Ideas for retiring early (at age 40ish)

Cus

I would have thought that if you only spend £25k per year, have a spreadsheet that runs till aged 90, earn 170k, then you must have thought of what to do for many years no? 

Ibrahim5

I was making good money until I retired early 5 years ago. You get used to money generation seeming easy. I did a few minimum wage shifts but when you are used to earning thousands a day and you need to work 12 hours at minimum wage to earn £100 it seems stupid. It would be tough but not totally impossible to get back to where I was. I think you need to be sure that you have enough before giving up a very well paid job.

NedS

ent_moot said:

Age: late 30s
Family: we have one child
Private pension: 300k
Personal savings: ~200k
House: ~550k
My salary: 170k (with 50% bonus)
Spouse's salary: ~20k
Debts: none (I have paid off all my mortgage)

Said slightly facetiously, so please don't be offended, but what happens if your wife divorces you and takes 50% plus of your assets? This stuff happens, and often when people least expect it.
Seriously, how on board is she with your plan? Does she have good pension provision of her own? How does your plan look if she takes the house and half your savings/pension assets, and you have no job?

Gary1984

If you're looking to buy somewhere attractive with land you could consider running it as a wedding venue? I have no idea how this would work right enough.

Or rent out outbuildings to artists, crafts people, brewers etc?

Albermarle

Ibrahim5 said:

I was making good money until I retired early 5 years ago. You get used to money generation seeming easy. I did a few minimum wage shifts but when you are used to earning thousands a day and you need to work 12 hours at minimum wage to earn £100 it seems stupid. It would be tough but not totally impossible to get back to where I was. I think you need to be sure that you have enough before giving up a very well paid job.

I have always thought this idea of getting a 'little part time job' after being in a big(ish) full time job was a bit fanciful.
Being ordered about by some junior manager less than half your age, to earn £10 an hour. No thanks !

billy2shots

Albermarle said:

Ibrahim5 said:

I was making good money until I retired early 5 years ago. You get used to money generation seeming easy. I did a few minimum wage shifts but when you are used to earning thousands a day and you need to work 12 hours at minimum wage to earn £100 it seems stupid. It would be tough but not totally impossible to get back to where I was. I think you need to be sure that you have enough before giving up a very well paid job.

I have always thought this idea of getting a 'little part time job' after being in a big(ish) full time job was a bit fanciful.
Being ordered about by some junior manager less than half your age, to earn £10 an hour. No thanks !

I guess it's how you look at it. Seeing it as work and exchanging your time for that amount of money compared to past remuneration would probably be depressing. 

Seeing it as making beer money (extra fun money) that you do a few hours a day, a couple of days a week to keep you socialising and mentally/physically fit could put a different slant on things. 

jimi_man

I have to say, looking at the figures, I really don't see how they add up. £30-35k a year for the next 50 years is getting on for £1.75 million. I certainly couldn't see my wife being happy to go out to work for £20k while I gave up my £170k job to play tennis, so that would stop in our case very quickly! Every couple is different though. 

Anonymous101

billy2shots said:

Albermarle said:

Ibrahim5 said:

I was making good money until I retired early 5 years ago. You get used to money generation seeming easy. I did a few minimum wage shifts but when you are used to earning thousands a day and you need to work 12 hours at minimum wage to earn £100 it seems stupid. It would be tough but not totally impossible to get back to where I was. I think you need to be sure that you have enough before giving up a very well paid job.

I have always thought this idea of getting a 'little part time job' after being in a big(ish) full time job was a bit fanciful.
Being ordered about by some junior manager less than half your age, to earn £10 an hour. No thanks !

I guess it's how you look at it. Seeing it as work and exchanging your time for that amount of money compared to past remuneration would probably be depressing. 

Seeing it as making beer money (extra fun money) that you do a few hours a day, a couple of days a week to keep you socialising and mentally/physically fit could put a different slant on things. 

I think its exactly this. You absolutely can't see it as a source of income only. The money has to be a pleasant by-product of something you enjoy.

Also quite often people that have had successful careers can't help but develop these roles though.
For example - chap I know is well into his beers and began helping out another friend at a local micro real ale type brewery. He loved it, but before long he decided he'd go a step further and open up a little bar stocking these type of beers and employing other like minded people. Bar did well so he bought next door and extended. Then he opened another location. He now runs half a dozen of these bars in the nearby local towns all doing really well. Its still very enjoyable to him but its become a full time job again.

You need to really think hard about how you are wired up and what you're looking for. Completely stopping a well paying career may not bring you everything you want.

retiringtoosoon

jimi_man said:

I have to say, looking at the figures, I really don't see how they add up. £30-35k a year for the next 50 years is getting on for £1.75 million. I certainly couldn't see my wife being happy to go out to work for £20k while I gave up my £170k job to play tennis, so that would stop in our case very quickly! Every couple is different though. 

In much the same way: is it fair that his wife is only earning £20k when he's on £170k? Hardly seems equitable. What if the genders were reversed?

bostonerimus

Make sure you try out any major lifestyle change before you retire so you still have regular income to help you through the transition. Becoming a small holder or a landlord is a big change and if they don't work out could be expensive mistakes. Budgeting and a solid financial plan is very important; the numbers must add up. So spending 900k on a bigger house when you have 500k in equity already locked up in a house sounds restrictive and a little risky and becoming a farmer is even more risk. So you need to be researching these options and coming up with, essentially, a business plan.