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

cfw1994

george_jetson said:

cfw1994 said:

trevjl said:

ajfielden said:

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.

Not reversing I hope

Some advice I saw on vans v caravans was if you planned long stays (5+ days), a caravan is good…if you stay only a couple of nights, a campervan.  Probably puts us in campervan territory….but then I figure the upfront cost covers a lot of hotels or B&Bs, especially if combined with a bit of camping.

VW Caddy California mini camper might be a compromise that works for you. Due out next year I think

Maybe.  Quite small though: my XC60 has a flat rear, we could pop a rear awning and a mattress on that if we wanted 🤣

The Amdro system looked quite cool when I was perusing a few years back (more here).  Of course I am the master of prevarication, so we just camp and cook like regular camp & cookers!

Sea_Shell

I fancy doing something like that, but using the car and self catering accommodation!

Nebulous2

cfw1994 said:

trevjl said:

ajfielden said:

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.

Not reversing I hope

Are you planning some formal training on it? 

Some advice I saw on vans v caravans was if you planned long stays (5+ days), a caravan is good…if you stay only a couple of nights, a campervan.  Probably puts us in campervan territory….but then I figure the upfront cost covers a lot of hotels or B&Bs, especially if combined with a bit of camping.

Have I gone off-topic again? 🤪

There are compromises involved with both. Most motorhomes are very tight for us with two dogs. They can be difficult and unwieldly to park in towns. A lot of the places we have been in France / Spain have underground car parks, that are difficult for bigger vehicles to park. You would generally need another vehicle in addition to your motorhome, especially if working and commuting.  Advantages include wild camping and using Aires which doesn't really work for a caravan. 

We don't put up an awning in the caravan, so setting up is relatively straightforward although I generally prefer several nights.

You need to use both regularly for the economics to work. I know people with motorhomes that are rarely used where it must be costing them £1000 a night when you factor in depreciation, insurance sites, servicing etc. I really don't get why they bother. 

We've camped in big and small tents, used a folding camper, built our own campervan, shamelessly borrowed my parents caravan and had several caravans ourselves. Our first decent caravan we used for over 60 nights in the first year. It calmed down a bit after that, but there was no doubt we got good value from it. Our retirement plans were to spend all winter in France / Spain and summers here, so again the economics would work. 

bluenose1

Sea_Shell said:

I fancy doing something like that, but using the car and self catering accommodation!

Same here, I am a nervous car passenger so don’t think I could cope if my oh was driving anything bigger!!!
We have just had a fab break in Dolgellau, never heard of it before but was recommended by a camper van friend, who does a lot of holidays/travelling. It was a lot quieter than Snowdon in general, even of a weekend the carparks were empty and there are so many brilliant walks in the area. The scenery was stunning.

Paid £400 for a 3 night break in a 2 bedroom really nice airbnb apartment in the centre of town for 4 of us which I didn’t think was bad.
Only downside was we were there when it was really hot. One of the days i did over 30,000 steps, a lot of it uphill and was ready to self combust. Though a few cocktails in the evening helped my recovery.

LV_426

bluenose1 said:

We have just had a fab break in Dolgellau, 

I read that initially as Dol Guldur. That's somewhere you definitely don't want to holiday

QrizB

ajfielden said:

bluenose1 said:

We have just had a fab break in Dolgellau,

I read that initially as Dol Guldur. That's somewhere you definitely don't want to holiday

I could quite fancy a week's pony trekking in Rohan, or rafting on the Anduin.

(We've just recently re-watched the movies ...)

MallyGirl

bluenose1 said:

Sea_Shell said:

I fancy doing something like that, but using the car and self catering accommodation!

Same here, I am a nervous car passenger so don’t think I could cope if my oh was driving anything bigger!!!
We have just had a fab break in Dolgellau, never heard of it before but was recommended by a camper van friend, who does a lot of holidays/travelling. It was a lot quieter than Snowdon in general, even of a weekend the carparks were empty and there are so many brilliant walks in the area. The scenery was stunning.

Paid £400 for a 3 night break in a 2 bedroom really nice airbnb apartment in the centre of town for 4 of us which I didn’t think was bad.
Only downside was we were there when it was really hot. One of the days i did over 30,000 steps, a lot of it uphill and was ready to self combust. Though a few cocktails in the evening helped my recovery.

My OH proposed to me on millennium eve in Dolgellau
We were lucky that we did the Lakes the week before the heatwave - day 1 ended up as 35,000 steps and 1km elevation gained. The route chooser (OH) was not massively popular!

finance101

Apologies for returning to the original topic (!) but this topic really interests me, and the comments are fascinating.  I'm 46, and have been planning for a while to retire early, when I can access DC pensions, so 57 for me.  However I have had a big focus on paying off the mortgage early (50 target) and I've started running scenarios where I don't do that, keep the savings and use them to bridge the gap till I can access the DC assets, and quit at 50.  Like many others I have an old DB scheme and that plus the state pension will give me a baseline income from 60, rising when state pension kicks in at 67.  I could downsize to get rid of the mortgage (although I have no desire to, i love my home), but running the scenarios has made me more aware of all the levers I have available to pull.  I'm trying to run a range of ideas to look for worst case and disaster scenarios at the moment.

I find the more I think about it the more it appeals!  It's not that I necessarily would quit but knowing I could seems very freeing.  Part time or lower paid work would also be an option for bridging the gap.  I do like my job, and live a good life while saving quite hard. I'm not a fan of full FIRE, that seems too much like jam tomorrow and no jam today, but I'm paid well and having seen a lot of colleagues match their spending to their income and being locked into high stress lives just to keep even, I want to be sure I bank some of the winnings.  I've looked at the boards where people with lower incomes have gone early and are living very frugally- I could do that now, I'm sure I would live a lot cheaper in retirement based on Covid experience but I don't want to stop and have no money for holidays and live in fear of a large bill.  So I think the goal is 50, but that means accepting burning assets and a greater level of uncertainty than going later.  Seems worth the risk though!

MaxiRobriguez

My goal is also 50.

No DB schemes for me as I'm a millenial and we aren't allowed to have nice things. Forecast to have about £250k-£300k in my S+S ISA by then, which I'll drawdown on until 55 at which point can access pension, which hopefully will have £800k+ in it, which should be enough to keep me going til I croak it. Expecting to withdraw about £30k annually, reducing when state pension kicks in, assuming it does by time I get there.

Unlike most I'm planning to carry mortgage into retirement, to take advantage of salary sacrifice scheme (again, assuming in one, and assuming it's still worthwhile) as I'll have fewer years of being able to utilise that.

Looking at my calculators every other week keeps me going at work. I like the feeling that I'm getting closer to being able to wave byebye and do so when absolutely no one expects.

AlanP_2

MaxiRobriguez said:

My goal is also 50.

No DB schemes for me as I'm a millenial and we aren't allowed to have nice things. Forecast to have about £250k-£300k in my S+S ISA by then, which I'll drawdown on until 55 at which point can access pension, which hopefully will have £800k+ in it, which should be enough to keep me going til I croak it. Expecting to withdraw about £30k annually, reducing when state pension kicks in, assuming it does by time I get there.

Unlike most I'm planning to carry mortgage into retirement, to take advantage of salary sacrifice scheme (again, assuming in one, and assuming it's still worthwhile) as I'll have fewer years of being able to utilise that.

Looking at my calculators every other week keeps me going at work. I like the feeling that I'm getting closer to being able to wave byebye and do so when absolutely no one expects.

You work for the wrong employer then 

I work at a local authority and there are many millenial employees enjoying access to a DB.

Both my sons are in the private sector and both have / had DB schemes. One has changed jobs so his is deferred now, the other is still an active member.

Your choices, not your age, mean you don't have a DB pension.