Retirement plan sense check

fuelcrusher

kempiejon said:

Looks like you've done the sums, have an idea of income, capital and spends and that bit looks good. Have you made predictions about how spending and activities might change without the daily grind? Making a plan of what you want to do out of work especially for those who have spent decades being defined by and having much of their time filled by work is a worthy exercise.
Filling about 40+ hours m-f week after week is a bit of step change without the routine of early rise, communte and then a structured day at the coal face. Never bothered me mind but I remember my aged P retired and was hanging about the house upsetting the wife who'd been used to life without him at home in the days. They worked it out in the end - she sent him to get a part time job.
As the money looks OK then it's time to ramp up the pleasure of having your own time and finding worthy activities to endulge in.

Thanks. It's interesting how many posts are looking at the human side of retiring over the financial.
I think this is where 12 hour shift workers have a huge advantage over 9-5 mon-fri workers. It's a different routine. For me Sat and Sun are just days of the week, I'm very used to mid week days off, I'm also very used to alot of time off. Work a set of five shifts, that's 60 hours, hence the week off that follows. Regular. We love this aspect of shift work and I think it will help to all but eliminate that adjustment that mon-fri workers have to go through on retirement. It is of course countered by the negatives of shift work and it's affects on your health.
A part time job could one day be on the cards if needed but I think it more likely my wife would take that option to escape me.

NoMore

I think you are overemphasizing the difference in retiring from shifts to a day job. At the end of the day they are both a routine, that you have organised your life round. That changes in retirement, you no longer have that routine provided by the job, I don't think it matters on how that routine was structured, its still gone either way.

crv1963

fuelcrusher said:

kempiejon said:

Looks like you've done the sums, have an idea of income, capital and spends and that bit looks good. Have you made predictions about how spending and activities might change without the daily grind? Making a plan of what you want to do out of work especially for those who have spent decades being defined by and having much of their time filled by work is a worthy exercise.
Filling about 40+ hours m-f week after week is a bit of step change without the routine of early rise, communte and then a structured day at the coal face. Never bothered me mind but I remember my aged P retired and was hanging about the house upsetting the wife who'd been used to life without him at home in the days. They worked it out in the end - she sent him to get a part time job.
As the money looks OK then it's time to ramp up the pleasure of having your own time and finding worthy activities to endulge in.

Thanks. It's interesting how many posts are looking at the human side of retiring over the financial.
I think this is where 12 hour shift workers have a huge advantage over 9-5 mon-fri workers. It's a different routine. For me Sat and Sun are just days of the week, I'm very used to mid week days off, I'm also very used to alot of time off. Work a set of five shifts, that's 60 hours, hence the week off that follows. Regular. We love this aspect of shift work and I think it will help to all but eliminate that adjustment that mon-fri workers have to go through on retirement. It is of course countered by the negatives of shift work and it's affects on your health.
A part time job could one day be on the cards if needed but I think it more likely my wife would take that option to escape me.

I worked 12 shifts for years I preferred nights to days- less management about lol. Now I work full time over 4 days as I couldn't envisage only 2 days a week off! My wife does 12 hour nights only, max of 3 per week. Days off mid week are priceless once you're used to weekends and bank holidays being normal working days!

One friend who retired at 54 from a high stress job has found himself a part time job for a bakery, delivering bread to pubs and cafe's. Does not need the money but needed some structure and to get out and about. Another retired 52, he loves it and finds it hard to fit things in, he does child care for his grandchildren one afternoon per week and told his children that's all he wants to do unless it's normal "grand dad" things. He also volunteers weekly for a charity.

Smudgeismydog

I retired at the end of June last year aged 50. We moved house in August and the new property is a project, so that’s helped to keep us busy.

My partner retired at the same time as me (aged 52), and we honestly haven’t struggled to fill our time. We have joined a local volunteering group, help our respective mums, and both pursue our individual hobbies as well as having days out together. 

My son also decided University wasn’t for him, and has been very fortunate to start a Degree Apprenticeship and is thriving. My daughter sits her A Level exams in the summer and will head off to Uni in September. I feel very thankful I have been able to have so much time with them to support them both through this.

The mental shift from accumulation to decumulation is tricky, but I remind myself this is why I saved it, to give me choice and own my time.

Best of luck to you

fuelcrusher

NoMore said:

I think you are overemphasizing the difference in retiring from shifts to a day job. At the end of the day they are both a routine, that you have organised your life round. That changes in retirement, you no longer have that routine provided by the job, I don't think it matters on how that routine was structured, its still gone either way.

Maybe. I guess you don't find out until you do. I certainly speak to many people approaching retirement who worry they won't have enough to do and are scared to make the jump on that basis. My gut feeling though is that I'm not going to be one of them. My concerns are more about being finacially ready, picking the right drawdown strategy, making the right tax decisions etc per my OP. I may of course find out I'm wrong.

fuelcrusher

Smudgeismydog said:

I retired at the end of June last year aged 50. We moved house in August and the new property is a project, so that’s helped to keep us busy.

My partner retired at the same time as me (aged 52), and we honestly haven’t struggled to fill our time. We have joined a local volunteering group, help our respective mums, and both pursue our individual hobbies as well as having days out together. 

My son also decided University wasn’t for him, and has been very fortunate to start a Degree Apprenticeship and is thriving. My daughter sits her A Level exams in the summer and will head off to Uni in September. I feel very thankful I have been able to have so much time with them to support them both through this.

The mental shift from accumulation to decumulation is tricky, but I remind myself this is why I saved it, to give me choice and own my time.

Best of luck to you

Thanks. Looks like you made some good decisions and it's working well for you.

kempiejon

fuelcrusher said:

Maybe. I guess you don't find out until you do. I certainly speak to many people approaching retirement who worry they won't have enough to do and are scared to make the jump on that basis. My gut feeling though is that I'm not going to be one of them. My concerns are more about being finacially ready, picking the right drawdown strategy, making the right tax decisions etc per my OP. I may of course find out I'm wrong.

I've given up work for extended periods a few times and have never struggled to fill my time and I too see what you've experienced people worried to jump because they don't know what to do. Or a recent example where a mate in their 50s has jacked it in and has turned into the stereotype of a teenager/student, they've idled much of the past year, getting up watching daytime TV, mid week drinking, staying up late, experimenting with drugs and sleeping all day. With a 50 year old's metabolism that's lead to weight gain. We've spoken about it and the realisation has dawned so there's time to change. Those early months away from the structure can be a shock.
I asked "What are you going to do?" because your finances look set, alert to tax, drawdown, sequence of returns risks etc your plan looks sound. Getting the impetus to leave can be hard so swapping work for something else rather than getting away from it is a better motivator.
By the way good luck and congratulations is getting there with your plan. 0.7 work is still most of it!

michaels

Your pot, DB and SP (assuming you and DW have full provision) would support a gross income of about £67k for life.

I would definitely start drawing from your pension to the limit of the basic rate tax threshold as soon as you can.

Personally I would 'bridge' to the start of your SPs and DBs using a fixed term index linked annuity or an index linked gilts ladder. To give you a fixed income floor of 2x SP + DB from retirement date.  Then I would look to draw up to the higher rate threshold, putting any you don't spend into an ISA.

Beyond that you need to think about inheritance planning.

Cobbler_tone

I think your accumulated wealth is enough to enjoy your retirement at any point. Especially factoring in your circumstances, the future addition of state pensions and the ability to work (in any capacity) should you wish. I can see the complexity of not being sure what to take when and how.
That is a long time retired (fingers crossed), so the biggest watch out is the removal of routine and loss of connection with the working world.
I don't love my job, 55 and convinced myself I want to retire ASAP. The reality is that I don't really feel ready emotionally. Sometimes on a bad day, or listening to some corporate BS I do but whether it is the decumulation, or liking having lots of disposable income and the routine/purpose of work...possibly a combination of all. 
I was a 12 hour shift worker (days/nights/weekends) for over 20 years but been in a very sedentary day based role for the past 10. I think I will probably approach it but reducing down to a 3 day week next year to keep the connection to the pension and associated work benefits like healthcare. Ramping the holidays up too! 

Albermarle

One point not really mentioned so far, is ones family situation.

Many retirees still have ongoing ( maybe daily) family responsibilities. Such as looking after elderly or disabled family members, or grandchildren ( babysitting, picking them up from school etc )
This can be restrictive but also does mean many days have some routine structure.
For those without lots of hobbies and interests, this can be useful to stop you slipping into a inactive state.