Having problems deciding whether to press that resignation button....

sheslookinhot

cfw1994 said:

DT2001 said:

cfw1994 said:

DT2001 said:

SouthCoastBoy said:

DT2001 said:

SouthCoastBoy said:

DT2001 said:

SouthCoastBoy said:

cfw1994 said:

SouthCoastBoy said:

I have slipped into n more years syndrome, as all my pension is based on savings and dc pension I am at the vagaries of the stock market, and being a fairly anxious person, I just dont have the confidence to go. If I had access to a db pension I think that would have given me more confidence, unfortunately I dont so think I will be going to at least 60

That old OMY Syndrome is a very real challenge/puzzle 👀
  
We are luck to have 3 *small* DB pensions that kick in over the next 1/3/8 years, but they are not the bulk of our income. 
We also have a 'likely' inheritance at some point (which we haven't included in our number/expectations) which could provide some buffer at some point in the next 1-10 years (or so...).  The main chunk of that will likely be passed on down, so no chickens counted here.

Everyone has their own circumstances to consider, and their own aspirations for the years ahead of them.
My only suggestion would be to try to live off YOUR 'Number' over the next 12 months.  Start today! 

If you find it a struggle, then maybe OMY or even TMYs are right for you 🤷🏼‍♂️

If, in 12 months, you found it 'easy', maybe you will be more confident about taking that step.   Maybe markets will have steadied (although I firmly believe we will never have that perfect crystal ball, only an approximation, subject to change).
It's one small step for man, one giant leap for SCB 🤣

Appreciate the feedback. I have done the numbers wrt living off my number, for example the next 5 years is £3500 per mth due to daughter being at uni etc. Then I taper to £2500/mth and then £2000/mth. 

If inflation stayed at 2.5% and 60% of my pot grows at 3.5% and 40% (currently cash) grows at 0% I would be fine. The problem is we all know those projections are inaccurate and I'm afraid without actually knowing I will have to continue working. It is a conundrum I can't resolve, I have always worried about money and therefore prefer to be cautious although I would love to retire.

What % is the £2.5k p.m. of your pot?
How long until SPA when presumably circa £750-800 p.m. will be from the Govt?

Just under 3%, currently 56, 57 first quarter next year and yes due a full state pension at 67

I thought I saw on a previous post you had £1.4m? £30k is just over 2% and you wisely IMO had roughly 50% is ISAs so can avoid paying any tax. 10 years on SP.

I am sure some of the wise heads on here could suggest a plan or two to allow a minimally stressed retirement. I’d either look at using part of the pot to buy index linked gilts with maturity in 10/15 years (knowing I’d lose some quantifiable ‘real’ value of my money) and then an annuity ( It would give you certainty) or create a naturally income producing portfolio 

Yes that's correct, I make the just under 3% statement as Iike to be pessimistic in my planning, hence allowing buffer.

Oh!

£30k p.a. is 2.14% of £1.4m
£30k p.a. is 2.22% of £1.34m (taking £60k out for Uni costs)
Oh!, again, as you only need this rate for 10 years before SPA when with one SP the rate is below 1.5%.

SWR (as a guide), admittedly based on the past, would suggest you have a 50% margin on the worst case scenario. If the worst happens, I’ll paraphrase a comment I’ve seen on other threads, we’ll all be in the ****!

What does OMY achieve?

I do not know how you change your mindset. A few years ago my OH talked about possibly retiring so I crunched the figures and came up with a pessimistic monthly figure which inc ‘discretionary’ spending. I also included within that plan options if the worst case scenarios started to occur - with  SWR it assumes you take no action, not IMO, a reality - which inc. reducing discretionary expenditure, p/t work, down sizing etc. Maybe having been self employed for many years adjusting to fluctuating circumstances is easier? By the by OH is still working as she enjoys it!

Good luck, you are in a fantastic 

It also felt, to some extent, being a deck jockey and not an essential worker, a bit like a practice for retirement.   

Definitely thinking of retirement as a ‘deck(chair) jockey’?😀

Freudian slip, eh 🤣

rough cycle plans (perhaps Compostela or Europe end to end or Trans Continental, rather than LeJOG)

Some pals bought me RIDE: Cycle the World.  Some fascinating possibilities in there.   A slight issue I have is that my better half does NOT do cycling 👀  So whilst a UK trip is easy to sort....abroad would be a bit trickier. 
I also like the idea of wild-camping a trip of some sort, which again would have to be me alone!!

Compostela?  Is that part of Camino Del Santiago?  Really enjoyed the Martin Sheen film "The Way".   Cycling it would be a helluva lot easier than walking looked 🤣

DW and I are at the early planning stage for walking the Camino Frances next September. If all goes well we will both retire in May. A possible US / Hawaii trip in May to celebrate vocational freedom, then preparing for the mother of all walks.

Cycling round the island of Rhodes is on my bucket list and we’ll do lots of 2/3 day cycling trips in the UK beckon. 

LV_426

Albermarle said:

It is very tempting to stay on for one more year as you get a year's extra savings and one year's less spending to worry about.

Or two more years , or even three .....

Although staying on longer than really necessary , is kind of frowned upon by some posters , it does mean you can maybe retire with a big cushion and not really have to worry too much about money at all .

This for me is the essence of it. Although I could technically retire at the end of this year, and have similar resources to the OP, it would burn everything down, and for me is cutting it too fine.
Besides, I also want to leave some assets for my kids, possibly for house deposits.

DT2001

ajfielden said:

Albermarle said:

It is very tempting to stay on for one more year as you get a year's extra savings and one year's less spending to worry about.

Or two more years , or even three .....

Although staying on longer than really necessary , is kind of frowned upon by some posters , it does mean you can maybe retire with a big cushion and not really have to worry too much about money at all .

This for me is the essence of it. Although I could technically retire at the end of this year, and have similar resources to the OP, it would burn everything down, and for me is cutting it too fine.
Besides, I also want to leave some assets for my kids, possibly for house deposits.

I think as long as your work isn’t too stressful then it will be the right decision for many (peace of mind factor) especially if you can tweak the work/life balance. 

As albermarle says OMY is frowned upon by some posters but I think they tend to be the ones driven by retiring at a specific age and their job is just to generate money

MallyGirl

pensionpawn said:

ukdw said:

Unless your daughter isn't taking the full student loan available, £12k a year on university expenses sounds like quite a lot - when my kids went I actually found our monthly expenses reduced by a fair bit, which probably almost balanced out the parental contributions to accommodation etc.

I also base my projections on 2.5% inflation, but I project 4-5% growth on investments (real terms 1.5%-2.5%), with cash 1-1.5% (real terms -1.5% to -1%).

Re pulling the trigger I knew about 3 years ahead the exact day I would be in a position to have enough funds to leave (due to bonus cycles) and then planned to see how things went and to enjoy being in a position to leave whenever I liked.

As it worked out I happened to have a 1:1 meeting with my line manager the very day - and so my financial freedom before pulling the trigger only ended up lasting a few hours, rather than months or years.. 

That was just my daughters Halls fees, before eating, commuting on the tube etc! We were lucky to extract her from her contract after a couple of months studying from home last year and commuting to London (from Wiltshire) three times a week (still cheaper than living there) since September.

I have to say that I was not that upset when my daughter didn't get an offer from the only London one she applied to. I saw the hall fees Cambridge is actually pretty reasonable and they offer uni accommodation for at least the first 3 years.

Scrudgy

ajfielden said:

This for me is the essence of it. Although I could technically retire at the end of this year, and have similar resources to the OP, it would burn everything down, and for me is cutting it too fine.
Besides, I also want to leave some assets for my kids, possibly for house deposits.

Not sure what the ages are for you and your kids, but my father in law has been hell bent on building a portfolio to leave to his three kids. He is currently 86, his kids are all in their 50’s and are all mortgage free and building retirement plans themselves. They no longer need any financial support or help. 

He doesn’t spend a penny on himself and doesn’t quite get it that he is trying like mad to leave his kids a sum of money when at least two out the three have considerably more that he will amass , and the other one is not badly off either. He lives off a small annuity and the state pension.

No amount of trying to get him to spend some of his money on himself or his house to make life easier will make him change his mind. However, more recently his wife has become unwell and will require a lot of care going forward, possibly will need residential care as he is struggling to look after her. This worries him greatly as it now means he might have to spend his kids inheritance on care costs, the thought of which is devastating him. 

I think he is now realising that he should have gifted his kids money many years ago when 1) his pot was much bigger and 2) His kids may have actually needed the money.

He managed to get the inheritance pot to £370k in shares at one point, however it is about half that now due to losses, which is another stress for him.

After seeing all this, I realised I wanted to help my kids when they really need the help (now), as both my kids are in their 20’s I decided to do it differently, and I have spent a lot of my salary diverting money to kids house deposits that I would have otherwise put into ISA’s etc. I Have now got them both into their own flats with a good chuck of equity being theirs if they need to sell or upgrade, I am happy now to focus back on building a cash pot for myself. My DC pension has done well, so I was feeling more comfortable helping the kids, I know not everyone has the same circumstances, but this I know for sure, my father in laws method is not for me. 

When my time comes, I will try really hard to leave my kids a nice inheritance, but if care costs or market crashes mean there is little left at least I will be happy that I have set them up young in life quite well.

I have therefore probably delayed my own retirement by a year or two, but am still in good shape, and I am now just tinkering with how to do it when I pull the trigger.

LV_426

Scrudgy said:

ajfielden said:

This for me is the essence of it. Although I could technically retire at the end of this year, and have similar resources to the OP, it would burn everything down, and for me is cutting it too fine.
Besides, I also want to leave some assets for my kids, possibly for house deposits.

Not sure what the ages are for you and your kids, but my father in law has been hell bent on building a portfolio to leave to his three kids. He is currently 86, his kids are all in their 50’s and are all mortgage free and building retirement plans themselves. They no longer need any financial support or help. 

He doesn’t spend a penny on himself and doesn’t quite get it that he is trying like mad to leave his kids a sum of money when at least two out the three have considerably more that he will amass , and the other one is not badly off either. He lives off a small annuity and the state pension.

No amount of trying to get him to spend some of his money on himself or his house to make life easier will make him change his mind. However, more recently his wife has become unwell and will require a lot of care going forward, possibly will need residential care as he is struggling to look after her. This worries him greatly as it now means he might have to spend his kids inheritance on care costs, the thought of which is devastating him. 

I think he is now realising that he should have gifted his kids money many years ago when 1) his pot was much bigger and 2) His kids may have actually needed the money.

He managed to get the inheritance pot to £370k in shares at one point, however it is about half that now due to losses, which is another stress for him.

After seeing all this, I realised I wanted to help my kids when they really need the help (now), as both my kids are in their 20’s I decided to do it differently, and I have spent a lot of my salary diverting money to kids house deposits that I would have otherwise put into ISA’s etc. I Have now got them both into their own flats with a good chuck of equity being theirs if they need to sell or upgrade, I am happy now to focus back on building a cash pot for myself. My DC pension has done well, so I was feeling more comfortable helping the kids, I know not everyone has the same circumstances, but this I know for sure, my father in laws method is not for me. 

When my time comes, I will try really hard to leave my kids a nice inheritance, but if care costs or market crashes mean there is little left at least I will be happy that I have set them up young in life quite well.

I have therefore probably delayed my own retirement by a year or two, but am still in good shape, and I am now just tinkering with how to do it when I pull the trigger.

Very, very similar situation here for me. Like you, I was always planning to gift my kids a decent sum relatively early. Certainly not leaving it until I'm a lot older. If I can preserve a nice chunk of my funds then I can give them a good amount at a time when they'll need it. Well done on helping your kids with their flats. That is also my intention.
Surprised at your Dad's portfolio diminishing to that extent. Why do you think that happened? Of course he might have been drawing on it.
And we cannot rule out needing significant money for unexpected big expenses in later life. 

Albermarle

Scrudgy said:

ajfielden said:

This for me is the essence of it. Although I could technically retire at the end of this year, and have similar resources to the OP, it would burn everything down, and for me is cutting it too fine.
Besides, I also want to leave some assets for my kids, possibly for house deposits.

Not sure what the ages are for you and your kids, but my father in law has been hell bent on building a portfolio to leave to his three kids. He is currently 86, his kids are all in their 50’s and are all mortgage free and building retirement plans themselves. They no longer need any financial support or help. 

He doesn’t spend a penny on himself and doesn’t quite get it that he is trying like mad to leave his kids a sum of money when at least two out the three have considerably more that he will amass , and the other one is not badly off either. He lives off a small annuity and the state pension.

No amount of trying to get him to spend some of his money on himself or his house to make life easier will make him change his mind. However, more recently his wife has become unwell and will require a lot of care going forward, possibly will need residential care as he is struggling to look after her. This worries him greatly as it now means he might have to spend his kids inheritance on care costs, the thought of which is devastating him. 

I think he is now realising that he should have gifted his kids money many years ago when 1) his pot was much bigger and 2) His kids may have actually needed the money.

He managed to get the inheritance pot to £370k in shares at one point, however it is about half that now due to losses, which is another stress for him.

After seeing all this, I realised I wanted to help my kids when they really need the help (now), as both my kids are in their 20’s I decided to do it differently, and I have spent a lot of my salary diverting money to kids house deposits that I would have otherwise put into ISA’s etc. I Have now got them both into their own flats with a good chuck of equity being theirs if they need to sell or upgrade, I am happy now to focus back on building a cash pot for myself. My DC pension has done well, so I was feeling more comfortable helping the kids, I know not everyone has the same circumstances, but this I know for sure, my father in laws method is not for me. 

When my time comes, I will try really hard to leave my kids a nice inheritance, but if care costs or market crashes mean there is little left at least I will be happy that I have set them up young in life quite well.

I have therefore probably delayed my own retirement by a year or two, but am still in good shape, and I am now just tinkering with how to do it when I pull the trigger.

Seems a sensible strategy - just a couple of points
Not all offspring/family are willing to accept very large gifts/big house deposits  They want to show they can do it themselves and/or  for you to spend more of it on yourself . Although some help is normally appreciated, people of all ages can be reluctant to accept too much generosity. Some will be the opposite of course .

If you do help with a large slug of equity , there is always the worry that someone else might benefit from it after a relationship breakdown.

DT2001

ajfielden said:

Scrudgy said:

ajfielden said:

This for me is the essence of it. Although I could technically retire at the end of this year, and have similar resources to the OP, it would burn everything down, and for me is cutting it too fine.
Besides, I also want to leave some assets for my kids, possibly for house deposits.

Not sure what the ages are for you and your kids, but my father in law has been hell bent on building a portfolio to leave to his three kids. He is currently 86, his kids are all in their 50’s and are all mortgage free and building retirement plans themselves. They no longer need any financial support or help. 

He doesn’t spend a penny on himself and doesn’t quite get it that he is trying like mad to leave his kids a sum of money when at least two out the three have considerably more that he will amass , and the other one is not badly off either. He lives off a small annuity and the state pension.

No amount of trying to get him to spend some of his money on himself or his house to make life easier will make him change his mind. However, more recently his wife has become unwell and will require a lot of care going forward, possibly will need residential care as he is struggling to look after her. This worries him greatly as it now means he might have to spend his kids inheritance on care costs, the thought of which is devastating him. 

I think he is now realising that he should have gifted his kids money many years ago when 1) his pot was much bigger and 2) His kids may have actually needed the money.

He managed to get the inheritance pot to £370k in shares at one point, however it is about half that now due to losses, which is another stress for him.

After seeing all this, I realised I wanted to help my kids when they really need the help (now), as both my kids are in their 20’s I decided to do it differently, and I have spent a lot of my salary diverting money to kids house deposits that I would have otherwise put into ISA’s etc. I Have now got them both into their own flats with a good chuck of equity being theirs if they need to sell or upgrade, I am happy now to focus back on building a cash pot for myself. My DC pension has done well, so I was feeling more comfortable helping the kids, I know not everyone has the same circumstances, but this I know for sure, my father in laws method is not for me. 

When my time comes, I will try really hard to leave my kids a nice inheritance, but if care costs or market crashes mean there is little left at least I will be happy that I have set them up young in life quite well.

I have therefore probably delayed my own retirement by a year or two, but am still in good shape, and I am now just tinkering with how to do it when I pull the trigger.

Very, very similar situation here for me. Like you, I was always planning to gift my kids a decent sum relatively early. Certainly not leaving it until I'm a lot older. If I can preserve a nice chunk of my funds then I can give them a good amount at a time when they'll need it. Well done on helping your kids with their flats. That is also my intention.
Surprised at your Dad's portfolio diminishing to that extent. Why do you think that happened? Of course he might have been drawing on it.
And we cannot rule out needing significant money for unexpected big expenses in later life. 

Inheritance is a really interesting topic. 

My mother was like scrudgy’s FIL, living frugally and wanting to ensure money passed on (as she’d received funds from her mother) despite children being better off. She is now in a home, thankfully not knowing how much it costs as that would upset her, but anything left will be handed on to her grandchildren. 

MIL started small investment when each child was born (£3-4K) and those will help with a deposit for 1st property. She has also altered her will so grandchildren inherit directly rather than my OH. 
If we are lucky to have an increasing retirement pot we’ll pass on some as we go.
It is more difficult to plan with unknown care costs and timings.

Scrudgy

Albermarle said:

If you do help with a large slug of equity , there is always the worry that someone else might benefit from it after a relationship breakdown.

Its like you read my mind. Although both kids are currently without partners, I told them both that protecting their equity was important in the event of relationship woes. My number one preference is happy married kids, but I will also settle for financially secure single kids if I must.

Scrudgy

ajfielden said:

Surprised at your Dad's portfolio diminishing to that extent. Why do you think that happened? Of course he might have been drawing on it.

He will only deal in single shares, doesn't understand funds, IT's, ETF's etc. I tried and tried but he won't even look at them. Anyway, had some good successes building it up, but also had some spectacular losses. Didn't have a plan, didn't have a walk away price in mind, and was the victim of significant downward volatility. Got a little too sure of himself when the pot got to £370k, but less that a year later it was £150k. Its now back to about £180k.