FIREside Chats

the_end_of_the_rainbow

gallygirl said:

Interesting to read everyone's updates. It's a long slog when you're relying on S&S ISA's and pensions as the milestones are large and stretched out.

As well as a SIPP I used BTL's for my 'pension' and the plan was always to retire when the mortgages were paid off (or fully offset). With different rental payment dates plus payday and little dribs and drabs from eBay etc there was always something going on to update spreadsheets for and the amounts involved were more manageable (e.g. "if I can find another 32 pounds it will knock a month off mortgage x" or "I only need 51 pounds to drop below the next thousand pounds/increase % paid off etc). It was addictive and kept me interested. Maybe you could run little side challenges to raise 100/500/1000 to add to an ISA etc - "do I really want that coffee or get myself 3% closer to target?" etc?

Coming up for 7 years since I took the plunge at 53 and a half. Never regretted it, never been bored and the SIPP is worth the same now as it was 5 and a half years ago when I turned 55, even though I took 25% tax free. About to blow 10k on a holiday to Antarctica (hopefully, if it isn't cancelled). You won't lie on your deathbed and wish you'd worked for longer.

@gallygirl - can't believe its been 7 years since you retired.  Yours was a diary that I always followed and it was instrumental in giving me the inspiration to become MF.  We've just handed our notices in at work so will be fully FIRE'd by the summer - I can't wait but DH is a still little unsure about what he will do with all his free time.

PS. Would love to hear more about your life in Spain.  

hugheskevi

powerspowers said:

I was shocked at the difference between the db and dc pensions and hadn’t realised how low auto enroll is! There will be a lot of people on low incomes who feel they are doing the right thing (often struggling to do so) who will be disappointed when their pot is next to nothing. 

Just a point of terminology, but you mean you are shocked at how low statutory minimum pension contributions are. Automatic enrolment is used by all schemes, including Defined Benefit schemes, and can have whatever contributions an employer wishes, subject to statutory minimum levels being provided.

It is concerning how many people you come across who will say something like "I didn't start to save into a pension until I was 30, but I save through my employer now so that is all fine" - without any consideration of the consequences of starting to save late, whether they are saving enough, what their contribution levels are, or even what type of pension they have.

savingholmes

Well done on helping your mum. I agree about many people being disappointed at retirement. I have a DB pension - but it still costs me 8.5% a month. A lot more than most people pay on auto enrol who think they are covered

South_coast

hugheskevi said:

It is concerning how many people you come across who will say something like "I didn't start to save into a pension until I was 30, but I save through my employer now so that is all fine" - without any consideration of the consequences of starting to save late, whether they are saving enough, what their contribution levels are, or even what type of pension they have.

Those people will still be in a better position than if the Govt hadn't introduced auto enrolment though! There does need to be some level of personal responsibility taken though, rather than assuming you're going to be taken care of because you're paying in, as I agree the statutory minimums are pants!

gallygirl

the_end_of_the_rainbow said:

gallygirl said:

Interesting to read everyone's updates. It's a long slog when you're relying on S&S ISA's and pensions as the milestones are large and stretched out.

As well as a SIPP I used BTL's for my 'pension' and the plan was always to retire when the mortgages were paid off (or fully offset). With different rental payment dates plus payday and little dribs and drabs from eBay etc there was always something going on to update spreadsheets for and the amounts involved were more manageable (e.g. "if I can find another 32 pounds it will knock a month off mortgage x" or "I only need 51 pounds to drop below the next thousand pounds/increase % paid off etc). It was addictive and kept me interested. Maybe you could run little side challenges to raise 100/500/1000 to add to an ISA etc - "do I really want that coffee or get myself 3% closer to target?" etc?

Coming up for 7 years since I took the plunge at 53 and a half. Never regretted it, never been bored and the SIPP is worth the same now as it was 5 and a half years ago when I turned 55, even though I took 25% tax free. About to blow 10k on a holiday to Antarctica (hopefully, if it isn't cancelled). You won't lie on your deathbed and wish you'd worked for longer.

@gallygirl - can't believe its been 7 years since you retired.  Yours was a diary that I always followed and it was instrumental in giving me the inspiration to become MF.  We've just handed our notices in at work so will be fully FIRE'd by the summer - I can't wait but DH is a still little unsure about what he will do with all his free time.

PS. Would love to hear more about your life in Spain.  

Glad I helped a little on your journey! Congratulations on handing in your notices. DH has plenty of time to think what he'd like to do.

So it`s seven years almost to the day (was either the 22nd or 23rd of December) since I handed in my notice, 6yrs 9.5 months since I left. I moved out finally in the May. We're in a little town on the coast in Almeria, the hottest and driest part of Spain (yeah in winter, not so yeah in summer!).  Life's not perfect - turns out when you retire you still have to do housework and admin - but you have to do it IN YOUR OWN TIME , but it's as good as it gets. I've a great circle of friends and go to the gym six times a week. Mr GG golfs and plays padel, then we meet up at home and have stuff to talk about! We've travelled a bit in Spain, obviously not much in the last two years, hopefully more to come next year. One disappointing thing is our Spanish is not as good as I'd hoped - almost everyone speaks English so it's easy to get lazy. Renewed efforts next year.

I can honestly say I've never been bored - life is good! Please don't be afraid to take the leap!

powerspowers

Thanks for sharing Gallygirl! I was an au pair in Madrid, didn’t learn any Spanish either! 

edinburgher

@gallygirl - gym 6 times a week? Wow!

CCW007

Still reading through this thread but have learnt so much already which I need to factor in.

I must admit I had assumed that the increase of age to access pensions to 57 (or 58) would apply retrospectively so have been working to those timescales.  I hadn't realised there is a chance I would be able to access my SIPP at 55; although having just checked, all the paperwork says 55, I just assumed it would change in due course.

Sounds silly but since I took out my first private pension at 20 paying £50 a month, I have always worked on the assumption I would retire at 55 so it was a bit of a disappointment to see that increase to 57 (even if I had no idea how I would make it happen on £50 a month!)  This has given me renewed vigour to sit down with my partner and make a plan.   

I do regret that during my 20s I didn't pay into my work pension because I was still paying the £50 to my private pension which I never increased.  Thankfully work pension was non-contributory and company paid 5% regardless, increasing to 7% later on.  When I got a promotion and 30% pay rise at 30, I did finally do the sensible thing and started paying 10% in on the rule of thumb that you halve the age you start paying into a pension and pay that % in so with employers contribution 17% was going in.   Glad I did as that formed a good part of the funds I transferred into the SIPP in March this year. 

Gallygirl, I used to read your diary as inspiration so it's great to hear the perspective of someone who has made it work for them.  

chicker

gallygirl said:

Glad I helped a little on your journey! Congratulations on handing in your notices. DH has plenty of time to think what he'd like to do.

So it`s seven years almost to the day (was either the 22nd or 23rd of December) since I handed in my notice, 6yrs 9.5 months since I left. I moved out finally in the May. We're in a little town on the coast in Almeria, the hottest and driest part of Spain (yeah in winter, not so yeah in summer!).  Life's not perfect - turns out when you retire you still have to do housework and admin - but you have to do it IN YOUR OWN TIME , but it's as good as it gets. I've a great circle of friends and go to the gym six times a week. Mr GG golfs and plays padel, then we meet up at home and have stuff to talk about! We've travelled a bit in Spain, obviously not much in the last two years, hopefully more to come next year. One disappointing thing is our Spanish is not as good as I'd hoped - almost everyone speaks English so it's easy to get lazy. Renewed efforts next year.

I can honestly say I've never been bored - life is good! Please don't be afraid to take the leap!

GG I'm another one who found your journey hugely inspiring! I had a different username back then though. I can't believe it has been so long! Thank you for the update - it really helps to remember why we are all doing this. 

Chicker

becky_rtw

Wellll we've had an interesting few days...

Previous plan was to both retire in Dec 2025, move to France, buy a big house and live the dream.

Anyway we've been looking at other options, partly because the pandemic has removed the ability to just 'pop' back to the UK if needed. 

Upshot of that is we have worked out OH can retire now. Woohoo. 

Its not as simple as merely deciding as he has a business to sell, but its a great feeling to know that the finances are better than we thought. 

We're spending some time thinking through options and going from there. No decisions made yet, but lots of exciting possibilities.