Keep calm and carry on....

South_coast

Think I can trump that - I've just done one where I installed something to record what's on my phone screen and then had to scroll really quickly through a list of everything I've Googled during January and February. There was a LOT of Midsomer Murders 🤣🤣🤣!!!

South_coast

Right, time for a mega-money update 😳!

So work are now enrolling me into the pension scheme, which is just the statutory amounts and therefore pretty pants. Of course I'm not stuck with that and can put in whatever I want, but that got me thinking whether I really want to 🤔 So, lots of thinking over the last few weeks, coupled with re-reading SSS's most excellent diary, coupled with a birthday this week meaning I can work in whole years and I've come up with a plan. The plan is therefore as follows (I had to work backwards to make it work in my brain)....

* Age 68 onwards (money needs to fund an indefinite timescale) - Money to come from state pension, company pensions and a FIRE pot

* Age 60-67 (needs to fund 8 years) - Money to come from company pensions, a FIRE pot and cash (I can access the LISA at 60, hence splitting this out from the next category)

* Age 57-59 (needs to fund 3 years) - Money to come from company pensions, a FIRE pot and cash

I'm not going to post the actual figures here, as someone will no doubt chirp up and say my figures are impossibly low (and they seem low to me too - no £1m pension pots here - but they do add up!), but suffice to say it is do-able and I feel quite energised by my "ultimate money needed" target 😀

So the order of priority is as follows:
1. Pay off the last of the pesky mortgage 🙄
2. Refurb. I'd love to start saving the FIRE pot alongside this, but realistically the refurb needs doing so I'll probably be piling everything towards this
3. FIRE pot (not true FIRE, as the figures for that are terrifying, but enough to give me an income each year and that can be used to pay towards care/donate to charity at a later date when I no longer need it)
4. Cash. If the FIRE pot works as planned, I'll be making withdrawals from this to hasten along the building of the cash pot (although I'm not relying on that, it would just be an added bonus 😀)

So there we have it 😀 Retirement at 57 should be achievable, and maybe even a bit earlier as I've not factored in any kind of growth (or inflation - but I don't expect that to be more than growth 😳!) Obviously the goalposts will no doubt move between now and then and I won't be able to access my pensions at 57 or the state pension at 68, but I'm far enough out that I should be able to re-jig the plan to work round it.

Wish me luck!!!

Cheery_Daff

Ooh, this is an extremely exciting plan, well done you!! 😁😁

South_coast

Thanks Cheery, now I've just got to make it work 😮!

Poppycat1

My goals are very similar to you, although I am a great deal behind you in my mortgage payments.  I keep swapping my plans from paying off the mortgage, investing (SIPP and ISA) and doing work on my home.  But I have come to the conclusion that the mortgage really has to go first.  

I looked up the average weekly income for a pensioner is £304, this seems an awful lot of money.  I'm sure I would need a lot less.

Good luck with your plans, I'm sure you will do well.  I'll just be a bit behind you.  Will you keep posting after your mortgage is paid off?

South_coast

Thanks Poppycat 😀 The mortgage has definitely always been my priority as well - I know I can probably do more with the money elsewhere, but I just can't get past the fact that it's costing me money in interest every single month (plus all the fees etc for remortgaging every few years). To own it outright and then make it into a beautiful home (rather than a hovel, as BF jokingly refers to it now) will be priceless. 

I mentioned vaguely to BF last night that I'd done some figures and couldn't understand why some people were aiming for such huge pension pots. He said he wants to have the same level of income then as he does now, so he can afford to do all the same things. So do I, the difference being the amount I want in retirement is the amount I actually live on, rather than the amount I earn but only briefly see because the rest disappears off in OP's!

I'm hoping to keep posting once MF, depends whether everyone will allow me to stay 🤣!

QueenJess

Wow - sounds like you've got it all organised 

Think I am on a similar journey to you, although mine is far more full of uncertainties and not knowing what it is I am actually going to do...  I am temporarily diverting everything to pensions/ISAs and will keep a minimal mortgage payment for now.  But I have my eyes on potentially going part time in the next few years and not bothering to ever be full time again as well as retiring by 55 ish .... a girl can dream!

I do really miss the seeing the mortgage going down, although I am heavily encouraging DH to pay it down with his cash instead to get my fix 🤣

LeighofMar

I think you're doing wonderfully SC looking at doable retirement numbers FOR YOU and YOUR lifestyle. Only you know what that looks like and a paid off mortgage contributes to those numbers plus quality of life. 

greent

Ooh - exciting stuff there, SC! 

And there are quite a few MF peeps still posting on this board 😁

Staffordia

Hi SC, I originally had a similar plan to you, and associated workings out, then the date crept forward to my 55th birthday and I finally realised that I had sufficient money at 52. It can definitely be done. Good luck!