Facing retirement.

[King Herald]

Not sure if I have a job or a hobby at home, but this stuff takes up all my spare time, costs me money, and will never pay for itself.....

[CountZero23]

Yup, FML - you have no sympathy from me. Continue to follow your passions and stop bloody moaning

[PositronicRay]

KFC said:

King Herald said:

It saddens me that so many people stay working because they simply don't have anything else to do. If you love your job, fair enough, but other than that, it is sad.

I have 2 jobs, one I get paid to do and dislike, and 1 I do for less than nothing (it ends up costing me a fortune) and love doing.

I'd consider my life a success at the point I can leave job 1 behind, and have enough time and money to pursue job 2 till I'm no longer able, or no longer want to.

Actually I would regard that as a hobby or pastime rather than a job.

Edited by PositronicRay on Thursday 26th March 07:15

[Asterix]

My aim is to retire to the Alps - re-qualify as a ski instructor and work part time for beer tokens, play guitar in a bar once a week for free schnapps and take on the odd hit-man commission if the target sounds like a .

That should keep me out of mischief and the wife's hair.

[GT03ROB]

CuckooInMyNest said:

Just checking....is there anyone on this forum who does NOT work in Oil/IT, does not have a fat 'Pension Pot', does not restore their own classic cars, does not own a couple of rental properties, does not have a large savings account and simply struggles to raise their kids and pay their bills each month?

Probably the vast majority... but who want to own up to being an accounts clerk at a small company in Slough, have no clue about pensions, driving a rusty Ford Ka, living with his mum, with 5k on credit cards & no girlfriend anyway.

For the record I work oil, do not have a fat pension pot, do not do anything mechanical with cars, own a couple of rentals, have a years salary in savings & simply struggles to pay my wife's credit card bills each month

Retirement could not come early enough, I could think of so many other things I'd like to do with the time than work. The balance though is standard of living. I could probably retire today, but it would not be worth it for restrictions I'd have to put on my lifestyle. Each year I leave it becomes a better lifestyle in retirement.... but there's no point getting to retirement being able to afford a good lifestyle but not having the body/health to enjoy it!!

[jshell]

CuckooInMyNest said:

Just checking....is there anyone on this forum who does NOT work in Oil/IT, does not have a fat 'Pension Pot', does not restore their own classic cars, does not own a couple of rental properties, does not have a large savings account and simply struggles to raise their kids and pay their bills each month?

Me. I don't restore my own classic cars.

[Flip Martian]

Not in Oil, some pension pot filling up each month, no rental properties and no classic car being done up. Coming up to 51, will be allowed to apply for retirement at 55 if my employer stays as it is at the moment (University staff member but working for the NHS). Will be piling in as much in AVCs as I can manage I think, if I can, between now and then. But at least the house is paid off and the car loan should be paid off this year.

So much to do every day, I can't wait for it to happen. But I guess a lot can happen before then.

[5potTurbo]

I didn't realise you were such an old bugger, KH!


You're not in a bad situation though, to be honest. My brother's a couple of years younger than you but due to some difficult circumstances (special needs youngest and his eldest is in a U.S university), he's NO pension pot at all, no equity in his house and will, in all likelihood, have to work until he drops, the poor bugger.


If all goes to plan for me, under current legislation I can retire at 57 with full pension. I expect that age limit to increase though as I get nearer to it, of course. The bds.

[9mm]

5potTurbo said:

I didn't realise you were such an old bugger, KH!


You're not in a bad situation though, to be honest. My brother's a couple of years younger than you but due to some difficult circumstances (special needs youngest and his eldest is in a U.S university), he's NO pension pot at all, no equity in his house and will, in all likelihood, have to work until he drops, the poor bugger.


If all goes to plan for me, under current legislation I can retire at 57 with full pension. I expect that age limit to increase though as I get nearer to it, of course. The bds.

So the question is, will you be able to afford the lifestyle you want at 57, on half your usual income?

This is the problem with (complete) early retirement. At 75 you might reasonably expect to have a much less expensive lifestyle than at 57.

[King Herald]

5potTurbo said:

I didn't realise you were such an old bugger, KH!

It's all a state of mind mate. Inside I'm still 30.

Just heard today my company is changing the pensions scheme, in July, probably for the worse, but I do believe I am locked into the old one unless I opt out. No good will come of it for the employee, I'm sure.

[Hasbeen]

9mm said:

So the question is, will you be able to afford the lifestyle you want at 57, on half your usual income?

This is the problem with (complete) early retirement. At 75 you might reasonably expect to have a much less expensive lifestyle than at 57.

That will depend on how much your kids are still costing you.

I'm 75 & I can't detect much difference in that cost. That is probably the cost of being a late starter. My youngest daughter gets married next weekend.

[9mm]

Hasbeen said:

9mm said:

So the question is, will you be able to afford the lifestyle you want at 57, on half your usual income?

This is the problem with (complete) early retirement. At 75 you might reasonably expect to have a much less expensive lifestyle than at 57.

That will depend on how much your kids are still costing you.

I'm 75 & I can't detect much difference in that cost. That is probably the cost of being a late starter. My youngest daughter gets married next weekend.

I have a friend with six children, the youngest is 8. He is 59. Realistically he will be retired at 65, four years before the youngest starts uni. He is a high earner but it looks nightmarish to me. I don't think many people think through what a difference retirement will make to lifestyle and by the time they do, it's too expensive or impossible to make adequate provision. It's very different watching your expenditure representing a net reduction every month compared to paying for things out of a monthly salary.

[98elise]

jshell said:

CuckooInMyNest said:

Just checking....is there anyone on this forum who does NOT work in Oil/IT, does not have a fat 'Pension Pot', does not restore their own classic cars, does not own a couple of rental properties, does not have a large savings account and simply struggles to raise their kids and pay their bills each month?

Me. I don't restore my own classic cars.

Me also, but if you replace "restore classic cars" with "fixes broken elise" then its bang on.

[5potTurbo]

King Herald said:

5potTurbo said:

I didn't realise you were such an old bugger, KH!

It's all a state of mind mate. Inside I'm still 30.

Just heard today my company is changing the pensions scheme, in July, probably for the worse, but I do believe I am locked into the old one unless I opt out. No good will come of it for the employee, I'm sure.

I hope you can remain in the old/current scheme then. That seems to be the norm.

@ 9mm: I don't know. Local state pension's a good one, currently, but who can tell what the case will be in 12 years time? I've also 4 private plans running.

[DottyMR2]

Retiring at 55 is a dream that will never come to fruition for some. I'm 25, being realistic, I'll never be able to retire before I'm 70 with the way things are going.

So make the most of it, I would love to reach a point in later life where I was financially secure enough to retire young enough to enjoy it. As it is, I'll probably be getting slid into the coffin after I drop dead at work the way the country is and looks to continue.
By financially secure, I mean able to get by.

The dream for me would be to sell up house/car/everything I have here and disappear off to the Caribbean for retirement. As long as I had enough money to see out my days in moderate comfort, I'd be happy.

[red_slr]

DottyMR2 said:

Retiring at 55 is a dream that will never come to fruition for some. I'm 25, being realistic, I'll never be able to retire before I'm 70 with the way things are going.

So make the most of it, I would love to reach a point in later life where I was financially secure enough to retire young enough to enjoy it. As it is, I'll probably be getting slid into the coffin after I drop dead at work the way the country is and looks to continue.
By financially secure, I mean able to get by.

The dream for me would be to sell up house/car/everything I have here and disappear off to the Caribbean for retirement. As long as I had enough money to see out my days in moderate comfort, I'd be happy.

Its not all bad if you are an employee though, with 6+ weeks stat leave plus paid sick leave, maternity etc.
After 25 years service most people are on good money, 8 weeks or more leave plus they have probably had the best of their maternity etc.

[King Herald]

DottyMR2 said:

Retiring at 55 is a dream that will never come to fruition for some. I'm 25, being realistic, I'll never be able to retire before I'm 70 with the way things are going.

So make the most of it, I would love to reach a point in later life where I was financially secure enough to retire young enough to enjoy it. As it is, I'll probably be getting slid into the coffin after I drop dead at work the way the country is and looks to continue.
By financially secure, I mean able to get by.

The dream for me would be to sell up house/car/everything I have here and disappear off to the Caribbean for retirement. As long as I had enough money to see out my days in moderate comfort, I'd be happy.

You need to start planning NOW if you want an early retirement. What you stash away in the first ten years is worth more than everything you add after that, when it comes to pension investments. Or so I was told a long time ago.

Things like lashing out on a new car every few years, instead of running an older one and putting the spare money into a pensions plan or property, is a no-no. Smoking, drinking a lot, all sucks up immense amounts of money.

I built my last hot rod on the same money my neighbour spent on fags every day, 7 quid a day average, over two years, and he constantly bemoaned that he "could never afford to build a car like this".

When I was your age I scoffed at people who were even thinking of pensions, as at that age I was into fast motorcycles, drugs and partying, and seriously never expected to need a pension. It wasn't until I started work offshore aged 33, and met guys my current age, 55, who had nothing in the bank.

And conversely, there were a few other guys who had planned well and were due to retire in relative comfort. Where I live now there are loads of retirees, many in their fifties, who planned early.

[King Herald]

Hasbeen said:

9mm said:

So the question is, will you be able to afford the lifestyle you want at 57, on half your usual income?

This is the problem with (complete) early retirement. At 75 you might reasonably expect to have a much less expensive lifestyle than at 57.

That will depend on how much your kids are still costing you.

I'm 75 & I can't detect much difference in that cost. That is probably the cost of being a late starter. My youngest daughter gets married next weekend.

Our daughter is 13, and goes to a private school which runs about $8000 a year, or whatever that is in English dineros. And I assume she wants to go to college after school.......

Wifey was/is hoping for another sprog, for the last couple of years, but after a couple of miscarriages last year we've given up on it. Financially it would be a crippler, but I know she was/is yearning for one more.

We could sell the UK house, if necessary, but I really want to keep that for a fall-back in case it all goes tits-up over here.

[Harpo]

King Herald said:

I paid into a UK pensions for several years, but I have long since lost track of who owns it, or how to use it. They send an update every few years, to my dads address, so I can probably get hold of them when I'm 65...

It might be worth checking to see if you can take this pension earlier, at age 60 or maybe even 55?
With the new rules about to come out in the UK you could take it all as cash, dipping into it each year to maximise your personal annual tax allowance. 25% of the total being tax free.

I would advise staying in Angeles and forget living in the UK. This winter has gone on forever. Had to scrape ice of the windscreen twice in the morning this last week. Maybe visit here during the wet season, but live here? No way!

[MissChief]

A few years ago I worked out that if I retire at 65 the pension I started at 19 and paid into for around 3 years (I think) then stopped will give me around £850 a year. I started the workplace pension thing last year when my company started it up and I 'upgraded' to the extra 1% so it's an amazing 3% of my wage each month. I turned 40 last year so I can see my working until I'm in my late 60's. Even I were to retire before then I wouldn't have any money to do anything!

What chance of consulting or working locally part time KH?