What number are you aiming for - solely DC pot

[Deleted User]

Mistermeaner said:

Anyone who adopts the “whatever will be will be” attitude to something as important to them as retirement will imo greatly regret it when it matters

I am 50. My net worth is 1.62M GBP. That’s not counting decent DB income between me and my wife, which will kick in in a few years. I came to Britain with less than 1000 pounds when I was 25 (and a decent education). Inherited zero. Two kids, one educated and has a great job, the other in his last year at university, so we can start saving a bit extra to avoid the kind of disaster you are talking about. Do we still have time? 

Tell me more about great regrets.  How do I avoid them? Should I aim for 5M by the time I am 55 or should it be 55 and 3 months? 

Many thanks! 

Mistermeaner

Deleted_User said:

Mistermeaner said:

Anyone who adopts the “whatever will be will be” attitude to something as important to them as retirement will imo greatly regret it when it matters

I am 50. My net worth is 1.62M GBP. That’s not counting decent DB income between me and my wife, which will kick in in a few years. I came to Britain with less than 1000 pounds when I was 25 (and a decent education). Inherited zero. 

Tell me more about great regrets.  How do I avoid them? Should I aim for 5M by the time I am 55 or should it be 55 and 3 months? 

1.6mil at age of 50 is a decent sum particularly if you've been gifted nothing- well done

Lots of people will get to 50 with a fraction of that and I expect look back with some regret about money wasted over the years and not thinking enough about their retirement provision early enough 

In terms of your regrets I can't tell you how to feel but perhaps provide a breakdown of your 1.6mil net worth and some high level info on your earnings over the years : you may be very poorly optimised, tax inefficient or illiquid all of which could have been improved with planning. Perhaps that 1.6 should have been 2.5 

Perhaps it you die tomorrow your kids get very little 

Perhaps you've had to work longer and harder than you might otherwise have needed to because of poor planning - perhaps even this hard work has cost you in other ways regards your health or relationships ?

Maybe everything is perfect though - if so well done 

However to advocate your good fortune as advice for others not to plan is still imo incorrect

cfw1994

Deleted_User said:

Mistermeaner said:

Anyone who adopts the “whatever will be will be” attitude to something as important to them as retirement will imo greatly regret it when it matters

I am 50. My net worth is 1.62M GBP. That’s not counting decent DB income between me and my wife, which will kick in in a few years. I came to Britain with less than 1000 pounds when I was 25 (and a decent education). Inherited zero. Two kids, one educated and has a great job, the other in his last year at university, so we can start saving a bit extra to avoid the kind of disaster you are talking about. Do we still have time? 

Tell me more about great regrets.  How do I avoid them? Should I aim for 5M by the time I am 55 or should it be 55 and 3 months? 

Many thanks! 

Serious?
1.62M worth PLUS decent DB income?
Is this the same Mordko who penned:

Deleted_User said:

Alright, let’s play. This time next year I’ll be a millionaire.  

Any bets? 

I'd best take that bet and say "yeah, sounds like it!" ?!!

I'd be kicking bak and relaxing, not worrying about aiming for 5M !!
Or is this a wind-up.....

[Deleted User]

cfw1994 said:

Deleted_User said:

Mistermeaner said:

Anyone who adopts the “whatever will be will be” attitude to something as important to them as retirement will imo greatly regret it when it matters

I am 50. My net worth is 1.62M GBP. That’s not counting decent DB income between me and my wife, which will kick in in a few years. I came to Britain with less than 1000 pounds when I was 25 (and a decent education). Inherited zero. Two kids, one educated and has a great job, the other in his last year at university, so we can start saving a bit extra to avoid the kind of disaster you are talking about. Do we still have time? 

Tell me more about great regrets.  How do I avoid them? Should I aim for 5M by the time I am 55 or should it be 55 and 3 months? 

Many thanks! 

Serious?
1.62M worth PLUS decent DB income?
Is this the same Mordko who penned:

Deleted_User said:

Alright, let’s play. This time next year I’ll be a millionaire.  

Any bets? 

I'd best take that bet and say "yeah, sounds like it!" ?!!

I'd be kicking bak and relaxing, not worrying about aiming for 5M !!
Or is this a wind-up.....

Not a wind up. Boasting.  Useless except to me.  And true. 

The two statements are not contradictory. Del Boy got there too. But he took a slightly different path to get there and he lost it all a little later.  Your bet is not a certainty. 

DB income is kinda luck. My wife and I have two (almost) full state pensions each. Plus a small civil service one, which is still worth having - 8k starting at age 60. 

[Deleted User]

“In terms of your regrets I can't tell you how to feel but perhaps provide a breakdown of your 1.6mil net worth and some high level info on your earnings over the years : you may be very poorly optimised, tax inefficient or illiquid all of which could have been improved with planning. Perhaps that 1.6 should have been 2.5“

Appreciate the offer. My assets are in Britain, Canada and the US. About a third is illiquid - its a farm and a house with a pond where we live with our dogs and ducks and bees, and which (surprisingly) gives us roughly 20k worth of income a year.p (in gbp) 

The rest is in a 70/30 worldwide portfolio with 70 in passive ETFs and 30 in government bonds in various countries. 150k Cad is in cash (counted as part of the 30% in fixed income).  Some of it in a SIPP, some in RRSP, some in TFSA, and about half of liquid assets is in a non-registered investment account.

My income is a bit over 200K Canadian. My wife’s income is irregular, always under 50K CAD.  Plus the farm, like 40k or so. Obviously a resident in Canada for tax purposes. 

Look forward to your advice on my liquidity and how I should sort out my tax affairs and life in general. 

Thanks, man! 

Robwales

..just on a side note - does the phrase "net worth" include property?  Does it inc pension?  i guess there are a lot of millionaires in the SE with high house prices on the back of 30 years of property?

Hopingforthesimplelife

A comment on the “must plan for every finite detail” vs “what will be will be” view.

Isn’t there a half way house where you plan (I.e contribute) as much as you can with a target goal (retirement date on a flexible scale / pot value etc) and then after that - what will be, will be. A lot of what happens globally is out of our control and feeing as though you can control it/plan for it must be somewhat depressing when the next unseen disaster occurs. 

To answer the question, I’m 34 with a £40k dc pot (although wife is a teacher).

pensionpawn

Just as an aside, if you do the sums, contributing around £1250 pa into a pension at 23, with contributions rising by £1250 each year, at an average growth of 8% pa, until 55, will produce a pot of ~£2M (at today's prices). Just numbers to illustrate the possibility of achieving large pots, not suggesting that the growth / annual increases are realistic.

[Deleted User]

Robwales said:

..just on a side note - does the phrase "net worth" include property?  Does it inc pension?  i guess there are a lot of millionaires in the SE with high house prices on the back of 30 years of property?

It includes property, about 1/3 of the total ( there is no debt). It includes pension-wrapped DC accounts but not DB pensions. Yes, there are a lot of millionaires everywhere. 

In general a “millionaire” does not mean what it did 50 years ago, Today “independently  wealthy” is someone with 10M GBP or so. 

[Deleted User]

Hopingforthesimplelife said:

A comment on the “must plan for every finite detail” vs “what will be will be” view.

Isn’t there a half way house where you plan (I.e contribute) as much as you can with a target goal (retirement date on a flexible scale / pot value etc) and then after that - what will be, will be. A lot of what happens globally is out of our control and feeing as though you can control it/plan for it must be somewhat depressing when the next unseen disaster occurs. 

To answer the question, I’m 34 with a £40k dc pot (although wife is a teacher).

You can do, and saving, investing, paying off mortgage, minimizing fees - all of it is important. I am just not sure if having any “retirement date” or “number” in mind is much use when you are 34. Focus on family and career. Keep increasing your earning power, enjoy your work and you’ll be fine. At least that’s my theory.