The Piano Diary

glass_half_full

Thanks @savingholmes! Sorry to read on your diary that you have been unwell. I hope you get well soon, please look after yourself. 

Both OH and I are running on our respective hamster wheels, which seem to be going faster! Need to get to Easter for a breather. It’s been a busy at work. There is a lot going on. The VR scheme is causing some discussion. Apparently, if you want to go for it you have to speak to your line manager. There is a space in the form where you write down how your work will be covered when you are gone. Seems a bit of a Catch 22 given that most people are overworked and overloaded! I don’t think I am going to go for it. I have just taken on this new role. Besides, I want to go on my terms and when I am ready. I am transferring my SIPP to my employer DC fund so it will all be in one place. There is a good modeller so once it is all together I will be able to see the options more clearly. Backstop is 60, so as I am 57 ½ it is 2 ½ years or less, that’s for sure.

The main challenge is work intensification. No chance of a gentle glide into retirement. I remember years ago when I started work, older workers in large companies doing ‘light duties’ in the last couple of years. I remember some interesting and creative ‘promotions’ for people on final salary schemes. Anyway, it is what it is now , so you need to be resourceful.

The patio guy is coming tomorrow so we can talk about all the choices. Hoping to pay for everything in this calendar year. 

savingholmes

I totally hear you on work intensification.

When are you getting the patio done?

Thanks for the well wishes.

glass_half_full

Dear diary and all,

The work in the garden is underway. They have dug out the surface soil which is very waterlogged. Some interesting feedback from the landscaping guys. They are not impressed with the drainage that was put into the garden when the house was built. When they removed the previous patio they found pipes that had been laid which don’t go anywhere and are blocked. This is a good opportunity to sort out the drainage, and this is becoming more important with the increased rainfall. The cost is going to be higher than initially planned, so now £20k instead of the original £15k. This is to do with an increased scope to include the pathways down the side of the house and finishing off the fencing.  Anyway, I have had to… take out a loan to pay for this. First time we have gone into debt for anything since paying off the mortgage. However, it’s a big job and it needs doing. We could have waited until we had saved the money, but I am ok with the decision since we will get to enjoy the garden over the summer. We are doing jobs now that are probably long overdue. This will be it for big spends in 2024 and OH and I have started the 2025 list already. My aim is to have this paid off by the end of the year.

Meanwhile on the pension front, total fund has reached £351K. The transfer still hasn’t gone through since although one side has all the paperwork filled in and signed each side wants their own paperwork fully completed before the transfer can go ahead. I am a bit disappointed that the stock market chose this moment to surge whilst half my fund had been converted to cash for the transfer. But I shouldn’t complain since half of it has still benefitted from the rise. So £49K to go before we reach what I think is the magic number.

savingholmes

Getting the work done sounds a good call despite the loan. You are in a fantastic position overall. Best of luck with the transfer and the pension.

glass_half_full

Dear diary and all,

The patio and garden work was supposed to finish today, but will probably run over to Tuesday after the weekend. In the end I extended the work to the front of the house. So we are having a new front path and the front garden has been landscaped. So the total bill all in is £25K. A lot of money, but it has transformed the house and it is worth it. The back garden in particular is now a really nice space and as it is south facing, I think will be great for us as Spring and Summer unfolds.

We are now finding out who has been accepted for voluntary severance at work, and some surprises including some very capable and respected people are going. I am still committed to my new role and so I’m glad I didn’t go down that road, at least for now. Work environment continues to be challenging, but I am lucky to have a supportive manager which really helps.

The pension transfer has finally got underway. I started it at the end of January so it has taken 3 months. I think this is around what they say it should take. It’s the second time I have done it and on both occasions its felt like one scheme is really organised and the other scheme isn’t! So I have gone from 3 legacy DC pensions, down to 2 and now it will all be in one place. So right now £200k had disappeared from one scheme and has not yet arrived in the receiving scheme, but it should get there in the next 5 working days apparently. It all being in one place will make it easier to do scenario planning since there are some good calculators / modellers in this scheme.

So now just need to focus on paying off the cost of the work we have just had done, aiming for the end of this calendar year for that.

Looking forward to the Bank Holiday weekend for some downtime.

savingholmes

Enjoy your weekend. 

Well done on the life admin. Never easy.

glass_half_full

Dear diary and all,

The dust has settled on the garden and patio work. We have ordered some garden furniture which should arrive in the next week or so. Finishing off various bits and pieces including some tidying up from all the work. We are really pleased with the final result, should allow us to sit out at the weekends and evenings, weather permitting. The total cost of this plus the work earlier in the year to fix the roof has totalled £30k. So I have a loan to pay this off over 30 months. It goes against the grain a bit to have done this, but on the other hand it means we can enjoy the house and garden more. The scale of this work was perhaps never going to be cashflowed, even though I had hoped it might be possible. In the spirit of full disclosure, some other expenses have also gone onto credit cards in the short term. So the goal is to clear this credit card debt as soon as feasible. Its interesting how once you relax the purse strings a bit, spending seems to gather momentum! Anyway, time to rein it back in now and get back to more frugal ways. I need to clear the credit cards and build back up the emergency fund.

On the pension front, the transfer is now complete, and the total fund is £356K. I’m pleased that to reach this figure since I notice that back in September last year I was celebrating passing the £300K mark. Still targeting to reach £400k as the point where I can early retire. The modelling I am doing seems to show that we are close to being able to finish in the next year or so.

At the moment, work is ok, so no real pressure to finish. Current thinking is to see how we both feel. My signature says April 2025 which is less than a year away.

I have an extra day off today, so going to be sorting out the garage and doing a few DIY jobs.

savingholmes

Glad things are going well. Doing the work now gives you longer to enjoy it... 

AgathaSquirrel

Lovely to see you getting closer to your retirement goal. Glad you are enjoying your job at present. 

glass_half_full

Dear diary and all,

We have finished the tidying up work in the garden and have ordered some garden furniture. All we need now is some decent weather and we should be able to enjoy it! It does make a difference being able to sit out there and relax. I didn’t realise the benefit to be able to sit outside in the evening. Now we need to refocus back on the moneysaving ways to pay off what we have put on the credit card.

For once the pension fund seems to be growing. It has now reached £369K. I noticed looking back that it was £324K in December and so an increase of £45K or around 14% in 6 months. Only £9K of that is contributions so the remainder is capital growth. At this rate we may reach our target of £400k sooner than I thought. Perhaps even in the next 6-12 months. I am maintaining contributions at 20%.