No, but not drawing on the pension for 5 years, is probably a bigger factor, means the pot doesn’t have to last quite as long….

Yes – see my sneaky edit 🙂

But it does strike me that retiring in your 50s may disappear soon (

Certainly did for me.

I know how stark the difference between generations will be when it comes to pensions and old age because of nothing more than bad luck, and bad judgement I fell from the old Boomer way into the new way.

In 2000 I worked for one of the big banks, we were one of the last to get into the original solid gold pension scheme. You had your whole life mapped out for you, join in your early twenties, like some of the public sector you “did your 30” and that was is – you got more if you hung on later, but mostly you retired in your mid 50s on a lovely comfy pension. Add into the mix a ‘pre authorised’ 0.1% over base Mortgage scheme and endless other perks including tax free share schemes, profit sharing etc. Meant if I actually bloody listened to them, you’d find yourself mortgage free with a lovely pension and a really tidy pile of money to boot. Most of the old guys I worked with walked with £100k or so – that’s not a lump sum pension thing, that was their accumulated share pot.

Even though I only managed 9 years there, my old Pension will worth more to me when I retire than 25 years worth of NEST pension I paying into now. As for all the bonuses, profit shares and shares I blew half of it on bikes, holidays, and indeed a little coke, the rest, as they say, I wasted.

Even if my Wife decides to adopt a philosophy of “do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not” I’ll be working until 68… at least.

On the “how much is enough” question; a cornerstone of the Financial independence “movement” is based around the 4% rule. Whereby if you have 25x your annual expenditure invested, you can withdraw 4% of your pot each year, increasing with inflation and theoretically never run out of money again.

I retired on 31 July after 32 years in the same job. My formerly enjoyable export job travelling round Africa had become a poxy sales clerk job working from a laptop with nothing but stress. I am now living in damp smelly temporary accommodation waiting for the builder to finish the house, which would have been finished in July without CV. I am bored, deeply depressed and anxious about everything and missing my old colleagues and customers painfully because I’ve nothing to do. This will improve after we move in.

I don’t miss the work stress especially customer accounts and debts.

My sister and BIL on the other hand have both retired and are as busy as they ever were, with a big circle of friends and lots of interests so they are having a great time. So retire but be sure you’ve got enough to distract you from the boredom.

And there’s the rub: How long are you going to live and how much are you going to spend? It’s an interesting question to contemplate in the abstract, but when you sit down and apply it to yourself (and wife / partner / why) I find it weirdly morbid, yet one must come up with an answer.

This is why you have to use an advisor. It’s much more complicated than size of pot divided by years left to live.

I’m 46, a financial warning zone, and ain’t retiring any time soon – I’m lucky I have a job I genuinely enjoy (took 45 years to find it, but there you go). Only thing I can usefully contribute to this thread is to keep busy with something you enjoy, whether it’s work or a hobby (if you have the cash) or whatever – me dear old dad just stopped everything when he retired and it did him no good at all, me dear old mum had me dad to look after but once he’d gone, she had nothing much left and followed shortly after. Still mulling over what I’m gonna do when I retire but I tell you what – even if the cash is there, I’m not treating it like a full-time holiday.

I tried it at 36 ! Got very bored very quickly. 11 years later I’ll do it again at 50 and this time I think I have enough to keep me out of trouble.

Retired a year or so ago age 61. Ride for about 4 hours most mornings. Chores/tasks in the afternoons. Loving it, can’t imagine working again. The negatives? Does sometimes feel like I’m waiting for the great pub landlord in the sky to call “Time”, so could use a sense of purpose. Feel weary most afternoons, so try to keep busy and avoid crashing on the sofa. Trying not to worry about money!

Retired at 55, now 62. I understand the issues with pension pot. But something more important and you can have an affect over is your fitness and health.
All the money means nothing if you don’t have the fitness and good health to enjoy it. Get fit and stay fit. It will pay huge dividends in retirement.

bloody hell freeagent we are pretty much in the same boat.
wife is wanting to retire in the next 5 year…..lol at that.
she saw her mum and dad retire early and think she can do the same, the harsh realities of life fall on deaf ears. I cant really see me even thinking about it for another 10-12 years (at 60)

I could retire tomorrow if I knew I wasn’t going to live more than 20/25 years. Problem is I might live to 100 and then that needs a lot more money…

The ONS has an interesting app you can play with:

https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/healthandlifeexpectancies/articles/lifeexpectancycalculator/2019-06-07

[url=https://flic.kr/p/2jHewTe]Life[/url] by Ben Freeman, on Flickr

All the money means nothing if you don’t have the fitness and good health to enjoy it.

Absolutly this. I have seen too many people retire later and then die. I will be going at 60 despite only going to have an income I think most of you would find inadequate. there are no pockets in a shroud.

I’m 56 and retired just over 4 years ago. There was a short adjustment period and an irrational feeling of guilt for a while about not working, but I now love it. Our kids are grown up and independent and my wife works part time.

I end up doing most of the cooking and cleaning which is fine, and we live in old place with a huge garden which means there is always stuff to do. But otherwise, I indulge my many hobbies and interests. I walk our dog twice a day, go to the gym three times a week, ride my motorbike and mountain bike whenever I feel like, go hill walking, shooting, a bit of woodwork etc. We are comfortable, but not loaded, so having some interests that don’t cost a fortune is helpful. And I’m quite happy knocking about in a ten year old car or taking UK holidays if it means I can buy a new bike when I need to.

I must admit I am baffled by a common response I get when people hear I’m retired, “Oh I could never give up working, I just wouldn’t know what to do with myself”. I can understand not being able to retire for financial reasons or missing the social aspect, but not knowing what to do with yourself?! The idea that stopping condems you to daytime TV and boredom betrays a one dimensional character and lack of imagination in my mind. The possibilities are endless, if (of course) you are lucky enough to afford to retire.

I am very grateful that (fingers crossed) I have the health and fitness to enjoy retirement and an outdoor life. I think if I didnt it would be very different, which is as good a reason as any to take early retirement if you can afford to.

I was made redundant at 53, 2 years ago – Brexit effectively killed off the type of work I was doing – since then set-up my own online business and doing some part-time work in my LBS as a mechanic. Pension review at the beginning of the year at 55 indicated not too bad – 2x defined benefit pensions, so the main issue was income for the next 10 years. We’ve sold our house in Hampshire, currently living on Speyside and waiting for a new house to be built on the Isle of Mull. Proceeds from sale after build is nearly enough to cover the bills for 10 years, but plan is to continue with online stuff and find part-time / seasonal work. We’ll have a big garden, so plan to be far more self-sufficient as Mrs Dovebiker is keen gardener – had confirmation we can keep 12 chickens! For me it’s about maintaining a healthy lifestyle as once it’s lost, it won’t come back – I’d rather be ‘poor’ and healthy. We’re also hoping to get more actively involved in a community which is why we chose Mull. Very much day-to-day at present, keeping eye on weather – we’re off to Ullapool tomorrow for a seafood lunch!

I’d like to add- my Dad died of an unexpected heart attack at 69- he was otherwise fit and healthy, not overweight. Good job he retired at 55 and had 14 years.
So to those who have the financial ability to do so, but “will get bored”- get a life before your life gets snuffed out for good.

If you have the financial security to afford it, consider reducing your work hours and “learn” to enjoy having more time to yourself, if you’ve been working 5-day+ weeks for years.

A former colleague, took early retirement when a previous employer shut down. After two weeks he took a job as a Tesco delivery driver. He had nothing to do but go to the pub, he realised it really wasn’t a good idea, so just took a part time job just to get out and about.

I’m hoping to do community driving if I can re-train myself to sleep properly. At the moment stress is making me lie awake from 01.00 most mornings and I’m so tired during the day that Mrs GTi won’t allow me to drive.

I also plan to make hybrid spheres, brew beer, learn guitar again, write more, garden, cycle, set myself up as the local bicycle doctor, walk, swim, canoe, maybe even do some climbing again as I used to love that. Oh and get a small multi-gym.

I retired four years ago at 52 (couple of years earlier than planned due to a timely redundancy). Mrs Kenny stopped at 49. Easily the best thing we’ve ever done; haven’t been bored for a second. Like someone said above I can’t understand the folk who say they wouldn’t know how to spend their days.

Key thing, I reckon, is to have paid off your mortgage or be in the position to pay it off quite soon. Once the house is paid for you really can live on a lot less than you’d imagine.

Time is far more important than money.

50 earlier this year and no plans to retire just yet. This working from home has the added benefit of riding during ‘lunch’. Got two final salary schemes that should have 35 years in by the time I’m 60, plus two other private pension schemes. Wife worked for her parents for many years and got no pension and her current scheme isn’t promising much. Fortunately mortgage is paid off – we decided to stay in the same house and overpaid.

Kids both at home (17 and 19) and not looking likely they will leave home soon. Fairly happy if we get more flexible working once Covid settles down, but I recon 60 might be a good time to go. Two of my colleagues recently retired (they were around 63/64) and are now incredibly busy – no idea how they fitted work in – then again they got out before all this poop storm hit lucky sods.

No likelyhood of any ‘windfalls’ – MIL’s house value has almost vanished in 18 months of nursing home fees, and my parents are OK health wise

It’s much more complicated than size of pot divided by years left to live.

Genuine question: Is it?

On one level, I know there are various financial mechanisms for accessing the ‘pot’ (draw-downs, investments, annuities, etc.) which introduce a huge amount of complexity, especially if you need to take spouses, etc into account, but can you escape the fundamental truth of that arithmetic?

Just to help the OP:  😉

About 15 years ago I had a very good friend and colleague who was ready to retire in his early fifties. Fit as a fiddle and always on the go. We were going to walk the Tatras mountains together. He was persuaded by his manager to delay his retirement for two years. Three years later he was dead. Most of the last 12 months he was in very poor health. He had a good pension. RIP Arthur.

pickleball,

Is this safe to google?

@dovebiker – Seafood Shack?

We went 2 weeks ago, it was great

Controversial, but don’t work, get state benefits, a council house and if needing care, the state will pay for the lot. MIL now needs care home costs and it’s burning into what her house was worth by £4,500 a month. If we sell house, fees aren’t ‘controlled’ by the council, so that’s another grand a month privately.

If you want an active retirement, keep as fit as you can and have a good pension, but expect to lose the lot if you need care. It’s crap.

@ElShalimo – yes, Seafood Shack – we’ve been before, just been waiting for a nice day / less busy

@stgeorge haha – yes. It’s an import from the US. A cross between tennis / badminton / table tennis

My OH is now in 3 clubs and plays at least 4 times a week

And STW can rest easy – although originating in the US the sport isn’t Trump endorsed…..

Controversial, but don’t work, get state benefits, a council house and if needing care, the state will pay for the lot.

Controversial and not really accurate, speaking as someone who has spent the last 15 years working in the benefits system, and married to a social worker.

What I would add to all those planning on an early retirement is don’t get too fixated on it. A lot can change, especially with the current economic uncertainty. A colleague was literally counting down to his retirement at 55 from about 5 years out, he knew how much more would be in his pot if he cut out his morning Costa, it dominated every conversation with him. Totally forgot to live in the moment, his car suddenly needed replacing and it messed his head so badly he ended up for 2-3 months with anxiety and depression.

Reading all this with interest as I’m going in 6 weeks!

Just adding something else..my post-retirement part-time gave me the chance to develop new skills and meet lots of new folk, not all of whom would have been in my normal social bubble. Hell, most of the folk I know on this forum came from working in a bike shop.

Another thing to consider is whether you are likely to move to another area when retired and how you might then go about meeting new friends there. Some sort of work (paid or voluntary) might be a better idea than joining the local golf club.

Well my dad saved all his life, worked a stressful job that took its toll. Amazing final salary pension. Retired at 60 dead at 69.
That seems like a shit deal.

There are lessons in this, that I intend to learn.

I’m also frugal. Like many above I have no interest in conspicuous consumption/greed (I’m very wary of people with this trait! It makes no sense to me.) I have been lucky with property purchases and jobs/work. I certainly don’t intend working full time to the age my dad did.
I’m 41 now, and so long as nothing catastrophic happens career wise I’d like to reduce my hours by late 40s, hopefully semi retire/retire mid 50s once kids have completed uni (if they go) and are self sufficient. I think I would still want to be doing something constructive, but have the freedom to go travelling etc. (Which is one thing we missed in our youth that I regret…might be harder with the covid hangover but hey ho)
That’s the dream, anyway

On one level, I know there are various financial mechanisms for accessing the ‘pot’ (draw-downs, investments, annuities, etc.) which introduce a huge amount of complexity, especially if you need to take spouses, etc into account, but can you escape the fundamental truth of that arithmetic?

Yes and no.

If you buy an annuity, which will give you a pittance, you need to consider the type of annuity and benefits for a spouse in case you die first, but an annuity with say 50% for surviving spouse will give you an even worse rate.

If you’re using drawdown then you wouldn’t just divide the value by x years as you’d probably leave the pot invested in some form and expect some growth from the invested part.

Your spending is likely to taper as you get older so you probably need less money between say 70 and 80 compared with 60-70 and probably even less if 80-90 / 90-100.

Whilst an adviser could offer some advice there is no right answer as neither of you know how long you’ll live, how long you’re partner will live, how many of those years are in good health (more holidays more expense) and how the markets will do eg stocks, shares, bonds etc.

Neither of you know what changes to state pension and private pension tax might happen during your retirement either.

So yes there’s a lot to think about but no ‘right’ answers.

Even more free time due to COVID gas made me think about this. A tangent I see is that being active and productive/contributing is what apparently makes us happy, so finding work you like (yeah I’m still looking) and keeping it going, say part time, could be as important as all the hobbies/exercise.

Controversial, but don’t work, get state benefits, a council house and if needing care, the state will pay for the lot

ToryDailyMailbot alert! Controversial, and bollocks. It doesn’t work like that, you can’t just “go on benefits”, and it’s a pittance to live on, possibly in a shit area/care home.

tangent I see is that being active and productive/contributing is what apparently makes us happy,

Some of us. Not all. Add learning to that list.

Interesting reading all this, currently hoping to keep working to 68-70, purely for enjoyment of the job. Cannot imagine retiring at less than 65 without being bored.

Cannot imagine retiring at less than 65 without being bored.

Each to their own but I just don’t get this. Do you not have any hobbies or interests other than work? Places you want to go? People you want to spend more time with?

I cannot imagine wanting to work any longer than 60. I have loved my job, its got kudos, I get to be a do gooder but its now time for me. I have so much stuff planned to do once i retire. Stuff I have never had time for because it will not fit into two week holidays.

I decided to have a year off at 42 and at 60 still have no desire to work again. Madame likes her job. So I can’t answer the original question because I’m not officially retired and won’t be for a couple of years. However, I can say that not working is ace, for me, for other people it might not be – and I’m not sure how Madame is going to take to not working.

I haven’t been bored since the last time I had a job working for someone else. I used to have the odd day when there was nothing to do, that’s the last time in my life I watched a clock ticking towards a number waiting to be let off the leash.

tjagain
Full Member

I cannot imagine wanting to work any longer than 60. I have loved my job,

Same here.
I’m bloody good at my job so far as the original specification of it was.
But the endless corporate shizzle it now entails is grinding me down. I could save the company 10’s of thousands a year if left to do the engineering I’m good at but instead I seem to spend hours as a glorified account clerk or endless planning for things that will never happen.
55 now and now in planning my way out to a version of retirement

Blokeuptheroad – plenty of hobbies, well, bikes. Don’t ride loads but enough. Guess I don’t particularly for that there’s anything need more time for, but appreciate not everyone feels like that.

Jet – here are some of the things I have planned
A 3 month walk – Edinburgh to Cape Wrath, a 3 month cycle – North sea to black sea. 6 months trekking in south america, 6 months road trip round the antipodies. I’ll be doing these things and others) in the years between 60 and 67 while you carry on working.