To those who retired early, what made you take the plunge (and any regrets?)

michaels

Ganga said:

ex-pat_scot said:

Mickey666 said:

Plodding on, stuck-in-a-rut, is often the easiest and most comfortable option because it's a known quantity.  You've likely been doing it for many years, decades probably, and you know where you are with it all.  Change means uncertainty and most people shy away from it, preferring the comfort of a known routine.

Redundancy, a health scare, death of a partner, etc - these are major things that can jolt people out of their rut because they usually have little or no control over such events.  It forces change upon them, which is an uncomfortable and stressful process because people prefer to be in control.  But I've lost count of how many times I've seen colleagues made redundant and who later said it was the best thing to have happened to them - not necessarily because they retired but because it forced them to reassess their situation in life and their subsequent decisions and changes were for the better.

Spot on.

I have broad plans (ie direction of travel).
i have set the compass in the direction towards ER (55 and 3 months, at latest calc), based on the firm foundations of £40,000 pa contributions, an aggressive investment approach (VWRL or equivalent - low cost global trackers 100%).
The market gods will gift me whatever they return.

I expect a life event to be the prompt, rather than hitting the FI target. Whether that is parental illness or care requirement, or self / spouse challenges, or something with the many children. I can't plan for these, other than to make sure we are fit, healthy and active, and support the children emotionally with as much nurture as we can muster.
Life will throw the curve balls, as it always does. "Gods laugh when men make plans" is ever true. But we can prepare to our best advantage, and have a flexible approach.
For my parents' generation, it was the untimely death of a sibling at age 49 from poor health and overwork that prompted many into ER. 

I don't know what my prompt might be, other than to be as ready as I can be for when or if it comes.
If that means I've not hit my number, then frankly I can (probably) live with it. 
The children can manage.
We can manage on less, if required. 
We'll have 2 x SP as the base layer of retirement.
I can still go consulting at £10,000 pm approx. Part time / full time / career break, if necessary.  Perhaps not my first choice, but an option nevertheless.

Is that PER MINUTE or PER MONTH ,great wages even if the second .

The company I work for would laugh in your face if you suggested you could have my services for only £500 per day - sadly I see the smallest fraction of what I bill- but then I do get sick, holiday and bank holiday pay and still get salary if I am not billable.

gtat

michaels said:

The company I work for would laugh in your face if you suggested you could have my services for only £500 per day - sadly I see the smallest fraction of what I bill- but then I do get sick, holiday and bank holiday pay and still get salary if I am not billable.

Does that include posting on MSE forums?

Albermarle

I find it astonishing that anyone could get 'a bit bored' because they don't have a job to occupy their time.  And also a little bit sad for them.

That is a common view/opinion on this forum , but not everybody thinks like that .

Many psychological studies show that work has more value than just earning money for many people.

Myself I am a bit 50:50 about it . There are good points about work, and not so good points. 

Everybody is different .

Ganga

I miss the banter and actually meeting people especially now that Covid has curtailed meeting people socially plus as my work took me to construction sites ,quarries etc i rarely had to purchase anything i needed for minor house repairs and NO i did not steal anything before the accusations begin ,everything obtained was given including the stick when my football club lost.

Retireinten

Mickey666 said:

ex-pat_scot said:

I don't know what my prompt might be, other than to be as ready as I can be for when or if it comes.

Exactly.  My aim was always to become financially independent as soon as possible. No mortgage, no debts, no other financial commitments, adequate savings, good pension(s), etc.  When you have that you have that most precious of things - choice and control.  In my case I chose to retire early but that's almost irrelevant.  The key point is that I had planned towards having that choice.

This is what we're aiming for, financial independence to give us the choice to either fully retire, go part time or have some time out and then look for something not too stressful.


My name sort of gives our timeline away, though with various tweaks to our pension savings and taking advantage of as many tax breaks as possible, we could achieve FI in less than 8 years from now, with a higher income target than needed.


But I'm one of the many people that has a job that simply serves a purpose - it pays the bills - it's definitely not a vocation (not anymore anyway).  Most of the time it's tolerable, but there have been times where work stress has almost got the better of me.


On the one hand it's great to be looking at comfortable FI by the age of 53, on the other hand 7 or 8 years is still a long time to work in an environment that isn't necessarily the healthiest.  But the job and the perks are a massive contributor to our ability to achieve FI, so I feel like I'm already in the trap of 'one more year', because my job keeps us on track for FI and a change could threaten that.



I'm not workshy, I suspect if I did take the leap and found the love for a new job again the urge to retire would much reduce. 

For now I take comfort that every month is a month closer to FI

Dansmam

Langtang said:

Albermarle said:

There are a lot of positive stories here about early retirement but the title of the thread is 

To those who retired early, what made you take the plunge (and any regrets?)

Surely at least some people must regret retiring early ? Maybe they are just shy to admit it , or not the types to inhabit this forum ?

I would assume that people don’t want to admit mistake. I find the same thing on the savings & investment board. You never see people posting that they’ve made a loss, or a mistake, and yet people always tell you to do your own research. Everyone on that board bought the right thing at the right time, and sold at the right time also making big profit. Maybe there needs to be a fisherman’s tales board..... 

Ah, maybe like me people read the question to be about the psychological/happiness side of retirement not the money side. Happy to fess up to many a money regret - bringing up kids on credit and remortgaging through the 90s, not looking much into pension until I was 50, not realising earlier that I'd have been able to go (more) years before DB if I'd put savings into a SIPP rather than ISAs and an AVC tied to the DB (though I have that to look forward to). There will be more, that's just what springs to mind, but going early and having the freedom to get up each day with no work worries and no plans but my own - no regrets at all.

ErinGoBrath

I will admit a mistake. I made a 90% loss on a purchase of Marconi (EPIC = MONI) . It was about £18,000 altogether. Lucky to get £2,000 back as it went to zero a few months later.

Now I only deal in funds. Lesson learnt.

ex-pat_scot

Ganga said:

ex-pat_scot said:

I don't know what my prompt might be, other than to be as ready as I can be for when or if it comes.
If that means I've not hit my number, then frankly I can (probably) live with it. 
The children can manage.
We can manage on less, if required. 
We'll have 2 x SP as the base layer of retirement.
I can still go consulting at £10,000 pm approx. Part time / full time / career break, if necessary.  Perhaps not my first choice, but an option nevertheless.

Is that PER MINUTE or PER MONTH ,great wages even if the second .

Per month - my consulting day rate would be approx £600 per day, and slightly less on a permanent salary basis.
I do appreciate that it is lofty, but makes the "one more year" consideration a bit more awkward.
It does mean that I am a handsome contributor to HMRC

Ibrahim5

I had a very sociable job so being retired and in lockdown I have sometimes thought I would be better working. However having tasted freedom I couldn't return. The noise of the alarm clock. The stress. You remember all the reasons that made you want to retire early. Retirement is great if you aren't locked down.

michaels

My biggest hindsight mistakes:
Not starting to fund DW (non-earners) pension by 3.6k pa until about 5 years ago
Sticking with my employers default  pension fund (SW pension portfolio 2) thinking it was 'probably ok' for 25 years
Sticking with SW thinking that the saving in fees from moving elsewhere wouldn't be worth the hassle
Picking a two year mortgage fix rather than a lifetime below base tracker when remortgaging in 2008 when the projected 2 year costs were pretty similar.