What made you 'pull the trigger'?

cambb

Next month I hit 54 so really started thinking about maximising the last few years at work and predicting “if” we have enough to retire when I hit 57.

Currently I have 2 pensions with a combined value of £874k. I contribute about £20k into my pensions a year due to my company paying 20% and me 5%.

My wife (51) has a DB pension which will be worth around £6k a year when she hits 55.

We both have full NI contributions.

We still owe about £70k on our mortgage but on a 5 year deal 0.94% and are over paying it so it will be paid off in 4 years when the deal ends.

Our current outgoings are roughly £2k a month minus the mortgage payments. We have roughly £90k in savings spread across ISA’s etc. With both of our salaries we come out with £5k a month. We do have 4 holidays a year and dont really save anything.

I really enjoy my job and work from home with zero stress.

I guess the question is I don’t want to stay to long at work and “might” hit the LTA therefore I'm a bit conflicted about retiring or being greedy and saving more.

Flugelhorn

cambsperson said:

Should the state pension be means-tested?

The state pension is means tested, the more other pension you have, the more tax you pay on it

trevjl

 “if” we have enough to retire when I hit 57.

at £2k pm outgoings my grade B in 'O' level maths says you could have gone long before now

cambb

trevjl said:

 “if” we have enough to retire when I hit 57.

at £2k pm outgoings my grade B in 'O' level maths says you could have gone long before now

I guess I should have included the amount we spend on travel which is between 15k - 18k a year. 

Pat38493

trevjl said:

 “if” we have enough to retire when I hit 57.

at £2k pm outgoings my grade B in 'O' level maths says you could have gone long before now

Yes but what does that mean?  Does the £2K per month include the 4 holidays a year for example or is that just the regular bills?

Statement "don't really save anything" means the rest of the money  is going somewhere.

But yes quoted figures should easily already support 2K / month net income.

cambb

Pat38493 said:

trevjl said:

 “if” we have enough to retire when I hit 57.

at £2k pm outgoings my grade B in 'O' level maths says you could have gone long before now

Yes but what does that mean?  Does the £2K per month include the 4 holidays a year for example or is that just the regular bills?

Statement "don't really save anything" means the rest of the money  is going somewhere.

But yes quoted figures should easily already support 2K / month net income.

I should have been clearer. My outgoings are currently 60k a year. However in 4 years time they will drop to 42k a year, 3.5k a month.

Plasticman

Pat38493 said:

trevjl said:

 “if” we have enough to retire when I hit 57.

at £2k pm outgoings my grade B in 'O' level maths says you could have gone long before now

Yes but what does that mean?  Does the £2K per month include the 4 holidays a year for example or is that just the regular bills?

Statement "don't really save anything" means the rest of the money  is going somewhere.

But yes quoted figures should easily already support 2K / month net income.

That's the worry I have. I know what my regular bills are but that doesn't really reflect what you spend in a year. I've addressed it by starting to live off what we'll have as an income when we retire. Anything "extra" goes into the retirement pot. My thinking is that if I can live comfortably off that amount for another 5 years I'll be fine to live off it when I retire.

Bravepants

Plasticman said:

Pat38493 said:

trevjl said:

 “if” we have enough to retire when I hit 57.

at £2k pm outgoings my grade B in 'O' level maths says you could have gone long before now

Yes but what does that mean?  Does the £2K per month include the 4 holidays a year for example or is that just the regular bills?

Statement "don't really save anything" means the rest of the money  is going somewhere.

But yes quoted figures should easily already support 2K / month net income.

That's the worry I have. I know what my regular bills are but that doesn't really reflect what you spend in a year. I've addressed it by starting to live off what we'll have as an income when we retire. Anything "extra" goes into the retirement pot. My thinking is that if I can live comfortably off that amount for another 5 years I'll be fine to live off it when I retire.

+1 for this!

dharm999

cambb said:

Next month I hit 54 so really started thinking about maximising the last few years at work and predicting “if” we have enough to retire when I hit 57.

Currently I have 2 pensions with a combined value of £874k. I contribute about £20k into my pensions a year due to my company paying 20% and me 5%.

My wife (51) has a DB pension which will be worth around £6k a year when she hits 55.

We both have full NI contributions.

We still owe about £70k on our mortgage but on a 5 year deal 0.94% and are over paying it so it will be paid off in 4 years when the deal ends.

Our current outgoings are roughly £2k a month minus the mortgage payments. We have roughly £90k in savings spread across ISA’s etc. With both of our salaries we come out with £5k a month. We do have 4 holidays a year and don't really save anything.

I really enjoy my job and work from home with zero stress.

I guess the question is I don’t want to stay to long at work and “might” hit the LTA therefore I'm a bit conflicted about retiring or being greedy and saving more.

Why overpay on the mortgage?  You can more interest by putting the money into an easy saver account, or even a fixed term one for 4 years, when the interest on that, over 4%, will be way more than the interest you pay on the mortgage in the same period?

You could time it, so that you get all the interest in 4 years time, and probably pay less tax on it than you would if you took it monthly or annually.  

Don't forget, you both will get state pensions, so a max of around £20k between you.  You are well set to retire long before state pension age

sgx2000

Lol.....
By god....
Some of these posts really do make you feel like a massive under achiever.....