What number are you aiming for - solely DC pot

Anonymous101

Linton said:

Dandytf said:

@Linton
Explain FIRE please, in terms of potential early retirement.
t.i.a.

Financial Independence Retire Early - its a US movement based on taking extreme measures to gain financial independence as early as possible.  
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIRE_movement
https://www.mrmoneymustache.com/

I wouldn’t necessarily agree with that. I think that’s one interpretation of it.
Personally i’d say that it doesn’t have to be extreme and it doesn’t have to be as early as possible.

I’d say a more fitting description for me would be placing higher importance on investing for the future in order to reach a point where ones investment returns are able to sustain their spending at a much earlier age than the majority of the population.

Dandytf

Anonymous101 said:

Linton said:

Dandytf said:

@Linton
Explain FIRE please, in terms of potential early retirement.
t.i.a.

Financial Independence Retire Early - its a US movement based on taking extreme measures to gain financial independence as early as possible.  
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIRE_movement
https://www.mrmoneymustache.com/

I wouldn’t necessarily agree with that. I think that’s one interpretation of it.
Personally i’d say that it doesn’t have to be extreme and it doesn’t have to be as early as possible.

I’d say a more fitting description for me would be placing higher importance on investing for the future in order to reach a point where ones investment returns are able to sustain their spending at a much earlier age than the majority of the population.

Thanks Linton -not sure if FIRE is suitable for my late pension catchup years.
Anonymous101 -hopefully agree in placing importance with Investment choices via D C workplace.
I recently read that re investing my DB pot seems almost not possible, though wonder if I could take it from 55 years and somehow increase Value without being penalised later in life.
and Personal initial HL Uk+Global Managed Funds, at least before I can look elsewhere and diversify.

Pile_o_stone

I find it interesting to read these pension pot threads, especially posts from people who are aiming for or already have large retirement pots (circa £1m) and whose posts contain sentences like "sacrificed for years", "scrimped and saved for years", "went without for years" etc. etc.
It makes me wonder just what they intend to do with all this money? Someone who spent all their younger days scrimping and doing without is hardly going to change in retirement and start travelling the world and gaining experience. I don't see someone who didn't travel or accumulate experiences when they were young, fit and confident, suddenly start doing it when they're old. They will more than likely stay in that same mindset and continue to scrimp in retirement. Still, they will get to be the richest corpses in the graveyard and I guess their beneficiaries will appreciate the money - perhaps *horror* spending it frivolously on life experiences?

happyandcontented

Pile_o_stone said:

I find it interesting to read these pension pot threads, especially posts from people who are aiming for or already have large retirement pots (circa £1m) and whose posts contain sentences like "sacrificed for years", "scrimped and saved for years", "went without for years" etc. etc.
It makes me wonder just what they intend to do with all this money? Someone who spent all their younger days scrimping and doing without is hardly going to change in retirement and start travelling the world and gaining experience. I don't see someone who didn't travel or accumulate experiences when they were young, fit and confident, suddenly start doing it when they're old. They will more than likely stay in that same mindset and continue to scrimp in retirement. Still, they will get to be the richest corpses in the graveyard and I guess their beneficiaries will appreciate the money - perhaps *horror* spending it frivolously on life experiences?

Not everyone has achieved their large pots by behaving in the way you suggest. We are lucky enough to have a pot of circa 1.3m plus savings and a paid-for house without doing much scrimping at all. We wouldn't live that way.

I think you may have misunderstood the posts you refer to. The longevity of paying a reasonable percentage of salary into a pension along with good employer contributions, can amass big pension pots if you earn a good salary.

We have been prudent with what we have earned, but we have new cars, travelled the world to have had nice holidays every year, and socialised as much as we wanted to. So, it is a mistake to tar everyone with the same brush.

Also, one person's 'sacrifice' is not the same as another's perception of what sacrifice means. It may mean foregoing that brand new car, that second or third holiday, not necessarily eating beans on toast every day and sitting without the heating on!!

ratechaser

happyandcontented said:

Pile_o_stone said:

I find it interesting to read these pension pot threads, especially posts from people who are aiming for or already have large retirement pots (circa £1m) and whose posts contain sentences like "sacrificed for years", "scrimped and saved for years", "went without for years" etc. etc.
It makes me wonder just what they intend to do with all this money? Someone who spent all their younger days scrimping and doing without is hardly going to change in retirement and start travelling the world and gaining experience. I don't see someone who didn't travel or accumulate experiences when they were young, fit and confident, suddenly start doing it when they're old. They will more than likely stay in that same mindset and continue to scrimp in retirement. Still, they will get to be the richest corpses in the graveyard and I guess their beneficiaries will appreciate the money - perhaps *horror* spending it frivolously on life experiences?

Not everyone has achieved their large pots by behaving in the way you suggest. We are lucky enough to have a pot of circa 1.3m plus savings and a paid-for house without doing much scrimping at all. We wouldn't live that way.

I think you may have misunderstood the posts you refer to. The longevity of paying a reasonable percentage of salary into a pension along with good employer contributions, can amass big pension pots if you earn a good salary.

We have been prudent with what we have earned, but we have new cars, travelled the world to have had nice holidays every year, and socialised as much as we wanted to. So, it is a mistake to tar everyone with the same brush.

Also, one person's 'sacrifice' is not the same as another's perception of what sacrifice means. It may mean foregoing that brand new car, that second or third holiday, not necessarily eating beans on toast every day and sitting without the heating on!!

I could have written exactly the same thing. As far as spending goes, Prudent isn't necessarily the same as Frugal. Plus it can also be seen as relative to income - plenty of people would regard my lifestyle as wildly spendthrift. I don't think that however, and compared with many of my colleagues in the same industry, I'm very measured. No gigantic mansion mortgaged to the hilt, no collection of failed trophy wives to pay maintenance to (just the one trophy Mrs RC for me  ), no 100k car on finance. Nice, but not extravagant is my motto... if it can't be paid for cash (or settled at the end of the month), then I'll go without.

That said, many of us probably know a few rich old misers, along the lines of what's being described here. I have one in my family. So no point pretending they don't exist...

Anonymous101

Very similar to above, I reached a level of salary which gave me a fairly comfortable lifestyle and was fortunate that I managed to grow my salary beyond that. I didn't feel the need to inflate my lifestyle any so have just increased my savings rate at every opportunity since then.
That will hopefully afford me an equally comfortable retirement, hopefully a good few years sooner than most.

MallyGirl

Same here - we have some expensive toys (most have 4 wheels or run software) but FB quite often throws up 'on this day x years ago' pictures of me wearing clothes that I still think of as quite new even though x is a number > 10! 

cfw1994

MallyGirl said:

Same here - we have some expensive toys (most have 4 wheels or run software) but FB quite often throws up 'on this day x years ago' pictures of me wearing clothes that I still think of as quite new even though x is a number > 10! 

Ha!! only talking today with our son about how we could never be accused of fast fashion!   Those memories are all the evidence needed!

ComicGeek

Anonymous101 said:

Very similar to above, I reached a level of salary which gave me a fairly comfortable lifestyle and was fortunate that I managed to grow my salary beyond that. I didn't feel the need to inflate my lifestyle any so have just increased my savings rate at every opportunity since then.
That will hopefully afford me an equally comfortable retirement, hopefully a good few years sooner than most.

Absolutely this - I think it's all about being comfortable with what you have and not overreaching. My son goes to a private school - lots of parents drive brand new range rovers and have £1m+ houses, but it's all on credit and they struggle to make ends meet sometimes (there's a hardship fund available, bizarre concept for a private school!). I'm content with our smaller house with very small mortgage, and 'lower' brand cars. Some parents I've spoken to recently are worried as they only have money to fund the next term of
schooling - we had already saved up the total fees up to the age of 18 before our son had even started school at 5.

michaels

Pile_o_stone said:

I find it interesting to read these pension pot threads, especially posts from people who are aiming for or already have large retirement pots (circa £1m) and whose posts contain sentences like "sacrificed for years", "scrimped and saved for years", "went without for years" etc. etc.
It makes me wonder just what they intend to do with all this money? Someone who spent all their younger days scrimping and doing without is hardly going to change in retirement and start travelling the world and gaining experience. I don't see someone who didn't travel or accumulate experiences when they were young, fit and confident, suddenly start doing it when they're old. They will more than likely stay in that same mindset and continue to scrimp in retirement. Still, they will get to be the richest corpses in the graveyard and I guess their beneficiaries will appreciate the money - perhaps *horror* spending it frivolously on life experiences?

I guess it depends if you like working enough to do more of it than you need to in order to have another (planet destroying) experience or whether you would rather retire earlier with a lifestyle that is adequate and does not consume more than your share of the planets resources.