Getting FIREd up 😀

themadvix

QueenJess said:

The problem I always have is trying to estimate how much money I’d like to spend in retirement. Too many what ifs, which hurt my head. I’m now just saving what I can with fingers crossed..

This is my conundrum too. I just keep saving… I know I’m a long way off yet!

edinburgher

Me three. I have a nominal "number" but suspect I'll jack it in before this number is reached if there's a sniff of a windfall in the years before retirement. My parents have been retired for nearly a decade now, very little income to begin with (even if plenty of wealth). They just made it work 🤷🏻‍♂️

This has changed now they've both made SP age 👍🏻

South_coast

Step 1: Ignore the PLSA figures
Step 2: Review your current expenditure and how that may change in retirement

Er, never got a great deal further than that 🤣!

Staffordia

I retired 5 years ago aged 52, best decision ever. I had saved money to tide me over between 52 and 55 when my work pension kicked in and notwithstanding the awful inflation since 2020, we are doing OK.  If you are a thoughtful spender pre retirement then that is unlikely to change. 

Of course there are unique individual factors at play for everyone and no children and FS pension (modest I might add) definitely played a part in allowing me to take a huge step and leave work early. 

The fact that you all have taken some steps to work out a retirement plan is a plus and will hopefully allow you to get off the treadmill before 67/68/70.

South_coast

I'm sure we will all do swimmingly, and we can travel the country watching Midsomer Murders on stage, while eating Vix's allotment produce and Jess's baking, stopping only to marvel at Ed's weather 😀

themadvix

Love this! 😆

South_coast

OK, so I have been doing some number-crunching on the LISA....

If I continue to make the max contributions each year:
Averaging 4% interest - £125k
Averaging 3% interest - £107k
Averaging 2% interest - £90k

If I don't make any more contributions:
Averaging 4% interest - £65k
Averaging 3% interest - £54k
Averaging 2% interest - £45k

Again, this is all a bit rough and ready, but it's better to be roughly right than completely wrong 😀! 2% interest seems a bit pessimistic, though who knows what's going to happen in the next 18 years 🤷‍♀️? But even if we do end up at 2% (it's currently earning 4.75%), I'm still in line for a £45k windfall if I don't add anything more to it, which I think is perfectly adequate and no need to keep going with it 😀

That just leaves the question of what to do with the future contributions! I could use them towards re-filling pots, which would bring commencement of "Getting FIREd up" (AKA "Actually putting some money into my S&S") forward from November 2027 to July 2027. Or I could use them to put smaller amounts into the S&S sooner, so that it has more time to get compounding 🤔 Or I could try and work out how much I would need to increase my pension contributions by to result in a net £4k reduction in salary each year (surely a calculator somewhere?), and just accept that I am putting less into "savings" each month? Worse problems to have, I know! I am leaning towards a combination of A and B at the moment (though I know that is not the best bang for my buck!!!)

Anyway, must stop jumping the gun - the first job is sorting out this pesky credit card debt. As that will take the rest of this year, I have plenty of time to make and change my mind before I actually have to do anything 😀😀😀

South_coast

P.S. Thanks for listening 🤣!

South_coast

In other news, having never lived somewhere before where all of the plug sockets were in exactly the right places, I now LOVE living somewhere where all of the plug sockets are in exactly the right places 🩷 The refurb may have cost me a fortune and left me with a load of debt, but it has brought me a lot of joy 🧚‍♀️

Staffordia

South_coast said:

I'm sure we will all do swimmingly, and we can travel the country watching Midsomer Murders on stage, while eating Vix's allotment produce and Jess's baking, stopping only to marvel at Ed's weather 😀

I'm definitely up for Jess's baking! Will give Ed's Scottish weather a miss though.