Plotting for an early retirement - anyone want to join me?

Mrs_Z

Thank you all for joining and contributing!
The plan is to keep our UK home, as after all, we only bought it 5 years ago and it was, and still is, very much our dream home. I'm not entertaining the thought of renting it out at present - i'm far too emotionally attached to it, but of course it is an option.
There is OH in the picture as well. OH is self employed, works mainly from home. Client base is in UK and in many ways OH is more excited about me working abroad than I am!
It should be possible for me to work from home 2 days per week, but we'll see. We could, in theory, at least take turns of me flying home and OH coming to visit but unfortunately we have an elderly pet in the household which is on medication so requires a bit more than basic pet sitting but that's not a show stopper as such.
The sensible me sees the positive side of the situation - chance to experience a new culture, opportunity etc. In my mind, I've decided to give it a year - in essence really to buy time more than anything. I doubt that I'll be able to contribute much, if anything, to the 'early retirement' savings pot but at least I'm deferring the consumption of it by 1 year. After 1 year it really is a decision time as it will not make economic sense to keep 2 bases. I suppose there is also the (very remote) possibility that I might actually love it in the new country and after a year, decide to relocate there permanently (unlikely). But who knows, especially what effect Brexit will have on things. Gosh, my head is spinning.
In the next 2 months or so, I'll need to find a rental place in the new country. In fact we are planning for a flat share (at my age!!!) with a colleague who's in the same boat. Watch this space!

barnstar2077

Mrs Z, which country will you be moving to?

I also have a plan to retire early, but at just shy of 42 I have a long way to go. I am hoping that Trump and Brexit are going to allow me to fill up my SIPP on the cheap for a while, fingers crossed!

DairyQueen

Happier_Me wrote: »

Brexit is making me feel very nervous at the moment, particularly how this will be impact retirement savings and future job security.

It won't.

Why (1)? Because any half decent DC/DIY pension will be globally invested and diversified across all major asset classes. The UK's contribution to global markets is only 7%. This may look like a huge event from the current, domestic perspective but, in the overall scheme, it's a teeny blip on the investment horizon. It's even a blip on the UK investment horizon.

Why (2)? The sky will not fall down with respect to employment in the UK short of a cataclysmic event (and I'm talking WW III not Brexit). 'Job security' hasn't existed in its 20th century format for decades. Jobs for life no longer exist (except for, possibly, in a few public sector organisations and particular professions like medicine).

Calm your nerves. In 5 years you will be wondering what all the fuss was about. I am a generation ahead of you and have lived through far too may media-hyped (supposed) impending cataclysms (which never actually occurred) to adopt a very sanguine attitude to Brexit.

Mnd

Hi, this is already interesting and I will keep reading.
Our situation is a bit different in as much as I stopped working 18 months ago at 63, my wife is 58 and due to contracting out needs 3 more years to get to full SPA entitlement (after this financial year ).

The plan therefore is to get to a point where if she wants to, she can stop working in September 2021.
We have no mortgage, I receive my works pension of £7200 and exactly 1 years time I become a OAP. with a quoted pension of £185 per week.

So over the next 32 months we need to build our bridge to allow all this to happen.

Our target total savings (Inc pensions etc) is £125k..

Any thoughts? Thanks for reading

bluenose1

Following with interest.
I am 52 and plan to retire at 55/56/57 depending on whether I still enjoy my job and more importantly still have one.
Not at all confident about a post Brexit UK economy and the impact of the UK going alone. Know too many people in large organisations where relocation of their work to the EU is on the cards.
Oh well, it is what it is and I intend to save as much as possible into my pension.

bompey

Well I’ll be following this for sure. I became aware of this site 2 years ago when I got fed up with work and started reading Marine Life’s thread. I was 48 then and now things are clearer my goal is to work until 55 then stop. Our son is currently in the 6th form and this means they will have finished uni which seems a good time. Our finances are strong and I may stop sooner but 55 is my plan for now.
It will be interesting to see how we all do.

Triumph13

Retiring at 52 with a DB pension starting at 63? Exactly what I did a couple of months ago! Loving it so far, I will watch your progress with interest. I love the fact that you seem to be treating the relocation as an adventure.

SuiDreams

I'm 43, would like to retire at 55 and start reducing working hrs from age of 50. Have a DC pension at work and the pay up to 10% matching contributions, I have also started to increase AVC's. My 10% contributions are paid via salary sacrifice, but the company does not allow you to do this with AVC's. Started a S&S's ISA a couple of years ago, but balance is still quite low, going forward I will no longer be increasing Cash Savings, but putting any additional cash into the ISA instead. I have a few things ongoing at the moment which unfortunately may mean my retirement plans get delayed.

ex-pat_scot

Also following with interest. I'm within touching distance of 50, and have a very complicated spreadsheet that lets me retire at age 56.5255. (I suspect it will undoubtedly be wrong!)


It's great to see the stories of others in similar situations, and those a little ahead on the journey.

JoeCrystal

ex-pat_scot wrote: »

Also following with interest. I'm within touching distance of 50, and have a very complicated spreadsheet that lets me retire at age 56.5255. (I suspect it will undoubtedly be wrong!)


It's great to see the stories of others in similar situations, and those a little ahead on the journey.

Very impressive, so so you are planning to retire at 56 years 191 days 19 hours 22 minutes 47 seconds.