Early-retirement wannabe

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  • Clive_Woody
    Clive_Woody Posts: 5,855 Forumite
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    hugheskevi wrote: »
    Just a little ball python and a boa constrictor. :D

    Much as I would have liked a Burmese python, there would be a serious problem 30 years down the line when I would be approaching age 80 and the Burmese would be about 14-16 foot long.

    Whilst not one of the more common things to watch out for as you get older, it did strike me as quite important in this case ;)
    Be warned boa constrictors can get pretty big...and strong. Ball pythons are great pets, they can be a bit fussy eaters but aren't going to get massive.

    We have an adult corn snake, he's about 6 foot long, but quite slender (compared to a Boa or a python). At most he gives us a gentle hug. He's great with kids (not eaten any of then yet).

    Snakes make great pets, they don't need walking, feed them every 7 - 10 days and clean out their vivarium and they're as happy as Larry.
    "We act as though comfort and luxury are the chief requirements of life, when all that we need to make us happy is something to be enthusiastic about” – Albert Einstein
  • thriftytracey
    thriftytracey Posts: 632 Forumite
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    Somehow "pets" and "snakes" don't go together ...
  • bugslett
    bugslett Posts: 416 Forumite
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    Clive_Woody wrote: »

    Snakes make great pets, they don't need walking, feed them every 7 - 10 days and clean out their vivarium and they're as happy as Larry.
    thriftytracey wrote: »
    Somehow "pets" and "snakes" don't go together ...

    That was my thought Tracey.

    They are low maintenance, but I like a pet that interacts a bit more and that I can walk (excluding this weekend:rotfl:).
    Yes I'm bugslet, I lost my original log in details and old e-mail address.
  • JoeEngland
    JoeEngland Posts: 445 Forumite
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    hugheskevi wrote: »
    Just a little ball python and a boa constrictor. :D

    Much as I would have liked a Burmese python, there would be a serious problem 30 years down the line when I would be approaching age 80 and the Burmese would be about 14-16 foot long.

    Whilst not one of the more common things to watch out for as you get older, it did strike me as quite important in this case ;)

    Indeed. There's enough things that can kill you in old age without increasing your mortality risk with a Python that size in the house! :)
  • thriftytracey
    thriftytracey Posts: 632 Forumite
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    They don't have much of a cuddleability factor like cats and dogs!
  • thriftytracey
    thriftytracey Posts: 632 Forumite
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    Our doggies sleep on our bed. Mmmm, imagine waking up next to a python ...

    Shriek!
  • gadgetmind
    gadgetmind Posts: 11,130 Forumite
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    Here is a half-hearted attempt at an update on our half-hearted retirement.

    We're both more or less 56 and both more or less retired for over a year. I'm still doing two days a week as unpaid "sweat equity" at a startup. As this company now employs 40 people and has a turn over of £20M plus, this is starting to demand more from me than I regard as being compatible with retirement, so let's see where this goes!

    We're living off pensions (100% DC) and other investments, which is providing more than we need even at a sub 4% withdrawal rate. The markets have been kind, and Brexit has destroyed sterling, so we have more pounds than we started with, but I'm not letting that make me complacent. We're moving unwrapped investments into ISAs year-by-year and should be more or less done with this by the time state pensions kick in. Relatives may also at some point pay us back the money we loaned to facilitate their various property transactions, but there's no rush.

    The longest holiday we've taken since retiring is five days. We've replaced six of our nine outside doors. We're now members of National Trust, RHS, V&A and Natural History Museum. I've taken up cabinet making, butchery and charcuterie. On the other hand, I have finished exactly zero of the projects that I said I'd complete in my first year of retirement, but I have started a whole load more!

    Daughter has just got engaged.

    That's about it.
    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.
  • Anonymous101
    Anonymous101 Posts: 1,869 Forumite
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    gadgetmind wrote: »

    We're both more or less 56 and both more or less retired for over a year. I'm still doing two days a week as unpaid "sweat equity" at a startup. As this company now employs 40 people and has a turn over of £20M plus, this is starting to demand more from me than I regard as being compatible with retirement, so let's see where this goes!



    When you initially said "Sweat equity" in a start up. I was thinking about 3-4 people turning over a couple of hundred grand. 40 people turning over £20m+ is a bit more than that for me. I was wondering how much of your agreement is based on good will and potential growth and of course how you'd feel about your increasing involvement?


    If you're enjoying it I'm not suggesting for a moment you stop. The opposite really, you've "retired" and managed to find a project which you've been able to throw yourself into. I think many people should try to do that much earlier in life.
  • bugslett
    bugslett Posts: 416 Forumite
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    I think they should be paying you now!


    I always have multiple projects on the go and add to them, intelligence myself it's an example of a bright enquiring mind;)
    Yes I'm bugslet, I lost my original log in details and old e-mail address.
  • gadgetmind
    gadgetmind Posts: 11,130 Forumite
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    Anonymous101 wrote: »
    I was wondering how much of your agreement is based on good will and potential growth and of course how you'd feel about your increasing involvement?

    Lots of good will as I've known many of the team for decades. As for potential growth, the sky's the limit, but we'll have to expand the software team a fair bit as until recently it was just me!
    Anonymous101 wrote: »
    The opposite really, you've "retired" and managed to find a project which you've been able to throw yourself into. I think many people should try to do that much earlier in life.

    I've been doing it all of my life TBH but this is a totally different sector.
    bugslett wrote: »
    I think they should be paying you now!

    Anything we could afford right now would be an insult. :D
    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.
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