Would you retire really early and burn down most of your DC pension assets?

pensionpawn

af1963 said:

For now I'll just bask in the knowledge I don't have to work. Think the freedom of being able to say just what you want

Joking, I'm not like that, but this may explain the behaviour of certain individuals I've worked with in the past

Also don't underestimate how it can change your attitude to work, knowing you're there voluntarily and not because you need to keep the job for financial reasons. You can pay less attention to the "politics" and "unreasonable people" that you mentioned in your original post , and depending on what the job is, you may be able to pick and choose assignments.  Reduce your hours if that suits you.  Then leave when you're ready.

Have no guilt about adopting this attitude, because good employers actually stand to benefit from having people who feel able to speak their mind and challenge things. 

This is a very important point. I have had that chat with management so that they now know that I'm in the office only because it suits me. I made it perfectly clear that I wasn't threatening them or trying to extract cushy tasks, merely that if I don't like it anymore I can just slip away. I joke to colleagues about identifying potential 'RTE's' (retirement trigger events). It keeps the topic humorously in the open. Many of us are good at our jobs however just can't be doing anymore with the bureaucracy, inept managers, lack of resources etc and are just hanging in there because we actually enjoy the job we were initially employed to do. However there comes a tipping point, which has arrived for two of my colleagues recently, and for me and my wife that isn't too far (well, I know it's already passed for her) away!

cfw1994

pensionpawn said:

af1963 said:

For now I'll just bask in the knowledge I don't have to work. Think the freedom of being able to say just what you want

Joking, I'm not like that, but this may explain the behaviour of certain individuals I've worked with in the past

Also don't underestimate how it can change your attitude to work, knowing you're there voluntarily and not because you need to keep the job for financial reasons. You can pay less attention to the "politics" and "unreasonable people" that you mentioned in your original post , and depending on what the job is, you may be able to pick and choose assignments.  Reduce your hours if that suits you.  Then leave when you're ready.

Have no guilt about adopting this attitude, because good employers actually stand to benefit from having people who feel able to speak their mind and challenge things. 

This is a very important point. I have had that chat with management so that they now know that I'm in the office only because it suits me. I made it perfectly clear that I wasn't threatening them or trying to extract cushy tasks, merely that if I don't like it anymore I can just slip away. I joke to colleagues about identifying potential 'RTE's' (retirement trigger events). It keeps the topic humorously in the open. Many of us are good at our jobs however just can't be doing anymore with the bureaucracy, inept managers, lack of resources etc and are just hanging in there because we actually enjoy the job we were initially employed to do. However there comes a tipping point, which has arrived for two of my colleagues recently, and for me and my wife that isn't too far (well, I know it's already passed for her) away!

That is an excellent point indeed!

In my industry there was always the faint whiff of RIFs (reduction in force) which might have led to a handy option to be given redundancy (although our team rarely got impacted because of our roles)…
….so I didn’t make it widely known, but my immediate manager and his boss were aware over 6 months ahead of time (I wouldn’t advise others to do the same without knowing their position).

It was a very ‘liberating’ roll down towards the leaving.  

Indeed, I spent a good chunk of my final month constructing a 20-minute leaving zoom - no option for a beery party, so I entertained a large number global pals (including some who no longer worked with me) for what then turned into an hour of banter, pictures and tales….which I can watch again whenever I want now.  Well, I enjoyed it 🤣👍

Again, no option to reduce hours for me: frankly, I wouldn’t have wanted to…it would have still consumed too much of my brain capacity even with 2 or 3 days a week.


Coming back to the headline question…..I’d ask “why wouldn’t you?”.  

So far as we know, we only pass through this place once….if you can take more time to build and work on your own ToDo list without the shackles of daily work interfering, why not!   

IdrisJazz

I have read this thread with great interest.  One thought that strikes me is not a financial one:

It is important to get as much as possible from life BEFORE retirement as well as after it. Don't wait until you finish work to pick up those hobbies or do your travelling. If you can enjoy a balanced life despite your job working a bit later in life needn't be a hardship.

2 years ago we decided suddenly to move near the sea, and effectively started with a clean sheet in terms of activities and responsibilities. I'm fortunate enough to work from home for the time being and I'm enjoying the lifestyle.

At the moment, I'm planning to retire at 65 but might see what is doable at 60 closer to the time. There may be some inheritance at come point to help with that...

I'm conscious that once you pull the plug you might not have a choice to go back the other way, Finding work may not be possible at 70 if your funds are getting too low for comfort!

pensionpawn

IdrisJazz said:

I have read this thread with great interest.  One thought that strikes me is not a financial one:

It is important to get as much as possible from life BEFORE retirement as well as after it. Don't wait until you finish work to pick up those hobbies or do your travelling. If you can enjoy a balanced life despite your job working a bit later in life needn't be a hardship.

2 years ago we decided suddenly to move near the sea, and effectively started with a clean sheet in terms of activities and responsibilities. I'm fortunate enough to work from home for the time being and I'm enjoying the lifestyle.

At the moment, I'm planning to retire at 65 but might see what is doable at 60 closer to the time. There may be some inheritance at come point to help with that...

I'm conscious that once you pull the plug you might not have a choice to go back the other way, Finding work may not be possible at 70 if your funds are getting too low for comfort!

Which is why I'm going to go part time for a year (min) first. If I like my job even more because I'm not there so much, or I find that my reduced income (which will be similar to my planned draw down rate) isn't sufficient, I'll carry on for a second, third year to allow my pot to grow further (permitting a higher draw down rate). If I find that I'm still comfortable at that level I may pull the rip cord after a year. There's always the possibility of returning back to FT, however that very much depends on whether your manager recruits to fill your gap your PT creates....

Terron

I was made redundant at 54 with no real prospect of getting a job using my skills. I considered living off my assets until my pensions kicked in and once I saw it was possible I felt a lot more comfortable. Still living off my capital felt wrong. So instead I put it to work through BTLs and lived off the income from that (topped up with burning a little capital to begin with). Now I have the BTLs and some pensions and am making more than I can spend (due to Corvid).

I use agents to do as much of the work for the BTLs as I can so it take little time, but I still don't have enough time to do all I would like to do.

thickasabrick

ajfielden said:

snip

So what to do? Burning most of the pension assets seems scary, but then it looks like I've massively over provisioned in terms of pension schemes if they aren't used. After all, they are there to provide us with financial support in retirement.

Btw I'm getting seriously fed up with work, even though it's a job I've loved most of my career, I get somewhat jaded by the poltics and dealing with unreasonable people. That is one reason I've been looking into pensions recently.

A. Noonan Moose and his "Wasting Asset Retirement Model".
Article on JL Collins refers to net worth , burn rate and life expectancy from your current age.

I've just handed in my notice. Final day will be just after I reach 55.
I'll be burning my DC pension pot at a faster rate for the next couple of years to cover some travelling we want to do.

Thrugelmir

thickasabrick said:

ajfielden said:

snip

So what to do? Burning most of the pension assets seems scary, but then it looks like I've massively over provisioned in terms of pension schemes if they aren't used. After all, they are there to provide us with financial support in retirement.

Btw I'm getting seriously fed up with work, even though it's a job I've loved most of my career, I get somewhat jaded by the poltics and dealing with unreasonable people. That is one reason I've been looking into pensions recently.

I'll be burning my DC pension pot at a faster rate for the next couple of years to cover some travelling we want to do.

There's certainly plenty to visit in the UK. 

thickasabrick

Thrugelmir said:

thickasabrick said:

ajfielden said:

snip

So what to do? Burning most of the pension assets seems scary, but then it looks like I've massively over provisioned in terms of pension schemes if they aren't used. After all, they are there to provide us with financial support in retirement.

Btw I'm getting seriously fed up with work, even though it's a job I've loved most of my career, I get somewhat jaded by the poltics and dealing with unreasonable people. That is one reason I've been looking into pensions recently.

I'll be burning my DC pension pot at a faster rate for the next couple of years to cover some travelling we want to do.

There's certainly plenty to visit in the UK. 

Just back from a two week trip in the UK.  Will be glad when I don't have to rush back for work as we skipped a few places and reduced some of our stopovers to 1 day due to distance and time constraints. Total driving time 41 hours, total distance travelled 1500 miles. There is a 2/2/2 rule for RV/motorhome travel, stop every 2 hours, max 200 miles, stay minimum of 2 nights. I think for the UK probably better to stop and swap driver every hour, max 2 hours driving which equates to 100 miles which is more suited to Great Britain.

LV_426

Thrugelmir said:

There's certainly plenty to visit in the UK. 

Definitely. I just today pulled the trigger on ordering a caravan. All part of my financial plan. It's an even bigger incentive to pack it all in and travel around. European tours also beckon.

LV_426

thickasabrick said:

Just back from a two week trip in the UK.  Will be glad when I don't have to rush back for work as we skipped a few places and reduced some of our stopovers to 1 day due to distance and time constraints. Total driving time 41 hours, total distance travelled 1500 miles. There is a 2/2/2 rule for RV/motorhome travel, stop every 2 hours, max 200 miles, stay minimum of 2 nights. I think for the UK probably better to stop and swap driver every hour, max 2 hours driving which equates to 100 miles which is more suited to Great Britain.

This will be me pretty soon. Just got to train the Mrs up on how to tow a caravan.