Thanks everyone! (I'm almost retired)

randompenitent

Back in August 2018, my first post on this site asked for confirmation that I probably had enough £ to retire. The general response was "Yes, get on with it."

Well, time passed, as it does, and in January 2020 I asked an updated version of the same question again - with pretty much the same response.

It's January 2021. As of the end of the month, I'll no longer be employed.  Two weeks to go.

I'd like to thank all those helpful folk who contribute their insight and knowledge. I've learned a lot from the people this forum, and just as important, found starting points for further research.

Here's to retirement! (And, I hope, a relaxation of the lockdown sufficient to make it more fun).  Cheers!

garmeg

How do your final figures compare with those you posted in January 2020?

Wentthedaywell?

Congratulations Random - I hope you have a long and happy one!
I'll probably go myself this year, but I think the psychological barrier is harder than the financial one.

I must say, I've learned more about pensions etc on these forums than I ever did through work. There are some excellent and helpful contributors here.

mark55man

Well done - much luck with you new way of life

cfw1994

Congrats!  Exciting times ahead!

garmeg said:

How do your final figures compare with those you posted in January 2020?

& in addition:
Have you taken steps to mitigate LTA.....& how do you plan to manage the drawdown phase of your life (now the accumulation phase draws to a close!)?    Use an IFA, or just manage things as you have done thus far?
(only asking as I am about 4 months behind you with similar things....always interesting to hear others perspectives!!)
Good luck!

Dansmam

Good on you, enjoy! I'm more of a random planner but chucked in my notice on the back of lockdown and a dB I'll not draw for a while. It is a better life. Would have been less so without tips from the forum. Wishing you well 👍🏻

Dansmam

Oh and oh and there are a lot of rich and angsty people on here so if you're not a pension million you may want to get over them and go Old style 😀

stephenadarglas

There's lots of things in life you can get back if you lose it - time isn't one of them.

randompenitent

garmeg said:

How do your final figures compare with those you posted in January 2020?

Up over 20% as I was lucky enough to be in "growth" funds with a US and Asia-Pac emphasis, so I'm now a little more ambitious about the income I want, but I will take things carefully over the first year or two and see how things play out. 

randompenitent

cfw1994 said:

Have you taken steps to mitigate LTA.....& how do you plan to manage the drawdown phase of your life (now the accumulation phase draws to a close!)?    Use an IFA, or just manage things as you have done thus far?
(only asking as I am about 4 months behind you with similar things....always interesting to hear others perspectives!!)
Good luck!

Thanks.

I'm now in the position that it looks very likely that I will breach the LTA when I reach 65 (I'm 59 now), at the point that my small DB pension starts payment.

My research so far seems to indicate that there's no magic wand that will abolish the LTA penalty and that the most obvious mitigation approaches, like crystallising everything now and withdrawing 25% PCLS, would leave me with a new problem, namely figuring out how to invest a six figure sum in a tax-efficient way.

I'll spend some more time reading and investigating and do some modelling with spreadsheets to get a feel for the numbers and what happens at the various BCEs.  No plans to engage an IFA yet, but I'll have lots of time to think about all of this next month.  Worst case, it's a nice problem to have, so I'm not going to lose sleep. 

zagfles

Could look at taking the DB pension early, if the reduction factor is reasonable, as the amount crystallising is 20x the pension starting amount with no account taken of age at crystallisation. If you make good use of CGT and dividend allowances there shouldn't be too much tax even on a six figure unwrapped investment, particularly if you have a spouse whose allowances you can use and ISA up as fast as possible. Likely to be less than LTA tax. But also look into inheritance tax implications etc.