It's time to start digging up those Squirrelled Nuts!!!!

Kim1965

So it looks like the Government will have to make retirement harder to attain, if they want more 50 and 60 yr old to work longer. 
 Get rid of 40% tax relief, sál sac, Isa's etc. Could be carnage.. They have given a host of incentives to facilitate retirement and now it seems its causing problems in the economy.
 

Albermarle

MallyGirl said:

Our challenge as a couple is that I would stop tomorrow as I don't like my job and have plenty of things I would rather be doing (gardening, running, walking, travel, reading, volunteering, learning new stuff) whereas OH doesn't really have hobbies. He would enjoy the travel and walking, and he'd be able to get more out of his swim membership, but he is not sure what else he would do. Amongst our friends we are not the only ones with this mismatch.
I have agreed to stick it out till daughter finishes Uni when we will be 59. After that if he wants to stay on that will be his choice but it won't be mine. I suspect that when it comes to it he won't want to be working when I am not.

I feel quite a lot of affinity with your OH, even to the point of having a swim membership ! I do actually have a couple of hobbies, but do not pursue them that actively, so they only take up maybe a couple of days a month.
I have actually been retired for over a year now, so maybe my experience will help.
One big advantage is that if something comes up that you fancy doing/going to, you can just go, or wait until it is a nice day.
You do not have to cram everything into the weekend.
It has given my OH more time/space to do what she wants.
We still have some caring responsibilities, and this combined with work and the usual life things, meant a lot of 'diary clashes' which now hardly ever happens.
So in summary, although each day is not necessarily filled with lots of interesting activities, the flexibility/spare time is good in itself.

Downsides
More household chores !
Get a bit bored from time to time (hence too much time spent on these forums !)Then again I was bored at work sometimes.
Despite being part of a good team at work, I have little ongoing contact , as they were spread all over Europe and I mainly worked from home, when not travelling. 
Worrying about inflation ( but not too much, yet...) 

Sea_Shell

Kim1965 said:

So it looks like the Government will have to make retirement harder to attain, if they want more 50 and 60 yr old to work longer. 
 Get rid of 40% tax relief, sál sac, Isa's etc. Could be carnage.. They have given a host of incentives to facilitate retirement and now it seems its causing problems in the economy.
 

It's as if they simultaneously want us to not be a "burden" on the state and make provision for our own futures, but not be too successful as to not need to work, so we carry on subsidising.

What's a "Goldilocks" scenario here?

Anonymous101

Sea_Shell said:

Kim1965 said:

So it looks like the Government will have to make retirement harder to attain, if they want more 50 and 60 yr old to work longer. 
 Get rid of 40% tax relief, sál sac, Isa's etc. Could be carnage.. They have given a host of incentives to facilitate retirement and now it seems its causing problems in the economy.
 

It's as if they simultaneously want us to not be a "burden" on the state and make provision for our own futures, but not be too successful as to not need to work, so we carry on subsidising.

What's a "Goldilocks" scenario here?

That's exactly what they want.

For anyone looking to retire early I think having a good spread of investments in Pre and Post tax vehicles is wise. If they look to raise pension access age further or reduce LTA then we need pots elsewhere, basically use up every allowance afforded to us.

Any policy they come up with will have to be based on whatever they deem enough. So staying on the right side of the numbers is key. For someone with low annual spending like yourself that should be easy enough but it might be a problem for higher spenders.

Brenster

The last couple of pages of this thread i have found particularly interesting. 

I think we will all be looking at the upcoming budget with trepadation !  However we cannot get away from the fact, there is a large debt which needs a significant change to get it paid / under control.  And also a number of things going on (strikes / cost of living / inflation) which are going to need to be sorted which are adding to the already enourmous debt. 

I dont think those on benefits / low / low-mid earners (£0-£40k) have any flexibility to take a significant portion of this responsibility, especially with the ever increasing cost of living, and therefore more than ever it will fall onto those mid to lage earners (£40k +), and those who are financially stable (well performing businesses / early retiree wanabees) to contribute the most (Very 'un' conservative).

I fear some significant changes will be announced such as changes to tax thresholds, income tax rates, corporation tax rates, entrepreneurial tax ratrs / allowances, pension ages, inheritance tax rates / amounts, and anything else to target those who in the governments eyes have a surplus.

Anonymous101

Brenster said:

I dont think those on benefits / low / low-mid earners (£0-£40k) have any flexibility to take a significant portion of this responsibility, especially with the ever increasing cost of living, and therefore more than ever it will fall onto those mid to lage earners (£40k +), and those who are financially stable (well performing businesses / early retiree wanabees) to contribute the most (Very 'un' conservative).

The issue that I feel is most unpalatable is where those low-mid earners are penalised for taking a prudent or cautious approach and have managed to build up moderate (but not excessive) investments.

On the other hand as a mid-large earner with reasonable savings rate I do feel as though I'd have a tipping point when it comes to taxes. If I were to feel taxed excessively I may simple take my foot off the gas career wise rather than going all out for financial independence.

ALARA343

"Workshy and resigning " says the headline. If employers offered more flexibility and shorter hours we might consider returning to work. As it is I am gainfully occupied volunteering for the Independent Monitoring Boards and STEM Ambassadors. 

Ganga

Albermarle said:

MallyGirl said:

Our challenge as a couple is that I would stop tomorrow as I don't like my job and have plenty of things I would rather be doing (gardening, running, walking, travel, reading, volunteering, learning new stuff) whereas OH doesn't really have hobbies. He would enjoy the travel and walking, and he'd be able to get more out of his swim membership, but he is not sure what else he would do. Amongst our friends we are not the only ones with this mismatch.
I have agreed to stick it out till daughter finishes Uni when we will be 59. After that if he wants to stay on that will be his choice but it won't be mine. I suspect that when it comes to it he won't want to be working when I am not.

I feel quite a lot of affinity with your OH, even to the point of having a swim membership ! I do actually have a couple of hobbies, but do not pursue them that actively, so they only take up maybe a couple of days a month.
I have actually been retired for over a year now, so maybe my experience will help.
One big advantage is that if something comes up that you fancy doing/going to, you can just go, or wait until it is a nice day.
You do not have to cram everything into the weekend.
It has given my OH more time/space to do what she wants.
We still have some caring responsibilities, and this combined with work and the usual life things, meant a lot of 'diary clashes' which now hardly ever happens.
So in summary, although each day is not necessarily filled with lots of interesting activities, the flexibility/spare time is good in itself.

Downsides
More household chores !
Get a bit bored from time to time (hence too much time spent on these forums !)Then again I was bored at work sometimes.
Despite being part of a good team at work, I have little ongoing contact , as they were spread all over Europe and I mainly worked from home, when not travelling. 
Worrying about inflation ( but not too much, yet...) 

I worked for a national company but in a local branch ,i was with them 8 years but have had no contact with anybody exept one colleague who speaks to me regularity and even call in to see me ,i have been giving advice to him regarding his upcoming retirement , make sure he has plenty of gardening gloves etc as the company he works for hand them out like confetti and also keep a pair of overalls for gardening ,fixing his car etc.
I do keep in contact with a chap, i worked for him for about 30 years and still call in and recently fixed his ride on mower so it keeps my hand in with the tools.But as others have said retirement is a different life style and takes some getting used to.  

frugal90

jimi_man said:

Sea_Shell said:

eastcorkram said:

Taking the 25% tax free usually seems to be frowned upon on here anyway doesn't it? Unless you've got expensive debt to pay off?

Well, my plan is to reinvest it back into my (our) ISAs.

Be about £30k.




ETA - I might actually SPEND some of it !!! 😲😲😉

On what?????

Stick it in an investment trust. Merchants has long term capital growth and would pay you 5% tax free income. As ever do your own research.

To supplement our teachers pensions we use ISAs, we take the dividend when the stock market is high and move to cash for spendy spendy, but when stocks are low we let it reinvest. Has worked well so far.  £30 k with merchants would yield you £1.5k tax free income per year.

Our portfolio adds a potential extra £20k per annum to our income, tax free from ISA dividends. 

Nebulous2

I'm not as much of a planner as many on here, and was never a high earner, with a one income family. Pushing the boat out to buy a house in the 90s and working in care with a DB pension, meant I was able to decide I'd had enough during the pandemic and leave at 59 in April 2021

The adjustment was, and is, an issue. I quickly took a part-tine job with the NHS and did more hours than intended last year, dropping to one day a week since April. I had a conversation with a retired GP who came back to help during the pandemic and he said when you're retired you tend to 'drift.' He saw an inevitability to that which was hard to avoid and really felt his part-time work had added to his life, as he enjoyed meeting and interacting with others. 

There is a longer tail of retirement than before in my experience. My mother in law has carers who visit her and 3 of them are over 70. They've had careers in care, been nurses, stopped and cared for family members,  then when that need ended went back to work. 

I suppose it isn't a one-size fits all. While some people may struggle to afford to retire, in my local area there are a lot of people who could afford to but have chosen not to.  

Talking about retirement to my peers, there is sometimes a touch of envy, with some of them indicating they can't contemplate it until SPA, but much more common is 'I wouldn't know what to do with myself.'