Please help - desperate to retire early!!

djbd1973

Miss_Penny_Pincher wrote: »

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.

Hi there again Miss Penny Pincher

You seem to have a plan which is good.

To answer your question - yes it is more satisfying working for myself. I had always wanted to do it but I am working harder now than I ever did and an average week is 68 hours for me but often more. If I hadn't done it I would always have regretted it, and some days I just want to go home despite the money that is coming in from the work I do. Talking about the grass is always greener syndrome - I now look at my mates who are out enjoying life (especially throughout the summer just past) while I am working particularly as I have only had a few days of leave this year.

My goal is to make a shed load of money and then get out of the trade and perhaps do a small part time job to keep the brain ticking over and hopefully I would have enough savings and investments to live comfortably on.

If I could be a house husband I would!!

Sobraon

Picked up from another board (TMF) and tried it out on Excel , an idea to finance 'early retirement' . Firstly limit yourself to only spending half your income (hah!) and saving the rest. Then after about 12-15 years the income from the savings becomes equal to about half your income. Of course this depends on the real rate of return (I tried 5% after tax) and how index linked the 'pension' needs to be but it is fun .. and I wish someone had pointed this out to me when I was 20 !:think:

ChrissyR_2

Hi Miss PP, you seem to have mapped out the next 40-70 years.
Your figure seem to add up for you (although I would still think they are on the low side).

One thing I think is missing is - as you can see from many of the replies here, the feel of not enjoying your job seem to creep up on many (including me). What will happen if this occurs to Mr PP in the future and he decides he would like to 'retire' and become a house husband?

djbd1973

ChrissyR wrote: »

One thing I think is missing is - as you can see from many of the replies here, the feel of not enjoying your job seem to creep up on many (including me). What will happen if this occurs to Mr PP in the future and he decides he would like to 'retire' and become a house husband?

Thats a very good point ChrissyR. My business partners' wife has just chucked her job in and expects my business partner to provide all the income. This has annoyed him no end because he would also like the easy life and feels as if he is being treated as a commodity rather than an equal.

Instead of being happy for her not having to stress about going to work, HE now stresses about how much she spends everytime she goes shopping.

Its bizarre.

missile

If you don't want to work and Mr PennyPincher is happy to support you why wait until 2011?

rosy

I chanced on this thread when looking for info on early retirement , living off savings etc. I've looked around the web but can't find what I'm searching for. Does anyone know of any websites / blogs on this theme ( I'm thinking more of accounts of the pros and cons and experiences of those who have considered this or have done it rather than the financial calculation side of it ( important though that is! ) Thanks!

tanith

Hi Rosy, I commented on this thread early on I don't know of any blogs or threads on the subject but its something that was forced on me because of ill-health last year.... not really sure if I could give you any info that your require but feel free to ask or PM me if you prefer and I will answer how its affected me....

missyg_3

Interesting thread. I am hoping to retire by 50 and this has given me a lot to think about already, as I am just at the very beginning of working out how I can make this happen. I hope others will chime in with their thoughts and experiences.

gericom10

it's all well and good giving up work if you can afford to do it, but what will you do with yourself?

my dad stopped working at about 55 and sat in a chair waiting to die (he is not dead yet but is no company to anyone, a sad thing for a son to say), and to me it looks like a wasted life and as has been said before we omly live once

miss pp, like you i do not enjoy my job and have decided that i will give up work in 4 years, have worked out the money so that me and mrs gericom can buy a mobile home and spend our time travelling through europe. it's cheap, and we will have the freedom to go where we like and see and meet lots of people and places to keep us inspired.
my biggest worry for you would be that you end up not using your time well enough to be able to look back at yourself in 30 years and have regrets that you could have done something that you will be proud of.

some posters on giving up work have said that they have done voluntery work or something of that nature and it has given them great plesure, maybe you need to give more thought to what you will do, and less to how you will finance it

missyg_3

gericom10 your plan sounds wonderful. I am also expecting to do some motor caravanning in my retirement. Part of the reason I want to retire early is so that I can enjoy more of the things I already do, while I'm still relatively healthy and active. I'm sorry to hear your Dad isn't making the most of his retirement years, that seems very sad.