The Piano Diary

glass_half_full

Dear diary and all,

Week off and have been catching up on a few things. Trying to enjoy ourselves and at the same time not spend too much. Went shopping with DS and he bought himself some clothes which was nice to see. He has some disposable income now he is not having to fund a household. Assembled a bathroom cabinet which took 2 hours. It made me smile how these companies get us to assemble the furniture for them. We have gone today to an out of town designer outlet today. Was an ok day out although didn’t find a lot to buy. Coffees and eating out has become super expensive.

We have both been paid and have been able to make a payment to the credit card.

Have rebalanced the pension funds to 20% liquidity, 80% equities as I want to give myself potential of growth. The 20% would cover around 2 years of expenses once retired. Despite the dramatic falls, still almost at my target of £400k.

Current balances:

HSBC card - £1500     £0

Sains card - £11,500 (£9,600) (Interest 0%)  nice to go under £10k - Target to clear - August

Loan - £18,000 (£15,345) (Interest 7.4%) - Target to clear - December

EF - £1,000

Pension fund –  total £399K

Liquidity Fund - £78K  

UK Fund - £159K

US Fund - £162K

savingholmes

Glad that you are finding the right balance for you. I hate the stock market volatility - but I suppose if we want the climbs we have to allow for the falls and hiccoughs along the way too... 

glass_half_full

Dear diary and all,

Beautiful weather and am able to work from home out on the patio which is nice. Been pondering the retirement decision and timeline. I remember years ago when I started work in the eighties retirement was a fixed date for most people, unless they had to retire early due to ill health. Thus people didn’t have to really make the decision about when to retire, it was a fixed date. The new pension freedoms are great in that they give us all more choices, but at the same time that choice itself can create dilemmas. At one point I thought I might go at 59 but here I am six months away from my 59th birthday in November 2025 and I find I am not quite ready to go. I think I have been toying with the idea but not really committing to it in reality. I have said to friends recently that I won’t work beyond 60 and I think that is the case. Financially I could probably go at 59 but 60 would be a bit more comfortable according to my modelling.

A part of this decision is that I am enjoying my job. I am lucky to have two managers, both women, who are really supportive and are happy to promote others and share the kudos of achievements very generously. This means that work is less of a chore and I can imagine myself sticking at it for another 18 months. Financially I think I have got things sorted near enough. I can use the next 12-18 months to clear away the debt I accumulated recently with the home improvements. I will then build up a few months cash prior to retirement. The DC fund has hit the target I set myself some time ago. I’m going to stop tinkering with it and leave it alone now until I need to drawdown at 60.

I have signed up for two pre-retirement courses to prepare. One is tomorrow and another is later in the month. I’m going to use these to draw up a more specific plan to follow.