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Early-retirement wannabe
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Show me an investment that guarantees 30% growth a year or more an I might agree with you.
1) I don't care whether you agree with me or not.
2) 30% growth a year is cloud cuckoo land. It won't happen other than on the occasional blue moon and certainly not sustainably.
3) I use a conservative 5% real growth a year as my high water mark and 3% as my low one. With compounding, this works for me, or at least I hope it does. I'll tell you in 2018 when I'm 55.I am not a financial adviser and neither do I play one on television. I might occasionally give bad advice but at least it's free.
Like all religions, the Faith of the Invisible Pink Unicorns is based upon both logic and faith. We have faith that they are pink; we logically know that they are invisible because we can't see them.0 -
gadgetmind wrote: »3) I use a conservative 5% real growth a year as my high water mark and 3% as my low one. With compounding, this works for me, or at least I hope it does. I'll tell you in 2018 when I'm 55.
Well, bear in mind that you joined three years ago
, I think it is quite likely you will still be around in 2018. I hope so anyway! 
Cheers,
Joe0 -
If you cant afford to put a reasonable amount into a pension now how will you manage after retirement when your income will be much lower? Perhaps a better approach would be to put enough into a pension such that your standard of living is unchanged when you retire.
As to not living to retirement, current government statistics predict that only about 6% of 42 year olds wont reach 65 and 30% wont reach 85. Basing your finances on dying early doesnt sound like a very good bet to me.
I personally put over 20% into a pension at present (with no luxury of company contributions), but what I'm saying is that many people simply do not have the spare money that you can tell some of you on here have. I'd hazard a pretty good guess that yourself and a few others on here are not taking home lowly £15ks - if you were you'd probably be calling a different tune.
And I'm personally not basing my finances on dying early - it's not actually in my plans to pop my clogs anytime soon. All I am saying is that many people feel the working years of your life are there to be lived just as much as the rest of it, and there's not necessarily a problem with that train of thought.“In any moment of decision the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing at all.” - Roosevelt0 -
tell_it_how_it_is wrote: »I'd hazard a pretty good guess that yourself and a few others on here are not taking home lowly £15ks
I spent a few years earning minimum wage, which was a splendid prompt to knuckle down regards A-levels and degree. Many of those I worked alongside said I was mad to put my energies into such irrelevances as maths, science, etc. as they couldn't see how it applied to the life of someone earning minimum wage.
Which is kind of the point.I am not a financial adviser and neither do I play one on television. I might occasionally give bad advice but at least it's free.
Like all religions, the Faith of the Invisible Pink Unicorns is based upon both logic and faith. We have faith that they are pink; we logically know that they are invisible because we can't see them.0 -
Some random thoughts from me on reading the last few posts.
I guess the problem with retirement saving in general is because of the timescales involved its very difficult to get a grip on actually how much to invest and where. In addition, those decisions are likely to be subject to any number of changes over the life of the contributions.
Also, because become accustomed to different lifestyle changes its impossible to say exactly how much each individual can live on in retirement. For example, my brother, who retired around two years ago at the age of 50, lives on a monthly pension of around £1,100 which is flat for five years and then inflation thereafter (public service pension). It's great for him but in my view would be completely inadequate for me. What you have never had you will never miss.
So I think people need to look very carefully at their own situation but the following are true for everybody.
1. Doing nothing is not an option unless you believe the state pension will meet your needs and you are prepared to accept the lottery that is the state retirement age.
2. Take advantage of free money whereever possible (e.g. employer contributions).
3. Try not to be passive. Take an interest in your retirement and actively manage where your money goes.
........so I would like to open this up to anyone else - what are your top tips?Money won't buy you happiness....but I have never been in a situation where more money made things worse!0 -
Marine_life wrote: ».....
1. Doing nothing is not an option unless you believe the state pension will meet your needs and you are prepared to accept the lottery that is the state retirement age.
2. Take advantage of free money whereever possible (e.g. employer contributions).
3. Try not to be passive. Take an interest in your retirement and actively manage where your money goes.
........so I would like to open this up to anyone else - what are your top tips?
4. Plan. You need to know well in advance how much money you need to retire, when you would like to retire, and what contribution and investment returns are needed to achieve it. Review the plan at least annually to ensure it remains realistic.0 -
Marine_life wrote: »Some random thoughts from me on reading the last few posts.
1. Doing nothing is not an option unless you believe the state pension will meet your needs and you are prepared to accept the lottery that is the state retirement age.
2. Take advantage of free money wherever possible (e.g. employer contributions).
3. Try not to be passive. Take an interest in your retirement and actively manage where your money goes.
........so I would like to open this up to anyone else - what are your top tips?
1. Fair point. However I would have thought that the less you earn now, the less you are used to living on and consequently the less you will need in retirement. Therefore the more that the State pension forms the major part of your retirement income.
2 and 3. Agreed. Though the word 'passive' is difficult. I take an interest in my retirement and plan to retire at around 57 ish, as does my wife. However we are both in the fortunate position of being in public sector pensions and as such we know pretty much what we will receive and when we will receive it, which makes planning a lot easier. But we don't have a great deal of say in where, when and how our pensions are managed, they just happen. We save elsewhere, but don't have any other private pension provision.0 -
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Cyclone, do you regret taking Max lump sum instead of higher pensions?
No, I have max flexibility if I suddenly decide to go off on a tangent, as I am apt to do
Do you regret only saving that TFLS in savings at fix rate deps, instead of investing some for a higher income?
Again no, I am absolutely low risk, and when you have your pension there is no leeway to make up for possible losses, and a lot less time to absorb the market swings, could be dead tomorrow,
;);),touch would not.
Having recovered from an injury that was near fatal on several counts certainly changes one's perspective and outlook on life, I don't take anything too seriously any more and feel the better for it. The kids are better off than we were and don't need our money, they get the property so we are probably stating a gentle "spend down".I like the thanks button, but ,please, an I agree button.
Will the grammar and spelling police respect I do make grammatical errors, and have carp spelling, no need to remind me.;)
Always expect the unexpected:eek:and then you won't be dissapointed0 -
The reason I asked was that you now have an income shortfall but still big expenses (such as the three you listed).0
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