Reality or not - Retire at 56

ItisI

456elsbot

We posted almost the same question and thoughts at the same time on two different threads

We too have worked out figures on £30K a year.
Our pot has not been built with a IFAs help but thats not dismissing that they have a place (Late dads pot was £200K in 1993, payout in 2019 = £350K so a bit cynical of the shiny suit brigade)
State pension ignored as well - cant assume it wont be means tested in the future
We have worked on circa aged 90 as our pushing up daisies - dont want to be huddled over a one bar fire when home help comes in


The irony is that by continuing to work our lives will probably be shortened. Stepping off the mad treadmill now will hopefully extend our time but obviously then need more money

We like you dont want pipe and slippers just yet. Having the choice to do a bit of part time if we want is our aim. But if we dont want to we dont have to

Good luck!

crv1963

456elsbot

Congratulations on both making your decision and creating the means to decide. My calling you naive was meant and taken in good spirits so thank you.

With regards the missus- that is my hardest hurdle too! My approach has been to say (and mean) if things turn out tighter than we expect then I/ we can return to the workplace and do something either in our field or have a change of direction and do something less well paid but more satisfying.

GSP

crv1963 wrote: »

With regards the missus- that is my hardest hurdle too!.

When you tell her she can give up work too so you can both enjoy retirement together, it's a picture!

MaxiRobriguez

I think you'd have to be very unfortunate or fantastically stupid to end up with £0 when you start with £1m in the pot.

Go for it, you won't get the time you spend at work back, but there'll always be another way to make a bit of money if your plan goes to pot.

snowqueen555

What a fantastic dilemma to be reading about! All the best!

JoeCrystal

MaxiRobriguez wrote: »

I think you'd have to be very unfortunate or fantastically stupid to end up with £0 when you start with £1m in the pot.

Go for it, you won't get the time you spend at work back, but there'll always be another way to make a bit of money if your plan goes to pot.

Well, if you are dead by the time it reaches zero then I would call that excellent planning!

Triumph13

A quick calculation to give an idea of how much headroom you probably have.
Full state pension is £8,790 a year. Make sure you pay any voluntary NICs needed for both of you to get there.
£500k of crystallised funds (ie all drawings taxable) should be expected to have a sustainable draw down rate of at least 3%, particularly if you have some flexibility to cut back on drawing in a downturn - which you do. That throws off £15k pa. When added to 2 lots of SP that gives you your £30k pa post tax.
Backfilling for the state pension for 11 years costs you £170k.
Taken together that means to meet your aims you'd probably be fine with £500k in a pension and £170k outside. If you were to take your full lump sum and pay off your mortgage you'd actually have £650k in the pension and £300k outside. That looks like quite a bit of extra jam to me!

jennyjj

On your figures, JFDI.
Just tell the missus that you'll maintain a running balance spreadsheet and if it ever looks like you are overspending, you'll get a part time job.
In reality, you WILL keep such a spreadsheet and you'll struggle to find ideas to spend it quickly enough, as you transition from a wealth accumulator to 'savings spender'

cfw1994

jennyjj wrote: »

On your figures, JFDI.
Just tell the missus that you'll maintain a running balance spreadsheet and if it ever looks like you are overspending, you'll get a part time job.
In reality, you WILL keep such a spreadsheet and you'll struggle to find ideas to spend it quickly enough, as you transition from a wealth accumulator to 'savings spender'

I love this approach :T
In my case, I have to temper that bold bit with the fact that there is ALWAYS something to spend money on: Just this year has seen an electric vehicle join our household, as well as a robotic mower and robo-hoover, security cameras....all of which are superb, but sadly none came in for free :rotfl:

sausage_time

456elsbot wrote: »

I’m currently 56 and am seriously considering retirement. Looking for views on a realistic drawdown/income (if managed in an appropriate way) from my savings to date.

Wow, that's spooky. I could have written that post - all the ages, number of children, and pot sizes broadly match my own (no mortgage for me, but I can see it made sense in your case). I always thought I would go on for another 5-6 years, but reading your post and the replies has completely changed my outlook. Where is my pen? Thank you so much!