Early Retirement.

Didn’t that by law we have to pay in minimum 8% come in relatively recently ?
It’s the workplace pension scheme, I’m not sure when it came in exactly and I know the minimum requirements have changed over the years.
I said it was required by law, but that maybe isn’t quite accurate, as an individual could opt out of it.
 
There is another factor which is often overlooked 'lifespan'
if you retire at 66 then you should be ok for travel ,car hobbys etc and your spend may well be £40000 ish but your life span for a male is about 78 ish and if you become ill or inform you will be spending a lot less.
if £20000 comes off the state you will want 20000 for12 years =£240000 after that if you are still walking congrats.
 
Retirement won’t be an option for me - i simply won’t have the funds to do it, and I’ve accepted that I’ll be working until either I’m no longer capable or i have my wooden overcoat 😵‍💫
 
Retirement won’t be an option for me - i simply won’t have the funds to do it, and I’ve accepted that I’ll be working until either I’m no longer capable or i have my wooden overcoat 😵‍💫
I suspect that this will be the case for the majority of Teessiders.
 
I dunno there’s seems to be plenty on here who have been retired for ages, and some of them where in their 40’s or early 50’s 😵‍💫 maybe this is where all the secret millionaires collect 😁
I was involved in buying a company when I was 30, sold the company 6 years later for 11 times what we paid due to growth. That’s why I was able to consider retirement in my 40’s, nothing to do with a pension.
 
I dunno there’s seems to be plenty on here who have been retired for ages, and some of them where in their 40’s or early 50’s 😵‍💫 maybe this is where all the secret millionaires collect 😁
A hand full have been able to do it, and best of luck to them, people can plan better now than in the 80s and 90s when there was little disposable income for many. But I think FlyMe towers is like most other places, some have worked hard planned and done really well, others, the majority I suggest, have worked just as hard but haven't had the opportunity to build up big enough pension pots to retire early.
 
When I've spoken to folk who have retired in the last year or so, they aimed for £48k as a comfortable target. We've based ours on £50k and I think that will be fine - we itemised everything and broke it down with monthly/annual payments and a couple of holidays abroad with some UK travel & stay. Also a buffer for unexpected events like vets bills if insurance does not meet fully and the like which goes back into the pot if unused.
£48k a year ?
 
Don't understand some of these huge figures . Even with a 500k pot , a lifetime annuity is aonly paying 17k a year. Plus its still income so anything over 12.7 is subject to 20% hmrc goodbye fee.
Found this artice really good , its Sep last year , takes you through 3 sized pots, the lowest being 37k as they say thats the estimated average pot size for people 55 to low 60s

TimesPensionExamples
 
Don't understand some of these huge figures . Even with a 500k pot , a lifetime annuity is aonly paying 17k a year. Plus its still income so anything over 12.7 is subject to 20% hmrc goodbye fee.
Found this artice really good , its Sep last year , takes you through 3 sized pots, the lowest being 37k as they say thats the estimated average pot size for people 55 to low 60s

TimesPensionExamples
An annuity is not the best idea for your family if you can put £500k into drawdown and take 17k a year thats 30 years assuming a bit of growth plus if something happens to you (god forbid) your family get the remainder tax free if you go before 75.
With an annuity your family could lose the lot if you go early.
 
Just want to say what a brilliant thread all and no maliciousness from anyone . Open and honest views . That’s what makes this forum so great at times !
 
The biggest winners though are the ones running the pension companies, making millions out of all the money being paid in - just the same as the bankers really
 
A lifetime of O&G Contracting has left me OK with a big equity number in our property
But I just can't relax after spending decades worrying about the next job and constant networking to secure the next Contract once the current one finishes.
Soon as I take longer than a fortnight off I'm itching to get back to work, not because I particularly like it but the anxiety of not working drives me to the next one.
I know it's illogical but when retirement comes I'm not sure I'll ever be able to
Now that, I know, is sad.
 
A lifetime of O&G Contracting has left me OK with a big equity number in our property
But I just can't relax after spending decades worrying about the next job and constant networking to secure the next Contract once the current one finishes.
Soon as I take longer than a fortnight off I'm itching to get back to work, not because I particularly like it but the anxiety of not working drives me to the next one.
I know it's illogical but when retirement comes I'm not sure I'll ever be able to
Now that, I know, is sad.
I know someone like this - has their own business, could easily have retired years ago, but refuses to
 
It's difficult to contribute to this thread without veering into the "how much does your watch cost" territory.

I'm 46 and very comfortable in terms of current lifestyle with no debt, plenty of equity, and a very decent amount of savings, however I absolutely hate what I do for a living, but am somewhat trapped by the lifestyle it affords me and so currently experiencing a bit of a mid life crisis. In the absence of any other "calling" I'm tempted to wind down soon, certainly in the next 10 years although to do what, I really dont know - I've never known anything but my current work since I left university.

I could probably afford to retire now, but certainly not afford to live the lifestyle I currently have, plus I have a 3 year old daughter and so need to think about her for the next 20 odd years - trapped in a battle between the great lifestyle I have and the hatred of my profession.

To me, striving and saving just to retire at 60 odd whilst makes sense, however it does ignore the fact that you could drop dead any day now (indeed I know plenty of people who've gone too soon) and so you've got to balance the retirement plan with living your life for today.

Not sure what I've really contributed to this thread, other than perhaps to say it's not as black or white as to say "having a decent amount of money means you should retire early".
 
An annuity is not the best idea for your family if you can put £500k into drawdown and take 17k a year thats 30 years assuming a bit of growth plus if something happens to you (god forbid) your family get the remainder tax free if you go before 75.
With an annuity your family could lose the lot if you go early.
Yes indeed.

Annuity rates are still really poor, although they have improved a bit in the last two years.

I decided I could get better value from a SIPP - Self Invested Pension Plan - and battled the pension company for a year to do it. So I get a fairly small annuity, which I pretty much had to agree to, and the rest is in a SIPP.

Most of the money is invested in the US, where it has doubled in value in three years. The rest is invested with the usual suspects in the UK and Europe where it's growing about 5% pa. I haven't taken any money out of it yet.

As you say, inheritance planning is important. My SIPP is - for no reason I can think of - not counted in my estate, so whatever is left is not subject to Inheritance Tax. Talk about a loophole, it's like a loopgarage door.
 
It's difficult to contribute to this thread without veering into the "how much does your watch cost" territory.

I'm 46 and very comfortable in terms of current lifestyle with no debt, plenty of equity, and a very decent amount of savings, however I absolutely hate what I do for a living, but am somewhat trapped by the lifestyle it affords me and so currently experiencing a bit of a mid life crisis. In the absence of any other "calling" I'm tempted to wind down soon, certainly in the next 10 years although to do what, I really dont know - I've never known anything but my current work since I left university.

I could probably afford to retire now, but certainly not afford to live the lifestyle I currently have, plus I have a 3 year old daughter and so need to think about her for the next 20 odd years - trapped in a battle between the great lifestyle I have and the hatred of my profession.

To me, striving and saving just to retire at 60 odd whilst makes sense, however it does ignore the fact that you could drop dead any day now (indeed I know plenty of people who've gone too soon) and so you've got to balance the retirement plan with living your life for today.

Not sure what I've really contributed to this thread, other than perhaps to say it's not as black or white as to say "having a decent amount of money means you should retire early".

Your sentiment is exactly right. Ask yourself everyday "if today was the last day of my life, would I do what I'm just about to do today?". If the answer for too many days is NO, then it's time to do something else. You didn't say what you do, but perhaps there's a way to do it part time, maybe for yourself. Follow your heart, somehow you'll make the right decisions and end up doing something you love and not what you think you have to do.
 
None of us know what the end game is. One of my workmates died at 57 and I often think of him when I look at my own circumstances. I first went to a pension advisor when I was 58; he pulled out a tape measure, marked 58 inches and asked me how long I thought I would live. I plucked 85 out of the air so he said if you retire at 60 you need a pension for 25 years. We then discussed the ‘golden years’ where I’ll (hopefully) be active, so I took that to 75. So, I need 15 years income drawdown to give me a half decent lifestyle. If I’m still alive after that it’ll give me enough for my rocking chair. I’ll not be bothering with new cars and flash holidays (or season tickets!) but hopefully I’ll still have a decent life.
I’ve been grafting since 16, physically demanding for the first 17 years, fortunate to never have been unemployed.
It all starts in a fortnight 🍻😛
 
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