FIRE Girls Pension Diary - Aim High & Dream Big

Firegirl

I found this drawdown calculator. Interesting to plug in some numbers.  Makes me more determined to reach my goal at 55.

https://markinthemoney.com/drawdown-calculator/

JoeCrystal

Why 55? If it is the age to access pension then it is due to go up to 57 in Apr 28.

Watty1

Well that calculator was a depressing look at my future. I will run out of money at 88 years and I actually need another 300 k to make my retirement goal...oh yes!  That would be the house the ex got. Ah well, at least I am happy

Firegirl

@JoeCrystal I aim to retire or have the choice at 55.  I will bridge gap with ISA savings until I can access pensions.

@Watty1 if we live to 88 we’ll be doing well!  300k. Let’s hope for a super dooper boom period!!!

LL_USS

Firegirl said:

I found this drawdown calculator. Interesting to plug in some numbers.  Makes me more determined to reach my goal at 55.

https://markinthemoney.com/drawdown-calculator/

Hurray it seems my pension still has leftover when I reach 100 and the tool says I can draw down more each year if I wish :-)

Oh no I did not take in account of taking out 25% lumpsum. It only lasts to 88.
Fun to play with the tool, though my case I have defined benefit work pension. Thanks for sharing the tool Firegirl.

Firegirl

@LL_USS and @Watty1 both 88! Thats great!

warrenb

Yep, on that calculator I run out at 87, just in time for the care costs to be met by the state 

Firegirl

@warrenb so glad the calculator brought you good news!

The below are all just rough figures but give a good idea of what I’m thinking.

I’ve been plugging in some numbers for my perm job.  A mixture of salary sacrifice and company contributions should see £40000 a year go into my pension.

If I do this, according to the calculator I’ll have 1 million and can retire, reduce hours or have the choice at age 52.

If I do actually want to retire at 52 I will need £200000 in my ISA to bridge the gap until I can take private pension at 57.  Even as I type this I think how difficult it must be to adjust to spending it all when you’ve saved all your life😆

Also got me thinking about different phases of retirement because I actually think I’d need more money than I do now if I was off every day. I currently wfh 4 days a week and they are mostly no spend days.  If I was off I’d def be out for coffee lunch, popping to the shop or doing something that costs money. You know what it’s like you go for a pint of milk and you come out with several extra items😆 (Is this what people never feel like they ever have enough! We’re talking crazy amounts of money here and I am grateful to be in this position! Almost embarrassed typing 😆)

In other news…. my eldest son has thrown me a financial and emotional curve ball and he might want to go to University afterall. He’s really hoping for a graduate apprenticeship.  Other option is 1 year of college stay at home and then go into the second year of University.  It’s all dependent on grades.

Well hope you are all sleeping better than me!  Have a good day😃

hugheskevi

Firegirl said:

If I do actually want to retire at 52 I will need £200000 in my ISA to bridge the gap until I can take private pension at 57.  Even as I type this I think how difficult it must be to adjust to spending it all when you’ve saved all your life😆

Personally I consider my main metric for both my year or two of work and also in retirement to be the amount of available spending per year my spreadsheets spit out, regardless of source.

I consider myself to be 'saving' if I spend less than that figure, even if my total assets are declining.

Cobbler_tone

Great to have a plan but at the same time I have found it quite consuming (and a waste of energy) to obsess over it, especially if you don't 'love' your job and a few years left. For me it is a balance of having a great life now and retiring ASAP, the D day is 58 in three years. We are working on 50% of income vs working income and when you look at going from running 2 cars to 1, the amount you spend on fuel, work clothes, other associated work spend, the sheer amount of NI and IT, you can cut your cloth accordingly. On top of that we currently save 30% of our income between us and maximise pension contributions to escape higher tax bills. Not forgetting that if you give up full time work, you can easily bring in a few hundred quid a month with a PT job, which would cover running your house. If you have worked all your life, you will either need a lot of hobbies or get bored and want to do something else on your terms. On top of that you get the cash injection from the state at 67, so you can factoring in an element of bridging.
I love my kids unconditionally but maybe I am a bit more conscious of my own existence and we all have a life to live ourselves.
There seems to be so much talk about providing for our kids throughout their lives. Maybe it is driven by the type of relationships we had we our own parents. They have a roof and the lesson I have always drilled into them is to be strong, independent, not rely on anyone else and hard work will get you wherever you want to be. 'Most' kids are extremely privileged in this country and it's not always healthy.