When did you feel financially secure?

Bostonerimus1

FIREDreamer said:

I annuitised the remainder of my pot in June due to inheritance tax implications. I got an RPI linked annuity with a 20 year guarantee at age 61 at a rate of 5.2% just before that provider reduced its rate by 15%.

I have no pension pot left to speak of, 4 figures, and I now feel very secure. Doing the £3,600 gross round Robin as I have been retired a year.

Retirement Provisions: 2 DB pensions and 2 index linked annuities, one JL with a 10 year guarantee and one SL with a 20 year guarantee.

I think many people will pursue a similar strategy with pensions coming under the IHT umbrella. Of course you are sort of trading IHT for income tax and if you have a well planned DC drawdown it should end up being functionally similar to an annuity anyway

Bostonerimus1

Actually I felt far more financially secure a few years ago, even though my net worth is higher today. Political instability has made me feel less secure and I have put enough money into saving accounts to provide a basic level of comfort. I may well be looking at a future with cross border finances and taxes and that makes me nervous.

FIREDreamer

Bostonerimus1 said:

FIREDreamer said:

I annuitised the remainder of my pot in June due to inheritance tax implications. I got an RPI linked annuity with a 20 year guarantee at age 61 at a rate of 5.2% just before that provider reduced its rate by 15%.

I have no pension pot left to speak of, 4 figures, and I now feel very secure. Doing the £3,600 gross round Robin as I have been retired a year.

Retirement Provisions: 2 DB pensions and 2 index linked annuities, one JL with a 10 year guarantee and one SL with a 20 year guarantee.

I think many people will pursue a similar strategy with pensions coming under the IHT umbrella. Of course you are sort of trading IHT for income tax and if you have a well planned DC drawdown it should end up being functionally similar to an annuity anyway

Regarding this, I agree with the following regarding security more, hence the annuitisation decision …

Bostonerimus1 said:

Actually I felt far more financially secure a few years ago, even though my net worth is higher today. Political instability has made me feel less secure and I have put enough money into saving accounts to provide a basic level of comfort. I may well be looking at a future with cross border finances and taxes and that makes me nervous.

No more worries about tariffs, Ukraine, and possibly Taiwan or another pandemic!

Storcko14

After spending a chunk of my 20s essentially living month to month in education, in and out of various jobs - some good, some less so - and travelling for extended periods, I began to feel financially secure in my early 30s with the novelty of a decent monthly salary.  That feeling increased in the late 90s when I traded that salary for contracting and vowed to avoid lifestyle creep as long as that lasted.  I then maxed the pension for tax efficiency reasons and got lucky in '09 with a very low rate lifetime tracker mortgage which was paid off in 2021 age 55.  That probably got us to 95% secure.  When our child left Uni and became financially independent 2 years later I could have stopped but a lucrative last p/t contract came along and I did One More Year (actually 18 months) until June this year.  

Now, our retirement income is 20% covered by DBs and Ms S's self-employed earnings until SPs kick in in 8 years' time so the bridge choice was either annuitise or switch some DC to ILGs and STMM.  We chose the latter and knowing the basics are covered is reassuring.

UrbanAchiever

I've felt financially secure for a few years.  I'm 51 now.  Why have I felt secure for a while? 

My wife and I, plus 2 teenagers live very modestly.  For example I spend about £100 a year on clothes for me and similar for my wife.  She often gets her clothes from charity shops. I rarely go out and love staying in, watching TV or having a friend over for a coffee. I've always been a saver/investor not a spender.

I'm an additional rate income tax payer and have always put a significant amount into my pensions and paid down the mortgages. We have 2 rental properties in London, but we live in the north of england. 

Yes we still have mortgages on our 3 properties but they are at very low LTV.  I know that I could downsize and stop work immediately if I wanted to.

I came to this realisation a few years ago when my pension pot plus equity in the rental properties exceeded £1m. Since then it's grown to £1.5m.  My plan is to retire at 53, which will see my eldest child with one year left at Uni and the younger one will have two years left at Uni (if he chooses to go). 

My confidence/comfort comes partly from the pensions/properties that I have but moreso from my modest lifestyle, which I enjoy very much. 

kimwp

I thought I would feel more when I paid off my mortgage, but I didn't really have any emotion about it. It is nice when I do my monthly review of my finances to remember that I don't have that big chunk of money going out though.

I'll only feel secure when I have more than I could possibly need for the rest of my life and any number I achieve probably won't feel enough as there's always something to worry about - but I'm setting savings and spend goals considering the essentials plus what genuinely brings me joy and trying not to worry about the rest.

I think the actual number will vary person to person - some people have relatively little and feel secure.

cockerWalker

For me, I think I'll feel financially secure when our income to live on and enjoy life doesn't come from employment and would continue whether or not we had good health or devoted time to it. This would be in addition to owning our home and having a bit of a reserve.
At the moment we own our home and have a reserve, but being able to retire comfortably in 10 years (at 60) still requires some pretty aggressive saving, hence income and lucrative employment. 

PattiTelongo

I’ve felt financially secure for a few years as I have a well paid job which I’m going to retire in 6 months from and I’m 55. My wife works part time too but will probably retire in 2 years as she enjoys her job unlike me. My DC pot is worth 480k but I think it’ll be a little more when I go. I’m also fortunate that I have a great DB scheme that I plan to access at 59/60 and full SP at 67. 

I’ll pay the last £60k of the mortgage off in April when I trigger my DC and I’m on course to live on 50k gross plus around 20k tax free cash each year for the foreseeable and it’s a nice feeling. I have health issues so I plan to go go go for at least the 1st decade in terms of travel, gigs and a few luxuries and see where we are. If our remaining 2 kids go to university they’ll probably commute from home so I don’t envisage huge costs. As someone who started on a YTS scheme at 16 it’s time to get off the horse and enjoy it. 

Eldi_Dos

Workerdrone said:

 

Im just interested to hear from others, was there a point where you looked at your pension pot, looked at your age and thought, you know what, I could tell work to do a running jump if I wanted to now?

That is a dangerous train of thought for someone of your age who expects to be in gainful employment for the foreseeable.
It is not that unusual for guys, and it is predominately guys, in their fifties who have been in position for a good few years to find themselves under the tutelage of a younger manager who has a brief to change things.Not always a receipe for success and it is surprising how many find themselves cut adrift when any restructuring is carried out if that attitude shows through.

QrizB

Eldi_Dos said:

Workerdrone said:

 Im just interested to hear from others, was there a point where you looked at your pension pot, looked at your age and thought, you know what, I could tell work to do a running jump if I wanted to now?

That is a dangerous train of thought ... if that attitude shows through.

You say that's though it's a bad thing

I had a colleague in his mid-50s who was really not happy at work but hadn't realised that he could afford to retire. Over a period of weeks we discussed his pensions and wider financial position and he realised he genuinely could tell them where to stick their job.

I met up with him again recently (about 5 years on) and it's all working out. He's a much happier person and his wife's retired too.