What if I retired today / financial independence 'game'

bostonerimus

My plan has been greatly simplified by having a DB pension and rental income.

I retired at age 52 with a cash buffer of $50k in the bank and $15k annual rental income. My annual spending was $30k and at age 55 I would get a $20k DB pension. I paid dividends and interest from some regular investments into a cash account and was easily able to bridge the 3 years and had around $30k left in the bank account.

When the DB pension started, and I upped the rent on the apartment, my annual income became $40k so I had a small surplus without having to touch any investments or DC pensions. I also started consulting part time for a small company and those wages get saved into a self-employed pension and some after tax funds. I'm now 57 and I expect to take the UK SP at age 68 and also the US equivalent of SP around that time too......I estimate they will give me another $40k annual income. So I have no plans to spend any of my DC or other investments and I've left it relatively aggressively invested in an effort to maximize what I can pass on to my heirs.

Buying a rental property 20 years before retirement so that it's now mortgage free has given me a lot of income flexibility and even with the 2008 property down turn it's been a good place to store some capital. So my advice is to have diverse retirement income sources if you can.

bluenose1

Like this thread.
My husband retired at 49 on a pension of just under £20k. We also have rental income from 3 properties of £10k.
I am 52 and trying to decide at what age I will have saved enough in my DC scheme to go.
By 55 I estimate it will be £70k, I will have a DB pension of approx £2,500 at 55 which will increase to £10k at 60. Though at 55 we will still have a mortgage of £50k, I will get approx £30k in lump sums which could reduce it to £20k.
SRP when we are 67 means we should be financially well off, but that is a long time off.
I suppose if I am still in a job at 55 working an extra year or two would make our lives more comfortable, though I would love to finish work ASAP.
Really difficult to predict how things will work out.