Early-retirement wannabe

thriftytracey wrote: »

I guess you get to stay in some lovely locations/houses. However we have 2 dogs and I don't suppose they would like that! Even if we were looking after their dogs ....


Dogs are definitely a big commitment as posted earlier. But they give you so much pleasure I could not be without them.


It would help if this country was more dog friendly, like France is. Most of the chateaux we visited allowed dogs in their gardens and in the chateaux if they were carried (obviously not something to you could do with an Alsatian), but ours are small and smallish respectively. Many shops allow them and all bars and restaurants we visited also allow them. Churches too, if they are carried.


Any day trip/visit in the UK involves the question "what about the dogs". e.g. I fancied visiting Black Country Museum - dogs not allowed. You can't leave them in the car for more than an hour - it is not fair on them.


Rant over

I have visions of me carrying a giant Schnauzer round. I'm not winning!:rotfl:

They are a bind, but like you, love 'em, so the pros outweigh the cons.

MallyGirl wrote: »

The Lakes are pretty good with dogs. Sadly one of our big roughty toughty (should this be ruffty tuffty) dogs is scared of other dogs and the other one is protective of her so it doesn't make for a relaxing time. We now don't take them to anywhere that there might be stress.

I could not carry either of my dogs more than a few yards,

Our Lab is scared of other dogs and the Border Collie is "reactive" as in one moment she's friendly the next she's having a go at other dogs, totally unpredictable so we have to seek isolated places to go in unseasonable times so you have my sympathy.

I could probably lift the dogs but couldn't carry them anywhere!

Interestingly when I was training her to the sheep she was fine with the sheep but we had to stand separately to the rest of the class as she was over protective of "her" sheep. She guards our hens and breaks into their run and sits with them, if another dog visits it's a nightmare as she wont let them near the run!

What an interesting thread. Knowing what to do with ones time seems like a key, but often overlooked element.

Who is aiming for early retirement (or who has retired early already)? Me! I’m 38 and aiming to retire at 60.
When did you begin planning and what drove the decision?
Serious planning started this year. Prior to that we had spent time moving around for work, paying off student loans, getting on the housing ladder, and filling the emergency savings pot. This all took a little longer than expected as we had a few years of serious health issues, through no fault of our own. It is the health issues that mean we need to have the option of retiring earlier should we need to.
What is the strategy for getting there?
Paying AVCs to husbands DB pension. He is likely to reach max lifetime allowance in early 50s at which point that money will switch to my pension fund/ISAs. His pension will also give me a widows pension of 1/3 should he die before me.
Paying £600 per month to my employer pension (salary sacrifice, gets me max contributions from them)
Saving to ISAs and LISAs for both of us, at the moment £300 per month whilst building up emergency pot. Plan to increase this soon.
Overpaying mortgage to be mortgage free by 55, aiming for mortgage neutral with ISAs by 50. In Greater London so mortgage is :eek: this is a big challenge.
The pensions will give us a very healthy income aged 67. We may take my pension earlier (likely drawdown), but the actuarial reduction means it is not worth it for husbands DB pension. So the ISAs will need to plug the gap 60-67, this is now the focus.
How much of a relative decline in income are you prepared to take / did you take?
We are targeting 75% of current income in retirement. Definitely achievable at 67, will take serious saving and a dollop of luck to make it at 60. Our actual lifestyle works out at about 45% of income a year, so that is the baseline, but we would like to travel more and have a buffer.
What are your main concerns?
Stock market performance, changes to pension rules. I’m working on the basis that the state pension will be means tested by the time I retire. Hopefully not though. Also job loss or redundancy and ageism in the workplace could cause an issue.
For those already in early retirement - how is it progressing? What have been the good and bad surprises (financial and otherwise)?
Can’t answer this one yet! The thread has been really useful to get me thinking about what I might want to do with my time though.

Cosycat wrote: »

So the ISAs will need to plug the gap 60-67, this is now the focus.

DC pensions for you would probably be a tax-efficient way to plug that gap. Even getting just 20% tax rebate on the way in is pretty good if you're going to withdraw the personal allowance tax-free.

It might be pretty reasonable to use ISAs now in the expectation of later moving the money into DC pensions because, for example, (i) the tax rebate has gone up, or (ii) you've passed 55 (or 57 or 58) so that the pension money isn't inaccessible.

How much more could you save if you altered your mortgage-free target to age 60 when the LISA money will become available?

DC pensions for you would probably be a tax-efficient way to plug that gap. Even getting just 20% tax rebate on the way in is pretty good if you're going to withdraw the personal allowance tax-free.

Ah I see what you mean. This is good food for thought. I suppose I had been thinking I’d like to fill the LISAs as they are (effectively) tax free on the way out and the way in, but obviously restricted to withdrawal age 60. Then any extra saving into ISAs with the view that it is locked away but we could access it if priorities change for any reason. But perhaps I have not given enough consideration to the tax aspect. I’ve also realised my original post was not entirely clear in that we are saving £300 a month it ISA / LISAs now, whilst filling the emergency cash savings pot. We have typically saved between £500 and £1000 a month to cash, so ISA / LISA contributions will go up a lot from next month. Maybe a SIPP should be part of this.

It might be pretty reasonable to use ISAs now in the expectation of later moving the money into DC pensions because, for example, (i) the tax rebate has gone up, or (ii) you've passed 55 (or 57 or 58) so that the pension money isn't inaccessible.

This is genius, would never have occurred to me, thank you, definitely something that could work well for us.

How much more could you save if you altered your mortgage-free target to age 60 when the LISA money will become available?

Time to tinker with the spreadsheets I think. Is it wrong I enjoy this:rotfl: I think it would equate to around £400 extra saving a month. I do like the idea of being mortgage free though, I know overpaying probably doesn’t make the most financial sense, it is a bit of hedge in the plan atm.
You guys are brilliant, thoughts much appreciated. :T