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

Amateurretiree

Just wanted to give my perspective as early retiree and how life has been.

I was a Nursing Sister and initially retired and returned for 3 days a week, but as my job had become managerial, I felt as if I still had to manage the same budget, staffing, HR, strategic and operational day to day plans etc in 3 days instead of 5 ( No one was employed to fill the other two days!) So I decided to just retire altogether.

It was a big step to take after 30 + years in the NHS, we had a dog who had up until then gone to ‘ work’ with my son every day( ie sleep under his desk!) and hubby was still working full time at age of 59, so my plan was to be a housewife for the first time in my life and snuggle up with the dog! We had always enjoyed a couple of long haul holidays a year and intended to continue with that.

My pension consisted of 14k DB pa and 80000 TFLS.
My pension was only 1/3 of my salary but we had looked at the figures and being mortgage free knew we could manage.

Fast forward 3 months, and as many on here have said, you can’t predict the future.Our poor doggy became ill and after a big surgery and a round of chemo we had to make the sad choice of letting him go.

But then son and his partner discovered they were expecting a baby( both mid 30 s and first child for both of them and both sets of grandparents!)

So hubby reaches 60 just as daughter in law is going back to work and childminders are required. He has fallen completely in love with our granddaughter and decides he doesn’t just want to see her on a weekend because he is at work all week, so he decides to pull the plug too! He had a DC pot of 400000, so he took 100000 tax free, we paid sons car off, had a couple of more than usually expensive holidays, got some work done to house etc etc.
Now things have settled down to ‘normal’. We are doing the 4 % withdrawal thing, but can easily cut back if we need to as expenses are less than half of my pension. We have Canada and Florida planned for this year.

We babysit 2/3 days a week and enjoy going to soft play/ playgroup/ singalongs at the library.
I went on a huge minimalist purge when I retired but I love just being generally tidy and organised anyway .
On our other days we love going for walks and have some nice country walks and pubs nearby where we enjoy a nice meal a couple of times a month.

Hubby has a big workshop he spends lots of time in, he enjoys making things. He made a load of lovely wooden crates for various family members at Christmas which they filled with toiletries etc for Christmas hamper gifts.
He also converted one of the bedrooms into a man cave with a big TV and a craft table for various hobbies.

I enjoy meeting friends for coffee/ swimming a couple of times a week.
We have stopped spending money on unnecessary things( it’s amazing how little money you really need!) but we don’t feel like we skimp on anything and we still spoil the baby and her parents!

It has been a bit strained at times when we were both used to spending 40 hrs+ a week apart at work, but we have got used to giving each time and space.

We have both lost colleagues and friends who did not get a chance to enjoy retirement, so we have no regrets.
We haven’t got huge pensions, but will get our SP’s ( me in 9 yrs, DH in 4.5) and are happy to just go along as we are until then.

I feel the most important thing is we can be flexible with our drawdown as we have a good few years in savings, though I do sometimes worry about a market correction, I know we have the basics covered.

That’s just our story, if anyone is interested!

savingholmes

Sounds all really positive. We could at a push go at 55 - if we were willing to use all of DH's existing DC pension - plus the new money we plan to add to it. It's definitely worth looking at all your numbers.

crv1963

Amateurretiree wrote: »

Just wanted to give my perspective as early retiree and how life has been.

That’s just our story, if anyone is interested!

Great to read someones positive experience.

We spent time yesterday going through our figures- I'd underestimated our costs and overestimated what our savings will support. Mrs CRV gave me a good reality check!

So we've decided that I will retire and take my NHS pension 42/80ths current salary, go for the larger lump sum to clear the mortgage and then work on agency for 3 years.

For the 3 years NHS pension will cover the basics, Agency income will cover starting a DC pension for me, increase Mrs CRV pension contributions to be equal to her net pay and costs of working with a little bit of pocket money for me, Mrs CRV salary will cover replacing big ticket items like carpets/ furniture and her pocket money.

When we finally retire after 3 years we'll each take our 25% TFLS- to create a fallback sum covering several years joint income from DC pots in case of a market downturn and draw the DC pots at a rate from each pot equal to what our SP will be.

Taking the NHS pension and returning as agency effectively will give us 3 incomes and time limiting it to 3 years gives us an end date and hopefully a decent lifestyle.

Mrs_Z

Great to read your Early Retirement stories!
On a personal front, I submitted an application for a 1 year (unpaid) leave for personal reasons and this has been granted - yay! So this means, that I will exit the current work at some point between the end of May or June, depending how much leave I manage to save/take. This means just 5 more pay cheques to come...
It has been interesting as I have spent some extended time working from home combined with leave over the Xmas period and like many have mentioned, the greatest challenge might not be the financial one but adjusting from a lifetime of a saver mindset to a spender (eek!) as well has spending more time with the OH. At times it has almost felt that I've had to 'reclaim' my space in the house - if that makes sense.
In the meantime, we have sold our BTL property so finances are now in a better shape. I'm not sure if selling of the property was the wisest move, but as it had been mostly my project and OH was not interested in taking on the management of it - I decided to sell. With the stress of travelling and keeping up with the day to day job, it was just too much to manage. It may have not been the best move (on the long term and financially) but it has helped to simplify my life at this point in time at least and my shoulders feel lighter for it.

crv1963

Mrs Z glad you have your year off. The BTL sold if it feels like a weight lifted is clearly the right decision. No point in being miserable or stressed if you can do something about it.

missile

Great to hear you guys are making progress. Might I suggest quality of life is far more important than finances.

Mrs_Z

Hello to everyone,
thought I post a little update.  
It's interesting how times have changed since my last post, only in January!  Given the Corona virus situation, we were all asked to work from home pretty much since mid-March, which has been great from the commuting point of view.  The plan was, and still is, to leave at the end of June, but with the saved up holidays I will actually be gone at the end of May... that's less than 20 working days left for me. 
From the finance point of view, some of the money is in S&S ISAs which currently are showing a scary  -20% from their peak in Feb. However, I have taken up the plunge to top up the funds with this year's ISA allowance, might not be able to afford it next year???
Also, I'm very glad now that we sold the BTL property in January - I can imagine many landlords having to have difficult conversations with their tenants right now.
Also, the meaning of an 'emergency fund' has now become very clear.  Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine this type of (virus) situation, that one might not be able to go to work. 
How's every else doing?  Has the Cornona virus affected your (early) retirement plans one way or another?  

cfw1994

Mrs_Z said:

Hello to everyone,
thought I post a little update.  
It's interesting how times have changed since my last post, only in January! 
         NO KIDDING!! 
How's every else doing?  Has the Cornona virus affected your (early) retirement plans one way or another?  

Well, given (for me!) how 'easy' work is right now (zoom heaven!), my thoughts of leaving this summer are probably extending somewhat....funds etc are holding up well really.....main Aviva funds now within 3% of the mid-Feb high, so numbers-wise we are pretty good....but wife is currently away, 'shielding' her elderly mum, so strange times indeed.
I have mentally committed myself for a bit longer by signing up for a "Ride-to-Work" bike - update an ancient mountain bike I have, ought to stay at least 6 months to get some tax benefits!!
More right now about keeping our young adults happy and moving forward with their things (remotely - one finishing a degree, one applying for Masters - not sure how well Masters courses will run for 2020-21....)
Good to hear people are well - health is the main thing, I'd say!

savingholmes

Glad you've still been able to go ahead. I am trying to get an updated transfer value - to see if it is worth taking a risk and putting my DB pension into a SIPP

bluenose1

I was planning to retire in 14 months at exactly 55 but have recently applied for a `VR scheme in work. If accepted likely to go by end of  August.  Although I should really work a couple more years to top the savings up more I have had enough of the stress of working. I feel like a different person when I am off work. Will live off DC pot until 60 until DB Pensions start. My income will be approx £12k per annum and my husbands £20k until 67. We also have additional income of £10k per annum from BTL. 

Bit worried am I making the right decision but I don’t often read about people who regret retiring early.