+1 druidh Looking at retiring at 55. Although strangely I enjoy my job so happy to go on but keenly aware that these are my best years so making the most of them so making sure there's plenty of me time. In later years i have managed to avoid promotion and increased worlk load ha ha
I am sort of the opposite to Druidh - sold everything and put career on hold in the 90s so started more or less from scratch again at 30.
However have built up a lot of equity in property and do have around 15 years in final salary pension contributions. 9 more to go
I will have to work until 60 and will be not rich but I will take my less well of retirement in exchange for the fun I had spending the money along the way
Isn't it all about balance? There are people who work like mad, save most of it then drop dead early having never really enjoyed themselves which is sad. Then there are those (probably more common in later generations) who spend naively not realising how much it costs to build up a fund large enough to retire with enough to support a reasonable lifestyle (and what if you aren't healthier enough to work to an older age?). However getting the balance right is not easy. Proper planning is the best answer ie sitting down and working it out using projections (either yourself or with a proper financial planner).
And at Druidh, final salary pensions are generally great. It's just that most don't have access to them now and people tend to move jobs more frequently so rarely build up 20, 30, 40 years anyway.
Dan1502 - agree that FS pensions are coming to an end, but there are career decisions I made along the way, like turning down [i]apparently[/i] better paid jobs with other companies. And like Pawsy_Bear, I was happy to turn my back on various promotions which might have seen me in more pressured, but ultimately more replaceable/disposable roles.
I have never earned enough to pay into a pension and the house I have a mortgage on will get sold when my son leaves school as my ex lives in it.Basically I have to work until I drop unless I kill off all my siblings and am the sole beneficiary of my parents estate.
I paid into a pension for years from when i was 20ish till 27, worked for a supermarket chain that was sold to another, then the store i worked in sold to another company, pension frozen and tbh no one seems to know whats happened to it, lost somewhere between retailers. I left that job and started a new job in 2008 and started a pension again in 2009, current rate it will pay me a modest amount. Stuffed as ive never had a mortgage never owned my own house or flat, always rented, from 1st of march next year i will be debt free, so plan on paying 10% of my salary into a savings pot for my future, ethier buy some property later in life or use this to fund my retirement.
I serious doubt i will reach retirement age, anything can happen in the next 30 years!
According to Mayan prophecies, we're all going to die next year anyhow - so rack up massive bills and enjoy the last few months of your lives - well until it turns out to be false and then we're ****ed.
On the day I retire, I'm going to go and rob a bank.
If I get away with it, I'll have a nice fund to enjoy retirement with, and if/when I get caught - the state will pay for my board and lodgings, washing, TV etc, hopefully living out my years in a nice easy open prison.
(obviously, I could end up getting bummed to death in wormwood scrubs, but thats a risk you gotta take, innit :lol:)
I don't have any desire to retire early. Like druidh, I've made specific decisions about work, but mine have been to choose a career which I enjoy. Consequently I enjoy my job - the work is interesting, I'm constantly learning, and the people I work with are fun. So for me, going to work gives me mental stimulation and social enjoyment as well as an income. Sure, sometimes it's stressful, and I work long hours, but I also get 6 weeks annual leave plus bank holidays and TOIL, so I do have a fair bit of time off to travel etc (although my biggest problem is usually having too much work to do to be able to take all my leave).
I don't have a problem with working til I'm 67 / 68, given that the average lifespan has increased significantly, and I suspect that even after that I'd like to continue doing part-time research.
As for pensions, I do have one but I'm increasingly questioning if it's worth it, and whether it would be better to put the money into property instead.
Not worried about it but I'm not going to want to rely on the state. I'm 28 and I think I'll be looking at near 80 when I retire as the government age is going to keep going up to compenste for an increasing life expectency and the large number of baby boomers about to retire. A lot will change before I retire. WW3, flying cars, living on the moon, collapse of the west/rise of the east, alien invasion, the rapture...
Never had the option of a final salary and never will. I do save into the company pension scheme. Put in 6% of my gross wage and the company puts in another 12% on top. It's a good scheme, I don't need that 6% so I'll take the "easy" money they are offering. Might die before then but it's a risk worth taking.
I also have saving set up on top of the pension. Might need this money before retirement but at the minute I'm comfortable so try to put money away for the future.
There are suggestions kicking around of doing away with governemnt retirement all together. It's a relatively new idea for all but the very rich. It was originally set at 65 as that was the average life expectancy. It was a think tank so probably not to be taken too seriously but they suggested no pensions just disability benefits for when you were no longer able to work.
My plan is to emigrate somewhere warm and cheap to live when I get old. Little bit of money goes a long way in less developed countries and i'll free up space in the UK (or wherever I end up until I retire) for someone else and no miserable cold weather.
Instead of going to those kinds of countries now when I need to get on with my career I will go later in life when I have some savings and have sold off all of my assets.
as a pro stoner i never intend on working that much any way... will die of lung cancer long before retirement age..... IE waiting for parents to snuff it
After losing my Dad recently, Mum has been told Pops pension pot has lost 50% in the last 2 years!
I have never earned enough to pay extra into a pension, think I will be well stuffed!