My journey to a debt free life

Onebrokelady

Nicnak said:

Great news about the appointment and fingers crossed they find the cause and it's a something that is easy to resolve.
I think it has been a colder winter this year too. I hope it means a bit of a warmer summer. 
You're doing really well on the NSDs. 
I have been researching retirement too and I am 38. I just want to make sure I am doing everything I need to do now to make sure that it is not a stress when I get there and I can still live my life without cutting back too much. I know some people think I am strange doing it, but I think it is important that I do. 
Have a lovely weekend OBL X

Thanks Nicnak,I think you're very sensible to be looking at your retirement plans now,I wish I had thought to do it when I was your age 

Onebrokelady

milann said:

Nicnak I wish I’d have thought more carefully about a pension when I was younger....but it was a different world then and I couldn’t join the works pension scheme because I only worked part time. It’s quite scary how quickly it creeps up on you 😳 so good on you looking into it 👏👏
Im pleased you have the appointment too 👍

Thanks Milann, I'm so relieved I haven't got to go through it all again with the consultant first. I am another who wishes I had investigated my pension when I was younger, mind you I was so broke and stressed out back then I was just lurching from one day to another. I have been a part of my NHS pension scheme since 1993 so quite few years,I've been in job 28 years  last November. I'm still not sure how I've lasted this long 😀

HairyHandofDartmoor

I'm so pleased that you're having the barium investigation done soon OBL and hopefully it will put your mind at rest when you get the result.

I'm another one who wishes I'd thought about my pension sooner, but like you I had debts and was limping from one month to the next struggling just to cover the bills. Unfortunately as I've been a stay at home mum and then self-employed for 20 years I've only been paying my school pension for two years. I've got nearly enough NI payments for a full state pension though as I've being doing voluntary payments whilst self-employed. I'm going to try and work for the next ten  years as I can't afford to retire before I'm 67, I think it's going to be tiring though as I get into my sixties. I wish I could retire at 60 but I'll have a mortgage to pay and no income so it can't be done.

It's good that you've had your NHS pension for so long as hopefully that means you will be able to retire at 60. Do you know roughly how much you'll get per month?

Onebrokelady

HairyHandofDartmoor said:

I'm so pleased that you're having the barium investigation done soon OBL and hopefully it will put your mind at rest when you get the result.

I'm another one who wishes I'd thought about my pension sooner, but like you I had debts and was limping from one month to the next struggling just to cover the bills. Unfortunately as I've been a stay at home mum and then self-employed for 20 years I've only been paying my school pension for two years. I've got nearly enough NI payments for a full state pension though as I've being doing voluntary payments whilst self-employed. I'm going to try and work for the next ten  years as I can't afford to retire before I'm 67, I think it's going to be tiring though as I get into my sixties. I wish I could retire at 60 but I'll have a mortgage to pay and no income so it can't be done.

It's good that you've had your NHS pension for so long as hopefully that means you will be able to retire at 60. Do you know roughly how much you'll get per month?

Thanks Hairy ,I'm relieved about the appointment too and the fact that it's not too long to wait 😊 it also luckily fell on my day off so I wont need to organise any time off. 
I'm not sure how much I will get a month yet,I need to speak to one of our mortgage advisors and work it all out, I am going to try and sort an appointment out when I go back to work next week. I've very loosely worked out that if I get the current full  state pension I will need about £400 a month from my NHS pension to cover my outgoings as they are now. Obviously things will have gone up by the time I retire but I'm hoping my pension payments will reflect that. I won't have a mortgage to pay but will still have rent to pay which by then will probably be the same as the amount I pay for both at the moment  so when calculating my outgoings I took my mortgage payment into account too
There will be a few things I either won't be paying for or will be paying less for so no yearly bus pass at £57 a month, sadly but realistically by the time I can claim my state pension I won't have any pets which will save me a minimum of £60 a month so there's £ 117 I won't have to find. My bills will reduce because DD 1 will have moved out by then,I will lose her money but the bills will be lower. 
I also still have the option of renting out a room if I need to, there's  loads of students at work who are looking for accommodation, some just want it while they are on placement for up to 12 weeks so not even permanent lodgers which I like the sound of
One of my wilder ideas was to rent the whole house out and go around house and pet sitting for people, I could stay at my parents house if I needed somewhere in-between house sits. I listened to a podcast where a couple managed to actually travel around most of the USA by  house sitting for different people 😀

foxgloves

I think it's a good idea to sit down & try to do a bit of a pensions forecast, OBL. I am intending to do something similar soon. I am hoping we will have some money left in the home improvements fund when we have finished all the work. I had intended to add this to the ISA, but I think it is worth looking at whether it would be more beneficial to buy back some state pension years, as I will have quite a chunk missing, with having taken VR. I have a local authority pension too, but again, due to the VR, not the full amount. I intend to get the rest of the work out of the way then do some investigations. The works pension is probably 'career average' now, rather than 'final salary', but I don't think that will make too much difference to me, as I was on my management level grade for a long time.
Hope your barium test goes ok. The most important thing is that you managed to get an appointment swiftly & it is always better to know what's going on, even if it does make us worry. I'm glad your mortgage will be gone by retirement age. It must be quite scary knowing that it will need paying into pension years, but this will be the case for a lot of people, I think.
F x

enthusiasticsaver

As an early retiree myself I would echo the advice that with pensions the earlier you focus on them the better so Nicnak you will thank yourself later by at least working out what you will get but ideally increasing contributions and this is something I drum into my daughters and son in laws heads. OBL you have presumably an NHS pension which is a good one and even though you work part time the benefits are good. Remember you possibly won't have to pay NI or presumably tax or pensions or commuting costs. House and pet sitting is a good option when retired. Any short breaks can be done on a budget if needed and if you have to wait until state pension age you will get your bus pass. A lot of people manage with just state pension so having an NHS one too will give you some extra. 

Good luck with the barium test. 

Willowtree222

Thanks everyone for the encouragement for mine. I know it is something I do need to look at but people look at me in a strange way when I say I am sorting my retirement. I also have a will and life insurance. x

Sun_Addict

My son’s friend started his pension at 16. I wish I’d been that sensible. Never too early. 

badmemory

As SA says it is never too early, but it is also never too late (unless you are 75 when I think it possibly is!).

milann

Just a thought but if you become unfit for work with your fibro would you be better off considering going on the sick and through occupational health for early retirement through ill health?