What I would say though is not to lose out on life now to provide for a pension you might never see.

Agreed – my younger brother died at 36.

I’m paying additional pension to 50% of the maximum yearly amount. Am I nuts for looking at some of the Vanguard funds/retirement funds instead of paying even more into my workplace pension?

A workplace pension won’t any better than Vanguard. I would expect Vanguard to have lower fees as they are uber competetive on that. As for how well they do over time, that’s down to the choice of funds and you can’t know in advance if one strategy will beat another etc.

So no, you’re not nuts at all.

What I would say though is not to lose out on life now to provide for a pension you might never see.

The corollary of that is don’t have too much fun when you’re young and then spend years in poverty…

Well I have to add to that , I know a few on state pension alone and they are comfortable.

Is there such a thing as too much fun ?

instead of paying even more into my workplace pension?

My advice would be to pay enough to gain the maximum contribution from them at least. Then you have to weigh up the pros and cons of investing the extra into a SIPP (with fees) and the option to invest it as you like. Also look at what investment options are available in you workplace fund. Many take the default but I have made my own choices and outperformed by a long way the default.

SO I just handed back the work laptops, Ipad, phone, pass, keys, credit card etc and am now either between jobs or retired 🙂

Not quite sure I can survive on the savings I have until I can actually touch my pension, so may have to leave you all and go back into the world of employment – not quite sure doing what though!

SO I just handed back the work laptops, Ipad, phone, pass, keys, credit card etc and am now either between jobs or retired

intentional or unintentional?

has anyone else pulled the plug since this thread started ? just curious that all.

my wife finished in november, and since then 6 of her work friends have taken retirement.
and i was at a rugby game yesterday, and 3 old playing mates have also called it day in their mid 50’s.

wonder if the plague has made people think that working and earning dont mean all that in the grand scheme maybe.

Not quite @ton but it has been on my mind a lot and I cant unsee it….

I have also spoken to a couple of mates and they have brought the subject up so it does seem on quite a few peoples minds although I am in that age bracket (56)

56 this year – financially I am able to retire now, but there’s still something stopping me. I had a spell of unemployment about 10 years ago and my mental health really suffered so I think I’m wary of retiring.

What I would say though is not to lose out on life now to provide for a pension you might never see.

This so very much and i am glad we did 🙂

the purist – you don’t have to retire completely. I you can retire it means you could do afford to do part time / minimum wage work and / or volunteering – or seasonal work.

I ended up steering a middle path being able to retire at 60 just but having spent much money on adventures over the last 40 years.

A couple of friends of mine are now in the same boat, both due to redundancies in their mid-50s. She was working for a big bank and was offered redundancy with paid-up pension – why not?
10 days until moving to our new home – can’t wait. Lots to do to get the house and garden sorted including 25m of dry stone walling! Will look for some part-time work but will probably wait until next year when (hopefully) normality prevails.

the purist – you don’t have to retire completely. I you can retire it means you could do afford to do part time / minimum wage work and / or volunteering – or seasonal work.

Very much this. Part time Job doing now isnt the greatest paying job but I have zero responsibility zero stress i get loads of flexibility in hrs and days I can work. It’s more about still getting up and doing something rather than drifting from one meal to next or worse next beer to next beer. It also pays for bike bits and saves dipping into pot.

Has anyone retired 37? 😀

A few of us recently left our company when they offered a package for the old gits. I was planning to retire in another 2 years but the package was the equivalent of another years net salary so it was a no brainer to take the money and run.

Has anyone retired 37?

Friend of mine did – inherited the family farm, converted the old barns to residential, rented out the pastures to neighbours, took up sailing…..

When people’s head goes a bit wobbly after retiring I would suggest it’s not the retiring that is the cause but rather resolving long term issues that have not been addressed. My Mrs has a fascinating, well-paid job and she’s chucking it in this year. Age disgracefully.

I’m 52. Retiring from my day job. Marine/offshore/sub sea operations, had enough after over 30 years of it.

When I made the decision it felt like a load was lifted off my back.

Me and Mrs now have 2 small businesses on the Northuumberland coast. They don’t even feel like work to me.

If I never set foot in an airport again I will be happy.

Some interesting articles from Vanguard on pension planning (from their latest email newsletter):

https://www.vanguardinvestor.co.uk/articles/latest-thoughts/retirement/four-steps-to-retirement

https://www.vanguardinvestor.co.uk/articles/latest-thoughts/retirement/four-steps-to-invest-retirement

https://www.vanguardinvestor.co.uk/articles/latest-thoughts/retirement/four-steps-safeguard-retirement

https://www.vanguardinvestor.co.uk/articles/latest-thoughts/retirement/four-steps-successful-retirement

Hmmm. That first article seemed bollocks to me. The notion that I’ll need 75% of my pre retirement income post retirenent….

Utter nonsense.

Hmmm. That first article seemed bollocks to me. The notion that I’ll need 75% of my pre retirement income post retirenent….

Utter nonsense.

I suspect I’ll be spending significantly more once retired than I do today (whilst working). house is already paid off and I’m kept busy by work. If I don’t have my days filled with working I’ll be travelling for months at a time, riding my bike more, going out for lunch, all of which cost a lot more money than sitting at a desk in my spare room.

I can also see that someone might be spending £15k/year commuting, and plan to have their house paid off the day the retire. There isn’t a one-size-fits-all for this kind of thing.

The notion that I’ll need 75% of my pre retirement income post retirenent….

Depends on the individual and the less you earned probably the higher percentage you’d need in retirement as you’ll be closer to the breadline etc.

Most final salary schemes were based about 2/3 ish, with the employee accruing 1/60th of their final salary for each year worked.

We’ve had large numbers take VS this year, I’m just a bit too young (51) and probably wouldn’t have been approved due to pension needing to be paid off (to costly).

Me and Mrs now have 2 small businesses on the

Not to be picky but that’s a change in career not retiring

Well done for doing it mind

Depends on the individual and the less you earned probably the higher percentage you’d need in retirement as you’ll be closer to the breadline etc

Yeah, agreed. I came to that same conclusion and that’s why I didn’t elaborate further. Probably shouldn’t have posted even what I did.

Soz

Part time Job doing now isnt the greatest paying job but I have zero responsibility zero stress i get loads of flexibility in hrs and days I can work

If you aren’t too worried about the money, what sort of job offers this ….

loads of flexibility in hrs and days I can work<

If you aren’t too worried about the money, what sort of job offers this ….

(self appointed senior) maintenance technician at student halls 15 hrs a week, not bothered what days/hrs I work as long as the mandatory work gets done on time.

Hmmm. That first article seemed bollocks to me. The notion that I’ll need 75% of my pre retirement income post retirenent….

Utter nonsense.

Most ‘finance’ articles are written a) by someone making a living from you buying their product and b) aimed at middle and upper class, financially flush and stable individuals who are target for point a).

I m following the Pete Matthew finance podcasts, I know he s an ifa so not doing it for charity…but q interesting never the less.

One thing I notice is how money smart wealthy retirees are, when they really don’t need to be. I suspect it’s the challenge of saving money.

One thing I notice is how money smart wealthy retirees are, when they really don’t need to be.

Maybe they’re wealthy because they’re money smart?

I’m still working at 67, I’ve got several small workplace pensions and part of a private one I was advised to set up to pay off my mortgage, which was advice I regret following now, but I didn’t know better nearly thirty years ago. Thing is, now I no longer have my partner, I don’t have anything much to look forward to, but also I’m actually fairly well paid for the first time in my life, and my job now is very low stress and physically very easy to do, and I rather enjoy it, plus I work with some great people, so I might as well stick with it for the time being, otherwise I’ll just be sat at home most of the time.

At my first job, after graduating, there was a retired chap who came back after his wife was killed in a car accident. He’d worked there all his life and been very senior but came back with a low stress, low responsibility job and sort of took it upon himself to look after all the graduates / sandwich students. He was 67 going on 17, had some amazing parties at his house. I think it genuinely saved his life, he’d had really bad depression after losing his wife but the job gave him a whole new second life.

One thing I notice is how money smart wealthy retirees are, when they really don’t need to be.

Die rich.

For those discussing how much to save.

https://moneyweek.com/investments/investment-strategy/603392/you-probably-are-saving-enough-for-your-retirement-but-you?amp

Well I am unemployed now which means I am either between jobs or looking at retirement slightly earlier than I had planned. I wont go into what led up to this but I am not totally upset with the outcome after being unhappy with my employer for some time now.

I had planned to work for another 2-3 years and my investments are good but whether they are quite at the level to support my retirement now as oppose to another 2-3 years is a slight worry. One of the important opportunities I have lost is the ability to move monies into my SIPP at the higher tax rate which I had scheduled….

The notion that I’ll need 75% of my pre retirement income post retirenent….

I have retired on about 30%

Ditto.

Of course, the affordability of this is down to what the pre-retirement income is. If you’re on minimum wage it’s unlikely to work out well.

@surfer- are you me? I could have written your first paragraph word for word…

Well I am unemployed now which means I am either between jobs or looking at retirement slightly earlier than I had planned. I wont go into what led up to this but I am not totally upset with the outcome after being unhappy with my employer for some time now.

Surprise surprise, investment companies want us all to put more of our hard earned with them. As has been said above, a broad brush approach really doesn’t work. My pension is 50%, my actual take home is very close to 70% as I no longer pay a big chunk into said pension and I no longer pay NI. The devil is in the detail

I was 60 the other week,20 more shifts & I’m out of it.
I’ve not yet handed in my notice.It should be interesting when I do as I’m a supermarket trucker & there’s a shortage of drivers at the momment.
Regarding what % of earnings people need to retire with,I’m looking at about 60% plus holidays.
I had the financial advisor from the bank visit me last week,she said I seem ready for retirement,I guess not everyone is.
My mates wife retired in May,she’s 59 I ask her how she’s finding retirement & she’s now looking to get into a routine.She does’nt miss her job or the stress that came with it