pom
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Post by pom on Mar 5, 2017 16:47:24 GMT
If you really really love work then dropping dead in the back of a company limo at 58, as the richest corpse on the main board, may be your preferred option. Not mine. Hell no! Whilst I have been guilty of never really planning very far ahead before, when I have thought about it I've wanted to be a disgraceful old lady with so many varied interesting stories that people will be keen to spend time with me once I'm too old for new adventures.
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treeman
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Post by treeman on Mar 5, 2017 16:55:55 GMT
Hey pom - I may not be the best or most appropriate person to offer advice. But I will happily share some thoughts with you ........ <EDIT> this has come out far longer than I thought ........started this a couple of hours ago but got distracted.....some parts may now be repeating others or points you've now covered in replies ..... I'll post it anyway I stopped working completely two years ago (late 40s). Couldn't be happier. I don't consider myself 'retired', I just don't have a 'job'....... I have never followed the conventional path. Nor taken the easy route. Not been big on plans either. Black sheep, me ...... (Brief background) I'd learnt wood-working skills from about 12 years old from a friend of my grandmother. Evenings, weekends, holidays. Best apprenticeship ever. Bailed on school/formal Indoctrination education at 18. Travelled India for 6 months................ That did it. No rat race for me. Worked on and off with an old-hippie cabinet-maker for 20 or so years in between many further travels - at least a month a year - longest being 2 years straight. I've had some incredible experiences and got into some scary situations. No regrets. I'm an old school backpacker, local level, more time less money - a world away from the now hip 'gap year' trendy where's-the-party crowd. But I digress ......... Got lucky and bought a cheap house along the way. Worked 7 day weeks and 14 hour days as necessary. Had a daughter. She's always travelled with us. Opens up a whole new perspective. Through a series of events which are far too long-winded and bizarre to recount here I wound up as Production Manager at a fairly well-known high-end furniture/hand made kitchen company. Closest I've come to conventional work. Was fine for a while. Decent money, paid the mortgage off...... Got messy. Unpleasant. Long story....... What the #### am I doing ?? So I quit before I started to become someone I didn't want to be ............. ......Shortly after, and perhaps quite similarly to yourself Pom, a series of unexpected events and circumstances have now put me in a position where I simply don't need to work. So I don't. I have a (smallish) cottage and some land in rural southwest england. I have always lived a simple life. I'm not even slightly materialistic. My needs are few and easily covered by investment income without touching capital. I please myself and answer to no-one. I have all sorts of projects on the go, but don't feel the need to be busy all the time. I go out and explore. I like to take the time to simply 'be', to stand and stare, and to notice the small things. Now I honestly don't know how I ever found the time to go to work. I too fully appreciate that I am very fortunate to be in this position. Some of the BIG questions ....... (look at yourself in the mirror and be brutally honest - not necessarily for sharing publicly !!!!!) > If you don't need to work, why do you? Does it drive your sense of self-worth? ( tricky if it does.....Work has never been more than a means-to-an-end for me. It has never defined me. ) > What do you really want to do? ( sounds to me like you may already know..... ) > Are you simply fearful of failure or stepping out of your comfort-zone ( being/doing 'different' is never easy....many will judge you....facing your fears can be both liberating and exhilirating. In my experience many are too scared to try. What doesn't kill you and all that. I have no fear of failure. I fear regrets far more than consequences ) Of course, these are only my thoughts, the tiniest insight into my life. YOUR life, Your CHOICE. Only you can know. There are no right or wrong paths. But remember - You only live once. None of us know what tomorrow will bring.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 5, 2017 17:06:19 GMT
I left the rat race at 50. I'd had a dodgy 30 years in work and finally concluded "not another meeting".
It felt hard as a concept and then I realised my Dad had stoppd at 50, and my Grandad. So why not? All feels odd, not working when everyone else is. Even odd stuff like the lack of regular income upsets my bank. Still I found takiing baby steps helped and coming to a strategy. Mine was roughly 1) Gym 3 times a week 2) Join a new environmental group 3) Work my capital to "earn" more than I did when I worked 4) 4 holidays a year 5) Enjoy myself 5 days a week and potter over the weekend 6) Learn a language
Generally hit all of those
Like others I was in Ops and having self-set targets that were not monthly and more like five yearly was such a relief. P2P helped as well.
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pom
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Post by pom on Mar 5, 2017 17:18:31 GMT
Think you have your own answers now and suspect you were just having a good vent in the first place, Pom but I still can't resist answering your original post. Yes, I 'retired' from Generic Corporate Office Job (TM) 2 years ago, now aged 34. The inverted commas signify that I can't call myself financially independent, so I still need to earn money wherever and however I can, but it's a lot less painful than those conference calls ever were. On another note, have you seen a blog called 'S** Health money death'? It's quite good, and is basically one chap's experience with wrestling with the transition to early retirement (albeit forced upon him in that instance). Might be some more food for thought there. I think you've probably tapped into a rich general chat seam replacement (or supplement) for the 'do you have/want/regret children' thread here, some really interesting perspectives. I think a poll might be more difficult to construct for this one though, or would at least have to be very carefully defined.. Umm there might be an element of truth in that...I actually initially started drafting a post over a week ago whilst still on hols, but figured I'd wait until I'd actually checked my figures with the IFA...still didn't really know whether to believe them. Would have been a very different post tho, worked out a lot since then. Still very good to get other views tho, specially as I don't actually know anyone either considering this or who's retired earlier than their mid50s. 34 eh? I definitely wouldn't have coped well at that point...tho strangely I was in fact on the verge of leaving it all behind around then, but then suddenly found myself with an amazing opportunity that completely changed(saved) my career and that I absolutely loved....until corporate decided they didn't value the role any more. More fool them. Haven't seen that one, tho seen a few others from time to time. Never yet seen one from the female perspective tho, which would be very different....hmmm....maybe an idea there... Did think about a poll but it would rapidly have gone out of control with all the possibilities of what people have done, would like to(feasible), would like to (pipe dream). Thanks!
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Post by scoobydoo on Mar 5, 2017 17:24:08 GMT
Interesting discussion. I am thinking of retiring early. I have some savings but not a lot by any means but don't spend a lot and have no mortgage.
I know this is different for everyone but what would people say is an adequate amount of income to live reasonably comfortably on?
Once retired do you find that you spend a lot more money as you have more spare time?
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pom
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Post by pom on Mar 5, 2017 17:33:10 GMT
treeman Wow - great post, thanks for sharing, has really struck some chords. Now you mention it I've perhaps got out of the habit of standing & staring, too much sh*t got in the way. Hmmm....plan is maybe getting some tweaks And thanks generally guys - with each post I'm feeling better and better about this. Perhaps because I've had to keep it to myself for too long - not really the sort of thing you can talk about when most of your friends your own age are struggling.
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Post by mrclondon on Mar 5, 2017 17:33:44 GMT
Interesting discussion. I am thinking of retiring early. I have some savings but not a lot by any means but don't spend a lot and have no mortgage. I know this is different for everyone but what would people say is an adequate amount of income to live reasonably comfortably on? Once retired do you find that you spend a lot more money as you have more spare time? I discussed this with several of my ex-colleagues (all similiarly fed up with the direction of the company) and the basic conclusion was (assuming mortgage paid off) £15k pa income for a single person £20k pa for a couple covers all necessities (including car depreciation) with ease, then a further £5k pa per person for holidays and treats.
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r00lish67
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Post by r00lish67 on Mar 5, 2017 17:40:40 GMT
Interesting discussion. I am thinking of retiring early. I have some savings but not a lot by any means but don't spend a lot and have no mortgage. I know this is different for everyone but what would people say is an adequate amount of income to live reasonably comfortably on? Once retired do you find that you spend a lot more money as you have more spare time? Hi scooby, you've really answered your own question there I think. It's completely different for everyone. Do you work to a written budget currently? If not, then perhaps start one to see how you actually spend currently month to month. If you do, perhaps that would help form the basis of a 'retired budget' suitable for you, tweaked to reflect any additional things you think you'd like to do and perhaps areas where you may save money (e.g. no commuting). FWIW, wife and I currently live on £21k p.a, living a month at a time in various cheap countries e.g. Mexico, Thailand, Serbia. I suspect that's probably not particularly helpful to you though On this forum, given it's topic, many here would see that as a pittance. Elsewhere, some pensioners would say £21k would be virtually living in the lap of luxury if mortgage free with modest tastes and supplemented by the state pension perhaps. Another good poll question though, and very easy to construct this time! Edit: crossed with mrclondon's post - interesting to see our numbers for a couple aren't all that different despite totally different perspectives.
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stevio
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Post by stevio on Mar 5, 2017 17:43:14 GMT
/mod hat off Late to the party reply, but ... I've been running a financial plan / spreadsheet since I was about 25, with the intention of stopping work when I could afford to (original goal 50-ish), with fairly conservative assumptions on life expectancy, inflation, future income yields etc. As it happened my company downsized their UK operation when I was only 45-ish, so with a good redundancy package, and a move to a cheaper/nicer part of the UK, I was able to retire early, and 'muddle through' until early pension draw down. Got no children so forward planning is rather easier than for some .. money needs to run out when I do (+/- the odd charity). I'd already figured out that I'm way better off with a lower pension for longer, and keep the tax bill down (BES, PEP, ISA, EIS, SIPP etc all deployed to assist). You need to have hobbies (even if P2P is one of them!), or a project, or bucket list or something. If you're gonna sit around and mope, just don't go there. You need to have a financial plan ('relying on the state' is just plain dumb, also antisocial) - 'something will turn up' don't cut it either. My plan was probably too conservative (I assumed my parents would live to be 100, and not leave any money .. I was, unsurprisingly, wrong). I miss some of the work people / interactions (especially since I moved way-way away), but I don't miss the 'hassle / excitement / buzz / whatever-you-want-to-call-it' .. I call it stress, personally. I frequently wonder how the heck I had time to go to work 10-12 hours a day. 8>. If you really really love work then dropping dead in the back of a company limo at 58, as the richest corpse on the main board, may be your preferred option. Not mine. BES,PEP???
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pom
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Post by pom on Mar 5, 2017 17:54:37 GMT
I left the rat race at 50. I'd had a dodgy 30 years in work and finally concluded "not another meeting". It felt hard as a concept and then I realised my Dad had stoppd at 50, and my Grandad. So why not? All feels odd, not working when everyone else is. Good point My dad switched to increasingly part time consultancy at 51 due to family circs. Gramps lasted til he was made redundant at 55, but by the time he'd survived the war, recovered enough from TB to go do a degree, he only managed 20yrs of corporate life anyway.
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Post by GSV3MIaC on Mar 5, 2017 17:59:06 GMT
Myself (and partner) spend about £20-25k per year, including holidays, asset depreciation/replacement, pets, etc. £15-£20k would be possible, but isn't required so we don't. That's running one car and a caravan, and a large house / greenhouse / garden etc. etc.
Actually I think I spend less now retired .. fancy suits not needed, entertaining reduced, and a lot of ongoing expenses gone away (mortgage paid off, National Trust etc all sorted as 'life membership' back when I was a serious taxpayer). Globe-trotting desires all burned out, thanks, so holidays are frequent but more local .. there's a heck of a lot of nice parts of the UK I've still to see.
The hardest expenses to predict are possible future medical/care costs (private XYZ-replacement, or home help), but somewhere before then there is always the house to downsize/sell (although it was designed for ancient occupants).
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Post by GSV3MIaC on Mar 5, 2017 18:00:46 GMT
You missed those parties .. Business Expansion Scheme, and Personal Equity Plan.
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pom
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Post by pom on Mar 5, 2017 18:01:55 GMT
I discussed this with several of my ex-colleagues (all similiarly fed up with the direction of the company) and the basic conclusion was (assuming mortgage paid off) £15k pa income for a single person £20k pa for a couple covers all necessities (including car depreciation) with ease, then a further £5k pa per person for holidays and treats. Hmm...methinks I've been worrying too much...and my IFA's other clients are clearly definitely nothing like me....oh well, not gonna complain about a big treats budget
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treeman
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Post by treeman on Mar 5, 2017 18:15:26 GMT
treeman Wow - great post, thanks for sharing, has really struck some chords. Now you mention it I've perhaps got out of the habit of standing & staring, too much sh*t got in the way. Hmmm....plan is maybe getting some tweaks And thanks generally guys - with each post I'm feeling better and better about this. Perhaps because I've had to keep it to myself for too long - not really the sort of thing you can talk about when most of your friends your own age are struggling. No worries - it's carpe diem pretty much. Take advantage of the opportunities you have. Made very clear to me when my best mate since we were born 2 days apart (mothers were friends) was killed by a drunk driver whilst waiting to turn right on his motorbike at 19. I was genuinely surprised by what was hiding within an easy bicycle ride of my house once I started to really look. Important too is to remember that any 'plan' is more guidelines than actual rules (great movie ) and that on the other hand there is almost nothing you can't put off till tomorrow/whenever when something better takes your fancy
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pom
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Post by pom on Mar 5, 2017 22:52:14 GMT
samford71 so I was just about to reply to you and you changed your whole post Sounds like you've really got things sussed anyway. Had seen the 4% quoted somewhere else a while back but being in denial had avoided thinking about it. Can't see I'll need anywhere near that much anyway, and with no kids, no need to worry about what will be left Lots to think about...thanks guys...(starting to wonder if it's only going to be guys responding ?!)
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