Should i retire?

Evan3020

Rather than having £250k in the bank should i buy i second property?

Bravepants

Would you want the hassle of a BTL though? You might be better drip-feeding £20k a year into a multi-asset passive investment product like HSBC Global Strategy Balanced or Vanguard Lifestrategy 60 via a stocks and shares ISA.  And then drawing down from it (i.e. selling units) at say 3% to 3.5% a year. It would take you 12 years to get it ALL into the ISA wrapper though, but it would be worth it. 

Check out www.monevator.com for some information about passive investments.

Evan3020

Just thinking i would rather have an asset than cash in the present environment.

AnotherJoe

Evan3020 said:

Rather than having £250k in the bank should i buy i second property?

No. Its an asset that can lose value just like shares, that is a high level of hassle, that has increasingly onerous tax and other rules thata re only going to get worse.

sale_of_the_century

I vote retire also ,
Most people who take early retirement are savers , it’s just 
getting into the mindset of dipping into these funds that feels so alien to a saver .

p00hsticks

You don't mention your State Pension position.

If you haven't already done so you should get a forecast ( https://www.gov.uk/check-state-pension ) and if you are short of the maximum amount then allow for buying voluntary NI for the requisite number of years going dorward in your expense calculations - for someone with average life expectancy it is extremely good value.

Evan3020

Yes, its currently  £167 at 67. 

Socajam

I am with all those who  say retire now.
Whilst you are contemplating retiring, think of something that you really wanted to do and was not able to do it. 
This is your chance to do what you want at your own pace.

shinytop

Evan3020 said:

Rather than having £250k in the bank should i buy i second property?

You could but then you wouldn't be fully retired, you'd be running a property lettings small business.  You might get lucky and it could be very little work but it's still a business.  I had a single BTL but would never do it again; not because of the money (which was OK) but because of the responsibility/hassle.  

Oh, and another vote for retire now.  

Johnnyboy11

Another vote here to retire (or semi-retire), and to avoid BTL.

I'd take the max FS annual pensions (no encashment), and shove as much cash as allowed each year into a SIPP and ISA and invest in a global tracker fund (VLS60 for me), then sit back an plan what I'd like to do next. It's a nice choice to be able to make, Good Luck!