Bold leap into retirement

Pat38493

Albermarle said:

Yes, there was a ‘surprise uptick’ in inflation last month, and FTSE didn’t have a great day today. I accept there will never be the perfect time to do this. However I feel my initial detailed mathematical planning has given me confidence and none of this will derail my plans!

Some points here;

1) You have to think on a long term basis as you will hopefully be retired for many years/decades. So what is happening in the financial markets today is of almost zero importance. 

2) The FTSE 100 although referred to widely in the UK, is only of minor importance globally. Only if you were largely invested in UK shares rather than being more globally diversified ( which is not a recommended strategy) would it really affect you.

3) Most people pensions, investments etc are not 100% equity and will contain a proportion of mainly bonds usually. So making daily movements in share markets even less of an issue.

Generally I totally agree, but on the point in bold, to be fair, global trackers and various other funds lost quite a bit on that day as well so it wasn't just the UK.  However, it wasn't anything too unusual in normal volatility as far as I can tell.

Even though rationally I know this for sure, it requires some mental discipline to keep reminding myself of this and not thinking - "oh what if this is the start of a big crash" - even if it is, it's probably nothing to panic about in the longest terms.  It might require a bit of adjustments if there was a big equity crash as I am planning to make big TFC withdrawals to pay off my mortgage some time in the next 18 months and obviously if my 25% available TFC became a lot smaller in the short term I might have to run some more scenarios.

SouthCoastBoy

Albermarle said:

SouthCoastBoy said:

Kim1965 said:

In response to Albermarle and South Coast Boy re part time work. 
 I think it very much depends on the career/job you have been employed in. I work in the construction industry, its a skilled job, pays more than the average wage but is physical, dirty and i cook in the summer and freeze in the winter
. Its not really a job for people in their sixties. I am hoping i can work one more winter perhaps two at a push. 
 Part time work would be a breeze, even if my boss had acne. Lol

I understand where you are coming from, and initially I thought I could take a part time role, but have since decided its not for me, so doing an additional year or two instead.

Or maybe three or four ?

Yes you are correct, it is around 3 years at the moment, most probably got a couple more to go

michaels

SouthCoastBoy said:

Albermarle said:

SouthCoastBoy said:

Kim1965 said:

In response to Albermarle and South Coast Boy re part time work. 
 I think it very much depends on the career/job you have been employed in. I work in the construction industry, its a skilled job, pays more than the average wage but is physical, dirty and i cook in the summer and freeze in the winter
. Its not really a job for people in their sixties. I am hoping i can work one more winter perhaps two at a push. 
 Part time work would be a breeze, even if my boss had acne. Lol

I understand where you are coming from, and initially I thought I could take a part time role, but have since decided its not for me, so doing an additional year or two instead.

Or maybe three or four ?

Yes you are correct, it is around 3 years at the moment, most probably got a couple more to go

I think it is a very personal decision, for each of us the trade off between having more to spend and/or more security vs spending more time working will be different, not least based on how much we enjoy/actively dislike our jobs/colleagues and whether we can picture ourselves being happier with the lifestyle out current retirement funds would support.

I am currently thinking I 'should' carry on another 18 months to 55 but suspect this is more out of convention than not being able to fund an acceptable lifestyle already and given I really dislike working/my job perhaps I should do something about it.

Smudgeismydog

Thanks Albermarle, I guess that is what I was trying to say, perhaps clumsily.

For me the retirement decision is a much bigger picture than focusing any of these things individually. I have confidence in my figures, and I’m open to adapting as I move into this new chapter.


I’m interested in why michaels wants to carry on for ‘convention’, when clearly not happy in work?  

Albermarle

Pat38493 said:

Albermarle said:

Yes, there was a ‘surprise uptick’ in inflation last month, and FTSE didn’t have a great day today. I accept there will never be the perfect time to do this. However I feel my initial detailed mathematical planning has given me confidence and none of this will derail my plans!

Some points here;

1) You have to think on a long term basis as you will hopefully be retired for many years/decades. So what is happening in the financial markets today is of almost zero importance. 

2) The FTSE 100 although referred to widely in the UK, is only of minor importance globally. Only if you were largely invested in UK shares rather than being more globally diversified ( which is not a recommended strategy) would it really affect you.

3) Most people pensions, investments etc are not 100% equity and will contain a proportion of mainly bonds usually. So making daily movements in share markets even less of an issue.

Generally I totally agree, but on the point in bold, to be fair, global trackers and various other funds lost quite a bit on that day as well so it wasn't just the UK.  However, it wasn't anything too unusual in normal volatility as far as I can tell. OK Mine was more of a general comment about the importance ( or lack of it) of the FTSE 100, rather than on a specific day.

Even though rationally I know this for sure, it requires some mental discipline to keep reminding myself of this and not thinking - "oh what if this is the start of a big crash" - even if it is, it's probably nothing to panic about in the longest terms.  It might require a bit of adjustments if there was a big equity crash as I am planning to make big TFC withdrawals to pay off my mortgage some time in the next 18 months and obviously if my 25% available TFC became a lot smaller in the short term I might have to run some more scenarios.

Of course advising others to act rationally and keep calm, does not necessarily mean that one is immune to squeaky b*m moments !

enthusiasticsaver

Congratulations on taking the bold leap  and hopefully this will make the next six months bearable knowing that you will be free at the end of June.  My husband and I both retired at 58 so older than you on a mix of DB income/ISAs and DC income.  DH gets his State pension later on this year and mine kicks in 2 years from now.  You seem to have done your sums and I think that you have a good plan in place obviously helped by the dependents pension you get as well as supplementing initially from cash and your ISA and eventually the SIPP in 7 years time. 

We took the view we would retire from work when we no longer enjoyed going there and when we could afford to.  Luckily the dates for both more or less coincided although in reflection we could have gone earlier as we still have substantial investments we have not needed to draw on yet and are unlikely to.  I look forward to reading about your journey. 

tooldle

Congratulations!. I’ve recently finished work. I turned 54 towards the end of last year and with looming redundancy (Role funded by EU monies), I decided not to look for work. I’m now at the end of my second week (on holiday for all of Dec). So far, so good. My plan like yours is not to commit to anything new in the first 5/6 months. My OH will join me in retirement in late April. So far I’ve upped my swimming and running, and am tackling a number of small jobs in the house. Walking the dog in daylight is a welcome change. I’ve been surprised at the number of local activities mostly advertised by A4 size notices in and around the area. I’m putting together a list of things I might like to try when I’m ready to commit. Slowly does it. I will follow your thread with interest, good luck OP.

michaels

Smudgeismydog said:

Thanks Albermarle, I guess that is what I was trying to say, perhaps clumsily.

For me the retirement decision is a much bigger picture than focusing any of these things individually. I have confidence in my figures, and I’m open to adapting as I move into this new chapter.


I’m interested in why michaels wants to carry on for ‘convention’, when clearly not happy in work?  

I don't know, I simply had age 55 in my 'planning horizon', things like wanting to be able to start drawdown if needed, being able to remortgage whilst still employed, all my spreadsheets including earnings and pension contributions to that age, that I have never really liked my job so more of the same seems little different but better performance of various pension investments mean I could in theory retire now on what I had pencilled in for the planned date at 55....

Kniphofia7

I'm going this year too, at the end of March which is now fast approaching.  I'll be 63 and looking to use my savings and a couple of small pensions to get me through until state pension.  It's worth it to me to not have to work.  I made the decision last June and told my manager so now we have my replacement in post to do a handover.  I can't take the BEST and wellness/box ticking nonsense any longer and as others have said reducing hours I feel I would do the same work in fewer days.  I've had enough.

Smudgeismydog

Morning @toodle, and thanks for posting. I’m so pleased to hear how your first couple of weeks in retirement have been. I would be so grateful if you would continue to share how you are settling into retirement, as I think this would be really beneficial for me.

Hmmm, so that could mean 3 more years of you owning your time and deciding what to do with it instead of someone else @michaels, now that’s food for thought….

Hello @kniphofia well done on taking your ‘bold leap’. How have you felt since you made the decision?

@enthusiasticsaver, it’s so lovely to have you on board, I’ve read your postings for a long time. There are aspects of my role I still love and I know I’ll miss, but there are increasingly more that I find frustrating and cause me stress and anxiety. Like you and your other half, it’s knowing I can fund myself to not have to continue doing it, and that’s been liberating.
Since handing in my notice I feel like my shoulders have dropped and I’m calmer, so it’s definitely been the right decision for me and my family.