Can I retire in a years time at 57??

dave_hendy

Linton wrote: »

My initial thought was that your total assets of a bit under £1M, if properly managed, should be enough for you both to retire now. However let's check some things first before being too definite:

- When you say savings/PBs of £650K do you mean entirely cash savings or do you have significant investments in funds/shares?
- Is your spending budget based on a bottom-up calculation or what you are actually living on now?
- I am not clear how you live for the first few years. You mention income £12K/yr followed by £10K/yr. Where is the other £20K/yr or so coming from?
- will your wife have a full SP?

The £12K & £10k would be the money from my 25% tax free lump sum (£67K) and the £45K from my wife's small pensions. Providing the SP years stays at 35 yrs she will have the full amount.


My budget is spending now approx. £25K pa and slightly altered for increases in gas/electric etc when we are home more approx. £28K.

MallyGirl

SP is no longer based on 35 years. It is more complicated than that

I would be putting more into your pensions for the next year to get the tax breaks - even if you have to fund the extra by drawing on savings.

jimi_man

dave_hendy wrote: »

The £12K & £10k would be the money from my 25% tax free lump sum (£67K) and the £45K from my wife's small pensions. Providing the SP years stays at 35 yrs she will have the full amount.


My budget is spending now approx. £25K pa and slightly altered for increases in gas/electric etc when we are home more approx. £28K.

Just be a little careful with the State Pension assumptions. I've got 36 years of payments but mine is not at the maximum yet. Worth doing a check if you haven't done so.

dave_hendy

Andrew31 wrote: »

How did your mum lose half of her money in a scam?

even if she did, this is no reason not to seek advisers, my friend got hit by a car, but I still cross the road, i am just careful.

there are many good advisors out there.

When my Mum moved to a retirement flat from the family home she took advise from a FA recommended to her by some people from her church who had been using him for some time. One of the things he suggested didn't exist or wasn't actually real, she a long with others lost all her money. She was interviewed by the Police over this on more than one occasion, I am not sure if they ever got the people behind it, but she was only a small fish compared to how much some lost. Luckily she went through the FCA (I believe) and actually got her money back after a couple of years. I never knew all the facts but that, Equitable Life and loosing money in a S&S isa put me off getting advice from people I don't know.

dave_hendy

MallyGirl wrote: »

SP is no longer based on 35 years. It is more complicated than that

I would be putting more into your pensions for the next year to get the tax breaks - even if you have to fund the extra by drawing on savings.

I have upped my contribution to 30% of my wages for possibly the last year at work. Not sure I can increase more plus I get 10% from work.

dave_hendy

jimi_man wrote: »

Just be a little careful with the State Pension assumptions. I've got 36 years of payments but mine is not at the maximum yet. Worth doing a check if you haven't done so.

I rang them this morning and they told me I had enough years and would get the £10241 pa.


Need to check my wifes but have looked on-line and that looks ok?

jonnygee2

I never knew all the facts but that, Equitable Life and loosing money in a S&S isa put me off getting advice from people I don't know.

Why are you on a forum then? You don't know us either.

Your mum's case was extreme and unusual but also shows that the system works - she got her money back because she used a regulated financial adviser. If you independently make a load of poor investment decisions you'll just lose a load of money with no recourse. That's a big risk to take with your retirement savings.

SonOf

dave_hendy wrote: »

Hi, thanks for the quick reply. I do not have/have not seen a FA yet. Not sure if I will or not, my Mum had a very bad experience with one who almost cost her 50% of her money due to recommending a scam!

You should not see an FA but an IFA.
At least your mum should have got most, if not all of her money back as recommendations from FAs or IFAs give consumer protection. Even if unregulated investments are used.

I never knew all the facts but that, Equitable Life and loosing money in a S&S isa put me off getting advice from people I don't know.

Equitable life has been gone for decades and had a fairly unique set up circumstances that led to new legislation to prevent it happening again. Plus, no-one lost out.
There were over 300,000 agents, FAs and IFAs in that period. Now there are just over 20,000 as the higher regulatory standards and higher qualifications pushed out the salesforces that did most of the damage in the past. it is a very different world today.

S&S ISAs invest in assets that go up and down on a daily basis. The only way you would have actually lost money is if you withdrew it in a negative period and didnt wait for the recovery.

You do realise that your pension will be invested in similar assets to those used in an S&S ISA and that the use of drawdown is considered higher risk compared to alternatives?

jaybeetoo

dave_hendy wrote: »

Approximately 50% of our savings is in ISA's although not S&S as I lost money in one when we were saving to payoff our mortgage.

If you don’t take more risk, your savings are unlikely to keep pace with inflation.

https://www.moneyobserver.com/news/over-50s-are-not-taking-enough-investment-risk

dave_hendy

jonnygee2 wrote: »

Why are you on a forum then? You don't know us either.

I am on the forum to get peoples knowledge and experience, not specific advice as to which companies to invest in.


I know I shouldn't just go from my mother's experience but it has put me off. We managed to payoff our mortgage in 12 years rather than 25 with me doing our finances and hard saving, we could probably have done it more efficiently with proper advice but I was pleased to be mortgage free by 44 after being in negative equity on our first property in the late eighties early nineties. So after leaving school at 16 with a few cse's I am quite proud of what I have done, but I do know this is a subject I do not know much about...……….