Job Free Wannabe

NorthernMonkey1

I’ve previously posted here, as a MFW, and now the mortgage is gone I need a new target. I’m now re-posting as a Job Free Wanabee. There isn’t a sub-forum for this, and this seemed to be the closest.

I’m coming up to 40 in the next month, and with that, the realisation that I don’t want to spend forever at work. I need a cunning plan to stop it. Luckily I have a plan, but only time will tell if it’s a cunning one or not. This diary is to track its cunning-ness.

In the next 10 years, I’m going to try and save enough money to live on for 10 years, until I start drawing my pension at 60. Living for 20 years on 10 years money means the maths is simple. I need to save half of what I earn. I’m currently earning £2500 a month, so I need to save £1250 a month, or £15,000 a year for this to work. I’m going to track it by financial year, so this year started at the beginning of April, and were now 5ish weeks in.

NorthernMonkey1

So, as of today, I’ve managed to save £1250 for April (after Aprils Pay), but on other fronts things aren’t so great.
MrsNM and I went away on holiday for her birthday, which went on the Credit Card, and the Car insurance as well (Asda Cash back card) . So, there is a whopping £1700 CC bill which will come out the day after payday next month.
The car has just died as well, it’s possibly the cam chain (1.2 VW engine) which might cost £500 to fix, which will wipe out any current account balance before payday on the 25th. I’m going to have to see if I can save anything at all out of May’s pay

Magnus91

It might be worth considering that when you've finished work, you might generally be spending more money than when you were employed!

I've briefly been working part-time and my expenses went up with all that extra free time!

NorthernMonkey1

I'm hoping that the money will earn some interest in the next 10 years while its sat there, and that some costs will reduce once I'm not working. e.g we don't need 2 cars, and I don't need fuel for commuting. Between the two hopefully it will work out. If not, I'd have to go back to work

Happier_Me

I didn't realise it until I read your post but I am also a job free wannabe. All this time I thought I'd been aiming for FIRE:)

It's a more daunting forum but it's worth popping over the pensions board if you don't already, there is a wealth of knowledge over there that can help you reach your goal. I'm probably it's no. 1 lurker! I posted a thread on there around two years ago with the 'idea' of retiring at 55 with £30k a year gross, but no real plan to achieve it.

We've now upped our target to £35k net and although we have gaps in our pensions savings this is very doable as we have another 11 years to save for it.

I'd be clear about your number and the lifestyle you want when you stop work. It sounds like it's £15k but is that for just you or a couple? Will this give you the lifestyle you want with a bit of wriggle room? Will your pension at 60 provide you with £15k? What about if you add in the state pension at 68ish?

The good thing is you are trying to love to your 'retirement' income level now.

Good luck, I'll keep reading to see how you get on.

edinburgher

Thanks for starting this thread - there is a similar series of posts of the Monevator blog, but they're far too infrequent for those of us who like the minutiae

NorthernMonkey1

Thanks for your comments.

I'm fairly comfortable with my pension contributions to achieve this. My pot currently stands at just a smidge over £200k, and I'm paying 42% of my pre-tax salary into it. My employer then puts an extra 10% in, so i'm paying about £2900 a month into it. This means by 50, assuming no growth, it should be >£500k. Using the 4% rule for withdrawal, this is >£1500 a month.

The plan was looking pretty solid to retire at 58, however, that's aaaaaages away.

I've been saving £1000 a month. and spending £1500 a month for a fair while now. This blog is to hold myself accountable and push my spending down a little, so I have an ISA fund to cover the gap between 50 and 60.

The savings and pensions boards are great for specific questions, of which don't really have any right now, but there aren't many blog style threads in there, which is why I decided to post here.

lassfarfromhome

Hello! I'm another job free wannabe! I still have a mortgage but hope to be rid of it in two years or less. It has been a bit of millstone around my neck, although it allowed me to buy my lovely flat, so I will be glad when it's gone. My head is telling me not to overpay the mortgage, and put everything I can into my SIPP. My heart is telling me to get rid of the mortgage ASAP as it's a bloody emergency. In reality I'm paying off bits of money from the mortgage or putting more into the SIPP as the mood takes me when I have some spare cash. Anyway, good luck to all other job free wannabes!

NorthernMonkey1

lassfarfromhome wrote: »

Hello! I'm another job free wannabe! I still have a mortgage but hope to be rid of it in two years or less. It has been a bit of millstone around my neck, although it allowed me to buy my lovely flat, so I will be glad when it's gone. My head is telling me not to overpay the mortgage, and put everything I can into my SIPP. My heart is telling me to get rid of the mortgage ASAP as it's a bloody emergency. In reality I'm paying off bits of money from the mortgage or putting more into the SIPP as the mood takes me when I have some spare cash. Anyway, good luck to all other job free wannabes!

You're probably wise not paying off your mortgage. What you're doing is more tax efficient, but I can't deny the knowledge that my house if fully paid for (and that its freehold with no evil leaseholder) certainly helps me feel more comfortable when things are stressful at work

lassfarfromhome

Yes, exactly, NorthernMonkey1, and knocking a bit off my minimum monthly outgoings is very satisfying. Once it has been paid off, what I need to earn will be so much less, so the threat of "bad things happening" isn't so scary.

Happier_Me

That's a fantastic amount to be putting in to your pension. It sounds like you have this sorted... as you say, it's about keeping yourself accountable.

The one big thing I struggle with is finding that balance between living now and saving to live well in the future. I don't want to spend the next 11 years working and waiting to retire. But nor do I want to lose control of my spending and jeopardise my retirement plans. But it is easy to spend more when your essential bills no longer include debt and mortgage repayments.