25 year old.. How can I retire ASAP?

BananaRepublic

dunstonh wrote: »

I made a career change in my early 20s after thinking I was in a job-for-life. To get to that stage, I went to college three nights a week after work for several years. It was hard work but it put me in a position that I could never have dreamed of in my 20s.

That made my days effectively 9-5 work, 6-9 college. So, 12 hour days.

If you want something, you have to work for it. You are in your 20s. If you cant handle 8 hours now then you have no hope in your 40s or 50s. However, now is the time to do something about it. Decide what you want and how you need to get it.

This is an excellent post, and the last paragraph sums it all up. The OP has an existential crisis. It sounds like he wants to live a life of luxury with minimal effort. Life does not work like that, unless mummy and daddy are rich, and free with their money. The OP needs to find something that drives them, that motivates them to get involved.

I wasted my twenties doing a PhD and research, but since then I did well and I am financially comfortable and could just about retire tomorrow if I wished. However, I enjoy a lot of what I do, it is fulfilling, and pays okay, though nothing like what I was earning some years ago. Work is a large part of our identity as a person, and provides interactions with other people, as well as a sense of reward.

Apodemus

ValiantSon wrote: »

Oh dear. Read all of my posts and see some of the problems explained.

Here's another one for you, though. There aren't enough Maths teachers. There is already a serious shortage of Maths teachers. If you increase the curriculum time required from them then you will make the staffing and recruitment crisis even worse.

I have no objection to the principle of financial education, but the idea that it can just be a bolt-on to the existing system is seriously misguided.

If you want to find barriers, of course you will. If you want to enable, you will find ways of doing it.

I’ve worked with rural primary schools in Africa, where the teachers are much less well qualified than those in the UK, the resources available significantly less and the classes several times larger, but where they were able to build how to open an operate a bank account into the subject lessons. Interest rates and repayments are simple arithmetic and it is just a matter of choosing suitable examples to build in as cross-cutting themes.

Pedagogy should never be a barrier to practical learning.

ebam_uk

Simms92 wrote: »

Apologies if this is in the wrong section, I'm just looking for the best advice for me moving forward. I'm 25, not too far from 26 and I really don't like working. I don't want to be working 8 hours a day for the rest of my life, I want to have the option to stop working and do something that's more fulfilling for me.

I do own my home, which also makes up part of my income (renting rooms). Its worth ~200k with ~130k mortgage left.

My monthly income is made up of £2350 wage and £1100 room rent income (after taxes). So £3450 total. Including all bills/mortgage (£630) and living costs, I spend around £1250 a month, leaving me with £2000 a month (slightly less if I include holidays + treats). I have been overpaying my mortgage for the last year, currently paying off the mortgage at a rate of 24k a year including overpayments. No other debts and I don't own a credit card.

Now my original plan was to keep smashing the overpayments on the house (paid off in around 5 years), but I'm now wondering if this is the right thing to do. Is there a better way I could use the spare money I have each month? Another property?

My girlfriend has a 250k property with 100k mortgage remaining. Eventually I will move in with her, but unsure what to do with my house when I do.

My goal would be to get into a position where I have £2k+ income a month with no debts and without working. As soon as possible. Any ideas?

Make more investments, keep costs low, pursue fun hobbies that could generate wealth, get married, have kids and maybe buy more properties. Take higher risk investments ( if you haven't already like cryptocurrencies...)...

ValiantSon

Apodemus wrote: »

If you want to find barriers, of course you will. If you want to enable, you will find ways of doing it.

I!!!8217;ve worked with rural primary schools in Africa, where the teachers are much less well qualified than those in the UK, the resources available significantly less and the classes several times larger, but where they were able to build how to open an operate a bank account into the subject lessons. Interest rates and repayments are simple arithmetic and it is just a matter of choosing suitable examples to build in as cross-cutting themes.

Pedagogy should never be a barrier to practical learning.

Wonderfully idealistic. Sadly, I'm talking about the practicalities of actually doing this in the UK at the current time. Just wanting to do it won't make it work. Significant changes would be needed. It is far too simplistic to say that schools should just teach this. The current situation makes it impossible. I did actually say that I had no objection to the principle, but how it is done is a much thornier problem and would require fundamental changes in the curriculum. Your comment suggests that having the will is all that matters. Such a view is simplistic and bound to fail.

Of course, we could just bolt it on like numerous other failed education initiatives that have been introduced by governments, but I was actually talking about doing it properly.

As for, "Pedagogy should never be a barrier to practical learning, " I'm left rather puzzled. You seem to believe that pedagogy is some sort of conspiracy, rather than the method and practice of teaching. Practical learning (a rather vague and tautological phrase, as all learning is active) is one part of pedagogy.

Apodemus

We will need to agree to differ on that. Just like in any walk of life, there are cynical teachers who say that everything gets in the way of their teaching and plenty of others who just get on with it and achieve wonderful things.

mollycat

kidmugsy wrote: »

Eight whole hours? Ooh, the agony.

Sums my thoughts up on the matter perfectly.

Early retirement (at say 55) with enough resources to have a safe and enjoyable life thereafter takes a combination of hard work and sensible levels of spend; front loading ones contribution to the labour market and sacrificing/deferring some pleasures for a decade or 2.

To think there is a way of by-passing this at age 25 because it's feels a bit too much hassle, is fanciful. Calling this "retirement" is ridiculous, the fact is most people have had to stay in employment in excess of 40 years to get to pensionable age.

We all wished we didnt have to go to work some/most/every day (delete as appropriate), but as a young adult you have to grasp the need to do this sooner rather than later; for no one elses benefit than your own.

Hope the penny drops soon, good luck.

Fatbritabroad

bostonerimus wrote: »

Do a detailed budget and cut your spending to a minimum
Max out pensions and ISA
Don't have any children.

Add to that dont get divorced that set me back a bit even though it was amicable just my spouse halving joint assets 'cost' me 100k

Fatbritabroad

capital0ne wrote: »

It's not surprising without the word Pension.

Two reasons - youngsters don't trust pensions when the hear about Carillion bosses spending it all, BHS non-existent pension fund and so on.

Second reason most people do not understand pensions because no one can explain them in plain English, those who do are seen as being salesmen only out to line their own pockets, again a trust issue.

People get very nervous when someone from the Government says 'We're here to help you!' In fact people get nervous when anyone with a finance background/qualification utters the same words.
Whose fault is that?

School for not including it in the curriculum, the government for allowing this to happen, fraudsters cold calling and ripping you off.

Education is the answer but how to do it I don't know.

I am thinking if setting g up a financial coaching business on the side as I know alot of people who earn decent money who aren't making the most of it. Helping friends probono next month who has two good incomes 50k plus but no idea on pensions how to invest etc. No advice on what to invest in just general things they should think about. I know escape artist does this there must be a market I reckon

dunstonh

Fatbritabroad wrote: »

I am thinking if setting g up a financial coaching business on the side as I know alot of people who earn decent money who aren't making the most of it. Helping friends probono next month who has two good incomes 50k plus but no idea on pensions how to invest etc. No advice on what to invest in just general things they should think about. I know escape artist does this there must be a market I reckon

Advice by way of a business would require qualifications and FCA authorisation. You would also need liability insurance and have audit trails. Suddenly, you have tens of thousands of pounds costs a year and a lifetime of liability. Plus, your service would be subject to VAT.

Since 2013, the advice requirement moved from sale of a product to advice being the actual product.

You can call it guidance or coaching to avoid regulatory issues but that means you couldnt say how to invest, what type of pension to use, what tax wrappers to use or which providers to use. Totally generic with no hint of steering.

So, you could explain what a stakeholder pension is but you couldn't answer the question as to whether a stakeholder or personal pension is best for someone. Or you could explain what life funds, pension funds, UTs/OEICs, SICAVs, ITs, ETFs etc are but you couldn't tell someone which they should invest in.

This is why you see so few guidance services. The largest is pensionwise and many consumers end up being disappointed with it as they think they are going to get advice. And when they ask advice questions, they get told to see an IFA.

ValiantSon

Apodemus wrote: »

We will need to agree to differ on that. Just like in any walk of life, there are cynical teachers who say that everything gets in the way of their teaching and plenty of others who just get on with it and achieve wonderful things.

You're missing the point (and your comment about cynical teachers is ill-informed and offensive). I'm talking about the structural issues that are posed. Your idealism won't get things done. When you work in leadership and management you have to actually address such issues and having the will to do something simply isn't enough: it just won't cut it. The first thing you have to do if trying to implement a new strategy is to identify what the barriers, impediments and problems are. Then you can look at solutions to those problems. In this instance it would require significant structural changes, including some that need to be taken at a national level.

At no point did I say that it was a bad idea, so don't start getting holier than thou. If you actually have some practical suggestions then I'd be more than pleased to hear them. Otherwise your idealistic waffle remains just that.