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Regret retiring too early with not enough money?

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  • marlot
    marlot Posts: 4,974 Forumite
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    edited 6 January 2017 at 6:21AM
    Sapphire wrote: »
    ...I'd like to add, though, that – as someone pointed out – they concern relatively affluent people....
    I know at least two couples who have essentially stopped working in their 40s, but who are on very modest incomes. Both have used council allotments to supplement their food. They don't have TV but read lots of books. Both live in very modest houses. Not the life I'd like to lead, but both were forced into it and chose to make the best of the hand they were dealt.

    I think by the very nature of this thread, its tending to be more about people trying to make that decision through choice - it tends to need a pretty large savings pot to cover the gap from early retirement to pension age (or in my case ages - 55/60/65/67). In my case, my trigger is a medical condition which meant that I wasn't sure I'd be able to work beyond 50, so I saved a substantial part of my salary into pensions from quite early on - starting when the LTA was £1.8m. I've been caught out by its reduction, alas.

    But I prefer to focus on the positives - the big thing the savings have given me is choice. I think I have enough saved to go pretty soon, but it's tempting to do just one more month, or year. The stories are building my confidence to go sooner.

    I've worked out that the best time for me to retire is the end of May - I get the benefit of four bank holidays (Easter and May), and two months of salary on which I will get the tax back. There will be a gap until my first pension comes through at 55.
  • marlot
    marlot Posts: 4,974 Forumite
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    Sapphire wrote: »
    ...I don't actually know anyone who retired early in my profession (in publishing, which has always been renowned for being interesting but paying relatively little...
    That's your choice! Hopefully there are benefits too, such as being well-read?

    As part of building up my savings I was away 3-4 nights a week for more than 15 years, working 16-hour days and driving huge distances. The money was good, but I very nearly ended up divorced. After being made redundant 4 years ago, I took up a job paying half the previous salary, but a much better work/life balance.
  • Moby
    Moby Posts: 3,917 Forumite
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    Has anyone come forward to say they regretted their decision to retire when they did......if so I've missed it!
  • justme111
    justme111 Posts: 3,531 Forumite
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    I do not think there will be any - people enjoy what they have rather than regretting what they have not.
    The word "dilemma" comes from Greek where "di" means two and "lemma" means premise. Refers usually to difficult choice between two undesirable options.
    Often people seem to use this word mistakenly where "quandary" would fit better.
  • Sapphire
    Sapphire Posts: 4,269 Forumite
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    marlot wrote: »
    That's your choice! Hopefully there are benefits too, such as being well-read?

    As part of building up my savings I was away 3-4 nights a week for more than 15 years, working 16-hour days and driving huge distances. The money was good, but I very nearly ended up divorced. After being made redundant 4 years ago, I took up a job paying half the previous salary, but a much better work/life balance.

    There are certainly benefits to working in publishing (or were, with the original publishing companies, though not so much with publishing now in general given that small companies have been bought up by huge corporations that care only about profits, etc). The benefits did include being well read and finding out about many different facets of existence on this planet, etc.

    It is all about choice. I don't think I could have stood what you did physically for very long, no matter how much money it paid. We are only here for a relatively very short time, so should get enough enjoyment of life as we can in that time. If the work you do is so exhausting and stressful that it ruins your emotional and physical life, then it's not worth it as far as I'm concerned (and there are, increasingly, plenty of jobs like that).

    I'd add that one of my relatives, aged about 85 now, worked all her life as an academic (professorship in Australia for about 20 years until fairly recently, plus lecturing positions in Africa before that), and only fully retired a couple of years ago, after which she co-wrote a large technical manual, which was published about a year ago. She has now retired, and is doing a couple of courses and some activities involving exercise and spas. Her husband was similar, though he died about seven years ago. They always scrimped and saved to ensure they had enough in retirement, though the same can't be said for their daughter…:cool:
  • I've never heard anyone say they regretted retiring when they did (or maybe they just won't admit it). We're planning to retire at 60 (next year) because in the past few years we've lost 3 friends (of our age) to cancer and so now we'd rather have a smaller income but more years of good health to enjoy.

    For those wrestling with this decision, I'd like to offer the following thought: which mistake would you rather make?

    1) Retire, realise later that the income isn't enough and, hopefully, have to find more work / take a lodger in / or find another way to cut costs / increase income, or

    2) Work more years (never quite being able to persuade yourself that you have enough) until a health crisis forces you to; or that you develop poor health within a few years of retiring and then wish you'd retired earlier?

    Only each individual can answer that one.

    (PS A financial adviser once told me that pensions are calculated on the basis that: one-third of people never get to pension age; one-third of people die within 2 years of retiring, so that just leaves one-third to actually claim a pension).
  • robotrobo
    robotrobo Posts: 921 Forumite
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    (PS A financial adviser once told me that pensions are calculated on the basis that: one-third of people never get to pension age; one-third of people die within 2 years of retiring, so that just leaves one-third to actually claim a pension).[/QUOTE]


    Ive had 27 years so far , and looking for another 20:)
  • Number75
    Number75 Posts: 205 Forumite
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    Sorry, but I expect your adviser was quoting long out of date statistics there!

    The nature of this board means I think most people here are self selecting as a group with enough income to actually think about pensions and retirement planning. So their potential income and the reduction for earlier retirement still leaves a minimum that's OK.

    So if you could have had £25K but you go 5 years earlier on £20K, yeah - you probably won't regret it.

    We need more people who could have hung on for £12K but went early using most of their pot to bridge til 67, so they had £8k for 7 years then similar via SP. Maybe they are the ones more likely to have regretted it?
    And I think we see them less on this board.

    Also I imagine the early retirees are in secure owned houses, mortgage paid off or nearly done so.

    It's a really hard decision to make.
    I'm only 42 and I started saving additional to my company pension some time ago. I started with the idea of being wealthier at normal retirement age, and now I have built up a pot that could actually bridge the gap, I'm now thinking "oh - maybe I could just start earlier?"

    My aim at the moment isn't so much to definitely go at 55 - it's to have the option to do so. Final decision will be made based on whether I still enjoy my job. I think money vs free time vs money to do things in that free time is one consideration, but another is if you're actually unhappy with your job.
  • Number75
    Number75 Posts: 205 Forumite
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    Also - haven't most people who have retired early so far done it by saving additional money, because they couldn't access their pension funds? So the money was still ring fenced at a later age for buying an annuity (or whatever choice was made)

    It's only now that people will be able to access pension savings at 55, so retiring on pension rather than additional savings. I do wonder if the regret level will be higher among people who take a big chunk out at 55, with nothing more on the horizon until they are 67 with SP. That is a hell of a long time in which to have regrets! I'm biased on that because I know a few people who are bad with money who will just burn through an entire pot very very quickly. I predict a wave of 60 year olds posting here in 2021 asking if access at 55 was a case of mis-selling and can they sue?!
  • noh
    noh Posts: 5,817 Forumite
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    Number75 wrote: »
    Also - haven't most people who have retired early so far done it by saving additional money, because they couldn't access their pension funds? So the money was still ring fenced at a later age for buying an annuity (or whatever choice was made)

    It's only now that people will be able to access pension savings at 55, so retiring on pension rather than additional savings. I do wonder if the regret level will be higher among people who take a big chunk out at 55, with nothing more on the horizon until they are 67 with SP. That is a hell of a long time in which to have regrets! I'm biased on that because I know a few people who are bad with money who will just burn through an entire pot very very quickly. I predict a wave of 60 year olds posting here in 2021 asking if access at 55 was a case of mis-selling and can they sue?!

    Prior to April 6 2010 the minimum pension age was 50. Now you have to wait 5 years longer before being able to access pension lump sums.
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