Can I stop working yet?

Anonymous101

MEM62 wrote: »

OP, I am 56 and would stop working if I had half your assets.

I am 36 and would stop working if I had those assets!

I don't consider myself particularly frugal either. I think the OP has plenty to retire on whenever they want.

I'm with Ermine. Unless you enjoy your work above all else then you shouldn't be doing it, especially full time.
Have a play with this https://engaging-data.com/will-money-last-retire-early/
The biggest thing for me is the probability of death! I'm not wanting to be morbid at all, just useful to put things into perspective.

Time is the most valuable thing we have. Don't waste it.

ams25

ermine wrote: »

You're 57, dude. You're running out of something else, and it ain't money. Every year you spend at work is 365 days less off the rest of your life, and that year comes off the healthier end of that remaining life.


There's more to life than work, and it looks like you have the opportunity to examine that. Life is not a dress rehearsal. Don't just load the gun, pull the trigger.

+1

I'm younger, have 2 kids and stopped working 2 years ago. You have sufficient assets so unless you love your work and have nothing to retire to, don't let the financials stop you from the next stage of your life. I have no regrets that I didn't work another year and I'm grateful to enjoy the time while healthy. Good luck.

ams25

You need c.25k pa once your sp and db kick in to get to 40k pa
Allow approx 160k to bridge sp and db Pensions gaps for 10 and 8 yrs respectively
That leaves 1m - 160 = 840K
840K at 3% withdrawal rate =25k. (3% is the rate I am using for planning basis, safer assumption than 4% more commonly touted).

job done.
And as your wife is working and has saving/ pensions etc..... You are well set

atush

We need to know about your wife's pensions. Is she paying into one? How large is her pot?

It could be you might think about boosting hers if she won't be using her PA at retirement.

crv1963

Hi Randompenitent,


I'm with atush on this, unless you have completely separate finances to your wife (some do, I know simply pay a set amount into a joint budget and the rest is "theirs") need to look at her pension provision and her tax situation in retirement, for instance will her pension be under the PA? Will she be LRT and you HRT? Getting some of the income spread across to pay the least tax in retirement between you both could be a consideration?


I understand the desire to pay for major works from income not capital, but as others have said it is time vs money. You don't know the end date or see into the future enjoy time as it is never returned!


I'd advise a couple of things covered on other threads- what is your income need in retirement? What do you plan to do? What does your wife plan to do? What do you plan to do together? Going from paid employment to pensioner is a big step, have a plan that covers income needs, activities (own and joint), holidays, cars, budgets for big purchases, cash reserve against market drops, and live and enjoy yourself, no pockets in a shroud!


Best wishes!

randompenitent

Thanks all. The site mentioned by Anonymous101 is certainly an eye-opener. The grey segment at the bottom of the graph concentrates the mind wonderfully.

And atush and crv1963 are both correct that my wife's finances play a part in the complete picture. Her assets (a mix of ISAs, assorted pensions and other savings) are significant (approaching £400K, I think). Ignoring this is simply helpful from a "worst case" projection point of view but clearly a serious plan needs to factor them in at some point.

Thanks again for all the food for thought. I'm now looking at our spending carefully to see what we really do need to live on. I'm lucky enough to have enjoyable and well-paid employment which would probably be hard to re-start if I stopped and changed my mind. At the same time, there are indeed a whole mass of things I want to do "when I have the time" and doing them sooner rather than later seems like a very good idea.

Anonymous101

Get planning that retirement!

atush

My comment means for instance if most of her money/income is DB pensions at 65 and state pensions at 67, and she wont use her PA in full from her sipp, then boosting her sipp could be an idea in the run up to retirement.

AS you didnt give the details, it really is hard to make suggestions.

On the face of it I say you are good to go really.

parcival

I retired at 50 (home paid for and no children) with a good deal less than you have. We withdrew £30k a year at the start about 10 years ago but that has increased to about £45k now.

We are happy burning through our savings now as we will be able to maintain that level of spending when we start drawing pensions at 65.

What money cannot buy is time.

Moneycat

With those figures, I would not hesitate. Yes you can. You mention that your work is enjoyable - could you go part-time to start with? Sometimes the jump from full time employment into full time retirement is too daunting. Best of luck whatever you decide but don't let the need for financial security hold you back - you have enough.