Stopping at 48 - is it possible?

xylophone

https://www.gov.uk/check-state-pension
Have you used the service to get a state pension forecast?
https://www.gov.uk/voluntary-national-insurance-contributions
Don't forget that you can contribute net £2880  ( gross £3600)  to a personal pension even if you have no relevant earnings  - examples
https://www.vanguardinvestor.co.uk/what-we-offer/personal-pension/personal-pension-account

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/cheap-sipps/

https://www.standardlife.co.uk/c1/accounts-and-services/pensions/stakeholder-pension-features.page

AnotherJoe

c'est_moi said:

Just wanted to give a quick update.

I worked my last day at the end of the July and entered 'retirement' in this weird covid world. No leaving speech (probably for the best ), no retirement holiday - all very strange.

I have zero regrets. I honestly feel like a new person. I don't feel sick all weekend at the thought of work on Monday. No management setting pointless tasks with ridiculous deadlines. No mare dreading the comments of toxic colleagues.

I have spent so much time outside - my garden looks great and I have rediscovered the fantastic walking routes of my local area. I have started some hobbies I have wanted to do for years. I do miss some friends from work, but other than that I do not miss work at all.

So far we have not needed to touch the savings - thanks to refunds from covid cancelled holidays. I think we will be ok without touching them for a couple more months. It will be very strange to turn from saver to spender after years of adding to the bank balance.

I have more time to practice moneysaving. I have already manged to reduce our monthly bills from SKy and from our broadband provider. I shopped around for the car insurance. I am going to change utilities provider later today. I save money in the supermarket through vouchers and the £5 off lidl app. Some of this is very small stuff, but I enjoy the challenge.

I have not put any effort into job hunting yet, other than registering to mark exam papers next summer. I have done this before and the money is pretty good for 3 weeks work. It will be much easier to do this without also teaching full time at the same time.

The evening classes I want to take are not currently running, but I do still intend to them. I am also getting more time to exercise and my diet is better now I have time to cook, which I have always enjoyed.

So, in brief, it is still early days but I have to say that life feels pretty damn good right now. I do still worry about the big bills - for example the car needed service, MOT, tax and insurance all at the same time (owch), but I do have to keep reminding myself that the money is there. In fact e managed to get the savings up to 140 K by the time I  left work.

I hope that I still feel as optimistic, especially as the weather turns colder, but so far so very good.....

Good on you and great to get an update unlike some posters.

For the long term you really could do with putting some of that £140k in  investments.

Enough you wont be touching for 10-15 years.

It will do much better than any savings account. Posters here can come up with suggestions. Maybe £40k of it? Put it in a couple of S&S ISA's one for you one wife. Then leave alone.

The_Economist

c'est_moi,
really looking for inspiration from your journey so far...
Have you any updates that you can post....

Durhamborn

I retired a few months ago at 49,but i might or might not do  a few months now and again.Il never ever work for more than the tax allowance though,so will never pay income tax again.I have a SIPP that will provide around £1100 a month in 6 years at 55.Iv ISA investments that get me around £550 a month now.Iv put away all 6 years worth of direct debits for running the house in an account,so all bills paid until i can access SIPP before that £550 a month.My partner still works,but she works 3 days a week and she gives me £300 a month towards bills.Iv covered the bills as mentioned so i tend to live off the £300 and the £550 mounts up,but its there.
If i dont touch the ISA capital i should have around £1600 at 55 a month.That would be way more than i need and easily plenty if my partner died,left me etc.State pension is 2 years short,but thats easy as il just claim Specified adult childcare credits for looking after my grandkids.
Next week,new tax year il claim 6 months JSA none means tested (waited for new tax year so no tax on it) and one week before that ends il claim ESA for anxiety or something and get that for 12 months none means tested or until booted off.
Time is the thing we are all short of,and if you enjoy a simple life its easy to retire early.Of course being mortgage and debt free is a given.  

TVAS

Summer jobs at Uni did you use your NI number or a temporary number?

Dansmam

TVAS said:

Summer jobs at Uni did you use your NI number or a temporary number?

There was a weird thing in the early 80s where 6th formers got credits - to encourage us to stay in education - but the time in part time jobs at uni didn't count unless they hit full year criteria. Have to question the logic (my less calm side says that was madness.).  Same on my NI account and I used my NI number so doubt that will change the numbers. 

Dansmam

And I'm another who'd decide what I can afford to put into an s&s ISA. Inflation is as much a risk as ups and downs in the market. Difference is that as long as you can get by without it you can ride out the ups and downs 😉

p00hsticks

Dansmam said:

TVAS said:

Summer jobs at Uni did you use your NI number or a temporary number?

There was a weird thing in the early 80s where 6th formers got credits - to encourage us to stay in education - but the time in part time jobs at uni didn't count unless they hit full year criteria. Have to question the logic (my less calm side says that was madness.).  Same on my NI account and I used my NI number so doubt that will change the numbers. 

Every one was given three years credits for the years they turned 16-18. Above that age you had to earn them. The credits were introduced becasue at the time men needed 44 years NI to qualify for the full state pension at 65 (women needed 39 years before they reached 60).

The credits were stopped in 2010 when the number of years needed was put down to 30 (now 35 for anyone starting their working lives since 2016)

c'est_moi

Rediscovered my old thread today - made for interesting reading. I can almost hear the stress and anxiety in my initial post!

Well, here we are 14 months since I left work for the least time. Never thought that the world would be in chaos just as I hit retirement. Probably due to covid our spending has stayed well within our means - still have not spent any of those savings and managing to live on my oh's salary. They are still wfh and since I no longer commute we have saved a small fortune on petrol.

I have not started to work again. I think I could easily find something PT if I wanted to, but to be honest I don't. I 'earn' about £30 doing some easy online survey/ website testing stuff which pays for my hobbies. I have joined the NT and we have had two brilliant UK holidays. We will be dipping into the savings soon as I am finally getting my retirement holiday, but it is still pretty reasonable as I am now able to take advantage of those out of school holiday deals.

I am still enjoying my hobbies and will be starting the evening class I have been waiting so long to do this Autumn. I still have absolutely no regrets about walking away from my job. It caused me nothing but stress, and I am sure that if I had continued there much longer I would have had a breakdown. I am just so happy and grateful that I am able to enjoy this time in my life. I hope that the next few years will involve a lot more travel. I am really appreciating the time I now have to spend with family and friends. I love being able to make a decision to go and visit them at the drop of a hat. I do some volunteer work for a few hours a week which I really enjoy.

All of this lovely, lovely time. I still can't quite believe I did it, but here I am, and it's working for me.

CloesUnc

c'est_moi said:

Rediscovered my old thread today - made for interesting reading. I can almost hear the stress and anxiety in my initial post!

Well, here we are 14 months since I left work for the least time. Never thought that the world would be in chaos just as I hit retirement. Probably due to covid our spending has stayed well within our means - still have not spent any of those savings and managing to live on my oh's salary. They are still wfh and since I no longer commute we have saved a small fortune on petrol.

I have not started to work again. I think I could easily find something PT if I wanted to, but to be honest I don't. I 'earn' about £30 doing some easy online survey/ website testing stuff which pays for my hobbies. I have joined the NT and we have had two brilliant UK holidays. We will be dipping into the savings soon as I am finally getting my retirement holiday, but it is still pretty reasonable as I am now able to take advantage of those out of school holiday deals.

I am still enjoying my hobbies and will be starting the evening class I have been waiting so long to do this Autumn. I still have absolutely no regrets about walking away from my job. It caused me nothing but stress, and I am sure that if I had continued there much longer I would have had a breakdown. I am just so happy and grateful that I am able to enjoy this time in my life. I hope that the next few years will involve a lot more travel. I am really appreciating the time I now have to spend with family and friends. I love being able to make a decision to go and visit them at the drop of a hat. I do some volunteer work for a few hours a week which I really enjoy.

All of this lovely, lovely time. I still can't quite believe I did it, but here I am, and it's working for me.

Welcome back to your very interesting thread!   And many congratulations on your new life!

I hope you don't mind my asking, but you mentioned in one of your earlier posts that you managed to negotiate a "small package" from your work for your retirement.

Are you please able to ellaborate on how you achieved that? Was that through sickness or some other way?

Thanks.