Can I retire at 45

zagfles

tacpot12 wrote: »

Correct, but what it the stock market return is negative for the next couple of years. Your £300K could become £180K in a couple of years time - are you sure the stock market isn't going to react very badly if Brexit turns out to cause serious economic harm to the UK?

If it does, it's likely the pound would plummet, increasing the £ value of any overseas investments.

The bigger risk is what's happening elsewhere in the world, IMO...

Dox

These 'can I retire at [wildly optimistic age]' posts are really sad. Why not get a job you love doing and, as the saying goes, you'll never work a day in your life?

zagfles

John_Jones wrote: »

What sort of life are people looking for with these tight retirement budgets? When I retire I want to drive an open topped sports car through the alps, I want to visit exotic places, and swim in warm seas, eat fine foods, learn to fly, and shoot off to Rome on a whim to stay in a nice hotel.

It just seems like such a strange aim to me, to want to get out as soon as possible even if it means forty years living carefully.

You don't need a big budget to do most of those. I'm starting learning to fly a microlight - average cost about £3000 to get a licence.

Exotic holidays? Exotic countries are generally far cheaper than the UK. You could spend 6 months in SE Asia and spend less money than you would have living in the UK, even with the flight cost.

Ryanair fly to Rome - went for a weekend last year. Wasn't more expensive than a weekend away in the UK.

Open top car in the Alps? You realise it's quite cold up there, right?

zagfles

Dox wrote: »

These 'can I retire at [wildly optimistic age]' posts are really sad. Why not get a job you love doing and, as the saying goes, you'll never work a day in your life?

And one that doesn't stop you doing other stuff you want to do.

Dox

zagfles wrote: »

And one that doesn't stop you doing other stuff you want to do.

Indeed - and funds it!

John_Jones

zagfles wrote: »

You don't need a big budget to do most of those. I'm starting learning to fly a microlight - average cost about £3000 to get a licence.
...
Ryanair fly to Rome - went for a weekend last year. Wasn't more expensive than a weekend away in the UK.
...
Open top car in the Alps? You realise it's quite cold up there, right?

I motorbike across the alps every couple of years, and it’s not too cold in the summer, but my point was I do not want to do everything on a budget. I want to stay in the good hotels when I travel, if I learn fly I would want to be able to use a decent plane so I could take the family away, and so on.

I do not understand people looking to get out at 40 and then not have the choice to do these sort of things.

Even your microlight budget would be off the table on some of the small budgets the early retirees are looking at.

We do not have a target yet in terms of annual income needed, as we do not want to stop work, but the Rough aim is to at least get close to six figures.

justme111

it's balance. I would not want 5 more unhappy stressful soul destroying years at work in order to be able to pop in to Rome in a sports car for 5yèars in retirement.

michaels

Op, will you be eligible for child tax credits once you are living of savings as these do not count as income, only actual investment income which is I think disregarded if in an isa (perhaps it doesn't work if you are in a universal credit area)?


Similarly there is the pay 2880 into a pension every year and have it grossed up to 3600 which you can then start to access at 55 (or possibly 58 depending on your age).


Also whilst still working could you change your mortgage to an offset thus giving you a potential line of credit to use for expenditure in years when the market is low to avoid the selling when low risk?


Finally if the OP is looking at 18k pa and has a partner who earns similar then the household income will not be too bad?

John_Jones

justme111 wrote: »

it's balance. I would not want 5 more unhappy stressful soul destroying years at work in order to be able to pop in to Rome in a sports car for 5yèars in retirement.

It sounds like you need a better job then, it does not have to be soul destroying.

ermine

John_Jones wrote: »

I work too many hours at the moment to do these things often, so if I do stop work, or step back a bit in my fifties, then I will want to enjoy myself.

You have to get to your fifties. Fine if you love your job, but people that don't or are stressed out tend to start going with heart attacks and the like in their fifties. I saw a couple of colleagues go in their 50s in the last 10 years of working

And for some people though not all quality of life is about how you spend your time, not just how you spend your money. Life is too short to work to 67 once you have got enough. It's a fascinating world out there but you gotta get out of the office to see why.

Each to their own though, but the one thing you're running out of each and every day is time - when it's gone it's gone.