How close am I to my early retirement?

IamWood

london21 said:

Your current pension pot is quite good.

Great bold move to take on the new role, all the best.

The main thing I got from your post is that you take action quickly.

When it comes to investing do take your time to do research and due diligence before you invest your 250K and diversify if investing in funds, shares etc  .

Thanks for your advice. My wife often complains about that too. I had a name for it in my house

IamWood

gtat said:

michaels said:

MallyGirl said:

If you are just looking at cutting down the commute (time and cost) maybe consider stops a bit closer in to London that are on the new Elizabeth Line - Slough, Iver, Langley? It will probably be cheaper than Reading which has extortionate fares given the length of the train journey

You clearly have more faith in that line opening anytime soon than I do....

The Western part of the 'Elizabeth Line' route in to Paddington is already operating (as 'TFL Rail').

Any idea of the cost of the TLF Rail ticket?

Still pondering

gtat

I'm not sure but you should be able to find it easily online. I believe you can use Oyster card/ contactless pay per journey. 

IamWood

A quick update:

I've formally withdrawn my purchase for the Reading flat and started to look for temporary accommodation in London for 3/4 nights a week at a budget of £500-600 per month.

ex-pat_scot

IamWood said:

A quick update:

I've formally withdrawn my purchase for the Reading flat and started to look for temporary accommodation in London for 3/4 nights a week at budget £500-600 per month.

Pre Covid, I used to rent a room in London for approx £500 pm. Many of my colleagues did likewise. We'd usually work 3-4 days a week in London, then head home oop North and WFH as much as we could.
I don't expect to be doing that again - perhaps one overnight per week on average once Covid abates, and for that I'd rather find a cheap B&B.

IamWood

ex-pat_scot said:

IamWood said:

A quick update:

I've formally withdrawn my purchase for the Reading flat and started to look for temporary accommodation in London for 3/4 nights a week at budget £500-600 per month.

Pre Covid, I used to rent a room in London for approx £500 pm. Many of my colleagues did likewise. We'd usually work 3-4 days a week in London, then head home oop North and WFH as much as we could.
I don't expect to be doing that again - perhaps one overnight per week on average once Covid abates, and for that I'd rather find a cheap B&B.

Thanks for your advice, @ex-pat_scot

My employer wants me to be in the office for 3/4 days for the initial period (hopefully for a couple of months). I can renegotiate the work schedule after I get used to the system. I will do the same if I have fewer working days in the office.

I believe it worked well for you to rent a room. As a middle-aged man, I prefer renting as a lodger rather than in a shared house. Any advice on this? 

Thank you very much!

IamWood

Just come here for an update.

I received my first paycheck today from the new job mentioned above. Work is so far so good. I'm glad I've made the move. The work is challenging but not as stressful as I imagined . My manager also told me I only need to work in the office for 2/3 days a week without me asking .

I'm not sure if this is the right question to ask or not:

To make the hard-earned money more tax efficient. Is there anything I can do? I used most of my last 2 years' carry-forward pension contributions through SIPP at the beginning of the year . I also contribute about 20% of my income to my new work pension (+10% from my employer).

Any advice is welcome.

ex-pat_scot

IamWood said:

ex-pat_scot said:

IamWood said:

A quick update:

I've formally withdrawn my purchase for the Reading flat and started to look for temporary accommodation in London for 3/4 nights a week at budget £500-600 per month.

Pre Covid, I used to rent a room in London for approx £500 pm. Many of my colleagues did likewise. We'd usually work 3-4 days a week in London, then head home oop North and WFH as much as we could.
I don't expect to be doing that again - perhaps one overnight per week on average once Covid abates, and for that I'd rather find a cheap B&B.

Thanks for your advice, @ex-pat_scot

My employer wants me to be in the office for 3/4 days for the initial period (hopefully for a couple of months). I can renegotiate the work schedule after I get used to the system. I will do the same if I have fewer working days in the office.

I believe it worked well for you to rent a room. As a middle-aged man, I prefer renting as a lodger rather than in a shared house. Any advice on this? 

Thank you very much!

I rented an attic room from a friend. I did rent in a shared house for a while, but it was a little awkward where some lived there and a couple of us just used it as a crash pad.
At the moment I have no plans to repeat. Whilst it's nice to have a bit of a base and to store stuff, it's a very expensive way of doing things when you are not there much

IamWood

ex-pat_scot said:

IamWood said:

ex-pat_scot said:

IamWood said:

A quick update:

I've formally withdrawn my purchase for the Reading flat and started to look for temporary accommodation in London for 3/4 nights a week at budget £500-600 per month.

Pre Covid, I used to rent a room in London for approx £500 pm. Many of my colleagues did likewise. We'd usually work 3-4 days a week in London, then head home oop North and WFH as much as we could.
I don't expect to be doing that again - perhaps one overnight per week on average once Covid abates, and for that I'd rather find a cheap B&B.

Thanks for your advice, @ex-pat_scot

My employer wants me to be in the office for 3/4 days for the initial period (hopefully for a couple of months). I can renegotiate the work schedule after I get used to the system. I will do the same if I have fewer working days in the office.

I believe it worked well for you to rent a room. As a middle-aged man, I prefer renting as a lodger rather than in a shared house. Any advice on this? 

Thank you very much!

I rented an attic room from a friend. I did rent in a shared house for a while, but it was a little awkward where some lived there and a couple of us just used it as a crash pad.
At the moment I have no plans to repeat. Whilst it's nice to have a bit of a base and to store stuff, it's a very expensive way of doing things when you are not there much

Yes, indeed as I just found out this month.

I have been working from home for 3 weeks but still paying my monthly rent. I terminate my contract and am looking for an alternative solution from April. Fortunately, I only need one month notice for it.

IamWood

Just to keep my posts in one thread

Thinking of taking mortgage offer to make some free money 🤔.

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