How much to live on

louby40

@Organgrinder life is too short! Go for it. 

I had a phone call last night at 8pm (which I ignored) from the supply agency I'm with. They then text me offering me a day supply work today in a school not far away. I politely declined.

My car is covered in ice and snow, it's parked in our little parking area at the bottom of a small hill to the road that leads out onto our estate. I don't need the money. I can stay inside and not have the hassle and stress of going outside at 7.30am to defrost my car and then have the trauma of getting OFF our estate, dodging parked cars into rush hour traffic.

It's heaven having that choice.

NB: I also wasn't impressed with the 8pm phone call

Organgrinder

louby40 said:

@Organgrinder life is too short! Go for it. 

I had a phone call last night at 8pm (which I ignored) from the supply agency I'm with. They then text me offering me a day supply work today in a school not far away. I politely declined.

My car is covered in ice and snow, it's parked in our little parking area at the bottom of a small hill to the road that leads out onto our estate. I don't need the money. I can stay inside and not have the hassle and stress of going outside at 7.30am to defrost my car and then have the trauma of getting OFF our estate, dodging parked cars into rush hour traffic.

It's heaven having that choice.

NB: I also wasn't impressed with the 8pm phone call

I remember someone telling me that you know when it's time. I just sat at my desk and felt it was the right thing.

Today I'll double check everything. But yes life is too short.

luvchocolate

I went from full time 5 days to 3 days for a year before I retired. 
Taking the tax into account I hardly noticed the difference...and I'm not wealthy by any means. 
Got me used to having less spare cash and get used to having more spare time 

Albermarle

luvchocolate said:

I went from full time 5 days to 3 days for a year before I retired. 
Taking the tax into account I hardly noticed the difference...and I'm not wealthy by any means. 
Got me used to having less spare cash and get used to having more spare time 

An often quoted target for retirement is to have two thirds of the income you had when working.
This would be difficult to achieve for most people, but it is made easier by the fact you pay less tax/NI/pension contributions.
So typically having half your employed gross salary in retirement, will mean you will actually be getting around 65% of your old take home pay.( of course it will vary from person to person)
So this is what you sort of saw when you went part time. Although your gross salary  dropped 40%, your take home pay dropped less.

MayDogsandCoffee

@luvchocolate I am thinking about doing that rather than hard stop was planning to go completely in July but as we get nearer I am reconsidering.  I don't think my outgoings will change much as I WFH most of the time, only going into office a couple of times a month.  

MarzipanCrumble

I went part-time (not teaching but admin) and it was great because I had the time to explore what was out there to do on a day to day basis as a single.  It also eased me into retirement.  Probably not so much of a problem going cold turkey if your other half is already retired.

Albermarle

Probably not so much of a problem going cold turkey if your other half is already retired.

Depends on how well you get on with your other half   

jackieblack

My plans have been on hold for most of last year as I have moved house and had a massive lifestyle change, making it almost impossible to gauge what my outgoings might be going forward.  Still not 100% as only moved a few weeks ago and still some big changes to come this year, but have decided I'm going to try to live on half my net pay and save the other half with a view to retiring in the last quarter of 2028.

I have a DB pension I can take, most of it will be at a reduced rate - I'm happy with that as I'll hopefully be getting it for longer and I don't see the point in waiting just to pay more tax once I reach SPA (end of 2035), assuming tax thresholds remain frozen. I also have small SIPP, which I'll continue adding to as well as some savings - these will mostly be spent on this year's projects but I should still have a decent amount left, some of which is earmarked as an 'emergency fund' and some earmarked in case of other potential eventualities.

My very rough 'calculations'/assumptions - SP alone will be more than the half net pay I'm 'allowing' myself currently so it's filling the (roughly) 7 year gap that I'm planning to use my SIPP and savings for. I'll need around 30-45% of my 'half current net pay' from these, depending on the % lump sum I decide to take, but if I can 'live on' half my net pay for the next  (nearly) 3 years, the other half should cover the first (nearly) 3 years, and the amount I currently have in my SIPP is more than enough to cover the gap for the remaining 4 years.

I'm not a high earner, so not talking big numbers, but equally not a high spender, a simple/quiet life, living as sustainably as is practicable, is where I'm happiest - I can't envisage this changing.

Albermarle

 SP alone will be more than the half net pay I'm 'allowing' myself currently 

There have been numerous discussions/threads/posts over the years on various MSE forums ( including this thread of course) regarding current and future expenditure.
Of course there is a wide variety of figures and opinions, but if there is any consensus it is that just living off the SP is difficult, even for low spenders. Not impossible, but too frugal an existence for most, with very little room for manoeuvre. 
However if the reality is that if someone lives day to day off the SP, but they also can delve into a savings pot for house repairs, holidays and any other one off expenditure, then it is less of an issue, assuming no rent/mortgage to pay.

jackieblack

Albermarle said:

 SP alone will be more than the half net pay I'm 'allowing' myself currently 

There have been numerous discussions/threads/posts over the years on various MSE forums ( including this thread of course) regarding current and future expenditure.
Of course there is a wide variety of figures and opinions, but if there is any consensus it is that just living off the SP is difficult, even for low spenders. Not impossible, but too frugal an existence for most, with very little room for manoeuvre. 
However if the reality is that if someone lives day to day off the SP, but they also can delve into a savings pot for house repairs, holidays and any other one off expenditure, then it is less of an issue, assuming no rent/mortgage to pay.

No, no rent or mortgage, and now living in a multi generational household sharing household expenses, so those have decreased from when I was a single person household.
I have always worked part time and, until a few years ago, my take home pay was less than the amount of the SP.  I changed role, which also gave me more hours, about 2 1/2 years ago and am now earning significantly more, without increasing my expenses (beyond the 'cost of living' increases that everyone has experienced) so I've been able to build savings and start the SIPP with the 'excess'.