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What made you 'pull the trigger'?

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  • GSP said:
    sgx2000 said:
    I really appreciate posts like this....

    While all the pensions, tax and investment advice is invaluable....  (thank you everyone who helps)

    The more personal help with the decisions and outcomes is also invaluable...

    I am 62 and am at the point of wanting to go,  but really struggling to make the jump.....
    My finances are a fraction of most of the posts on the forum... So making the decision a little harder....

    I do laugh at the posters who say they have pots of £700k and dont know if they can afford to retire...lol
    Some really good posts and accounts on here.

    I currently have around that amount of funds you mention, but I can tell you I’d much prefer a DB pension if it was enough. An annuity wouldn’t be enough if I convert it.

    Relying on this fund as my only income and having seen nearly £200k disappear in just a few months I can assure you is no laughing matter.

    We still have more than six and 11 years to go before state pension and I am currently thinking about trying to return to work to protect the fund we have.
    If it gets below a certain level soon, it will dwindle and deplete faster being the only income.

    As it stands, I do worry on a daily basis and I just can’t relax as our future still feels so uncertain.
    But things happened and we are where we are, there’s not too much hindsight we should have done this or that because there weren’t any real options at the time.
    I'm in a similar position, no DB and it means I carry on working as there is no certainty wrt to my financial position. I can't see me stopping any time soon, sad really
    It's just my opinion and not advice.
  • chubsta said:
    To say I am 'planning' my retirement is a bit of an understatement - I have multiple spreadsheets dealing with historical and future outgoings, projected pension income, inflation rates etc. To be fair, I often have a bit of spare time in the morning so often spend an hour or so adjusting figures and making small changes to prospective dates so it doesn't get in the way, and whatever happens I want to be able to say that at least I covered all the bases when I make my final decision on when to leave work.

    I dislike the place I am working at but have been there for over 38 years(!), the job has changed a huge amount recently though so I just want to leave, the plan is to then get a part-time, minimum wage job for a few years just to keep me busy for the two days a week I will have spare.

    But as my prospective date gets closer and closer it is actually becoming quite scary - I have had the safety net of doing a job for decades that I can do easily so the idea of not doing it any more, as much as I dislike it, is very unsettling. But I am definitely going to leave in the next year or so, so my question to others is, what made you settle on a date to retire?

    Was it:
    I have enough money
    I am fed up with my job
    I want more spare time
    a significant birthday (60 etc)
    health

    I would imagine for most people it is a combination of the above, but which was the actual one that made you think the time is right? I am at the point where I am working out whether I should go on X date, or 5 weeks later but perhaps I am going into it in such detail as a form of delaying tactic, as I can always think of a reason why I should go slightly later, then I work out that actually, sod it, I may as well go a month or two earlier!

    I am guessing this sort of anxiety is recognisable to a few of you?

    The actual one which made both DH and I opt for early retirement was the second (I am fed up with my job)but we knew we were at the point of being able to afford it as like you we had planned for early retirement but did not know when we were going to push the button.  We had a rough plan of going between 55 and 65.  The exact date was determined when we were no longer happy to continue with our jobs.  Up until then I had been happy at work but went part time to ease into retirement and I carried on until 2018 when DH had been retired 2 years.  He had struggled with changes of working practices and worked through company changes for a year then decided enough was enough and retired in 2016. He could not work part time (company don't allow p/t working)  so gave up completely. We were and still are both healthy, have lots of hobbies and are enjoying having more time to do what we want now. Luckily though we planned financially from young (mid twenties) by saving a higher proportion of our income than most into long term savings like pensions and ISAs. 
    I’m a Forum Ambassador and I support the Forum Team on the Debt free Wannabe, Budgeting and Banking and Savings and Investment boards. If you need any help on these boards, do let me know. Please note that Ambassadors are not moderators. Any posts you spot in breach of the Forum Rules should be reported via the report button, or by emailing forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com. All views are my own and not the official line of MoneySavingExpert.

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  • sgx2000 said:
    I really appreciate posts like this....

    While all the pensions, tax and investment advice is invaluable....  (thank you everyone who helps)

    The more personal help with the decisions and outcomes is also invaluable...

    I am 62 and am at the point of wanting to go,  but really struggling to make the jump.....
    My finances are a fraction of most of the posts on the forum... So making the decision a little harder....

    I do laugh at the posters who say they have pots of £700k and dont know if they can afford to retire...lol
    pots of £700k have further to fall at times of stock market dips.  A drop of 10-15%  (very common at the moment) can knock £100k easily off larger pots. We have DB pensions so luckily we have  a more secure drawdown plan but our S and S ISAs and SIPPs are about 15% down on 2021 valuations.  That is our supplementary pot to cover our early retirement years though until state pensions kick in to boost our DB pensions. 
    I’m a Forum Ambassador and I support the Forum Team on the Debt free Wannabe, Budgeting and Banking and Savings and Investment boards. If you need any help on these boards, do let me know. Please note that Ambassadors are not moderators. Any posts you spot in breach of the Forum Rules should be reported via the report button, or by emailing forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com. All views are my own and not the official line of MoneySavingExpert.

    The 365 Day 1p Challenge 2025 #1 £667.95/£162.90
    Save £12k in 2025 #1 £12000/£7000
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