2022 - Moving forward

jwil · 5 January 2022 at 6:39PM

savingholmes said:

Well done on the sales. Good that you managed to get a dental appointment. Ouch to the foot pain. I'm loving my new trainers - so much more support. I do wish I'd done it sooner!

I'm glad yours are good, it's so worth it!

jwil · 5 January 2022 at 6:47PM

savingholmes said:

Sorry you are feeling meh. I think a lot of us are ATM. For many it's the pandemic, winter blues, the dark nights etc - lack of control...

Glad your pensions are looking good. If you want to leave earlier than 67 - it would be worth checking how much that would reduce your pension by - and then seeing whether it is still at the right level for your revised goal - and if not how to fix it.

Well done on the OPs.

I was playing with those numbers too - if I worked until 55 and then took it then, I'd have enough to live on assuming the mortgage was cleared, but I need to be mindful of any support the kids might need as they grow up. I don't want to touch this pension until 67 ideally, or at least leave it as long as possible to maximise it, so I want savings enough to tide me over. I just like the idea that I 'could' retire, even if I chose not to. I need to up my contributions to the LISA to maximise the bonus, but again that will have to wait for now.

savingholmes · 5 January 2022 at 7:22PM

Sounds a great position to be in. I can't envisage any scenario within my control that would allow me to retire that early. If I can transfer one DB pension that would help - but if that wasn't an option - even if I downsized - I'm probably looking around age 64 unless I manage to bring in £ from other sources. I'm hopeful that reducing my hours might be an option at some point though.

jwil · 6 January 2022 at 4:45PM

savingholmes said:

Sounds a great position to be in. I can't envisage any scenario within my control that would allow me to retire that early. If I can transfer one DB pension that would help - but if that wasn't an option - even if I downsized - I'm probably looking around age 64 unless I manage to bring in £ from other sources. I'm hopeful that reducing my hours might be an option at some point though.

It would be a very frugal retirement though for those first few years before state pension kicked in, so unlikely to actually happen. It would be nice to be at a stage where I could work part time or just do something for a bit of extra cash rather than having to earn a certain amount. We could live on it, but there wouldn't be much for extras, so it would depend on what we wanted to do. I'd be happy to live a simple life, but DH would want to do more. He can't envisage retiring, so I might be able to be a lady of leisure whilst he works

ladyholly · 6 January 2022 at 7:42PM

Have you checked if it would be more beneficial to adding to your pension fund or your LISA. Worth investigating if you havent.

jwil · 7 January 2022 at 5:46PM

ladyholly said:

Have you checked if it would be more beneficial to adding to your pension fund or your LISA. Worth investigating if you havent.

I think it almost certainly would be better to add to my pension fund or LISA financially, but I've spent so much of my life struggling, and I've seen so many others struggling, that my priority (and DH would be the same) is getting that roof over our head and having that security. Neither of our jobs are totally secure, so not having a mortgage to worry about will be the biggest thing ever.

jwil · 7 January 2022 at 6:04PM

Happy news this morning, I've won £25 on premium bonds, hurrah! I was debating on whether to pay it to the mortgage or to reinvest it, but then I have decided that I will pay it to my LISA to get the bonus. I am also going to see if I can scrabble up £25 to pay to the mortgage as well. I'm sure I can by reducing my grocery bill a bit. Then it will be a double win

.

I've paid the house insurance today, it's nice being able to pay for the year in total. I did finally get round to comparing, but our renewal was cheaper so I didn't have to switch. It was also about £3 cheaper than last year, so it all helps.

DH and I watched The Tourist on iplayer this week, it was quite good if not a little weird! I want to watch the new Harlan Coben series on Netflix next as that looks good and we've liked his other ones. I like the books too!

I'm glad it's the weekend. It's been a long week, even though it was only 4 days. I don't think we're going to do swimming this week as cases are high and it's so unventilated. I'll see how it is next weekend. I don't want to miss too many sessions.

I've had a right old day with little miss today bless her. She faceplanted in the mud this morning on the way to school, so I was trying to clean her up with not very wet wipes. Luckily she had a spare pair of tights in her bag. She then had a strop and refused her flu vaccine at school, which is my fault as I forgot it was happening so didn't warn her. Her teacher came out at the end of the day to tell me her mouth was bleeding by her broken tooth, and then she slipped over in the mud again on the way home! I was rushing to get back for a meeting as well. Poor little munchkin. She's fine though, and the dentist says there's nothing to be done with the tooth until it comes out naturally.