The Senior Wonder Years!

collins74

Thanks @[Deleted User].  I have to say your posts are really encouraging, thoughtful and I enjoy reading them.  I would add that I have read a lot of posts on these forums and you are one of the best contributors in my view.

Sorry this is a long post and I will get to the bit around what to live on in retirement and the life we would like to lead.  I am also conscious that I do not want to take this very good thread in a different direction, so after this I will keep further updates to a minimum.

Bit about myself and my situation.

From a working class background, no property ownership in my family and didn’t have much growing up.  

Age 49, 2 kids and married.  Never went uni but was supported by some very good managers to study alongside my role and got two promotions.  Joined LG in 99 age 24 and have paid into the LGPS throughout and to an AVC since 2017.  Salary £48k.  No other pensions.

Wife in teaching role age 45 with 20 years service in TPS and also has a teachers AVC.  No inheritance due either. Salary £60k.  No other pensions.

Own our house worth about £250k and a mortgage of £20k.  Got loan and pcp debts which will bring under a mortgage later this year and will then have a mortgage for 7 years so finishing when I am 57 if we choose not to borrow again.  No credit card debts.

Have around £10k in savings but not able to add to this atm due to adding to AVCs and other commitments, plan to start LT cash savings from September this year when debts are consolidated but this will only be around £200 per month. 

In terms of retirement and pensions I am a bit obsessed and it dominates a lot of my thinking around personal finances. I have contributed £60k to my AVC and plan to have £180k/£190k in it at the time of retirement and am currently adding £1k per month, its salary sacrifice so very tax efficient.  I can take £160kish TFLS from the AVC and another £15k automatic lump sum and will buy some extra pension at 60/61 through LGPS with the residue of the AVC.

 Wife’s AVC £30k and putting in £400 per month as not as tax efficient when withdrawing and she has longer to work than me, will probably just draw this and pay the tax.  You cannot buy a scheme annuity with this AVC.

Longevity on both sides is a bit mixed and our lifestyle is okish but could be better - we like our food and drinks at weekend.  Also partial to a takeaway once a week or a meal out.

I would love to retire at 55/57 but after doing the maths it would not be affordable as my daughter is likely to be at uni and I would take such a hit in early retirement factors .  We have settled on me going at 60 or 61.  My wife is 4 years younger and would love to go at 57 but may realistically go part time at 57 then retire at 60.

With my LGPS scheme I have great planning tools that allow me to chop and change my retirement dates and salary etc.  The planner says at 60 I would be due £25k per year which doesn’t include CPI increases or the additional pension via the AVC I may get.

The TPS for my wife is hard to understand and we found the tools hard to plan with.  We have not done any projections for her and this is a bit of a blind spot.  The annual statements are ok but only give projections to full retirement age. Not sure what to do about this and my wife is not interested in looking at her pension at all.  All we know is she is on a good salary and will be thereabouts around 60.  

I have ran spreadsheets with projected budgets when we retire and factored in increases in all our bills and removed things we will no longer have to pay for.  It looks ok but feels like a lot of guesswork and gut instinct which of course it is.

I don’t factor in the state pension as not sure how it will look in 18 years. Anything will be a bonus.

Things that could disrupt/change our plans:

Health 
Redundancy - local government finance is a mess.
Supporting kids with next stages of life.
Home improvements not factored in our plans such as windows, bathroom, driveway etc - at the moment everything is ok but will need updating in the next ten years.
Increases in the state retirement age which is linked to our DB pension
Other things out of our control - changes in government, AI, climate change and possible wars in Europe and wider which I think is a real prospect!!

Plans in retirement: 

We will not scrimp and not spend anything in retirement just to leave the kids plenty of money.  We want to live a full life and if the kids get the house good luck to them.  We have saved in junior isas for them as best we can and will support them through uni, they have had a lot more than other kids and no doubt we will help if and when they get married etc.

I see colleagues who retire, have good pensions and the put the tax free money in the bank and won’t touch it.  That won’t be us, we plan to use it and make life as comfortable as we can.  I would want to be able to go for lunch, a pint and get out each day and go for a few big holidays when initially retiring.

I would love grandchildren close by and will support our kids with childcare as much as possible but still retain some time to ourselves.  We only had limited support childcare wise and we would want to be active grandparents if possible,

Would go down to one car and probably buy brand new at retirement out of the lump sums but look after and retain it.

Love my football and have season tickets for our local team - would like to keep this going as long as I am able to go.

I am a bit sad and one of things I look forward to is a free bus pass to travel around with, only problem is I need to wait 18years to get it.  I used to go on the bus all over with my granddad as a kid and am fond of using them even though I have drove for 30 years.

Another interesting point is that people I have spoken to who had retired said winters can be difficult as you cannot potter around the same as when the months are milder.  Not sure how people have found this or if it’s an issue?

One of my grandparents was very superstitious and believed that you should not plan too far ahead,  I like to think I have a balance between living for now but also planning for the future.

So this is our position with 11 years to go to when I may retire and how I envisage retirement.  I could have this all wrong and it may not come to fruition.  We will just do our best and see what life throws at us.

I will add comments on this thread when I can add value.

Thanks for reading this.

helensbiggestfan

hi Baron.  Just found this thread.  It's fab!!!   Just read the first couple of pages but had to comment and say hello.  

Just read about your interest in clothes.  My son is also 6ft 3in and very slender, with ridiculously long legs. He's actually quite a handsome beast too but then I'm his mum so I would say that wouldn't I.  Lol.   He's clothes mad but doesn't spend a lot, very elegant, think James Bond.  He's quite a keen M&S shopper, which is quite unusual for his age (39) but they do have a good size range and they are usually quite fashion forward and decent quality.  Far better than their women's wear....... 

I don't know if you have them your way but there is a nice chain of menswear shops called Slaters. Some very nice gear and they offer a full alteration service, very useful for slim Jim's who need clothes to fit well. 

I too love clothes, in my youth I used to design and make most of my own......I fancied myself as Mary Quant.  Lol.  I tend not to sew much now. I love classic tailoring and I'm not really up to tailor standards, just a dressmaker really. I tend to buy vintage or preloved. True vintage is much better quality than most of the high street offerings these days.  Quality has truly nose dived during  the last decade, especially women's wear.  

You may remember from the How Much to Live on Thread I also do a bit of vintage clothing sales as a little sideline.  Problem is when I buy something I really love I don't like parting with it.  But every so often I do have a little purge and make a few extra shekels.  

The other thing I would like to comment on is the discussion about houses-v-bungalows and the value of stairs.  There is definitely such a thing as "Bungalow Legs" so best not to go into a bungalow too early.  My last house was a chalet bungalow which did have a set of stairs which I used regularly,  I've sold that and am currently renting a bungalow whilst I look for my next house.  There are no stairs here and I have noticed that when I visit my sons house I feel the stairs!!!!    I am about to start house hunting in earnest and I shall definitely be going back to a house with stairs, preferably with a straight staircase with a view to easy future proofing,  

Anyway love the thread and will go back and read at my leisure.  

helensbiggestfan

Just spent a happy hour reading your diary.  

Loved your little rant on January 18th about some MSE threads and the "how little can you spend mindsets". 

I appreciate that times are very hard for a lot of people and that some have no option but to switch off their heating and visit food banks but usually they aren't the type of people who have discovered this website. I think some of the people you mention are either masochists or misers. 

I am by no means wealthy, in fact compared to many of the posts I read I am as poor as a church mouse, but with creative flair and a range of practical skills I live simply but well.  I refuse to eat junk and I will not freeze in my own home.  Those are non negotiables.  Sure I could slash my grocery bill if I ate crap and I could sit and shiver but no hair shirts for me.  

All I can say is there's nowt so queer as folk.  

Anyway back to your diary.......it's great. 

[Deleted User]

@collins74 and @helensbiggestfan thank you both so much for your informative and supportive posts. I have signed in for my Lenten weekly visit very early as I have an unpleasant head cold and drifting in and out of sleep lol! I shouldn’t complain as this is the first cold I have developed in well over a year. 

I will respond in fuller detail before the day is out and I have a bit more compos mentis!

Clowance

Sorry to hear about your heavy cold, but on the bright side, you don't have to drag yourself to work!

bluenose1

Hope you feel better soon. Baron_Dale.
I hate having a head cold, makes you feel so miserable, though  as Clowance  says at least you don’t have to worry about work.
i am currently in and out of hospital visiting my auntie so have a feeling I may pick something unpleasant up. Have to walk past A and E every day and not a single time of day when I can’t see loads of trolleys with patients in the corridor outside, very sad state of affairs.

[Deleted User]

Yes it is a relief to know I can take my time to get up and pace myself during the day.
I remember only too well when ill previously waking up in the early hours saying to myself come on you only have a few hours to sort yourself out. Looking back, too often I probably pushed myself to go to work when I should have stayed off. I used to hate being absent from my classes and having to return to sort out the chaos.
I have been lucky with my health. I probably had no more than 30 or 40 days off ill over a period of 40 years plus. So not too bad. Like the students I used  to get certificates for 100% attendance lol!

[Deleted User]

Overall not too much to report back on this week. The wet and dull weather is really beginning to get me down! My poor garden! I can’t wait to get out there for a few days in a row instead of a couple of hours here and there because of the weather.

I have chosen the tiles, radiator, mirror, basin and vanity unit for the cloakroom upgrade. Hopefully that and the utility area will have been completed by the summer, weather permitting.

The driveway and paved courtyard areas are looking very sorry for themselves. So looking forward to them being cleaned and re-sanded.

The car goes for its MOT and annual service next Monday. Hopefully there will be no major shocks. I need to clean the interior and exterior by next Sunday.

Swimming continues to go well. Three times weekly and 40 lengths.

Financially things are plodding along. Looking forward to the state pension from July! I should receive the paperwork in the next few weeks.

Now I must try to complete my daily exercises as well as shave and shower. My mind is saying yes but my virus attacked body is saying no lol!

[Deleted User]

@collins74 the retirement income for you and your wife looks quite healthy to me. One thing I am not sure about is how you can take £160000 tax free from an AVC pot of say £180000. Have I misread something? I thought it was 25% of the total and then drawdown or an annuity. I am impressed you can put so much each month into your pensions. Well done!

[Deleted User]

@helensbiggestfan, hopefully the state pension uplift in April will help cash flow!

What are house prices like in your area? What sort of property are you looking for? At today’s values, my share of the house I co-own with my elderly relative would be about 350000 to 380000. Sounds ok but on property is quite expensive here.

I am intrigued that you have managed to obtain another mortgage. Does this mean I could possibly be considered for one on a few years should I need to top up to get the property I may like? My aim when that time comes and hopefully not for a few years is still to buy outright but having a cushion may be helpful. At today’s values from July when state pension kicks in I will have a pre-tax income of about £34000p.a. I would appreciate any insights you may have. Thank you.