only one who has/is going through it

Or to use another metaphor "a change is better than a rest."

Miss_Penny_Pincher_2

When I started this thread it was with the hope of not only calculating the probable investments / savings needed but I also hoped to find people with similar plans so I have found your stories very interesting!

Mable I’m sorry to hear that you are unhappy in your work – it sounds like a very difficult environment. I agree you’re your happiness certainly should come first! Has it helped a little knowing that you will be finishing?

Thanks for your kind words Sazzacat. I’ve been following your progress with interest on the mortgage free wannabe board! I think your plans sound very solid! I think the only issue I can see is making sure you pay NI contributions if you want the full state pension as has been raised by some posters (I think this is 39 years but is being raised to 44 years. If you are off work caring for a child / disabled person you will get these contributions paid). I wish you lots of luck but have a good feeling that you are going to achieve this!

Thank you for the info on the LGPS Siamese. I think it’s awful that they’ve changed the terms so close to your retirement. What do you think you will do?

Djbd1973 - do you find it more satisfying working for yourself? I agree that inflation is a concern and cash is probably not the best way to keep any savings we have. £6000 of the £50k will be in shares in Mr Pincher’s employer’s company and I was thinking of investing the rest in perhaps a Stocks and Shares ISA which I could start building up £7k a year from April.

In terms of planning whether leaving work in 6 years would leave us deprived when we do reach retirement age I came up with the following calculations:

• Penny’s LGPS: approx £3,500 (calculated this using LGPS’ current simple formula of number of years of service divided by 80 times final salary).
• Mr Pincher’s pension: £4,000 (I actually don’t have a clue but as this is final salary and he would be contributing for around 40 years this seems a conservative guess).
• Mr Pincher’s state pension £4,500 (full pension of £87pw)
• Penny’s basic state pension £1,200 (I had a quick look into this and as I will have paid national insurance contributions for 12 years I should be eligible for at least the minimum state pension of £23pw)
• Income from shares / savings £2,400

Total = £15,600pa / £1,300 pm

As that should maintain us at our current standard of living and as I now plan to continue to pay NI contributions even when I “retire” this amount would increase even further so I think it looks quite positive!

Miss_Penny_Pincher_2

chesky369 wrote: »

Oh Miss Penny Pincher. What goes around comes around I guess - you say your dream is to be a housewife......... in the 60s & 70s, my friends and I were bursting to leave behind the boring toil of housewifery and get out into the world and DO something - anything. I can't make up my mind whether I'm amused or frustrated by you - bit of both I dare say. I think it must be the human condition to always want other than you have but I am worried that you're seeking to be a housewife because you can't think of anything else you'd rather do.

This has very little to do with money which I suspect is the least of your problems.

You might be surprised by this Chesky but I actually consider myself a feminist. In my view, the feminist movement was about allowing women access to the same opportunities and freedoms as men. Feminism isn’t about stating that all women must follow one ideal of womanhood but about allowing women to choose what they decide is best for them rather being forced into a stereotypical role e.g. working mother.

Paul Herring this could be the grass is greener syndrome In my workplace there are lots of female graduates in their 20s and 30s with decent careers and good prospects but many dream of getting married and being stay at home mums. Wanting to be a housewife is my choice – I’ve tried the world of work and find that I want more options than the daily grind 5 days a week for another 40 years! Several years ago I worked for 2 days a week for a year and it was the happiest time of my working life Having the freedom to decide to work, rather than working out of a false sense of obligation because all the options haven’t been carefully analysed, surely has to be much healthier

chesky369

No, Miss PP, it doesn’t surprise me to hear that you consider yourself a feminist as your views of feminism are rather one-sided. You speak of having the same opportunities and freedoms as men – with these also come duties and responsibilities, mainly to your partner but also to yourself. And once you have ensconced yourself in your happy state of housewifery, where are the freedoms for your partner? He will have no alternative but to support you.

But, actually, you keep speaking about retirement when that is not what you will be doing – you will be giving up work. Not the same. Most people would gladly swap the day-to-day grind for either a job they really liked, or for a 2 or 3 day per week job. Why else do people do the lottery? What keeps most of us working is the need to feed and clothe ourselves.

The one thing which would make me completely understand your position is something you haven’t mentioned at all – children. I’ve looked back and, whilst you say you want to be a housewife, you conspicuously don’t say you want to be a mother. Any woman who wanted to stay at home to bring up her children would have my total support (did it myself) but any woman who wanted to stay at home without having children is placing a burden on her partner he never signed up for. Kept woman is the phrase that springs to mind – no feminism there.

siamese0109

Thank you for the info on the LGPS Siamese. I think it’s awful that they’ve changed the terms so close to your retirement. What do you think you will do?


I'm going to go anyway although I won't be close to my official retirement age which is now 66! In 5 years I'll be 51 and OH will be 53 - we own our home here and a place in spain, have maxed out ISAs, endowments due to mature in 5 years as we kept them running, some high interest bonds running and healthy savings accounts (double-income no-kids ). We'll sell up here and go live in spain where the cost of living is cheaper. The bonds will kick in every 5 years and we won't have to work -although I think I'll need to to preserve my sanity - we'll have income from the investments and my pension (in whatever form) at some point in the future and also state pensions eventually. I've given up worrying about LGPS now to be honest as I seem to have 'just missed out' all the way through :mad:

firesidemaid

i have put in a request to our pensions dept for the date that i will have gained exactly half a pension - sometime in early 2010 i guess!

if you have no mortgage and few bills to pay, 2 small incomes do just fine. you can work full time if you want to or part time if not. but for me, this gives you the option to choose the job and the level of challenge or pressure.

as for NI contributions and state pension - i will always pay them, but i really cannot see me getting a state pension until i am 70 or later. they just keep on moving the goalposts:mad:

Mr Herring - i also agree with your grass comments. thing is, i won't know until i get there:rolleyes:

good luck to all in their quests x