Windfall... what to do with it?

GDB2222

simonineaston wrote: »

Am liking the 'give up work tomorrow' idea, but alas not 99,999! Several ideas mentioned I hadn't considered... and thought provoking for me. For example, am now thinking about getting a will written (as am wrong side of 60) - something I'd never thought about before.
Going back to the first notion, how much capital do folk think could realisticly allow freedom from work, given the record low interest rates available these days? Am starting to think seriously now about reducing my working hours, if not giving up completely...

It depends entirely on what you need to spend in retirement. Some people get by on quite little and prefer to do that rather than work.

If you own a house and want to run a car, that might be £10k a year of expenditure, before allowing for food and all the other costs. To produce £10k of net income from U.K. Shares you need around £400k in capital.

Katiehound

Giving up work?
Well, another consideration is how much you will get as a pension? Would you be able to live on that alone?
Would working less hours affect that pension?

If the pension is good and you are financially stable then maybe, just maybe you could afford to give up work completely. Or maybe you could find a part time job that was more like a hobby- love it so much you couldn't give up!!

In the meantime start opening all those current accounts so that at least some of you money can be earning 3% at least (and yes, there are a few paying 5%) rather than the miserly savings rates whilst you consider what to do.

Seriously, I would write the 'bucket list' of what you really really want to do. Some of those things might not need a huge amount of dosh.....

lessonlearned

Asking how much capital you need to retire on is a bit like asking "how long is a piece of string":rotfl:

Ok so you've said you in your early sixties, so I presume you reach state retirement age at 67...

So what assets do you have, do you have a mortgage, a private pension etc....do you have debts, are you helping support children, grandchildren......so many variables.

If you can manage it then reducing your working hours sounds like a great idea. Quite often by going down to 4 days instead of 5 because your costs are less (i.e. Income tax, commuting etc) then the loss of one day's pay isnt very noticeable.

My 61 year old SIL has just done this .......(after much dithering) and has been pleasantly surprised that she isn't really that much out of pocket and that the trade off for more time and less tiredness is well worth it.

Re your windfalll......depends how much it is. Whilst it is "extra" I would be disinclined to blow the lot. I would spend some and save some.

I would treat myself to something I've aLways wanted and then invest the rest.

Re the low interest rates - they are abysmal aren't they. So I decided to have a little flutter, using only money that I am prepared to lose.

I bought some shares in a mutual fund......a mix of relatively safe ones and some higher risk ones to try and go for growth.

THey are doing well at the moment. If they nose dive I won't be too concerned because I only "risked" a smallish amount, roughly equivalent to a fancy cruise:rotfl: if they do well I will have enough for two holidays.

Re the Porsche.....you don't need to buy brand new. You can pick up some great pre loved premium cars for less than £10k, Sometimes a lot less.

Just depends on how much mileage you will be doing. I currently have to park in the street so am sticking with my little Fiesta but once I move to somewhere with secure parking or a garage then I will be upgrading.

I have always wanted a convertible, it's on my bucket list. :rotfl:

simonineaston

Re the Porsche...

Must confess to having owned a Porsche back in early '80s. Not my thing anymore! However, scimming though the posts upthread, and combining some of the ideas, have suddenly realised that I have enough to buy a VW Caddy (a van-that-thinks-its-a-car) and have it converted to a mini-camper van. Am genuinely excited by this prospect & am jolly glad I asked the original Q!! Thanks, everyone - I'll send you all postcards when I get to where-ever it is I'll be going! :j

cbrown372

I'd do an Artic cruise or at the very least a trip to see the Northern Lights for a couple of days and take an 89 year old client with me as its on her bucket list

moneyistooshorttomention

simonineaston wrote: »

Must confess to having owned a Porsche back in early '80s. Not my thing anymore! However, scimming though the posts upthread, and combining some of the ideas, have suddenly realised that I have enough to buy a VW Caddy (a van-that-thinks-its-a-car) and have it converted to a mini-camper van. Am genuinely excited by this prospect & am jolly glad I asked the original Q!! Thanks, everyone - I'll send you all postcards when I get to where-ever it is I'll be going! :j

Now - provided the "basics" are covered (as it sounds like they are) sounds like a good idea to me.

I often read the blogs of people that have done that sort of thing. It always sounds quite exciting if one has a house and sufficient income safely there as a back-up.

missile

worried_jim wrote: »

Porsche 911 convertible. Enjoy the summer! - buy the right one and you may sell it for a higher price next year. Grandpa would have been proud.

I was at the dealer on Thursday and unfortunately a new Porsche 911 convertible costs considerably more than 5 figures.

Savvy_Sue

Just on the subject of cars, the following experience has affected my car buying decisions for the last 30 years ...

A friend of ours bought their dream car, a bright red Lotus IIRC, many years ago.

The theory was that they would keep it off road, in the garage, for use in the summer only - a 'car for best', as it were.

What they forgot to factor in was the fact that the 'car for best' was wider than the garage door (new house = small garage), so it had to live on the drive in front of the garage, and there was a bit of to-ing and fro-ing needed to get the 'everyday car' out of the garage, and the 'everyday car' couldn't be left on the drive in front of the garage because the 'car for best' now lived there.

And also the car alarm on the 'car for best' went off at regular intervals, especially if the wind blew from the wrong direction and the 'car for best' wasn't parked in just the right spot on the drive.

Then our friend went away for a long weekend, using the 'everyday car', and asked us to keep the house and car keys in case anything went wrong or the alarm went off, which of course it did.

So there's me, absolutely TERRIFIED I am going to drive this monster into the garage door while I try to move it slightly up the drive. And to make it worse, I found I had to pretty much fall into the driving seat, which was far too low for me, even at THAT age, and I'm then pretty much leaning back looking at the sky rather than able to see the garage door I'm trying to avoid ...

I'm pleased to report that I managed to move The Beast a foot up the drive WITHOUT hitting the garage door, but I then had to haul myself OUT of this ridiculous driving position, and attempt to lock the car and reset the alarm, which of course I had to test a few times to be sure I'd done it right. The neighbours were well pleased ... although I think by the time I'd finished it did then stay silent until our friend got back.

Anyway, just saying that even if you've had a dream car since before the days of Top Gear, do make sure it's going to work for you NOW! :rotfl:

Me, I'd buy a pink car. Although I've told DH I won't inflict that on him, I'll wait until he's gone ...

[Deleted User]

After 9/11 I bought my dream car as no-one knows what the future holds , so the Porche Boxster was on order.

Beautiful car , but sadly blew up 9mths after delivery, the engine needed replacing . they had to fly someone in from Germany to do it and cost £14k. Luckily under warrenty.

Now I am older and less frivoulous my wheels of choice would be a vintage VW Camper van.

So thats my suggestion OP, a campervan, painted a bright colour and must have daisys on the side.

Life on the open road is something of a right of passage I think, even for a short time.

seven-day-weekend

Our 'folly' , after I received an unexpected inheritance, was a static caravan holiday home in a forest in Snowdonia.

Not bothered about cars, although we did have a vintage MGB GT at one time. I knocked the stainless steel exhaust off going over a speed bump .

We've just bought our choice of 'wheels' as a replacement for our Skoda Roomster - a Skoda Yeti