FIREside Chats

becky_rtw

We do try to have regular conversations about chores and finances to make sure we are both happy with the balance, but appreciate it is difficult, I find its easy to get resentful after having done things, when the other doesnt even pick up on it (and that goes both ways!). 

Anyway, update from us. We've had an offer accepted on a house for us to buy. Our sale is progressing well, but we have lots of hoops to jump through. We're expecting 6-9 months from here. 

Not yet told work as although I have a 3 month notice, my need to keep working post sale will partially depend on tax burden and fees on the business sale. Hopefully in 3 months time we'll be much clearer on final timelines and costs and we can make a decision on me carrying on or not.

Suffolk_lass

becky_rtw said:

We do try to have regular conversations about chores and finances to make sure we are both happy with the balance, but appreciate it is difficult, I find its easy to get resentful after having done things, when the other doesnt even pick up on it (and that goes both ways!). 

Anyway, update from us. We've had an offer accepted on a house for us to buy. Our sale is progressing well, but we have lots of hoops to jump through. We're expecting 6-9 months from here. 

Not yet told work as although I have a 3 month notice, my need to keep working post sale will partially depend on tax burden and fees on the business sale. Hopefully in 3 months time we'll be much clearer on final timelines and costs and we can make a decision on me carrying on or not.

Exciting times for you - congratulations on the offer being accepted

becky_rtw

Suffolk_lass said:

Exciting times for you - congratulations on the offer being accepted

Trying to not plan too many holidays    

Retireinten

I'm around 6 weeks into my new job and it's been an 'up and down' few weeks to be honest. I work in Finance and I've walked out of one yearend into another and the place is really busy and disorganised. 

However this week has been much better and overall my work stress levels are significantly lower than they were at Christmas.  I've also given more thought to next year when we transfer back to the group company. In theory my current role won't exist as it supports companies that will close, so I think I may have a good chance at redundancy. There will also be duplication of resources across support services after transfer, which should strengthen the potential for a redundancy situation along with an ongoing need to make savings. Can't hang my hopes on this obviously but I think a lump sum cash boost will give me the option to essentially retire from accountancy in the next 2 years and look for a finance assistant role three days a week. I may have to work a few of years longer than planned but I'd essentially have the option to retire from my profession and 'semi retire' hours wise at my redundancy date and I think that would be better for my health. Overall my financial contribution would remain the same but I'd be taking a more scenic route to FIRE and retiring around the same time as my husband. 

Next job is to work out when I can make this change without a redundancy package easing the transition😊

FIRE wise, after a spendy couple of months we are slowly regaining control of the purse strings. I think we will be a bit over budget this month because we need to replace our bbq this weekend but that is a significant improvement on April and May🙄. Have a holiday to pay for next month but budgeted for and we are going to be sensible with spending whilst there.   Generally still on track, but it feels like we're playing a bit of a waiting game. If my work life settles down a bit - and there are signs it will - we need to refocus on enjoying the journey (without overspending and inadvertently lengthening the journey) 

Hope everyone else is doing okay with their plans. 

saver-j

I thought it was about 6 months since I last posted, turns out it's 9, how time flies!

So what have I been doing in the meantime...I have continued tracking expenses and now have over 12 months figures, I increased my pension contributions, I transferred one pension to another lower cost. 

Biggest thing is I will be changing job, I in fact have 2 potential opportunities.  I have pretty much decided which one I'd prefer, I just need to know they can / will accommodate the hours I want.  It would mean a move to a different field within my sector so hopefully gives me the chance to do something different, not quite what I meant about changing, but it may be enough.  It wouldn't be quite as well paid as I am now but not too different.  I know someone there and if what they've said is true it will be less stressful than my work now too.  I'm hoping that they'll allow a reduction in my hours from what I do now, though that will reduce my salary further of course.  The PT working is really important to me and if they can't accommodate PT hours then the other opportunity allows me the option of doing my current job at a new place.  That would be for more money, would still be PT, though wouldn't be able to reduce my hours more than now, which is what I'd ideally like.

Retireinten, I recall you commenting back when I first posted that my feelings around my job sounded similar to yours.  It sounds like we are still having similar thoughts, aiming for less stress now and reducing hours if possible sooner even if that might prolong the journey to full FIRE.

Things to do...

Ignore my pensions / ISA, other than to see if there's anything I can move in there now.  I admit I peeked earlier and the only positive I can see is that I could move a maturing RS in to take advantage of the falling markets, and that I won't need the money in there any time too soon.

Keep tracking expenses, will be interesting to see the impact of inflation over the next year.

If I don't put all the RS money into the ISA, and I probably do want some easy access for some upcoming expenses, then I need to open a Chase account to put it in for now.

Retireinten

Nice to read an update saver-J. It really does sound like we're going through a similar thought process workwise.  Hopefully your preferred job will accommodate the hours you want.

I feel like I've had a bit of an epithany recently. I'm still planning on sticking things out until late next year but the more scenic route to FIRE is definitely my ideal route now. The idea of retiring from my profession and semi retiring hours wise really appeals. For now it's worth waiting to find out the plans for the staff after the merge as that may turn into an opportunity for me and fingers crossed this job will continue to feel like a job (I literally felt like I'd sold my soul in my last job).

Good luck and let us know what you decide to do with the job offers. 

chile_paul2

Hi all, nice to find this thread with some other people heading towards FIRE and I like the idea of a safe space and a souding board to share progress and test out ideas.

I'm always quite self conscious about posting as I do appreciate I'm in a very fortunate position and there are many others on these boards and others that are struggling, especially in the current times - so I hope my post is taken in the right way. I always used to have my Dad to run ideas passed and to check I wasn't doing anything really crazy but he died last year and I do miss that sense check. I'm regularly asking myself what he would say but other friendly advice would be gratefully received.

Why am I investing? 

For freedom; to be able to do what I want without worrying about the financial consequences for me or my family. I've worked for large FTSE companies for the last 20ish years and have been lucky to have decent jobs and decent salaries - often with good and supportive bosses. However more and more (and especially following my Dad's death last year) I find myself questioning what's the point? What am I achieving, other than earning money? Is my life really only about making money or value for shareholders? In the last few years we've had several changes of CEO and senior leadership team with multiple reversals of direction and strategy, which just makes it worse as we repeat the same old arguments and decisions and don't materially move forward.

Whilst I think I will still work in some form when I've reached financial independence I'm seriously considering moving into the (significantly lower paid) charity or not for profit sector looking to use my skills to help fix some of the very serious challenges that we face as a society / planet.

I've previously considered going part time (and have previously posted on here to that effect) but in hindsight don't think that would remove my frustrations - equally I think it's very hard to do this effectively in the corporate sector without the work creeping into your days off.

How much do I think I'll need?

We don't consider that we have a particularly extravagant lifestyle - as a family of four (kids aged 6 and 10) we typically holiday in the UK and don't have any expensive hobbies - despite this we still somehow manage to spend on average £43k per annum, (that's including major capital purchases i.e. we had to have our boiler replaced this year)

On the basis of being financially independent if you have 25x your expenses saved, we would currently require an investment pot of £1,075,000 to draw on. Eek! The real picture is probably slightly better than that as once the kids move out expenses are likely to drop.

How am I going to get there? 

Having been bought up to save and invest from an early age (thanks again Dad!) and thanks to the advice from Martin L and people on these boards over the years we're in a good position.

My Financial Independence fund (net worth excluding equity) is just over £700k:
- I have a defined benefit (DB) pension worth circa £14k per annum payable from 65 (which I've valued using a CETV of £325k in the net worth calculation above)
- DC pensions in mine and DW's name of £133k
- S&S ISA's in both names of £237k
- Cash savings of £16k

Equity in our house (which I don't count in my FI fund) is £235k

How long do I have? 

That's a big question isn't it - how long do any of us have!

I'm currently 42. Based on my current saving rate I should hit my target FI fund in 5 years. If I jump ship earlier and move to a different role outside the corporate sector the magic of compounding should still work, but it would take closer to 8 years to hit my target.

Friendly thoughts and feedback welcome

becky_rtw

Welcome @chile_paul I dont have any advice on the savings and pensions stuff as we are doing ours a bit differently to others via selling a business and a building, but I would say that its worth running the numbers to see if reducing the amount you need yearly post FIRE can accelerate significantly the time required. 

Always worth knowing absolute minimum (for you and family) versus what you would like to have. Helps with exploring options as well. 

Also making sure everyone is on board with the ideas help massively, its always been a joint plan with me and hubby about retiring fairly early as we always run out of time before we run out of money. I've been the cash provider and he will bring the assets once all sold so we have to be aligned on spending at that point to ensure we dont overspend. Good habit to get into now if your are not already  

hugheskevi

chile_paul2 said:

We don't consider that we have a particularly extravagant lifestyle - as a family of four (kids aged 6 and 10) we typically holiday in the UK and don't have any expensive hobbies - despite this we still somehow manage to spend on average £43k per annum, (that's including major capital purchases i.e. we had to have our boiler replaced this year)

This is a very key point. From DB and 2 x State Pension you will have around £33,000. If you reduced outgoings a bit then your post State Pension age would be mostly covered by this, and you could consider deferring State Pension such that your guaranteed income fully covered expenses potentially.

That would leave the less predictable but tax advantaged DC pots to be used in the early part of retirement, from age 57 (minimum pension age) until around State Pension age or a little after. 

And that in turn leaves the less tax efficient S+S ISA for the pre age 57 period, along with earnings.

I think in your case I'd think about things more in terms of annual income for each period than total capital sum required and work out how much is needed in the DC and S+S ISA to meet the target (taking into account income tax). The CETV on the DB pension is low, and DB pension doesn't really benefit from compounding (the CETV should increase each year, other things being equal, but that doesn't affect the cash payable which is what matters to you).

An important thing to note is that once you have roughly enough to be financially independent, the impact of additional work - even at a low wage - is very significant. Even just doing a part-time job at around minimum wage would have a big impact, as in the years before age 57 it would all be income tax and NI free. So moving to a sort of lifestyle job can be a key role in risk reduction.

In general everything looks pretty sound and well, I think the plan could just do with a bit more detail to fine-tune target amounts.

Retireinten

I'd second looking at your situation in terms of annual income and how you fund that for each year of retirement. Your financials are similar to ours insofar as we have one good DB (£15.5k at 60 and still growing) plus DC and ISA savings. I don't look at my DB in terms of total value. I look at it as a guaranteed income from 60, which leaves another £22k (currently) or so to fund from other means. When the state pensions kick in we're pretty much sorted.