Early-retirement wannabe

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  • Goldiegirl
    Goldiegirl Posts: 8,805 Forumite
    First Anniversary First Post Rampant Recycler Hung up my suit!
    Nationwide8 wrote: »
    Goldiegirl,Sorry random question but is there a specific Cruising thread on here ? I can't find it even in the travel section.


    I've never seen a specific cruising thread on MSE.


    I've seen various cruising questions on the Overseas Travel section, but not a general thread.


    There are various cruise forums out there, which cover all sorts of cruise topics


    Cruise Critic is quite a good one


    http://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/
    Early retired - 18th December 2014
    If your dreams don't scare you, they're not big enough
  • Nationwide8
    Nationwide8 Posts: 362 Forumite
    Hung up my suit!
    Thanks Goldiegirl,will have a look at that link.
  • Marine_life
    Marine_life Posts: 1,059 Forumite
    Hung up my suit!
    Over the weekend I've been thinking about a couple of things, one of which being "wealth". People were talking about measuring the value of defined benefit pension plans in "wealth" terms and in particular what equivalent amount of money you would need to have a "cash equivalent" value. Frankly the figures are just staggering. We have defined benefit pensions that will pay around €63,000 per annum in today's money which at 2.5% gives a "wealth" figure of somewhere between €2-2.5 million which is a substantial chunk of our retirement pot.

    I am concerned about Global political and financial stability and one of the things that concerns me is what happens if we get to retirement age and those pensions can no longer pay out, or not pay our at the expected level. Is there any precedent for that? Of course I am aware of all the stories and some of the facts around underfunding but is there much concrete evidence that shows figures I should be worried about?

    Part of me thinks - in a meltdown scenario - I was to have enough cash that I can keep going indefinitely and I have in mind a stupid number. Then I catch myself and think "are you crazy!!!" We will end up in the 0,01% percentile when it comes to the chance of running out of money.

    <opens up spreadsheet to devise new plan>
    Money won't buy you happiness....but I have never been in a situation where more money made things worse!
  • justme111
    justme111 Posts: 3,508 Forumite
    First Post First Anniversary Combo Breaker I've been Money Tipped!
    In a meltdown scenario your cash will be arrested or confiscated in banks.
    The word "dilemma" comes from Greek where "di" means two and "lemma" means premise. Refers usually to difficult choice between two undesirable options.
    Often people seem to use this word mistakenly where "quandary" would fit better.
  • atush
    atush Posts: 18,726 Forumite
    Name Dropper First Anniversary First Post
    ML, how is your pension protected in yur country of residence? Do they have a PPF? To cover your DB pension should the company become insolvent?

    I agree that a world financial meltdown would mean maybe even your cash isn't safe. We are talking a total collapse = canned food and shotguns really.

    Which I personally am not planning for (although I live rurally and our electricity used to be atrocious so I do have a generator to cover 3 day power cuts and we have a air rifle to shoot vermin)
  • stephennt
    stephennt Posts: 29 Forumite
    First Anniversary Combo Breaker
    In a canned food and shotgun scenario your cash would be completely worthless anyway (your canned food and gun would probably be the most valuable assets you have)...
  • justme111
    justme111 Posts: 3,508 Forumite
    First Post First Anniversary Combo Breaker I've been Money Tipped!
    Probably being good at dealing with people would be valuable as then you could organise a little commune and get safety in numbers. Shotguns in hands not used to them are probably not much use. A trade like building huts from scrap and making fire could be useful.
    Glad to see that OP realises one can not bullet proof their life. One could dedicate more and more effort to increase security of course but the increase will be in 0.0001s percentagewise and result in time and emotional energy being spent on it instead of something else. Biblical verse about the farmer who was worried he does not have big enough barn to store the harvest comes to mind :).
    Noticed that you like your job again , op. Glad for you as at the end of the day the aim is to do what one enjoys doing.
    The word "dilemma" comes from Greek where "di" means two and "lemma" means premise. Refers usually to difficult choice between two undesirable options.
    Often people seem to use this word mistakenly where "quandary" would fit better.
  • gadgetmind
    gadgetmind Posts: 11,130 Forumite
    First Anniversary First Post Combo Breaker
    I've just started running the numbers to see if I could drop to a 4 day week next year. I'd be working 20% fewer days, avoid the pension cap squeeze (so can put more into pension) and losing my personal allowance (so no 60% bracket) and so pay £20k less in tax and NI. The end result after a lot of swings and roundabouts would only be 12% less than I currently get each month, plus there is extra going into my pension.

    It's a no brainer unless they rush through max 20% pension tax relief (aka "taxing pension contributions") and probably even if they do do this!
    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.
  • gadgetmind
    gadgetmind Posts: 11,130 Forumite
    First Anniversary First Post Combo Breaker
    Which is a very good real world demonstration of the Laffer Curve in action. Government tries to extract more tax, end result is significantly less tax. When will they learn?
    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.
  • Marine_life
    Marine_life Posts: 1,059 Forumite
    Hung up my suit!
    justme111 wrote: »
    Noticed that you like your job again


    Enjoy would be pushing it a little.


    I don't hate it - especially since I became financially independent. Feels like I've got the opportunity to stick my elbows out a bit and make demands that I wouldn't have done in the past.


    But ...since hitting 50.. its harder than it used to be and you do get sucked into an inflated sense of self worth (together with a distorted view of your importance).


    Would they offer me a $1 million a year to stay? ........you know, they just might.... and what do you do then?
    Money won't buy you happiness....but I have never been in a situation where more money made things worse!
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