What’s Keeping you going through all this ?
Discussion
Obviously this last year has been horrendous in the main and there has been lots of things we’ve lost that we previously took for granted and not forgetting those who lost their lives and those that have been touched by someone’s passing.
For me the foreign travel side of things wasn’t that important but I very much missed being able to travel to the beach or play golf or even pop to a friends and chat cars etc.
It’s made me stop and look at what I want to be doing more of going forward which as it happens is the day to day stuff like walking , cycling and generally being with my wife and kids helping them in their lives.
I’m not so much scouring the classifieds for the next car or planning the next big expensive upgrade to the house.
Now I’m thinking how much I missed the simple things and how I want to embrace those now so I’ve decided as soon as I can retire I’m going to.
Two years left of school fees for the youngest who will then head off to uni ( fees already accounted for) and a move with the sale of an additional property will leave us mortgage free with savings and a pension.
Although we are now starting to unwind lockdown I’m of the belief certain restrictions will come and go for some time ( third wave possible) so in 2 years on my 55th I want to have quit work, sold up and moved out away from London.
So this is what’s keeping me going really though some days I seem to struggle . Panicking how much I’ll need on a monthly basis to have a comfortable life.
No more school fees , mortgage or big financial obligations and leading a pretty simple life I’m thinking not too much.
So what’s keeping you going and has this made you re evaluate life generally speaking.
Also what do you need as a monthly draw to know you won’t have to return to work ?
TIA
Mods- Pls move if in the wrong section
For me the foreign travel side of things wasn’t that important but I very much missed being able to travel to the beach or play golf or even pop to a friends and chat cars etc.
It’s made me stop and look at what I want to be doing more of going forward which as it happens is the day to day stuff like walking , cycling and generally being with my wife and kids helping them in their lives.
I’m not so much scouring the classifieds for the next car or planning the next big expensive upgrade to the house.
Now I’m thinking how much I missed the simple things and how I want to embrace those now so I’ve decided as soon as I can retire I’m going to.
Two years left of school fees for the youngest who will then head off to uni ( fees already accounted for) and a move with the sale of an additional property will leave us mortgage free with savings and a pension.
Although we are now starting to unwind lockdown I’m of the belief certain restrictions will come and go for some time ( third wave possible) so in 2 years on my 55th I want to have quit work, sold up and moved out away from London.
So this is what’s keeping me going really though some days I seem to struggle . Panicking how much I’ll need on a monthly basis to have a comfortable life.
No more school fees , mortgage or big financial obligations and leading a pretty simple life I’m thinking not too much.
So what’s keeping you going and has this made you re evaluate life generally speaking.
Also what do you need as a monthly draw to know you won’t have to return to work ?
TIA
Mods- Pls move if in the wrong section
Edited by GT3Manthey on Wednesday 7th April 11:30
Worked in hospitality all my days. My other half has worked all the way through in her job (not hospitality) . With furlough we cut back our outgoings slightly but not much (going out budget turned into a majestic order etc). Thankfully I work for Greene King who have been pretty good at keeping us up to date with whats happening.
Should now be back at work mid May (no beer garden) and I have had my first covid jab.
The worst part of the whole thing was not getting tips. Tips usually bumped my wage by several hundred a month. I have been on furlogh that long I got a wage rise due to the minimum wage going up but I wont get it until Im off furlough. My first full paycheck after furlough is going to give me enough money I can wipe out a good chunk of my credit card bill.
As for actually being on furlough its not been too bad as I have never been out of work for that long before. It was nice to get the break and catchup on sleep and me time. I have a very stress free lifestyle just now. Its what I assume retirement is going to feel like.
Should now be back at work mid May (no beer garden) and I have had my first covid jab.
The worst part of the whole thing was not getting tips. Tips usually bumped my wage by several hundred a month. I have been on furlogh that long I got a wage rise due to the minimum wage going up but I wont get it until Im off furlough. My first full paycheck after furlough is going to give me enough money I can wipe out a good chunk of my credit card bill.
As for actually being on furlough its not been too bad as I have never been out of work for that long before. It was nice to get the break and catchup on sleep and me time. I have a very stress free lifestyle just now. Its what I assume retirement is going to feel like.
My wife. I'm "lucky" enough to have worked all the way through, albeit in strange, abnormal conditions but it's been pretty tough mentally. Mrs P has been utterly fantastic and supportive. That support and using funeral escorts as a legitimate reason to ride my motorcycle other than for commuting have made it bearable.
ETA: I've also done a pub quiz (streamed live from an actual pub) on Zoom with a few old mates almost every Monday night for a year which has been a great fixed point and a vent to let off steam and b
h about stuff to blokes rather than lumping more on Mrs P. I'll miss it.
ETA: I've also done a pub quiz (streamed live from an actual pub) on Zoom with a few old mates almost every Monday night for a year which has been a great fixed point and a vent to let off steam and b
h about stuff to blokes rather than lumping more on Mrs P. I'll miss it.Neighbour of mine has been using his bedroom as an office and wife’s dressing table as a desk the whole time. He’s got a 2 1/2 and 6 month old kids.
I have no idea how he does it, can’t be good for state of mind,
I’m not been very different but at least I’ve got a shed to work out of.
I think his Mrs must be a star as I know I couldn’t do what he has with mine.
I have no idea how he does it, can’t be good for state of mind,
I’m not been very different but at least I’ve got a shed to work out of.
I think his Mrs must be a star as I know I couldn’t do what he has with mine.
The spinner of plates said:
I’ve had similar thoughts.
Quit the stress / money that comes from a well paid job and just dial it all back to live a more simple life.
I’ll be honest though.. not quite there yet.
But getting out of the rat race by 55 is also my goal.
Exactly as I’m seeing things now. Quit the stress / money that comes from a well paid job and just dial it all back to live a more simple life.
I’ll be honest though.. not quite there yet.
But getting out of the rat race by 55 is also my goal.
The wife is onboard with the idea and says she’ll be dragging me out just short of 55 which is now just 23 months away but I’m finding each day at work just drags.
Went through the numbers with my IFA last week and chatted with a mate last night about what we’d realistically need.
You get wrapped up in the whole money side but in reality we’ll have enough to be comfortable if we keep things steady from here on in.
Only issue now is working on the kids to get them onboard too.
The youngest will be off to uni so I don’t think will really care so it’s just the eldest who by then will hopefully be working and be more independent.
My IFA said no one takes their pension at 55 but I find this strange to have worked all those years and if you have enough not to go and enjoy the freedom.
I don’t have a finally salary pension so have funded it myself so along with savings I’m confident we will have enough as a monthly draw.
That said to live a fairly straight forward life I’m still not sure how much is really enough.
Working will 60 I can’t bare the thought of !
Mr Tidy said:
It's well worth getting there!
I had taken all my work-place pensions early in 2014, and stopped working altogether in 2015 at 56 and haven't looked back!
.
Although sadly Covid has imposed some limitations.
Good for you . I had taken all my work-place pensions early in 2014, and stopped working altogether in 2015 at 56 and haven't looked back!
.
Although sadly Covid has imposed some limitations.
My wife also has heart issues now as a result of long covid so helping her is also a priority.
Life is just too short
We’ve used the last 12 months to save as much as possible as I want to retire this year at 54.
I,ve been in the same industry all my working life and am just bored with it now. I also seem to get stressed easier lately and just want out.
We’re lucky in that we have a rental property and the income pays all our household bills bar food. The plan then is for me to start up gardening for a few extra ££ but mainly just to keep active and I enjoy it.
My fiancé wants to carry on working full time though and I reckon that coupled with our savings/pensions, we will only need to earn around 2k a month between us and our lifestyle won’t change at all.
I,ve been in the same industry all my working life and am just bored with it now. I also seem to get stressed easier lately and just want out.
We’re lucky in that we have a rental property and the income pays all our household bills bar food. The plan then is for me to start up gardening for a few extra ££ but mainly just to keep active and I enjoy it.
My fiancé wants to carry on working full time though and I reckon that coupled with our savings/pensions, we will only need to earn around 2k a month between us and our lifestyle won’t change at all.
Kwackersaki said:
We’ve used the last 12 months to save as much as possible as I want to retire this year at 54.
I,ve been in the same industry all my working life and am just bored with it now. I also seem to get stressed easier lately and just want out.
We’re lucky in that we have a rental property and the income pays all our household bills bar food. The plan then is for me to start up gardening for a few extra ££ but mainly just to keep active and I enjoy it.
My fiancé wants to carry on working full time though and I reckon that coupled with our savings/pensions, we will only need to earn around 2k a month between us and our lifestyle won’t change at all.
We unfortunately don’t have a rental so all monies will come from savings and pensions.I,ve been in the same industry all my working life and am just bored with it now. I also seem to get stressed easier lately and just want out.
We’re lucky in that we have a rental property and the income pays all our household bills bar food. The plan then is for me to start up gardening for a few extra ££ but mainly just to keep active and I enjoy it.
My fiancé wants to carry on working full time though and I reckon that coupled with our savings/pensions, we will only need to earn around 2k a month between us and our lifestyle won’t change at all.
My wife hasn’t worked for 20 years so I’ve been the sole provider but have been sensible with money pretty much.
Like you I’ve been in the same industry all my life and I’m thoroughly bored to death with it so there is zero chance I’ll miss it.
Interesting you mention 2k a month as the IFA says the pension and savings plus old age pension will provide us with around 5k a month.
Based on those numbers I still worry if it’s enough !
Never stopped working so no financial impact other than lots more money as you can’t spend it. I’ve nothing on finance or leased cars so no hit there.
Got a 3% pay rise last year too with almost a years backdate to it.
Tbh it’s been on the whole brilliant, it’s taught us we can function as at work without churning to work and back just to log onto a computer: we’ll never work the same way again.
We’re lucky we live somewhere so beautiful with 100’s of lovely walks, moors, rivers, canals we can just walk to: if anything we discovered more nice places to discover on our doorstep due to being forced to stay at home.
I think lockdown has been a divide though: fab in a nice house, big garden in the country. It must have been dreadful in a flat, in a city, wedged in a new build on a n estate.
I know for me, in my profession we’ve seen asb and domestic violence rocket on housing estates
Got a 3% pay rise last year too with almost a years backdate to it.
Tbh it’s been on the whole brilliant, it’s taught us we can function as at work without churning to work and back just to log onto a computer: we’ll never work the same way again.
We’re lucky we live somewhere so beautiful with 100’s of lovely walks, moors, rivers, canals we can just walk to: if anything we discovered more nice places to discover on our doorstep due to being forced to stay at home.
I think lockdown has been a divide though: fab in a nice house, big garden in the country. It must have been dreadful in a flat, in a city, wedged in a new build on a n estate.
I know for me, in my profession we’ve seen asb and domestic violence rocket on housing estates
sc0tt said:
I’m just glad golf is back to be honest.
That’s actually been a good way of stress relief for me too and not playing made me realise how much it helped me in various ways. What I have noticed is that the period of Lockdown has given me anxiety issues and I miss just being outdoors badly.
Edited by GT3Manthey on Thursday 8th April 08:54
GT3Manthey said:
Kwackersaki said:
We’ve used the last 12 months to save as much as possible as I want to retire this year at 54.
I,ve been in the same industry all my working life and am just bored with it now. I also seem to get stressed easier lately and just want out.
We’re lucky in that we have a rental property and the income pays all our household bills bar food. The plan then is for me to start up gardening for a few extra ££ but mainly just to keep active and I enjoy it.
My fiancé wants to carry on working full time though and I reckon that coupled with our savings/pensions, we will only need to earn around 2k a month between us and our lifestyle won’t change at all.
We unfortunately don’t have a rental so all monies will come from savings and pensions.I,ve been in the same industry all my working life and am just bored with it now. I also seem to get stressed easier lately and just want out.
We’re lucky in that we have a rental property and the income pays all our household bills bar food. The plan then is for me to start up gardening for a few extra ££ but mainly just to keep active and I enjoy it.
My fiancé wants to carry on working full time though and I reckon that coupled with our savings/pensions, we will only need to earn around 2k a month between us and our lifestyle won’t change at all.
My wife hasn’t worked for 20 years so I’ve been the sole provider but have been sensible with money pretty much.
Like you I’ve been in the same industry all my life and I’m thoroughly bored to death with it so there is zero chance I’ll miss it.
Interesting you mention 2k a month as the IFA says the pension and savings plus old age pension will provide us with around 5k a month.
Based on those numbers I still worry if it’s enough !
We currently save all the rental income and i spend, including household bills, less than £1k a month so i think/hope my figures should work out.
I've read a few similar threads on here and it's always interesting to see the variation in the amount people estimate they'll need to retire. £5k is a pretty nice amount to have.
Being able to retire early is certainly a very nice position to be in so good luck with whatever your plans are.
We're incredibly fortunate where we are to have space to not be under each others' feet, plus we have excellent neighbours. My wife and I spent pretty the majority of time together before lockdown, so it hasn't applied any pressure to the relationship whatsoever.
To pass the time we have done various construction projects at home and elsewhere.
Looking forward to be able to go out for a meal and see people again.
To pass the time we have done various construction projects at home and elsewhere.
Looking forward to be able to go out for a meal and see people again.
Kids are in year 10 and 8 - so old enough to work by themselves and tech savvy enough to not need help.
6 bed house, of which 2 were already converted to offices.
www.dropstore.com has helped massively
I actually changed jobs back in October - I am now the only employee outside of the USA for my company. I've never met anyone else, not even for interviews. Really struggling with that.
6 bed house, of which 2 were already converted to offices.
www.dropstore.com has helped massively
I actually changed jobs back in October - I am now the only employee outside of the USA for my company. I've never met anyone else, not even for interviews. Really struggling with that.
Our kids are 11 and 15 and have not had an issue so far. Both my wife and I have worked all the way through. Our 4 man team at work have split into 3 x 12 hour days so there's less overlap. this has meant a 4 day weekend every week which was great in the summer. But also bad writing off a block of three days each week.
The long weekend has really helped.
The long weekend has really helped.
Kwackersaki said:
The £2K should cover petrol, pet costs, eating out, clothing (for me!) etc and running 2 cars. Any extra for emergencies we'll just draw from savings and pensions.
We currently save all the rental income and i spend, including household bills, less than £1k a month so i think/hope my figures should work out.
I've read a few similar threads on here and it's always interesting to see the variation in the amount people estimate they'll need to retire. £5k is a pretty nice amount to have.
Being able to retire early is certainly a very nice position to be in so good luck with whatever your plans are.
Tks for this.We currently save all the rental income and i spend, including household bills, less than £1k a month so i think/hope my figures should work out.
I've read a few similar threads on here and it's always interesting to see the variation in the amount people estimate they'll need to retire. £5k is a pretty nice amount to have.
Being able to retire early is certainly a very nice position to be in so good luck with whatever your plans are.
Sometimes good to get some reassurance.
I’m thinking that circa 1k per month will cover the usual household bills excluding food so yes based on this 5k draw a month is enough for a comfortable life.
The plan is to enjoy freedom more than anything and spend time with the family.
Cycling , golf and walking are the main objectives so nothing too expensive although there will be two cars to run too.
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