Enjoying Retirement

Enjoying Retirement

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Discussion

Drumroll

3,739 posts

119 months

Thursday 23rd March 2023
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To be honest planning retirement is bit like crystal ball gazing. You either see what you want to see in it or it is just cloudy.

If we knew when we were going to die we could perhaps do some definite planning. Other than that we just have to take what life throws at us, which is no different if we are working or retired.

I do know one thing though, the thought of my pension being "eaten up" by inflation or world events is far less stressful than getting letters every few years saying your job is at risk as the company you work for goes through yet another reorganisation.


mart 63

2,068 posts

243 months

Thursday 23rd March 2023
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Monkeylegend said:
Pre retirement for me was never about endless spreadsheets and endless financial planning and forecasts about how much I needed to live on and maintaining any particular lifestyle.

I had a choice to make between working or retiring and decided I was going to retire at 62 which is what I did.

I then adjusted my lifestyle and spending around my income and have enjoyed it ever since.

This is one of the better threads on PH but I think many of you are pontificating far too much in the pre retirement planning stage and just need to make the decision and do it.

You will then look back on all the spreadsheets etc and think what a waste of time that was smile

The danger is that you will go into far too much detail then convince yourselves that you can't afford to do it when in reality everything you have budgeted for and planned to spend will bare no resemblance to what you actually spend.

You need to JGOWI, there is a certain pleasure and freedom to be had by just "winging it" as I have done. smile
Good post, we did this over 2 years ago when we retired to Spain at 57. Our income dropped by £65k a year and thought why not, lets go for it. Best move we ever made, still managing to save £10k a year somehow.
Just got back from an hours stroll along the beach in shorts and tshirts, with the puppy.
Happy retirement.

Jaguar steve

9,232 posts

209 months

Thursday 23rd March 2023
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Monkeylegend said:
Pre retirement for me was never about endless spreadsheets and endless financial planning and forecasts about how much I needed to live on and maintaining any particular lifestyle.

I had a choice to make between working or retiring and decided I was going to retire at 62 which is what I did.

I then adjusted my lifestyle and spending around my income and have enjoyed it ever since.

This is one of the better threads on PH but I think many of you are pontificating far too much in the pre retirement planning stage and just need to make the decision and do it.

You will then look back on all the spreadsheets etc and think what a waste of time that was smile

The danger is that you will go into far too much detail then convince yourselves that you can't afford to do it when in reality everything you have budgeted for and planned to spend will bare no resemblance to what you actually spend.

You need to JGOWI, there is a certain pleasure and freedom to be had by just "winging it" as I have done. smile
Exactly this.

Who knows whats around the corner and even if you could predict the future - apart from telling me what next weeks Lottery numbers will be of course - there's no point in stressing because overall big picture there's not actually much you could do about it.

Just go with the flow and keep in mind there's far more liberation and peace of mind to be found in becoming a free poor man than there ever will be in remaining a wealthy slave.

Works for me. smile

The Leaper

4,938 posts

205 months

Thursday 23rd March 2023
quotequote all
Monkeylegend said:
Pre retirement for me was never about endless spreadsheets and endless financial planning and forecasts about how much I needed to live on and maintaining any particular lifestyle.

I had a choice to make between working or retiring and decided I was going to retire at 62 which is what I did.

I then adjusted my lifestyle and spending around my income and have enjoyed it ever since.

This is one of the better threads on PH but I think many of you are pontificating far too much in the pre retirement planning stage and just need to make the decision and do it.

You will then look back on all the spreadsheets etc and think what a waste of time that was smile

The danger is that you will go into far too much detail then convince yourselves that you can't afford to do it when in reality everything you have budgeted for and planned to spend will bare no resemblance to what you actually spend.

You need to JGOWI, there is a certain pleasure and freedom to be had by just "winging it" as I have done. smile
I agree with this 100%, but there's always different folks etc...

I had a working life from 1959-2004 all in what may be described as the pensions industry, which meant that I was "pensions aware" from a young age (still made financial errors though!). I was with my last employer 33 years and in the early days I even helped formulate their first benefits package that included their pension plan, DB/FS naturally.

I cannot say I pre-planned my retirement, other than deciding when I was about 55 that I wanted to retire after 35 years with my employer. In the event, I gave notice after 33 years that I wanted to retire in 2 years time, thus giving time for me to gradually move away from my then substantial client global responsibilities. After 3 months my employer offered me early retirement/redundancy and I had a very generous financial deal, possibly in recognition of my 33 years there and progressing from the 7th employee hired in UK to one of over 3,500 in UK, and what I achieved for the employer in the process.

So, now after after 18 years of retirement, wife and I do consider that we're financially secure, although you can never predict the future. Of course, there's fewer future years to take into consideration.....

With increasing age comes added health/dental issues (and their financial implications), decreased mobility maybe, all of which can impact on the type of holidays we choose, regular activities etc. Mustn't get depressed about this though, just disappointed maybe that now we have the time to do anything we wish, we do not have the appropriate capabilities!

R.

skeeterm5

3,331 posts

187 months

Thursday 23rd March 2023
quotequote all
Monkeylegend said:
Pre retirement for me was never about endless spreadsheets and endless financial planning and forecasts about how much I needed to live on and maintaining any particular lifestyle.

I had a choice to make between working or retiring and decided I was going to retire at 62 which is what I did.

I then adjusted my lifestyle and spending around my income and have enjoyed it ever since.

This is one of the better threads on PH but I think many of you are pontificating far too much in the pre retirement planning stage and just need to make the decision and do it.

You will then look back on all the spreadsheets etc and think what a waste of time that was smile

The danger is that you will go into far too much detail then convince yourselves that you can't afford to do it when in reality everything you have budgeted for and planned to spend will bare no resemblance to what you actually spend.

You need to JGOWI, there is a certain pleasure and freedom to be had by just "winging it" as I have done. smile
Much more eloquently put than me!

Life is for living not spreadsheets smile

Anyway, it feels like spring is arriving here, a pair of Curlews have just arrived in our fields. They come up here to breed.


Edited by skeeterm5 on Thursday 23 March 11:39

BOR

4,699 posts

254 months

Thursday 23rd March 2023
quotequote all
Monkeylegend said:
Pre retirement for me was never about endless spreadsheets and endless financial planning and forecasts about how much I needed to live on and maintaining any particular lifestyle.

I had a choice to make between working or retiring and decided I was going to retire at 62 which is what I did.
You are probably right, but (for me) easier said than done.

Signing my retirement date was like stepping off a precipice, but at least writing down all the expected pension income gave me the confidence to lock myself in to a specific date( 2025 @ 62yrs old).

At least, a spreadsheet does focus the mind, and encourages you to tidy up any loose ends/pay any additional NI Contributions etc.

I'm scared that I've massively overshot my retirement income needs, but I guess it's safer that way!



alscar

3,974 posts

212 months

Thursday 23rd March 2023
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I’m full of admiration for those that have just winged it without any calculations but I think that does rather depend on existing and desired future lifestyles once in retirement.
Whilst you may not know exactly what your current and future outgoings will be you have to have an idea of rough numbers otherwise retirement may not last too long without needing to work again.
A spreadsheet doesn’t have to be the answer - back of an envelope will do - unless of course those saying they just retired without any prep have a shed load of other investments to fall back on.
Either way whatever works for you needs to be encouraged especially if this to leads to the decision to retire.
Apologies to Jeremy Hunt though.

Drumroll

3,739 posts

119 months

Thursday 23rd March 2023
quotequote all
alscar said:
I’m full of admiration for those that have just winged it without any calculations but I think that does rather depend on existing and desired future lifestyles once in retirement.
Whilst you may not know exactly what your current and future outgoings will be you have to have an idea of rough numbers otherwise retirement may not last too long without needing to work again.
A spreadsheet doesn’t have to be the answer - back of an envelope will do - unless of course those saying they just retired without any prep have a shed load of other investments to fall back on.
Either way whatever works for you needs to be encouraged especially if this to leads to the decision to retire.
Apologies to Jeremy Hunt though.
I doubt many who choose to retire "just wing it" but if you are not careful you can get too bogged down in thinking about it.

alscar

3,974 posts

212 months

Thursday 23rd March 2023
quotequote all
Drumroll said:
I doubt many who choose to retire "just wing it" but if you are not careful you can get too bogged down in thinking about it.
From Monkey's post below but yes I agree - there is ,as always ,a happy medium.

You need to JGOWI, there is a certain pleasure and freedom to be had by just "winging it" as I have done.



GT3Manthey

Original Poster:

4,429 posts

48 months

Thursday 23rd March 2023
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Our Scottish bred Dandie enjoying Ayr


skeeterm5

3,331 posts

187 months

Thursday 23rd March 2023
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GT3Manthey said:
Our Scottish bred Dandie enjoying Ayr

Looks great - have a good trip.

Ed Moses

600 posts

119 months

Thursday 23rd March 2023
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GT3Manthey said:
Our Scottish bred Dandie enjoying Ayr

Enjoy the trip and I hope it becomes a template for future adventures.

GT3Manthey

Original Poster:

4,429 posts

48 months

Thursday 23rd March 2023
quotequote all
Ed Moses said:
Enjoy the trip and I hope it becomes a template for future adventures.
Tks Ed I’m sure it will .

Much prefer the idea of road trips with the hound now than the airport queues.

Need to see more of this island we live on !

Jaguar steve

9,232 posts

209 months

Thursday 23rd March 2023
quotequote all
alscar said:
Drumroll said:
I doubt many who choose to retire "just wing it" but if you are not careful you can get too bogged down in thinking about it.
From Monkey's post below but yes I agree - there is ,as always ,a happy medium.

You need to JGOWI, there is a certain pleasure and freedom to be had by just "winging it" as I have done.
I pretty much winged it. smile

No spreadsheets, no advice, no personnel dept to hold my hand - I just walked because thing is you can't plan for what you don't know. Who'd have foreseen Covid or wobbly markets or high energy prices or the current inflation and interest rates we've got 5 years ago for example, and who can say where we'll be in ten years time?

Not me for sure and so long as the back of a fag packet maths look about right then you can just wing it and if you subsequently find you're not so much flying as plummeting and have to cut back a bit then just cut back a bit. Or get a part time job or take some equity out or downsize your home.

There's nearly always a get out of jail card to be found somewhere if you look long enough and are ready to accept any lifestyle changes you need to accept if your affairs go a tad tits-up.


Wh00sher

1,587 posts

217 months

Saturday 25th March 2023
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Monkeylegend said:
The danger is that you will go into far too much detail then convince yourselves that you can't afford to do it when in reality everything you have budgeted for and planned to spend will bare no resemblance to what you actually spend.

You need to JGOWI, there is a certain pleasure and freedom to be had by just "winging it" as I have done. smile
Whilst not retirement related, that`s exactly the same discussion my wife and I had before she became pregnant with our first. We went from 2 incomes to one as she stayed at home.

We thought we`d never be able to manage losing one wage AND having the extra costs of a new child, but you just make it work. If we`d waited until we `could definitely afford it`, we would probably never have had kids.

Slight tangent I admint, but it`s a similar scenario imo.

Chozza

808 posts

151 months

Sunday 26th March 2023
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Happy Jim said:
I’ve spent the past 40 odd years striving to be the most useful I could be in whatever I was doing, for the past 6 months I’ve intentionally tried to make myself “useless” so that I can leave with a clear conscience that the world won’t fall apart for them (without me).

Jim
Having worked with or for Jim for a number of years , before he made me redundant :-) - this made me laugh more than it should.

All the best Jim and enjoy!

Gary C

12,315 posts

178 months

Sunday 26th March 2023
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RDMcG said:
Gary C said:
Well

Just this very minute applied for my figures for 2024 & 2025, the results will decide when I join the PH retirement club

smile
One thing worth planning for is inflation.

10% inflation halves your income in seven years. While I do not depend on pension for most of my income, what was an excellent pension in 2008 when I left my permanent job is now noticeably more modest.

As it happens I continued to work so this was not too important, but in recent years the impact on pension has been significant. I do not have any inflation protection on most of it.
My pension would increase by RPI every year and as there is no pot to deplete, it doesn't matter. However there is a cap on increases but cant remember what it is though I suspect its 10%

AdamV12V

4,987 posts

176 months

Sunday 26th March 2023
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Gary C said:
My pension would increase by RPI every year and as there is no pot to deplete, it doesn't matter. However there is a cap on increases but cant remember what it is though I suspect its 10%
Check the small print on the caps, it may be less than you think. I have an old DB pension from 20yrs ago when I worked for a law firm for 10yrs or so. Its a great little pension, but there is a cap of 5% p/a, and it uses CPI rather than RPI, which of course is the inflation measure invented to show a lower figure for the goverment. For years the cap hasn't mattered, but of course right now it does, so its annual growth is now being stunted.

GT3Manthey

Original Poster:

4,429 posts

48 months

Sunday 26th March 2023
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Gary C said:
My pension would increase by RPI every year and as there is no pot to deplete, it doesn't matter. However there is a cap on increases but cant remember what it is though I suspect its 10%
My mothers DB pension has an increase of 5% annually so best to check

GT3Manthey

Original Poster:

4,429 posts

48 months

Monday 27th March 2023
quotequote all
Well scotland was a welcomed break and we even got lucky with the weather !

Long drive for us and some decent touring around but so much more enjoyable than airport queues and the associated hassles.

Have to say it wasn’t cheap so going forward more planning to reduce costs would be needed but I’m more convinced than ever about seeing more of the UK.

Anyhow , Monday morning on the rattler back into work on the hamster wheel banghead