Retirement is great!

Nebulous2

katejo said:

43722 said:

I agree that retirement can be great, and so far has worked well for me. However, this does depend on having a sufficient income, bit sure that i would be saying that retirement is great if i could not pursue my interests.

1 friend of mine retired pretty early at 57 last October. She is with a partner who was a high earner (also retired but younger I think). Since retirement, they have been on several holidays. I do wonder how she can be sure that her income will last.

I’ve come to the conclusion it is impossible to tell how well funded anyone is. I’ve a friend who moved abroad in their early 50s and lives an expensive party lifestyle. I keep wondering if it will last, but so far it has done. 

Our own funding is pretty solid, we had planned to eat into our capital while bridging to state pension, but to date we have actually accrued more. Despite never being a high earner I do have a solid DB pension base, which helps. 

[Deleted User]

I can't wait to get to my planned early retirement!  

For me I think the highlights are going to be freedom from time constraints and not having to do food shopping on a Saturday!

Albermarle

[Deleted User] said:

I can't wait to get to my planned early retirement!  

For me I think the highlights are going to be freedom from time constraints and not having to do food shopping on a Saturday!

If you shop at Iceland on Tuesdays you can get an OAP discount 

GazzaBloom

I use Timeline for retirement planning and it suggests my plan has a 98% chance of success (when back tested) with my current figures, expected remaining contributions and drawdown...with 31/12/2024 as retirement date...I'll take that so 18 months and counting. I will be 3 months off age 58 at that point.

Expotter

Is this really the case? From BBC  and others this morning:

"People over 50 who left work during the pandemic are "much poorer" in general than other retirees, research suggests.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) said 48% of those who retired in 2020-21 were now living in relative poverty.

They were less likely to receive a pension and had lower levels of well-being than other retirees, the IFS found.

It said disruption from the pandemic and perceived health risks may have forced many to leave work early.

Older workers between the ages of 50 and 70 who left in the first year of the pandemic were "not retiring in comfort", the IFS said, compared with those who had retired even just a year earlier.

The report, which was funded by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, found that those who had retired in 2020-21 cut their spending on food by about £60 per week on average.

Nearly half (49%) had no access to either private or state pensions, compared with 43% of those who were newly inactive in 2019-20.

For a couple to be classified as being in "relative poverty" they would receive an income of less than £15,400.

The study noted that older people who stop working often never re-enter the workforce. "This group may be experiencing long-term poverty and greater hardship in the current cost of living crisis," it said."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-66120867

Sarahspangles

Expotter said:

Is this really the case? From BBC  and others this morning:

"People over 50 who left work during the pandemic are "much poorer" in general than other retirees, research suggests.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-66120867

I read that, but actually had more questions once I had. I don’t think the data was very clear.

As the data covers people 50+ newly out of the workforce in 2020-21 then it’s unsurprising that a significant %age don’t have access to a pension - most people can’t access their personal pensions (assuming they have one or more) until they turn 55. So the cohort is actually made up of people who are unemployed plus some who could access a pension. Some of the latter may however choose not to, if they haven’t decided they are retired.

Plus the sectors which shed staff quickly in 2020 may not be representative of the whole labour market. Someone working in retail or hospitality may find it hard to compete with younger new entrants, and those sectors have contracted somewhat. The 50+ economically inactive people leaving what are typically low-paid roles won’t have resources equivalent to those in other sectors.

33scott

"People over 50 who left work during the pandemic are "much poorer" in general than other retirees, research suggests.

I think its more PROJECT FEAR, the Government doing everything they can to persuade people not to retire early.

michaels

33scott said:

"People over 50 who left work during the pandemic are "much poorer" in general than other retirees, research suggests.

I think is more PROJECT FEAR, the Government doing everything they can to persuade people not to retire early.

Also the report is part of the 'relative poverty is bad industry' for whom people choosing a work life balance that puts their expenditure below some arbitrary level rather undermines the poverty industry's insistence that to be 'happy fully functioning members of society' people 'deserve' a certain level of income.

SouthCoastBoy

michaels said:

33scott said:

"People over 50 who left work during the pandemic are "much poorer" in general than other retirees, research suggests.

I think is more PROJECT FEAR, the Government doing everything they can to persuade people not to retire early.

Also the report is part of the 'relative poverty is bad industry' for whom people choosing a work life balance that puts their expenditure below some arbitrary level rather undermines the poverty industry's insistence that to be 'happy fully functioning members of society' people 'deserve' a certain level of income.

I think this is a really good point, I think the individual is in a lot better position to know what income they require rather than an abstract number that has not taken into consideration the individuals circumstances.

LHW99

Nearly half (49%) had no access to either private or state pensions, compared with 43% of those who were newly inactive in 2019-20.

That looks like "nearly half" on both accounts, given there would probably be a few % points error on the data (assuming this is a set of data points extrapolated to refer to the whole of the relevant set - I presume they don't have data for 100% of the relevant people)