Would it be foolish to stop work at 52?

atush

DT2001 said:

atush said:

If you cant save while on the one income, i feel you dont have enough savings/Sipp to retire at 52.
 
Rethink going at 55, go part time to see if that helps, or get a different job for a few years.  Will give you more time to save

In the original post it says they can live on £3k that OH earns net. OP’s other half is increasing his pension and OP is not aiming to draw until 60 so in effect increasing amount payable then.
There is also the BTL which is generating £6k.

Personally I’d look at taking an actuarially reduced figure. I took mine at 51 (protected age clause in redundancy package) as although the crossover point from getting more (in total) was mid 70’s in my case I will have paid less tax and theoretically our spend will decrease from 75 onwards.

I know they said they could live on the one income, she said they couldnt save more on it.

robatwork

Kim1965 said:

robatwork said:

Albermarle said:

robatwork said:

Albermarle said:

robatwork said:

To get back on track... just a general comment about this particular forum. As well as being one of the most useful and realistic resources for UK (pre) pensioners, it tends to err on the side of financial surety. I've seen threads where £30k or even £40k wasn't seen as enough to live comfortably in retirement.

Obviously it depends on your lifestyle, but just bear it in mind. In your position I'd be leaving my detested job as soon as I could. 

In the unlikely worst case there are still jobs available to people in their 50s. 

The retirement surveys indicate that a couple need around £45K - £50K after tax to have a comfortable retirement with some luxuries . 

Retirement living standards | Loughborough University (lboro.ac.uk)

That would not be a proper luxury retirement, as that would cost triple that probably .

The problem with those kind of surveys/reports is - apart from unforgivably not being able to scroll to the right to actually read the thing (had to reduce page size to 75%) - their numbers are too generic. A "Moderate" single person spends £750 on clothes/footwear yearly? I haven't ever spent that yearly!

Yes the clothing/shoes  spend does stand out as somewhat OTT . On the other hand a grocery shopping bill of £200 a month is rather low , unless you are teetotal and always buying cheap food .
I think the overall figures look about right . Although it seems that some can manage on a lot less.

I agree that many on these forums are high salary earners and have big pension plans.  Good for them.  We feel pretty sure we would be fine with £2-2.5k per year 

Well yes, I tend to spend £300 a pop at Costco but their food (and bog roll) is good quality and lasts for weeks in the freezer (not the bog roll unless it's a special occasion). I've done my own sums and think it's more than possible to live on £25k pa and have holidays and a decent car. Given the way the cost of living is going however unless it's index linked I may have to revise this.

That final line you quoted in italics was from ChocolateWombat and I'm sure a typo for per month.

Is that 25k for a single petson or couple?
£200 pm for a singke person in aldi is very doable including some beer and wine (not to feeda habit tho). 
 10.2 k for a single person to cover basics would seem a struggle though, at that level a person would have to watch every penny, it would be a drag. Are there any singletons on this site who manage in such low incomes? 

It's for a couple (without pets seeing as your typo reminded me how much pets cost). Fortunate in that my spouse and I are very compatible financially - we both carefully consider any significant spending and shop around. She wouldn't entertain spending £300 on "sneakers" either, although we could afford it.  We could live on £25k per annum - or whatever that equivalent is when the time comes. I fear £25k on Jan 1st 2022 will be more like £30k on Jan 1st 2023 sadly. 

ex-pat_scot

robatwork said:

Kim1965 said:

robatwork said:

Albermarle said:

robatwork said:

Albermarle said:

robatwork said:

To get back on track... just a general comment about this particular forum. As well as being one of the most useful and realistic resources for UK (pre) pensioners, it tends to err on the side of financial surety. I've seen threads where £30k or even £40k wasn't seen as enough to live comfortably in retirement.

Obviously it depends on your lifestyle, but just bear it in mind. In your position I'd be leaving my detested job as soon as I could. 

In the unlikely worst case there are still jobs available to people in their 50s. 

The retirement surveys indicate that a couple need around £45K - £50K after tax to have a comfortable retirement with some luxuries . 

Retirement living standards | Loughborough University (lboro.ac.uk)

That would not be a proper luxury retirement, as that would cost triple that probably .

The problem with those kind of surveys/reports is - apart from unforgivably not being able to scroll to the right to actually read the thing (had to reduce page size to 75%) - their numbers are too generic. A "Moderate" single person spends £750 on clothes/footwear yearly? I haven't ever spent that yearly!

Yes the clothing/shoes  spend does stand out as somewhat OTT . On the other hand a grocery shopping bill of £200 a month is rather low , unless you are teetotal and always buying cheap food .
I think the overall figures look about right . Although it seems that some can manage on a lot less.

I agree that many on these forums are high salary earners and have big pension plans.  Good for them.  We feel pretty sure we would be fine with £2-2.5k per year 

Well yes, I tend to spend £300 a pop at Costco but their food (and bog roll) is good quality and lasts for weeks in the freezer (not the bog roll unless it's a special occasion). I've done my own sums and think it's more than possible to live on £25k pa and have holidays and a decent car. Given the way the cost of living is going however unless it's index linked I may have to revise this.

That final line you quoted in italics was from ChocolateWombat and I'm sure a typo for per month.

Is that 25k for a single petson or couple?
£200 pm for a singke person in aldi is very doable including some beer and wine (not to feeda habit tho). 
 10.2 k for a single person to cover basics would seem a struggle though, at that level a person would have to watch every penny, it would be a drag. Are there any singletons on this site who manage in such low incomes? 

. I fear £25k on Jan 1st 2022 will be more like £30k on Jan 1st 2023 sadly. 

I know inflation is ripping through at the moment, but that's a 20% inflation rate!