What's your next milestone on the savings journey?

MaxiRobriguez

Sea_Shell said:

Our target was £500k, which we hit it Feb 19.  We then pulled the trigger to both stop working.

By the time I actually finished work, the pot had increased to £550k.

Now, after not working since July 19, the pot stands at £645k, net of our spends over that period.

Our "target" is to start spending it!!!     No more "biscuit barrel" for us now, only "Specially Selected" will do!!

Be wary about counting your riches after your pot jumped 100k in a year or two. We all have a tendency to benchmark future from the current latest peak, but markets have been very frothy after the pandemic, and unwinding of that given high P/E ratios and potential for interest rate increases seems to me at least a probability rather than a small chance. 

jimi_man

The start of next year is now another milestone for us as my Part Time application has gone through, so I’m starting three days a week from then - Tuesday to Thursday. Wife is already part time, she has one week off every four, so we’re both 75%.

Next year should be our last year, give or take a couple of months to tidy things up, so may go a little into 2023. We’ll be 57.

I’ve got a DB pension in payment - £31k with another tiny £2k one to come when I’m 65. Wife has about £8k in two DB pensions to come when she’s 65. All four DB pensions between us are Public sector ones, so index linked with no cap. She is at max SP and I’m at £165 so I’ve got another three years. Including this current year and next then it seems I’ll have to buy one more year. 

We would like £3000 a month. From SPA things are fine, we’ll have nearly £60k, around £4400 a month after tax which, tbh, is far in excess of what we require. But from 57 to 67 there is a shortfall of around £700 a month - £8.5k per year. My current thinking is to take my wife’s DB pensions early at 60 and taking off 25% for Actuarial Reduction gives around £6k – an extra £500 a month, so that leaves £200 to make up from our SIPPs. Three years of £8.5k and seven years of £2.4k = £42.3k. Allowing for 3% inflation per year comes to £45k.  Using our SIPPs/ISAs/savings which are around £120k at present and without allowing for growth, potentially £140k next year, the figures look doable, though I’m a lot more cautious than my wife! 

Of course we may not need £3000 a month. It’s less than we spend now after savings and mortgage costs are taken into account, but I wanted a decent buffer in case we wanted to do a lot more travel. If we consistently spend less then we can reconsider taking the pensions early. 

Definitely a lot to think about in the retirement game!

Sea_Shell

MaxiRobriguez said:

Sea_Shell said:

Our target was £500k, which we hit it Feb 19.  We then pulled the trigger to both stop working.

By the time I actually finished work, the pot had increased to £550k.

Now, after not working since July 19, the pot stands at £645k, net of our spends over that period.

Our "target" is to start spending it!!!     No more "biscuit barrel" for us now, only "Specially Selected" will do!!

Be wary about counting your riches after your pot jumped 100k in a year or two. We all have a tendency to benchmark future from the current latest peak, but markets have been very frothy after the pandemic, and unwinding of that given high P/E ratios and potential for interest rate increases seems to me at least a probability rather than a small chance. 

Oh, believe me...I am only too aware that the situation could reverse at any time!!😲🤞🏻🤞🏻

That's why we're treading a line between spending, with abandon, and our frugal accumulation days!! 😉

😈😇

bostonerimus

Linton said:

My next milestone on the savings journey will be managed by my executors.

Yes, it certainly puts things in perspective. I want to give away a fair amount before the end so I get to see it help my heirs through college and maybe buying first houses.

numpty_dumpty

My next big milestone is to get my asset allocation and fund choices sorted for taking the next big step of stopping working. Suspect I will be generating a few related topics on here in the near future.

NedS

Sea_Shell said:

cfw1994 said:

Another more immediate goal is to help DD sort out her transport: she had her precious Fiesta stolen 2 weeks ago🤬, making her life rather tricky….but insurance will no doubt drag their feet 🙄. Police rang yesterday to say they were charging 3 vermin humans for a spate of them, & have evidence hers was amongst them (but not recovered the vehicles).   Life’s rich tapestry, eh 😳

Sorry to hear about your DDs car.    Good luck sourcing a replacement.  I hear the second hand car market is "frothy" at the moment.  Hold those insurers feet to the fire in respect of the value of hers.

I hope DD is not with Direct Line, as I've just taken a small position in my income portfolio so you're eating into my dividends

cfw1994

NedS said:

Sea_Shell said:

cfw1994 said:

Another more immediate goal is to help DD sort out her transport: she had her precious Fiesta stolen 2 weeks ago🤬, making her life rather tricky….but insurance will no doubt drag their feet 🙄. Police rang yesterday to say they were charging 3 vermin humans for a spate of them, & have evidence hers was amongst them (but not recovered the vehicles).   Life’s rich tapestry, eh 😳

Sorry to hear about your DDs car.    Good luck sourcing a replacement.  I hear the second hand car market is "frothy" at the moment.  Hold those insurers feet to the fire in respect of the value of hers.

I hope DD is not with Direct Line, as I've just taken a small position in my income portfolio so you're eating into my dividends

Ha!   You're safe: she's with 1st Central.....I suspect they will, at some eventual point, make a derisory offer that won't impact shareholders value one jot 👀

NedS

cfw1994 said:

NedS said:

Sea_Shell said:

cfw1994 said:

Another more immediate goal is to help DD sort out her transport: she had her precious Fiesta stolen 2 weeks ago🤬, making her life rather tricky….but insurance will no doubt drag their feet 🙄. Police rang yesterday to say they were charging 3 vermin humans for a spate of them, & have evidence hers was amongst them (but not recovered the vehicles).   Life’s rich tapestry, eh 😳

Sorry to hear about your DDs car.    Good luck sourcing a replacement.  I hear the second hand car market is "frothy" at the moment.  Hold those insurers feet to the fire in respect of the value of hers.

I hope DD is not with Direct Line, as I've just taken a small position in my income portfolio so you're eating into my dividends

Ha!   You're safe: she's with 1st Central.....I suspect they will, at some eventual point, make a derisory offer that won't impact shareholders value one jot 👀

Phew, that's a relief to know my weekly bottle of Prosecco in retirement is safe!