Facing retirement.

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King Herald

Original Poster:

23,501 posts

217 months

Monday 19th January 2015
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For the best part of the last 25 years I've worried what will become of me when I get too old to work. I never planned much when I was young, paid minimum amounts into a company pension in England, then left the UK when I was 30 and have spent most of the last 25 years offshore in a non-megabuck role. (We don't all earn 500 quid a day in the oil patch)

12 years ago I joined a company that actually had a pension scheme, but for the small amount I can pay in I knew it could never amount to much, come the big day.

I got married, we have two houses, one in England, we rent out, one in the Philippines that we live in. There is about 40k mortgage on the UK one, the other one is paid for, both are average '3 bed semi' prices.

So, my company is downsizing. Laying off, oil has crashed, and I finally decided to look into the figures I could expect were I to stop working at 55, which is in two months. I was pleasantly surprised to find I would take just a 50% drop in income, if I play things right. Plus we have the rental off the UK house, and I'd pay off the mortgage with some spare money we have to simplify things.

But isn't 'retirement' like a mark that your useful life has ended? I never thought like that until today, when I got the figures back from accounting. I always thought I'd try to retire early enough to enjoy the last 20+ years I have on this mortal coil, but today I suddenly feel this nauseating feeling that when I make the decision, or it is made for me, that 'it is all over', I'm on the scrap heap, working life over, that I'll truly be old.

I know it is a stupid thing to feel, but I can't seem to shake off the gloom.........

We may come back to the UK sometimes in the next few years, and I could always go back to the dead end factory job I desperately had to escape as a younger man. Now that would be really depressing.

Any views on this, or should I just stop whining and enjoy it? (if it happens)

King Herald

Original Poster:

23,501 posts

217 months

Tuesday 20th January 2015
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TwigtheWonderkid said:
King Herald said:
12 years ago I joined a company that actually had a pension scheme, but for the small amount I can pay in I knew it could never amount to much, come the big day.



I finally decided to look into the figures I could expect were I to stop working at 55, which is in two months. I was pleasantly surprised to find I would take just a 50% drop in income,
So you've paid in a small amount for just 12 yrs, and they are going to pay you 50% of finally salary from 55 until death.

3 possibilities. Either you've misunderstood, or they've got it wrong, or you currently earn £10 a week.

Seriously, check this out and get it in writing. When things sound too good to be true, they usually are.
It's not so simple, I have a couple of other lump sums I have accrued, profit sharing, extra payments etc, that roll over into the pension if I choose, which is what takes it up to the 50% ish figure. I have 22 years in altogether, but half is grandfathered in from a previous company, so it changes the game.

Lots of good advice here, but many people still seem to dwell on the 'find a hobby or you'll get bored ' theme. I have hobbies, I build cars, built our house, build furniture, just seem to keep making stuff, I'm busy busy busy all the time when off work, for six months a year.

The real issue is the psychological 'crash' that seems to have sprung into place suddenly, now retirement become a viable option.

I'm actually very surprised I have survived so many years, when clever guys all around have been laid off during oil crashes. I'm not dumb, but I don't see myself as having any particularly outstanding abilities. Maybe I just smile a lot whenever the right managers are around. biggrin

Sat in Houston airport, sucking down a few cold ones in the Qatar business lounge right now, in case my English is a bit blurred.

King Herald

Original Poster:

23,501 posts

217 months

Tuesday 24th March 2015
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Well, I passed the big 55 a week or two ago, and nothing really changed. I was at home at the time, had a small party, got a bit drunk.

I had 8 weeks off work altogether, with a bit of sick leave in the middle, and I must admit it felt pretty good after the first month had passed. We got into a routine, I sort of lost interest in drinking as much as I usually do, but then eventually the call to work came in and I got all tensed up about leaving for the last week.

What usually happens is I am rushing around, trying to keep productive, scared of 'wasting' any of my precious days off. This time I was on the PS4 all day a couple of days with no guilt trips.

Yes, I know now I can do the retirement thing now without too much trouble, without going stir crazy at the wife etc. biggrin

Every extra year I work means more money in the pot though, but it is so tempting to call it a day now and just kick back.

Is it being lazy, or just doing the natural thing? Should we feel guilt for not wanting to work?

I remember packing in everything, selling my house, and leaving England back in 1990, to backpack round the world, and was never sure if it was a genuine sense of adventure and discovery, or just laziness. wink


King Herald

Original Poster:

23,501 posts

217 months

Tuesday 24th March 2015
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Even though I was off work, I was still up at 6am nearly every morning, wake up the daughter for school, open the house, curtains, windows, get the dogs food cooking. (They eat rice, believe it or not)

I love that time of day, sun is already shining, sky is blue, (most of the year round anyway) air is still cool, it is fairly quiet outside, wife is still snoring upstairs..... biggrin


King Herald

Original Poster:

23,501 posts

217 months

Wednesday 25th March 2015
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Adam B said:
Is it the Philippines you are based? Will you stay there for the rest of your days (presumably expensive to move back and money won't go as far)
We'll be here for a few more years at least, too much hard work and money invested in our house to move back to blighty soon. Plus we have 8 dogs, which we'll not be able to re-home as they are not exactly user friendly. And I'd never have them put down.

Asterix said:
KH - Nah mate - you're looking at this from completely the wrong perspective.

The is the beginning of the rest of your life, the bit where you are in total control. Look at this as the time that is the pay off for all the graft and crap you've gone through for the last 30 odd years.

Too old? Pah! Many could say that at 55 you're too young to be in such an enviable position.
I'm telling myself that more and more the last few weeks mate. biggrin

KFC said:
I can't think wtf i'd do with myself if I retired at 40. I know someone will be along to say 'lack of imagination' but there is no real purpose to just endlessly going on holidays is there?
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.

AdeTuono said:
I retired last year at 54, and can honestly say it's the best thing I ever did. My days are so full of 'stuff' that I've no idea how I ever had time for work.

I worked in the oilfield for 30+ years, and have seen so many of my contemporaries reach 65 and drop down dead within a year. I resolved that this wouldn't happen to me.
I hope to be like you mate. biggrin

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?
Not that I am aware of. I didn't think PH allows poor people in its doors?? wink

To be honest, I started life in a factory machine shop, fifteen years of tedious repetitive 9 hour days. i never married, and when the economy and idiots drove house prices crazy in the late 80's I sold mine and decided to feck off and see the world, and took risks, and knocked on doors in far off countries in 45c heat, asked for work whenever I needed it.

Not saying anybody here wastes money, but I've never bought a new car, rarely use credit cards, never went on huge credit card foreign holidays, don't ever buy designer clothes, and even though I work offshore it is not one of these $150,000 a year jobs we all hear about, more like half that. I have taken advantage of a couple of little 'extra investments' available through the company, which uses my own cash to boost the meagre pension, and hopefully we'll be able to survive on what I get when I do stop work.

Plus we have another house in England we rent out. wink

King Herald

Original Poster:

23,501 posts

217 months

Wednesday 25th March 2015
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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...

I also received a cheque from some pension company or other about 10 years ago, telling me they had folded and I was getting my contributions and such forth back. I had no idea who they were or, when I was supposed to have enrolled, but the 1100 quid came in useful. biggrin

King Herald

Original Poster:

23,501 posts

217 months

Thursday 26th March 2015
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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..... biggrin






King Herald

Original Poster:

23,501 posts

217 months

Thursday 26th March 2015
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5potTurbo said:
I didn't realise you were such an old bugger, KH! wink
It's all a state of mind mate. Inside I'm still 30. biggrin

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.

King Herald

Original Poster:

23,501 posts

217 months

Friday 27th March 2015
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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

Original Poster:

23,501 posts

217 months

Friday 27th March 2015
quotequote all
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.

King Herald

Original Poster:

23,501 posts

217 months

Monday 30th March 2015
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I'll have to look into my old pensions next time I'm back in the UK. The paperwork is stashed at my dads house. I paid into the government one for maybe several years, then I think I opted out, or whatever it was, and joined a company pension for some years. Even 850 notes a year is a useful little chunk of cabbage.

I'm not really in technical position to go 'consulting' really, more like I'd have to pick up the tools and get dirty, if ever I did get some work again. 20 years working alone in one trade, mahoosive air compressors, then that was taken away a year or so ago and I've been reduced to basic spannering on much more course and peasant-like equipment. wink That's part of the reason I would like to get out of it completely, if I can do it without too much strain.

King Herald

Original Poster:

23,501 posts

217 months

Monday 30th March 2015
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MissChief said:
What about training instead then? With 20 years experience you'd think a company would want you on board to train the next lot?
No, the whole oil industry is going to hell in a handbag, low oil price, tens of thousands of lay-offs, ships and rigs being stacked left right and centre. maybe a few more years it will come back up again, but it looks bad this time.

King Herald

Original Poster:

23,501 posts

217 months

Friday 3rd April 2015
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Well, it is all in my opening post, but that is pretty much irrelevant now as I have decided I actually want to retire now. As I mentioned earlier, I recently had 8 weeks off, and it seemed to go pretty well, I relaxed after a month or so, got quite used to being at home, no worries about being old or anything. biggrin

King Herald

Original Poster:

23,501 posts

217 months

Saturday 4th April 2015
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DervVW said:
If you can financially retire you should do it. And enjoy it.
I'm certian that most of my generation will just work until we die, no old age pension and private pension plans crashing or paying out peanuts.
You're right, I should just chillax and enjoy (to use modern terminology). As my wife pointed out, I/we have done things that millions can only dream of; travel the world, design and build our own home, build cars, live in a land far far away etc, so I should make sure I use the opportunities that present themselves. Millions dream of being able to retire at 55, so I shall do justice to their dreams and do it myself should the opportunity arrive. yes

I'm currently offshore again, (until Tuesday) company are laying loads of people off, so if they choose to let me go I get nearly a half years salary in compo just to start the ball rolling. If I leave of my own accord I lose that.

King Herald

Original Poster:

23,501 posts

217 months

Monday 6th April 2015
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I'd doing my Gandhi thing, 'passive resistance', by just doing my job and nothing more. I really have become totally disillusioned with the whole thing.

At our end-of-trip QHSE/production meeting today, I could barely contain my contempt for the whole charade.

The oil industry is in the middle of the biggest downturn in history, my company has laid off upwards of 300 people, shut down about 6 ships, yet they are introducing dozens of new schemes, plans, changes and all sort of other QHSE drivel, for no good reason anybody can see. They've change the pension plan, the payment system, the on-line training system, and a host of other stuff.

If the office dwellers spent more time trying to score work for us, and less time on BS job-security schemes, the company might fare better! And I might have more enthuse to stay.

One more shift, and I'm heading home, chopper arrives at 08:30, and I'll be sure to duck under those rotors. biggrin

King Herald

Original Poster:

23,501 posts

217 months

Monday 23rd November 2015
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It finally happened! As of 1st November I am unemployed. I got the phone call about 10:30 one evening and I'd have a few beers, but kept nice and polite. I must admit I'm quite relieved it is all over, as the last couple of trips offshore have been annoyingly tedious and depressing. The company is going down the toilet, we are on poverty food allowance, no resupply for weeks, no orders for parts being sent out...

But that is all someone else problem now, as I'm a retired pensioner. clap

It has been good so far, but been busier than ever doing lots of little jobs I kept meaning to do before. There is no worry about when I have to leave for work, no counting down the days until crew change.... only problem is I'm sucking down a few too many beers most nights... eek

King Herald

Original Poster:

23,501 posts

217 months

Monday 23rd November 2015
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otherman said:
For all the slagging of off pensions, this is the illustration of how valuable they are. Three years paid in at 19, when your salary was probably fairly modest, and £850 a year later. Live to average age and that's worth £17k. See how that could have gone with full set of contributions.
I was told once that what you pay into a pension in your first ten years of employ gives a bigger return than what you pay for the rest of your working life, assuming a similar rate of investments. Not sure if that is true, but it could well be.

I just wish I'd paid a bit more in, for longer, but then I was never going to get old enough to retire, that was too far away to worry about.....frown

King Herald

Original Poster:

23,501 posts

217 months

Tuesday 24th November 2015
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RizzoTheRat said:
Sounds like you have plenty of hobbies OP, any mileage in making one of them in to a small business like car restoration or similar, or using your mechanic/maintenance skills in another part time role outside the oil and gas industry?
I've been busier the last few weeks since I got laid off than I ever was before. I have more enthusiasm for life now, knowing I'm not getting an email or phone call telling me to jump on a series of cattle class 36 hour flights to the other side of the world. of the four or five weeks off, nearly one would go in travel, the first week home was settling in, then a couple of weeks feeling good, then the last week stressing about how, when and where the crew change was to be. Not the dream life it used to be.

And for the last two years I've bitterly resented the whole shower of shyte running our operation too, for various reasons.



AdeTuono said:
KH, I know you are/were oilfield, but not sure what line you're in. This oil-price recession has been the worst I can remember. Many of my former colleagues, some with 40-odd years in, have lost jobs, and have little or no future in the industry. When things pick up, which they surely will, there's going to be a massive shortage of experienced personnel, many of whom won't want to return. I think any company that survives this dip will be in a very strong position, providing they can re-staff. The majors may well find themselves in difficulties when work picks up.

Enjoy your retirement; still loving mine. thumbup
I was in seismic survey, which are really the 'poor boys' of the oil field. I'm sure the industry will recover to a degree, but as mentioned, it will be at least 2 years, probably more, by which time I will be pushing 60, so I doubt anybody will be clamouring for me to go back. I was not in any position of great technical expertise or skill, just a glorified mechanic, basically, so I will be replaced by a Filipino or East European. wink

One selling point I would have is that I have been offshore, for 23 years, on long and short rotations, in adverse conditions etc, so they know I can do it. A surprisingly large percentage of people can't handle that sort of life.


King Herald

Original Poster:

23,501 posts

217 months

Tuesday 24th November 2015
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AdeTuono said:
Schlu.......?
You got it bud! They started their 'transformation' two years ago. A big catch word, a new start, everything was going to be so much better.......

King Herald

Original Poster:

23,501 posts

217 months

Thursday 31st March 2016
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Five months into retirement now. First three months was busy busy, all excited and doing lots of jobs, but the last couple of months everything seems to have slowed down a lot. I feel lazy most days, just bumble around the house.

Drinking was getting out of hand, easy to slip into for a life long drunkard like me I guess.

However, two weeks ago I managed to make a total cock of myself with beer, lots of it, so I decided to stop completely. It leaves a big hole in my social life, but I am so happy to wake up early each day with no hazy, scary, vague feelings about anything. The wife and daughter are far happier too.

And I am getting my mojo back in the workshop too. Just finished a quick 'makeover' of my old bike, going to put it on display somewhere in the house. I'll never ride it again, too much stress on my ageing knee to start it, plus the roads are jammed with festering cocktards.




And I have the Austin Healey 3000 replicar in need of lots of love and attention too.