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How much to live on
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I have made the decision and will leave full time work a week before my 62nd birthday. A combination of savings and personal pension will give me £1295 a month from then to 65 and £1395 per month from 65 to state pension age. I'm sure to some that doesn't seem much. but currently I only take home £1575 a month for working 38 hours a week so the adjustment will not be that great. The outline plan is to do either part time or bits and pieces of temp work to get me back up to around my current full time salary. I am getting excited and just can't wait.
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MoneyWorry said:I have made the decision and will leave full time work a week before my 62nd birthday. A combination of savings and personal pension will give me £1295 a month from then to 65 and £1395 per month from 65 to state pension age. I'm sure to some that doesn't seem much. but currently I only take home £1575 a month for working 38 hours a week so the adjustment will not be that great. The outline plan is to do either part time or bits and pieces of temp work to get me back up to around my current full time salary. I am getting excited and just can't wait.
Can i ask if you are mortgagd free and what your fixed essential montbly costs are?1 -
Yes, mortgage free.No debts or finance. Fixed costs are manageable. Council tax £122. Water £20. House and Contents Insurance 12. Gas and electric currently £108, but basing my outgoings on them being £185 when I finish.
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Good morning all. Just a little update from me. This will be the last for a little while as I have decided to visit these boards far less often in the coming months.
As for the 'upgraded me' the cosmetic dental work is complete and my wardrobe sorted and updated! I have also ordered a further two pairs of spectacles (One pair being subscription sunglasses) both pairs at half price. I now have several pairs to suit my mood and dress!
My outfit for the family wedding in October is now complete. I have paid for the cruise in October. I will arrange hotel. accommodation and trips for my week n Vancouver next March early in January. I have already paid for the flight. Final payments for the Cyprus villa next May and the cruise in September 2023 are not required for months yet. I will also book the flights to Paphos when BA makes them available.
On a more practical note I have also spent time arranging a funeral plan, buying a burial plot and updating my will. Sounds a bit morbid but with all that sorted I can concentrate on living!
Finances are fine even though my savings will have taken a big hit as the result of my recent 'upgrades' and putting recent plans into action. However it is all manageable. I have a part-time teaching contract until December 31st. I will then make a decision about making retirement full or continuing with the semi-retirement. The extra-income will provide a further buffer, although not essential.
Outstanding plans for the summer holiday include painting one spare room, keeping the garden as tidy as possible.(the long period of dry weather has left me with a brown patchy lawn but it will return when the rain finally comes!)
Plans for spare time activities include increased amount of reading, to finally get around to doing my Art, French and German courses for which I have had the books and DVDs for nearly 2 years! On top of all this doing some exercise,(I may return to the swimming pool 3 or 4 times a month, not been since pre-Covid times!), keeping the house clean and tidy and likewise for the garden. Along with my part-time contract, I will be busy but happy.
For years I was someone who never seemed to have a lot of spare money and who made some foolish financial decisions.
However, I did manage to buy my house and keep fairly solvent.
I am very fortunate that I paid into an index linked DB pension(although for most of the time I had no idea what that meant!). I will also have paid enough NI to ensure an almost full (bar a few pence!) new state pension from 2024.
So now to the future with a few thousand spare in the bank and a future retirement income that should be fine.
Thank you all for your past comments and inspiration. As I said, I will occasionally check-in, but now want to concentrate on the future and avoid the 'what ifs' and 'if onlys' as well as the occasional 'envy' that reading these boards can sometimes cause in myself.
To all of those who worry about retirement don't let those worries hold you back. Budget and plan. You really don't need the huge amounts sometimes suggested by the 'other place'. Remember maximising financial gain should not be the be all and end all of everything.
Best wishes to you all!
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Thanks Baron Dale, good to see your update and hope all goes well for you. I've found your posts very beneficial. Know what you mean about the "what ifs" though !
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All the best @[Deleted User] you sound to be in a good place and well organised.
I do however envy you - as you at least have a plan and even though life sometimes deflects us off course, it's better if you already know where you're aiming to be and at least set off in the right direction.
Since my husband passed away, this is something I don't seem able to do so well. I struggle enough with planning my dinner for later in the day, let alone anything longer term. I have some money and conventional wisdom says that I should invest in something that beats inflation - or at least addresses it, as cash in savings doesn't come close. But there's a big chunk of me, having never had any money before, wants to keep it where I can see it and control it. I'm nervous about relinquishing it somewhere where I can't easily get at it. Naive I know, but for now, that's how I feel, so I'm in no rush to change anything.
But I really could do with making a better plan. Well, any plan would be an improvement really.0 -
But there's a big chunk of me, having never had any money before, wants to keep it where I can see it and control it. I'm nervous about relinquishing it somewhere where I can't easily get at it.
For most normal investments, you hold them on an investment platform nowadays. Or an investment supermarket as they were once called. On line access means you can check on them day and night and sell them and withdraw the money immediately. ( if you want.) The only real restrictions are
1) Investments will usually give better results if left alone for the long term. Often it is recommended not to keep looking how they are doing.
2) If investing via a Pension, you can not withdraw until you reach your mid to late Fifties.
So of course ' Investments go down as well as up' but actually accessing them easily is not an issue with the wonders of the internet.
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To all of those who worry about retirement don't let those worries hold you back. Budget and plan. You really don't need the huge amounts sometimes suggested by the 'other place'. Remember maximising financial gain should not be the be all and end all of everything.
In your posts in the 'other place' you have mentioned a final salary ( Teachers?) pension of £20,000 pa with full inflation linking.
It would actually be difficult buy a pension like this in the open market, due to the uncapped inflation linking, which is the icing on the cake. However as a rough guess it would cost well in excess of three quarters of a Million Pounds to buy as a guaranteed annuity. Even with a drawdown pension, you would need a similar amount, to be confident it would never run out, especially if inflation becomes entrenched .
So quite huge amounts............
Enjoy your retirement, I can only be jealous ( constrained by family care issues unfortunately )
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Thanks @Albermarle - what you suggest makes sense, but you'd need to know what you're doing to manage it yourself - or even start the process. I don't, nor do I especially want to learn either. I don't need the stress.
My own thinking is that I'd rather put energy into earning more pennies now, so that I don't have to dib into my funds as much. But that's my choice, not financial advice.1 -
BooJewels said:Thanks @Albermarle - what you suggest makes sense, but you'd need to know what you're doing to manage it yourself - or even start the process. I don't, nor do I especially want to learn either. I don't need the stress.
My own thinking is that I'd rather put energy into earning more pennies now, so that I don't have to dib into my funds as much. But that's my choice, not financial advice.
However I understand there are many "off the shelf product", pick your risk profile and away you go. Just got to make sure the fees are reasonable.
The point about final salary schemes is made well, if your not financially savvy then gaureteed income is the best and helps a person sleep well at night.
Like you i feel the need to work a bit longer during the present turmoil.
With annuity rates climbing they become more attractive, especially if inheritance is not a consideration and inflation settles down.
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