Have I saved enough money...

413x said:
I'll preface this with.. Excluding pension.

Today my isa hit a threshold that I didn't think I'd reach for a while.
Its that number I've had in my head... When I hit this I can probably stop saving as much.
I'll put an absolute number on it as it is probably relevant. 50k
Its a years salary.
I'm a natural saver and find it difficult to even think about "stopping" or cutting back.

This is going to sound like nothing to some and a lot to others

This last 18 months has been a bit of a game changer for me. Seeing people pass away and having an illness my self that scared me to death. And that I've not made most of time.

I'm sat here thinking.. Do I need to save anymore? My parents are wealthy but miserable. I don't want to make same mistakes.


Do other people even ask themselves this? As I seem to encounter 2 sets of people. Those who always save.. Always wanting a bigger bank balance.
Vs those who absolutely don't or can't and live life with no safety net.

As I'm never having kids dying with money is an absolute waste. Which I suppose is a background motivator for many.

As spending goes.. I don't spend much really. Especially not on what the typical person does. I have no desire for a new car. Or a big house. Or many of the other typical things. They literally don't interest me anymore.

I max out my holiday allowance and go on nice ones I enjoy.. But I'd love more time. And that's where the spare goes.

I'm never gonna save 1mln. But also.. What will 100k get me 50k won't? Nothing important?

Obviously this money isn't "throw in your job and live the dream"..but more and more I getting tempted with "what's next" I think it's contracting.

Modest savings don't really allow you to retire early. You need mega money for that. And tbh, sitting around at home being old sounds like torture.

Not sure what reaction this thread is going to get if I'm honest. Ideally some views from people who have gone against the norm!
Click to expand...

The same is true at all times in life - you must have a target. A plan. The must be something you are working towards. Only then can you answer the question "how much?".

My family didn't have targets. They saved and saved, and eventually died leaving a ton of money to people they never intended, without ever achieving anything. That is unless their target was making random people wealthy, in which case they all succeeded brilliantly.

You certainly don't need mega money to retire early. It entirely depends how much you spend. If all you need is a little bungalow close to the shops and to pursue hobbies then a little is a lot. If you want to retire to that cottage with a view of the sun setting on the ocean then a lot is not enough.

Make a plan. Then you will know.
 
Is it enough to look after you until you can draw private/state pension, if you are unable to work ?

Obviously, if you have dependents it's a trickier question, but fundamentally, if you assume you may not be able to work or only bring in minimum wage, would your savings be enough ?

I always thought, that at 50ish, with over 350K pension pot, and in a good job, I would retire at 55. Then I had some financial modelling/advice and realised I needed to work until 60 at least to not have a shortfall.
Then I was made redundant and took a huge pay cut. I'm still 'okay' but things aren't looking as great as they were last year.

Sure, I may not live to enjoy all of my pension, but my family likely will, and do I want to risk living in poverty because I *do* live longer and can't get well-paid jobs to cover the difference ?

tl;dr - unless you're already financially independent (enough money to cover your living costs/life until you're well past old age), then keep saving & investing but with a balanced approach to also enjoy the life you live.
 
Last edited:
Koalaboy said:
Is it enough to look after you until you can draw private/state pension, if you are unable to work ?

Obviously, if you have dependents it's a trickier question, but fundamentally, if you assume you may not be able to work or only bring in minimum wage, would your savings be enough ?

I always thought, that at 50ish, with over 350K pension pot, and in a good job, I would retire at 55. Then I had some financial modelling/advice and realised I needed to work until 60 at least to not have a shortfall.
Then I was made redundant and took a huge pay cut. I'm still 'okay' but things aren't looking as great as they were last year.

Sure, I may not live to enjoy all of my pension, but my family likely will, and do I want to risk living in poverty because I *do* live longer and can't get well-paid jobs to cover the difference ?

tl;dr - unless you're already financially independent (enough money to cover your living costs/life until you're well past old age), then keep saving & investing but with a balanced approach to also enjoy the life you live.
Click to expand...

350k over 20 years is still only 17k a year and you have what is considered way over average what most people have in their pension pots.

Working 2 days a week would give you that kind of money too. That still gives you 5 days a week to do what ever you want.

My Grandad worked till 78 albeit on a part time basis and still had another 15 years of total retirement. Even during that time he would do odd jobs for people. This whole fascination of people being completely financially free to play golf and walk the dogs seems a odd thing because we have it drummed into our heads. The best option is to find something you can do a couple of days a week and enjoy whilst still getting paid for it well into retirement.

I could quite easily drive trucks twice a week on agency and pocket £400 a week on top of my state pension. It is an easy job to do because the physical requirements are minimal whilst still keeping the mind sharp and active.

At least for myself I do not see working as some kind of evil. There are plenty of jobs out there which give good satisfaction even if they do not pay huge amounts which is more than enough when your old and do not need to pay the mortgage etc. Then you add the social aspect interacting with people it is only a good thing.

This is just from what I saw with my Grandfather and he had final salary army pension, company pension and state pension to live on from his 50's but he still chose to work in the end and was sharp and still 100% independent till his death at 93.
 
Last edited:
Nutty667 said:
Let's say you're making 6% growth per year (that's probably low for a good pension), you could take out £21K a year (6% of 350K) without the pot ever getting smaller.
Click to expand...
Sequence of returns risk. If you suffer a large drawdown in the early years but still maintain that withdrawal rate you will run out of money.
 
Nutty667 said:
You're assuming there would be no growth of the pot over those 20 years.

Let's say you're making 6% growth per year (that's probably low for a good pension), you could take out £21K a year (6% of 350K) without the pot ever getting smaller.
Click to expand...

Perhaps. That wasn't my point. My point was what benefits does 7 days a week of no "work" bring to you. I would get bored very quickly and my hobbies would be far too expensive to maintain on 21k a year.

£350k pension pot. Work a couple of days a week plus a state pension would be living a very good lifestyle.
 
Last edited:
As my mum says

" You can't take money with you "

My ex had a lot of money, and got even more money towards the end of our relationship. Was scared to spend it on anything, just saying " I need to be careful what I spend ". This includes food, vet fees etc.
 
Nutty667 said:
You're assuming there would be no growth of the pot over those 20 years.

Let's say you're making 6% growth per year (that's probably low for a good pension), you could take out £21K a year (6% of 350K) without the pot ever getting smaller.
Click to expand...

​

edit: Its messed up 1 sec

​

Performance Summary
Summary Statistics
10th Percentile 25th Percentile 50th Percentile 75th Percentile 90th Percentile
Time Weighted Rate of Return (nominal) 5.08% 7.79% 10.70% 13.42% 15.84%
Time Weighted Rate of Return (real) 0.88% 3.60% 6.50% 9.25% 11.63%
Portfolio End Balance (nominal) $0.00 $416,710 $1,187,606 $2,412,795 $4,104,430
Portfolio End Balance (real) $0.00 $189,215 $549,376 $1,137,589 $1,960,816
Annual Mean Return (nominal) 6.86% 9.45% 12.13% 14.61% 16.86%
Annualized Volatility 13.58% 14.43% 15.34% 16.24% 17.06%
Sharpe Ratio 0.11 0.27 0.45 0.62 0.78
Sortino Ratio 0.15 0.39 0.67 0.96 1.25
Maximum Drawdown -100.00% -58.51% -43.04% -33.87% -26.99%
Maximum Drawdown Excluding Cashflows -53.43% -44.60% -37.69% -29.78% -23.95%
Safe Withdrawal Rate 4.85% 6.58% 8.90% 11.56% 14.05%
Perpetual Withdrawal Rate 0.90% 3.51% 6.12% 8.48% 10.42%
8992 portfolios out of 10000 simulated portfolios (89.92%) survived all withdrawals.
 
Last edited:
adam cool dude said:
Perhaps. That wasn't my point. My point was what benefits does 7 days a week of no "work" bring to you. I would get bored very quickly and my hobbies would be far too expensive to maintain on 21k a year.

£350k pension pot. Work a couple of days a week plus a state pension would be living a very good lifestyle.
Click to expand...
Same

I plan to(ideally) so chunks of work as long as I can to give more in retirement.

I've said in other threads my worst nightmare is to retire but be to scared to spend and just sit around and fester all day.

If you don't value your time it's easy to waste it.

Obviously things may be different when I'm older. But as of now just stopping work forever in random day sounds like a mental health nightmare
 
413x said:
I'll have to get a fully kitted out one... I'll work for food! :D
Click to expand...

empirerv.co.uk

STX Motorhome with 2 Pop Outs and Garage for sale

Empire RV specialises in American RV Sales and Motorhome Hire in the UK & Europe thanks to the largest fleet of luxury American motorhomes for sale & rent.
empirerv.co.uk empirerv.co.uk

STX-Motorhome-with-Garage-1-scaled.jpeg


:D
 
adam cool dude said:
empirerv.co.uk

STX Motorhome with 2 Pop Outs and Garage for sale

Empire RV specialises in American RV Sales and Motorhome Hire in the UK & Europe thanks to the largest fleet of luxury American motorhomes for sale & rent.
empirerv.co.uk empirerv.co.uk

STX-Motorhome-with-Garage-1-scaled.jpeg


:D
Click to expand...

Over a third of a million for something that you can't drive in any cities, can't take off the beaten track, have to clean yourself, can't pop a a deuce in more than a handful of times without having to empty it, sticks out like a sore thumb and is begging to be robbed.

I'd rather buy a Bentley and book hotels!
 
Last edited:
Diddums said:
Over a third of a million for something that you can't drive in any cities, can't take off the beaten track, have to clean yourself, can't pop a a deuce in more than a handful of times without having to empty it, sticks out like a sore thumb and is begging to be robbed.

I'd rather buy a Bentley and book hotels!
Click to expand...

That is something where you would park up and tow a car or motorbike on the back. Imagine in October you could take your house to the South of Spain for 6 months. Then drive all the way to Greece then catch a ferry and spend 6 months on say Crete. Then winter comes and you drive it up to Austria for the skiing season.

Hotels would get boring and expensive very fast. Plus you cannot take all your belonging with you either.
 
adam cool dude said:
That is something where you would park up and tow a car or motorbike on the back. Imagine in October you could take your house to the South of Spain for 6 months. Then drive all the way to Greece then catch a ferry and spend 6 months on say Crete. Then winter comes and you drive it up to Austria for the skiing season.

Hotels would get boring and expensive very fast. Plus you cannot take all your belonging with you either.
Click to expand...

You can just rent a house for those 6 months stays and not have to empty any toilet juice tho.
 
adam cool dude said:
Perhaps. That wasn't my point. My point was what benefits does 7 days a week of no "work" bring to you. I would get bored very quickly and my hobbies would be far too expensive to maintain on 21k a year.

£350k pension pot. Work a couple of days a week plus a state pension would be living a very good lifestyle.
Click to expand...
I would agree.

The issue is if you find yourself unable (health) to work or nothing you can do that people are willing to pay you for, that you still enjoy or don't hate.

There are many people looking for work at the moment, even happy to take big cuts, and nothing around. It's easier when you're young and single and/or connected, to find something... not so much as you get older.

I used to think it wouldn't be that bad, but after a second redundancy and seeing how the markets are going, as well as my health... I'm not so confident any more.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom