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FIRE - how low could you go
Comments
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DoublePolaroid said:When you have your kids might be relevant.I’m 40 as is the missus. The kids are 4 and 0. We are fortunate enough that we could have planned to retire at 55 or even earlier. In fact we still could, but what would be the point? The youngest will still be at school, so we might as well carry on working until she’s an adult. We had the kids at the right time for us but if you’re trying to construct the perfect early retirement plan then having kids young enough that they’re (vaguely) independent before your target retirement age would be ideal.
If you have a good base prior to children the compounding helps counter the possible drop in income.
I stayed at home as my wife earnt more, liked her job(s) and made her work flexible. I’ve worked p/t and self employed around the children. Our eldest two can taxi the youngest if needed so a p/t retirement would be possible (if Covid hadn’t curtailed travel).You can only guess what will happen or be needed (funding wise) - eldest took apprenticeship route and 2nd went to Uni in France (€170 p.a. tuition cost - pre Brexit), private education for 2 years prior to 11+ for one child, cars (as not close to transport links) and when/if they acquire some MSE traits.0 -
No kids and a fairly amicable divorce have facilitated my FIRE. I have seven grand nieces and nephews who get money each Christmas...sending presents across the Atlantic is just far too much trouble...so that's in the FIRE budget along with donations to a couple of churches in the village where I once lived. I've done this before by bank international wire transfers, but this year I looked into doing it through WISE as it's supposed to be the cheapest way to do it. It is cheaper than the bank, but only by 10$ on a $1000 transfer and WISE needs a couple of extra steps so I'll stick with the bank for now.“So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”1
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I always liked the idea of retiring at 55 but life got in the way and I'd accepted in my 30's that maybe it wasn't feasible. Then I turned 40 and my interest was reignited.
From having an idea of retiring at 55 on £30k net income 5 years ago we are now on track to be FI at 53 on just over £40k. There's a decent cash sum (£80-100k) for big spends and we have a house we could downsize from if we decide to buy a bolthole abroad or splurge on some expensive hobbies.
53 is not early by FIRE standards but we do follow some of the principles, probably more in line with FAT FIRE, which is certainly the healthiest option for us. Our sayings rate is around 45% of net income (before pension contributions).
It's FI that truly interests me and the freedon of choice it gives. We may well work beyond 53 but it will be through choice not need.
Two kids here, I reckon we'd be retired now had we not had them. The eldest is 16 and likely to be a big drain on our resource (not to mention sanity) for a good few years to come.
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Has anyone mentioned getting rid of the pets? They're unnecessary.0
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There's seldom a need to take action to get rid of pets, their life expectancies tend to take care of that automatically and make it a replace or not decision.
Getting rid of a spouse or children can be far more beneficial, thought there can be substantial complications involved.10 -
Adyinvestment said:ajfielden said:
I'd also like to know where they are getting car insurance from. Because at £100 for 2 cars that is a spectacular deal!
But I definitely believe in reviewing your DD's and Standing orders regularly for a better deal0 -
QrizB said:Audaxer said:What surprises me is that your food bill, including pet food, is only £300 per month. Does that mean all food, including lunches etc. and also include all non-food items in the supermarket shop, like toiletries, kitchen roll etc.? If so, you are doing very well, as we as a retired couple spend over £400 per month on that, and it would be even more if I included the pet food in that figure.ajfielden said:I'd also like to know where they are getting car insurance from. Because at £100 for 2 cars that is a spectacular deal!0
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Oh and we shop at Lidl/Aldi1
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The only real thing I can come up with is to check whether you have AA cover as part of something else. For example, the Mrs and I have a joint account costing £17 a month with Halifax, but it covers AA multi car, annual multi trip travel insurance, phone insurance and home emergency cover. We've used the AA when the belly pan of my car dropped out, we use the holiday insurance regularly, covers our UK caravan trips and abroad trips, Ive had one broken phone replaced and two blocked drains done. So overall I think we get our monies worth out of the £204 a year.0
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Workerdrone said:Oh and we shop at Lidl/Aldi
In my experience anyway ......1
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