Early Retirement Pitfalls, Requirements etc Your opinions

[Chillidoggy]

Kimbers - First off a session with the pair of you with an IFA who specialises in the pensions area is a must, in my view. You might get some home truths, you might be pleasantly surprised, but it'll be money well spent.

14 hours ago, Sparky said:

@Kimbers if the opportunity presents itself, the four of us should get together and talk about this...

 

The Small Print:- An evening with Sparky does not amount to a meeting with an IFA, and you might feel/look like a bag of shit the next day.

[windymiller]

with inflation the way it is / heading id guess even people who thought they were comfortable a few years back in retirement will be nipping up, sadly the cost of living is just going to go up and therefore cash in the bank isnt wise but then what do you  invest in to aid retirement ?? but if you cant decide with a heartfelt choice then decide not to decide for a while and the right outcome will present its self im sure (still waiting for mine lol)

[Barrykearley]

Remember folks - enjoy it while you can. Once you are old and pissing yourself - the government will take your cash to look after you.

[C8RKH]

2 hours ago, windymiller said:

with inflation the way it is / heading id guess even people who thought they were comfortable a few years back in retirement will be nipping up, sadly the cost of living is just going to go up and therefore cash in the bank isnt wise but then what do you  invest in to aid retirement ?? but if you cant decide with a heartfelt choice then decide not to decide for a while and the right outcome will present its self im sure (still waiting for mine lol)

But for the first time in probably 20 years, annuity rates will be rising considerably so your "pot" will buy you a better pension.  No one knows what the situation will be next year, yet alone in 20/30 years time. So work out what you want and need. understand what that means you can and cannot do from a lifestyle perspective. Get proper advice. Do it!

I was going to retire this January just gone at 55. However, I got headhunted for a job and was made an offer I just could not refuse.  2 months in I'm loving and if it carries on like this I'll be working till I'm 60.  See. You just do not know what is around the corner. let alone the one after, and the one after that etc...

[DJW]

Found this guys videos very informative .  Worth having a  scan of his channel and watching a few that are relevant to you 

 

[Kimbers]

One of my old School mates and I have got friendly again. He was a professional in the Computer Games Industry, As Project leader he did games we all know and love today like F1 and some Role Play Games. He even has a BAFTA on his mantlepiece.

However he was never comfortable, even with a six figure wage, like me he hated the rat race. He Divorced and lost half of everything (which wasn't as much as you think as he had the lifestyle to match) and decided at 50 to change his life. He had no pension to speak of and just left his job with enough money to last about 12 months. His neighbour asked him to help out with his garden, then his house and he suddenly found out there was a need for Window cleaners. However, he also found out that so called "Window Cleaners" were 10 a penny, so at first couldn't figure out why people still wanted their windows cleaned from him.

He'd found a Niche without even knowing. "Traditional" window cleaning. You see, he didn't use gravity fed water system and leave people with wet windows, he didn't even know what they were! so he used a ladder and washed and dried windows manually with soap and water then a clean cloth. He also did window surrounds. He charges £30-40 instead of the Gravity fed people who charge £15-25 here, but his demand is more than he can cope with.

That led to getting a contract to do a large property 150 miles away. So every month he travels down to the Cotswolds and gets paid £450 a day for 2 days to clean this large property.

So long and short of it is, when you retire early you don't have to "Retire Early"! Now funnily enough he may want someone to help him........ just because I said I want to retire doesn't mean I don't want to do nothing. Or even earn nothing. We just don't have to conform with what the Govt expect you to do. Lets face it the only reason they extended retirement to 67 is because they don't have to pay your pension for very long and you keep paying taxes for longer!

Did I mention his pay rate is about £100 an hour? 3 houses. 

 

[Chillidoggy]

But surely if you continue to work then technically you're not retired? Are you sure it's not just a change of job(s) that's required?

[exeterjeep]

We get our windows cleaned in the old fashioned way, but there used be 2 guys who worked together (one was a nice chatty guy, the other a more miserable bloke), but over the last few months only 1 comes round as the number of customers has reduced on their round, as the economic situation has changed. We pay £15 and it has been the same amount for some years.

Giving up a stressful well paid job to do something that you can enjoy doing with a lot less stress can be a great way to 'retire' but keep busy. It also depends on how much the cash in hand keeps you solvent.

My late father in law had a gardener that used to travel from Norfolk to Hertfordshire a couple of times per month, to do the gardens of a few of his longer established customers.

[C8RKH]

2 hours ago, Kimbers said:

e just don't have to conform with what the Govt expect you to do

Absolutely but then what are they expecting you to do? You can "retire" any time you want. The Government is not going to stop you!  The only thing they actively do around retirement is to say that you need to work for xx years (credits) to get a full state pension and that your state pension can only start when you reach xx age.

So not sure why you think you need to "conform" to what the Government expects you to do.

People in the UK have so many "freedoms" around how they live their lives. I'm constantly surprised when people say or intimate that they they don't have those freedoms. The only thing stopping you doing what you want when you want (as long as it is not illegal) is usually "YOU".  So for retirement, what stops people retiring when they want usually is that they want or need a higher income than they can provide. So, they need to keep working. Nothing to do with "conforming" with Government at all.

[jonwat]

On 18/03/2022 at 13:36, Kimbers said:

My other pension IF i keep paying in at £350 a month like I do now, will be worth between £260 and £320 a month. From my estimation the pot will be £120400

This will calculate the figures for you 

[Kimbers]

Thanks @jonwat

Like I said, my pension is shit: I used your site and I have 3 years

"If you take 25% of your pension as a tax-free lump sum, and withdraw a monthly income of £2,000, your pension will last until you're age 58."

 

[pete]

Exactly that.  And then you are getting to old to earn reasonable money. You can probably earn more Inthe next 10 years than you have already

[C8RKH]

10 minutes ago, pete said:

Exactly that.  And then you are getting to old to earn reasonable money. You can probably earn more Inthe next 10 years than you have already

I'd go one step further and say that you could probably SAVE more in the next ten years than you have in the 30 before it.

[Chillidoggy]

Retired: withdrawn from one's position or occupation : having concluded one's working or professional career.

 

[C8RKH]

15 minutes ago, Chillidoggy said:

Retired: withdrawn from one's position or occupation : having concluded one's working or professional career.

 

Not necessarily. For instance a footballer can "retire" form their career as a player, but then work on as a club manager. In this instance one professional career is retired as one starts.

Effectively to retire is to "leave/withdraw/retreat". But you do not have to do that for everything.

[gregs24]

A word of caution to those saying 'go for it, life is for having fun'. It is no fun when you get to 75 and run out of money. Poverty for pensioners is very real, especially if you are lucky to live a long time. You may get a long time sitting in a cold house remembering the fun you had.

Use an IFA. You don't have to take their advice but at least listen to them. Mine is very good and I have worked with him for some time. 

[Chillidoggy]

2 minutes ago, C8RKH said:

Not necessarily. For instance a footballer can "retire" form their career as a player, but then work on as a club manager. In this instance one professional career is retired as one starts.

Effectively to retire is to "leave/withdraw/retreat". But you do not have to do that for everything.

That’s your own interpretation, I posted the dictionary definition of the word. When you retire, you cease paid employment. If you retire and then subsequently find or continue to work you are deemed to have “come out of retirement”.

I speak as one who is retired. And no longer works. At all.

[C8RKH]

You quoted one dictionary definition and your own interpretation, to support your use case of the term. Sorry to split hairs!

Another example, Colonel (retired) can still be working in a role outside of his military career that ended previously. In this use case (adjective) it is valid and refers to a career that is now over, but not necessarily that All careers are over or the person is doing nothing in relation to paid employment. For instance, Colonel (retired) Sanders has recently opened his 4,000th restaurant since leaving his army commission.

So a person can be retired (in full like you are) or a career/profession can be retired but the subject person can still be in alternative and active employment.

I'm tired today, so being arsey. Maybe i should retire myself from this thread.

[Barrykearley]

2 hours ago, C8RKH said:

The only thing they actively do around retirement is to say that you need to work for xx years (credits) to get a full state pension and that your state pension can only start when you reach xx age.

But then there is also the minimum pension credit guarantee - a lot of the state stuff is utter pishe and by the time I get there it’ll be means tested.

23 minutes ago, gregs24 said:

A word of caution to those saying 'go for it, life is for having fun'. It is no fun when you get to 75 and run out of money. Poverty for pensioners is very real, especially if you are lucky to live a long time. You may get a long time sitting in a cold house remembering the fun you had.

Simply turn to a life of crime 👍 - what’s the worse that can happen 🤪

[exeterjeep]

45 minutes ago, Barrykearley said:

what’s the worse that can happen

free residential facilities with a lot of other blokes

[Kimbers]

1 hour ago, gregs24 said:

A word of caution to those saying 'go for it, life is for having fun'. It is no fun when you get to 75 and run out of money. Poverty for pensioners is very real, especially if you are lucky to live a long time. You may get a long time sitting in a cold house remembering the fun you had.

And its no fun working till you are 67 to then realise you are too old to have that place in Cyprus, too old to travel the globe and walk Hadrians wall from coast to coast, too old to Sail that Yacht Across the Atlantic, or climb Killamonjaro and then you could die at 70 and THEN on your deathbed, that's when you regret working till you are 67 or listening to that IFA who told you not to retire.

And why pick those things? Well for a start several of my friends are doing these things this year! Rob, who I went to school with retired this year and has retrained as a Crewman. he's taking part in a round the world race this year. Another has just got divorced taken his half of the house and is blowing the lot travelling the world. He's going up Killamonjaro in a few months. 

You see one thing I have realised looking at my Father in Law (who has terrible dementia) is that he is paying for his care because he had a house and savings. The guys in the rooms either side of him, never worked, saved or had pensions. They all have the same room with the same quality of life.

You see, as you say @gregs24when I'm 75 or 80 I don't think I will be fit enough to do these things anyway. So why would I want a flash car or a big house at that age? And If I blow the bloody lot in the next 20 years, having a blast, you lot will have to foot the bill in your taxes anyway!!

[Chillidoggy]

1 hour ago, C8RKH said:

You quoted one dictionary definition and your own interpretation, to support your use case of the term. Sorry to split hairs!

Another example, Colonel (retired) can still be working in a role outside of his military career that ended previously. In this use case (adjective) it is valid and refers to a career that is now over, but not necessarily that All careers are over or the person is doing nothing in relation to paid employment. For instance, Colonel (retired) Sanders has recently opened his 4,000th restaurant since leaving his army commission.

So a person can be retired (in full like you are) or a career/profession can be retired but the subject person can still be in alternative and active employment.

I'm tired today, so being arsey. Maybe i should retire myself from this thread.

You're in luck! I'm also feeling arsey today, and thus you are wrong.

You're either retired, or you're not. You cannot be retired and in employment. If you're still working part time, you might be deemed to be semi-retired, though.

As for Colonel Sanders, he never was a proper Colonel, so your analogy falls face down into a pile of fried chicken. He also died in 1980, so unless he's been reincarnated I can only imagine that whoever is opening all those restaurants is a doppelganger!😀

[Kimbers]

9 minutes ago, Chillidoggy said:

You're in luck! I'm also feeling arsey today, and thus you are wrong.

Arsey, grumpy is Andy's default setting

[Chillidoggy]

23 minutes ago, Kimbers said:

Arsey, grumpy is Andy's default setting

Yes, but he's really just a big old cuddly teddy bear. 🧸

 

He should retire, it'll do him a world of good.

[Kimbers]

1 minute ago, Chillidoggy said:

Yes, but he's really just a big old cuddly teddy bear. 🧸

 

He should retire, it'll do him a world of good.

He was going to but he had an offer he couldn't refuse. And now you can see him doing the Full Monty every night at the Palladium!