Enjoy life while you can.

blisteringblue

I'm 53, I've been planning to retire at 55 since the mid 90s.  That plan was still on track but unfortunately my dad died last year.  Long and short thanks to unexpected inheritance I'm going now.  I'm definitely in the life is too short brigade, especially with the people we've lost early to Covid. 
I'm comfortable I've done my sums correct so thought sod it, lets do it.   Worse case I'm lucky I can do freelance work in it gets tight before I get the main pot, but I've a few years salary stashed away.
Plus there is a certain smugness when people at work ask you where you are going and you just say, I'm not all being well this is my first step into retirement 

Golactico

Anonymous101 said:

Here's one for you.... I'm a spender, always have been. Its just since I learnt about FIRE 5-6 years ago I've made my pension and ISA the two things I spend on the most every month, alongside my mortgage. I've totally reframed my mindset to saving and now think of it as buying my freedom. No amount of stuff would make me as happy as having enough to not be reliant on having to work.

I like the 'buying my freedom' idea as that's exactly as I see it. I'm paid pretty much the average UK wage (just under 30K) but I stash away about a third of my income each month, without compromising my financial commitments to my family. I used to be a bit obsessive about getting the mortgage paid off and then I used that freed-up money to plan for my early exit from the rat race. I have very functional cars and phones, buy 90% second hand clothes and basically make it my business to get anything that I decide to buy at the cheapest possible price (i.e I've just bought a perfectly adequate bike for £35 on Ebay). These aren't sacrifices or compromises, as I believe in living sustainably anyway. It's not for everyone, but if someone only wants to wear a £35 M&S shirt once or twice and then stick it on Ebay, I'm very happy to take it off their hands for less than a tenner. Living this way means that for the last 6 or 7 years I've been able to save a tonne of cash each month. I'm lucky to have a final salary pension that kicks in at age 60, but I've put myself in a position that at Age 53, I'll be able to say goodbye to my 'proper' job and just pick up a bit of work here and there until state pension starts at 67.

Albermarle

Nebulous2 said:

I had a brief spell as a financial adviser. My boss had a client, music teacher, did private lessons in addition, had inherited an expensive house, no family, didn't drive - the only expensive purchase he had ever made was a decent piano. 

Every review the talk was about investments, increasing his return, making more money. My manager liked a sale, but he tried hard to encourage him to spend more, with no success. We speculated about where it would end but couldn't see the point. I left, so I never found out what happened to him. 

I think in another thread in the past , I saw another IFA make a similar comment . He spent many hours trying to persuade some customers to relax , they had enough , go and enjoy it, but no avail.

Anonymous101

Golactico said:

Anonymous101 said:

Here's one for you.... I'm a spender, always have been. Its just since I learnt about FIRE 5-6 years ago I've made my pension and ISA the two things I spend on the most every month, alongside my mortgage. I've totally reframed my mindset to saving and now think of it as buying my freedom. No amount of stuff would make me as happy as having enough to not be reliant on having to work.

I like the 'buying my freedom' idea as that's exactly as I see it. I'm paid pretty much the average UK wage (just under 30K) but I stash away about a third of my income each month, without compromising my financial commitments to my family. I used to be a bit obsessive about getting the mortgage paid off and then I used that freed-up money to plan for my early exit from the rat race. I have very functional cars and phones, buy 90% second hand clothes and basically make it my business to get anything that I decide to buy at the cheapest possible price (i.e I've just bought a perfectly adequate bike for £35 on Ebay). These aren't sacrifices or compromises, as I believe in living sustainably anyway. It's not for everyone, but if someone only wants to wear a £35 M&S shirt once or twice and then stick it on Ebay, I'm very happy to take it off their hands for less than a tenner. Living this way means that for the last 6 or 7 years I've been able to save a tonne of cash each month. I'm lucky to have a final salary pension that kicks in at age 60, but I've put myself in a position that at Age 53, I'll be able to say goodbye to my 'proper' job and just pick up a bit of work here and there until state pension starts at 67.

I agree its all about priorities. I often like to frame spending as choice.... Most people think of that through the lens of having an amount left per month after bills then make the choice of what to spend it on, perhaps a night out, some new clothes or save a bit for a holiday. I tend to look at it as if its a choice between how long I work and the item I'm tempted to buy. An expensive night out at £100 might be equivalent to a day or two's work, if that money was invested instead it could be a weeks' less work in 20 years!

Don't get me wrong I still spend on items I strictly don't need, I'm not enormously frugal, but its good to think through ones spending and approach it understanding the choices you're making. You're approaching it with eyes wide open where as most people just drift along and don't even consider the bigger picture. It just doesn't occur to them. 

blisteringblue

Anonymous101 said:

I tend to look at it as if its a choice between how long I work and the item I'm tempted to buy. An expensive night out at £100 might be equivalent to a day or two's work, if that money was invested instead it could be a weeks' less work in 20 years!

Totally agree with this one.  Part of my leaving process is a car as I've had a company car for 20 years.   This has gone from 20K for a new one, to 8K for a 2nd hand one, to nah, wife's car is fine, do we really need 2 cars at the moment.  8K is actually another 3 months I don't have to think about working.   It is all about the mindset.   I'm not one for new years resolutions either but we are trying to follow a minimalist ethos this year and spending on experiences rather than "stuff".    These are my great plans for retirement anyway.

german_keeper

I think it's just about spending what you want to spend as long as you can afford it and don't feel pressurised by other people or society in general. Learnt that from my dear old mum. She has been on the face of it very frugal in her retirement but she has lived her life exactly how she wanted to.

So using holidays as an example, for the last maybe 25 years my mum, nan (when she was alive),my 2 aunts (mum's sisters) and my aunt's female partner have hired a cottage in the UK 2 or 3 times a year. Even when they are away they only eat out occasionally, much prefer cooking something and having a relaxing evening in the cottage. Me and my 2 sisters would say to her "mum why don't you go abroad or try a cruise or something". She would say why should I do something I won't like when I can do something I absolutely love.

So as the years went by her savings grew and grew until about a year ago she had to go into a home. Her dementia is so bad that she is fully funded under Section 117. With her works pension, state pension and rent from her house, all of which were originally going to be to fund her care, our inheritance is effectively growing by the best part of 3 grand per month and is likely to be quite substantial! 

Now the thing is me and my wife are likely to be very comfortable when we retire in hopefully a couple of years time. But we have never had more than 40 grand per year coming in and we have brought 3 kids up and paid off the mortgage. I suppose we have been a bit like my mum, reasonably frugal but living our life exactly as we wanted. Again using holidays as an example when the kids were growing up we would alternate between Haven one year and abroad the next. But on our budget we were in 2 and 3 star territory. Apart from 1 place everywhere we went was lovely. At least to us. As a silver wedding present in Jan last year we treated ourselves to a 4 star in Tenerife, first holiday with just us 2 for 25 years. Absolutely wonderful but I really can't see us ever doing anything more luxurious than that. 

So it would seem likely that our 3 will inherit our house and anything we have left but I would expect my inheritance from my mum to skip a generation. I suppose it will then be up to them to try and break from family tradition and spend spend spend!!

cfw1994

Langtang said:

zagfles said:

Just walk into the bar of any big hostel and look around you. Then walk into the bar of a luxury hotel and look around you. Where do you think people are having a better time, where do you think it's easier to meet friendly people with whom you can a drink and a laugh and discuss your travels...

See the losers in the best bars
Meet the winners in the dives
Where the people are the real stars
All the rest of their lives

Neil Young... Sail Away. 

And he's a world-wide traveler
He's not like me or you
But he comes in mighty regular
For one who's passing through
That one came in his work clothes
He's missed his last bus home
He's missed a hell of a lot of buses
For a man who wants to roam

©The Beautiful South - probs my favourite bands of all time, some great lyrics in their songs!

gambleruk

Ok here is a thought, take early retirement at 50 with enough to get by on with a smallish pension pot in the future to bridge the gap to state pension. You enjoy the next 25 years staying fit and healthy and spending your money wisely, you then fall ill and are stuck in an average at best care home for the rest of your years for as long as that maybe as you have very little money left, do you think you would lie there and regret retiring early and enjoying your life at an early age and think damn I really should have worked another 15 years so I could pass away in a better care home ? Not trying to be morbid but just wondering where other peoples stance would be on this ? 

sheslookinhot

blisteringblue said:

I'm 53, I've been planning to retire at 55 since the mid 90s.  That plan was still on track but unfortunately my dad died last year.  Long and short thanks to unexpected inheritance I'm going now.  I'm definitely in the life is too short brigade, especially with the people we've lost early to Covid. 
I'm comfortable I've done my sums correct so thought sod it, lets do it.   Worse case I'm lucky I can do freelance work in it gets tight before I get the main pot, but I've a few years salary stashed away.
Plus there is a certain smugness when people at work ask you where you are going and you just say, I'm not all being well this is my first step into retirement 

Don’t call it retirement, call it vocational freedom

michaels

gambleruk said:

Ok here is a thought, take early retirement at 50 with enough to get by on with a smallish pension pot in the future to bridge the gap to state pension. You enjoy the next 25 years staying fit and healthy and spending your money wisely, you then fall ill and are stuck in an average at best care home for the rest of your years for as long as that maybe as you have very little money left, do you think you would lie there and regret retiring early and enjoying your life at an early age and think damn I really should have worked another 15 years so I could pass away in a better care home ? Not trying to be morbid but just wondering where other peoples stance would be on this ? 

I think it is very hard to judge what difference a nice care home as opposed to a shirty one would make to our older selves - especially as it will be for something between 0 days and 10+ years.....