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When the 'freedoms' were first announced the LGPS was swamped with calls from people who wanted to 'cash in' their pensions. Many didn't believe us when we said that the new rules only applied to money purchase pensions, and not final salary schemes such as the LGPS. It was really annoying to be told that ' I needed to keep up with new rules and read the newspapers' or (my pet hate!) 'put me on to someone who knows what they are talking about'.“ I dont think many are raiding their pensions for lamborghinis so much. But given posts on here, many are raiding- even cashing in and paying shedloads of tax- for paying off the mtg, buying BTLs, even caravans.
Boggles the mind really, as i dont know what they will be living on.
Originally posted by atush
After it finally sank in that we weren't going to just transfer the value of their pensions straight to their bank accounts, the reasons for needing to 'cash in' were trotted out. Family wedding, new car, new kitchen seemed particularly popular. Assume that they had read (and mis-understood) the newspaper reports, and had immediately mentally 'spent' their expected windfalls.0 -
I don't mind telling people I plan to retire early. There's always a bit of "how?" and the answer is usually "frugality" or "because people spend too much which boosts corporate profits and that makes my fund values increase" depending on how much I like them.
The most difficult thing is convincing the wife that the money saved/invested is not for immediate spending.0 -
MaxiRobriguez wrote: »I don't mind telling people I plan to retire early. There's always a bit of "how?" and the answer is usually "frugality" or "because people spend too much which boosts corporate profits and that makes my fund values increase" depending on how much I like them.
The most difficult thing is convincing the wife that the money saved/invested is not for immediate spending.
Luckily my wife was of the same opinion as me. We 'could' have bought that 'executive' 4 bed house, had 2 expensive holidays a year and the new car every 3 years. Instead we stayed put in our perfectly adequate older 4 bed and bought 3 year old cars we ran for another 5 years. We still had cruises and trips to Disney, just every other year and cheaper holidays in-between.
Net result is I managed to retire at 54 on a comfortable income instead of working until I was 67 to achieve the same retirement income. It helped I was on a good wage but we didn't spend up to our income. I can still remember my boss being gobsmacked that I could retire at 54 when I said I was retiring.1 -
I remember a lot of members, several both rude and ignorant, insisting they had a right to take their pension from one of the DC providers I was responsible for.Many didn't believe us when we said that the new rules only applied to money purchase pensions, and not final salary schemes such as the LGPS. It was really annoying to be told that ' I needed to keep up with new rules and read the newspapers' or (my pet hate!) 'put me on to someone who knows what they are talking about'.
It wasn't hard to comprehend - the new legislation is permissive, your provider has chosen not to offer flexibilities, to use them you will need to transfer to a provider who offers them.
But many members continued to insist they had the right to a lump sum payment, or that we should be finding them a scheme to transfer to.0 -
What is FIRE please?0
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It's a funny old thing, isn't it, money? Olde worlde sage advice (never discuss money, religion or politics) seems to have gone by the by over the last decade or so. There should be no shame in having more money than others who had similar opportunities to save and invest but chose not to either through ignorance, lack of a crystal ball or just living for the moment. No-one should need to defend themselves against those who didn't put the time and effort into working out how to retire comfortably, and early.0
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Silvertabby wrote: »Confirmed by an Oz friend. She has friends who are boasting about what they will blow their pension pots on (not just debts) so they will be able to claim the means tested State pension.
That's what you get when you have a means-tested State Pension. We have an age-restricted Universal Basic Income so there isn't the same incentive to blow a modest pension fund and then live off means-tested State benefits.
Someone who has a UK New State Pension and a pension fund and blows the lot is going to have a materially worse life than the same person who spends the pension sustainably, because both of them will still get the full New State Pension. Not necessarily the case in Australia.0 -
I can still remember my boss being gobsmacked that I could retire at 54 when I said I was retiring.I'm just gob-smacked that anybody thinks it's any business of anyone else if they have retired early and can or can't afford it. Which is why I thought the OP's points about what his ex colleagues might think were 'odd'. Do so many people live in each other's pockets?
I think it's pretty normal if you announce you are retiring early for others to question how you managed it. Maybe Pollycat never talked to anyone at work.0 -
You were the one who mentioned 'sad low income life'A sad low income life would be what would happen if you retired super early with enough money to survive but not really enough to enjoy yourself. None of them ever mentioned that. What would you call it if someone retired super early on a very low income?
That would be the life your ex colleagues think you're living.
I wouldn't call the life of "someone retired super early on a very low income" anything because I wouldn't even think about it.I followed the principles of FIRE for years and squirreled money away before taking early retirement. When I retired early I trashed a final salary pension so ended up with a lovely combination of index linked pension which pays all the bills plus a pot for leisure which is invested. My pot is secret so work colleagues etc probably think I am living a sad low income life. It got me thinking though about people without the pension. If you squirrel money away for years everyone will think you are poor. When you suddenly announce you have enough savings never to work again you will be seen as 'mr money bags' who pays for everything. 'Another round of drinks please mr rich friend'. How-about a payday loan mate? It must cause some people grief. One scenario I fear is if one of my children had a mortgage and lost their job. I am sure I would pay their mortgage rather than see them repossessed and evicted.0
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