2020++ - smiling and waving and looking so fine

alt80

Great update, @mark55man

I've not been back to the gym since lockdown. I built a decent home gym a long time ago but never really used it until lockdown now wife and I workout together sometimes. She does a workout everyday, I'm usually too consumed by my businesses to workout everyday but it was great over lockdown. Walking is as much about getting into a habit - have you got a dog? I know it's not right for everyone but we walk a lot more since having ours.

You're quite a bit older than me I think (I'm 40 in November) but have you found your views on retirement have changed? I simply don't care about it and haven't over my career. Older guys in my industry tell me I'll really struggle to keep the pace up as I get older; my profession isn't particularly physically demanding but can be stressful and there are active elements. I am in the fortunate position of being able to work towards picking and choosing my own jobs whilst managing staff doing the rest so I don't see a point I'll say I've had enough. My BTL portfolio is quite management heavy (mainly HMOs) but I don't need to be quite as hands on as I am with it.

mark55man

yeah I'm late 50s. At 40 I wasn't thinking about pensions because I had a final salary (defined benefit - where you are entitled to an amount at no risk)  plus I has 4 kids under 8 to keep me busy.  This was not a bad thing to be doing - and as long as you are doing something then you should be OK

I started thinking and reading about pensions, when my company stopped the DB scheme and provided a reasonably good contribution based top up into a money purchase (Defined Contribution - where you end up with a pot and its your risk to achieve an income).

My views on retirement have never changed, namely I don't want to work a day over 65 - and I would be happy to finish earlier if the balance is right.  The balance being between suiting myself and my OH (go early) or suiting my family (go a bit later - after increasing collective wealth).  That said I am still accumulating rather than planning exactly when or how. To reflect this, this diary has/will have 3 phases
* Phase 1 - Sort out my CC and OD and Loans (nearly done / target early next year) - ie finish my scenic view journey to being debt free
* Phase 2 - Get my weight / health / house a bit more sorted (2021) - ie finish Yo Yo health and just get it done
* Phase 3 - Start the final push getting numbers in order - although I would have preferred DB until retirement, having to go DC has given me and OH many more options for a gradual or earlier retirement

So obviously being closer makes it quite real for me.  However you should still think about he following (as should everyone):
* Even if its not much work, do you want to be having to work (eg managing a portfolio of buy to lets when you are 70 - and there are tax and liquidity issues of realising them) - ie are you so defined by your profession you are rootless without
* There are many tax advantages (currently) of contributing, especially if you are going to be a normal tax payer in retirement and a higher rate tax payer now - especially if you earn over £100K where you hit marginal tax rates of 60%
* Separate from the tax advantages - and I'm not quite clear on your employment status - but most companies will offer a generous matching contribution which is basically free money  

Hey @alt80 happy to answer questions on your thread - or even a different thread on the pensions board - but really just get reading / thinking / talking about what you might want

alt80

Thank you the 40 thing and realising I can’t keep burning through more than I earn every month has made me start to rethink a lot of things. 

I don’t envy 4 under 8 at all lol. I’m a ltd company director so I’m the employer and employee. Aware of the tax advantages but never took advantage- always needed every single penny I can get and half the next months lol. My business is worth quite a lot to the right person with a very small commercial portfolio the profits of which I don’t touch and I’m slowly paying down £1.2m of btls owned in a separate ltd company hence why I see so little from them. I suppose if I wanted to retire I could be in the position of being ok.

mark55man

as long as you have a plan, and you should never let the "tax tail" wag the "life dog" BUT it can be quite a big tail so you should at least know what you are wagging!.  small business ownership gives you a lot of angles - even to owning business property - you should consult an expert both accountant and pension.  or explain your situation on the pensions board and see if you could get some beneficial restructuring without actually changing anything that matters to you - apologies is teaching you to suck eggs, but it is easy to get so focussed on delivering and growing the business you forget what to do with the profits

alt80

You’re right about the business it’s my life and the cars are my only release really. Accountant has been good over the years and currently doing a bit of restructuring to take advantage of my wife’s tax allowances so should see a bit more income soon. 

I probably ought to see a financial advisor don’t really want to have to explain my embarrassing situation though tbh. 

mark55man

They've seen worse - an embarrassment of riches perhaps, and a reordering of priorities - possibly a bit less gearing in your personal life - then you can both cry all the way to the bank.    

Earlier you asked about priorities changing - I think as you get a bit older you value personal things more than purchased things, so it gets easier to be a bit more time rich and thing poor (note, not money poor, I'm still ambitious, just less material goods to buy).  One slightly younger friend got a lovely Audi TT, put some cool personal plates on it to avoid new registration temptations, and kept it so smart and shiny that you would think it was new unless you were a Audi TT geek and could tell from model changes.  He kept that one as long as I knew him (about 8 years)   

mark55man

Back away from the mundane world of pensions - here is my Fast 800 diet feedback - Day 4 was yesterday

* Day 3 - Brunch: Keema Mince Salad - Supper: Pork, Kale & Onions and Spring Greens

* Day 4 - Breakfast: Egg & Bacon - Lunch: Fruit Smoothie - Supper: Green bean Frittata with Blue Cheese Crumbs

The reason why it was blue cheese crumbs was that there was precious little left in the fridge and almost nothing in our calorie budget - but it was very nice.  Need to do a bit of a shop today - might stock up on loo rolls if there is going to be another wave - I think a good rule of life is if there is going to be a panic, get in early.  
 

doingitanyway

Good idea to start walking. My planned morning walk idea never got going. You have reminded me to revisit it.

mark55man

so day 1 of refocus - reporting back - but broadly mission accomplished

Maintain Old Focus - Weight:- Looking good for another kilo loss tomorrow
Maintain Old Focus - Money:- Going well 57 days not overdrawn, CC0 @ £0 balance - CC1 looking good for OP this month & then complete repayment next month - CC2 @ 0% Until April 2021, but some OP possible this year

New Focus 

• Steps / Keep fit - Long walk into town today - 6000+

• Restart and maintain an outdoor hobby - Walking (Ha ha) - not yet but will count cycling when I do it

• Improve house environment - (clean/fixed) - normal chores done early - no more

• less procrastination - eat more frogs more - (save/make) - doing my mid month numbers today and some savibgs on "lazy tax"

mark55man

Just done some mid month number crunching sat outside in the garden - excluding the extra grocery refund we got this month from my earlier oversight, we are still looking at being nearly £400 under budget this month, primarily down to lower Grocery/Car and Kids costs.  So still nearly two weeks to go, but definitely feels like this month is just one of those months where money comes in but doesn't go out. 

My fixed costs are front loaded for the year (2x car & 1 x house & other bits), but  I think I'm going to store up that trouble and focus on clearing as much debt this year.  I can always run lean next year or build up a little bump knowing it will be clear not long after.  Slightly defeatist thinking, but every plan needs a fallback especially with Christmas and the Pandemic - for now its make hay while the sun is shining