it seems possible to retire - do you do it?

Not on 11k per year.. if it was 20k per year.. then yes.. absolutely..
Back more onto the OP's question. 11K a years sounds like a terribly small amount, nevermind inflation reducing it's buying power. Absolutely everyone is different in terms of their needs, but that sounds very much at the bottom end of of any graph.
The £11k figure is essential spending per year.
The £17.5k figure is an example income earned by downsizing house and using the money to earn income.
Just clearing this up so nobody thinks £11k is income.
 
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The £11k figure is essential spending per year.
The £17.5k figure is an example income earned by downsizing house and using the money to earn income.
Just clearing this up so nobody thinks £11k is income.

The 17.5k is unlikely to rise along with inflation whereas the 11k certainly will.

I retired on 25k income with a paid for house. Very doable but me income rises by a minimum of 2.5% per annum.
 
You seem to be in a good situation for your age though, at 38 I had only left home under 10 years ago, started a mortgage.with a loan for windows and ch , had about 1k in savings, but hammered the hell out of that mortgage paid off in 9 years and that house paid for the Cornwall one
 
How about about using this for income?


Says it pays 7.3% (fund fee: 0.41%, and hl platform fee ~0.4%)
6.49% of £350,000 is £22,715

Does that seem like a good choice?

Edit: or £270k for the 17.5k tax-free (down from £350k)

Edit2: seems like there are many options for beating 5%, may be best to combine a bunch to make an income portfolio, maybe some interest vs dividends calculations to do also.

Edit3: maybe there's a structure for "income investing" for an income between what you need (11k) and what you can get tax free (17.5k/18.5k) - then "growth investing" the rest to try to beat inflation - then transferring from growth to income as required.
 
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I guess I will find out one day but I can't understand how people would be so bored without working.

I reckon a life with no job would be the dream. I'd wake up, make myself a nice breakfast and coffee, maybe head out on my bike or go to the gym for a couple of hours. Return for a nice lunch, potter about the garden or shed, maybe walk into town or join some clubs etc.

If I couldn't enjoy retiring at 40 Id have no chance of enjoying retirement at 70.
 
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What’s the point of retiring very early to live a crummy way of life?

You could have a career break, do your relocation and chill out for a while or a few years and then find a job.

Might be better though to just have a long holiday and do something you want to do and then come back to the job hunt.
 
as much as i hate work i do need it. not just for the money but all the other things like structure, sense of meaning, routine, being part of something, work friends, bettering myself, learning new things etc
i think i'd be trying to get some sort of job and plan to retire a bit later on.
or what about more education, go get yourself a degree in something you always wanted to do?
a part time job in something that interests you so you have best of both worlds, some free time and time working so you're not bored.
age 55 is the big one where most people (that can) will retire, when the private pension can be tapped into. could be one to aim for and if you are truly sick of it before then have a backup plan where can go earlier.
definitely not the worst problem to have mind you :eek: :p
 
I'd be interested in knowing if people actually feel their workplace would miss them when they were gone.

I'd be instantly replaceable in my role. It would take a replacement a bit of time to pick up the knowledge but it wouldn't be much of an ask.

No one will give two hoots when I retire.

I'm sure some people think they are irreplaceable but the reality is that by the time you're approaching retirement your company will have lined up your replacement or your younger colleagues will be glad you've left.
 
How about about using this for income?


Says it pays 7.3% (fund fee: 0.41%, and hl platform fee ~0.4%)
6.49% of £350,000 is £22,715

Does that seem like a good choice?

Edit: or £270k for the 17.5k tax-free (down from £350k)

Edit2: seems like there are many options for beating 5%, may be best to combine a bunch to make an income portfolio, maybe some interest vs dividends calculations to do also.

Edit3: maybe there's a structure for "income investing" for an income between what you need (11k) and what you can get tax free (17.5k/18.5k) - then "growth investing" the rest to try to beat inflation - then transferring from growth to income as required.
I think the problem with this is that it's mostly corporate bonds which in a falling interest rate environment will not provide the same return. The 5 year return is 12% so you aren't getting 6.5% consistently. In fact it barely keeps pace with inflation. You can't really lock cash away and get c7% consistently otherwise more people would be doing it and we wouldn't have such a bull market in stocks. I think far better to have a mixed investment portfolio with some of it in low risk asset classes and the majority in equities. From what I have learned that is the better way of ensuring you don't run out of money.
 
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I guess I will find out one day but I can't understand how people would be so bored without working.

I reckon a life with no job would be the dream. I'd wake up, make myself a nice breakfast and coffee, maybe head out on my bike or go to the gym for a couple of hours. Return for a nice lunch, potter about the garden or shed, maybe walk into town or join some clubs etc.

I'm starting to feel that way to be honest. I'd increasingly rather aim to retire early than splash money on expensive goods/cars/holidays/houses which only keep me working for years longer to pay for them!

As I'm getting older my time (and health) is increasingly more valuable than anything I could buy.
 
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I'd increasingly rather aim to retire early than splash money on expensive goods/cars/holidays/houses which only keep me working for years longer to pay for them!
i do not regret any of my holidays..... pre children i have been fortunate enough to visit some amazing places and experience some mind blowing things (camping out on the Masai Mara with my wife and my dad was something i can never forget - made even more special because i knew it was my dads number one dream on the bucket list and i got to see him fullfill it)

but cars...... I must admit as much as i do really like it, i look at my car now and i cant help but think the money i put into that car represents 18 months (or more) i could have retired early (and just kept my 11 year old nissan QQ)

when i put it into that perspective, suddenly the car does not seem such a good life investment :D
 
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I want to enjoy my money when I finally retire, I won't be leaving anything in a will etc, unless things change drastically there is no point in having large sums when you're old as you'll just end up spending ££££ on healthcare.

Spend it while you can enjoy it but make sure it's gone before you go into a home etc.
 
I want to enjoy my money when I finally retire, I won't be leaving anything in a will etc, unless things change drastically there is no point in having large sums when you're old as you'll just end up spending ££££ on healthcare.

Spend it while you can enjoy it but make sure it's gone before you go into a home etc.
that is the balance tho isnt it, its just a roll of the dice.
No one wants to be skint when they retire (sometimes i see old folk counting their pennies to pay for a pint of milk or what ever in the shop, i dont wish that on anyone)

OTOH you are right, its not like you want to just give it all away to the state either, its finding that right balance to be in the goldilocks zone.... but other than luck, no one really knows exactly how much that will be
 
i do not regret any of my holidays..... pre children i have been fortunate enough to visit some amazing places and experience some mind blowing things (camping out on the Masai Mara with my wife and my dad was something i can never forget - made even more special because i knew it was my dads number one dream on the bucket list and i got to see him fullfill it)

but cars...... I must admit as much as i do really like it, i look at my car now and i cant help but think the money i put into that car represents 18 months (or more) i could have retired early (and just kept my 11 year old nissan QQ)

when i put it into that perspective, suddenly the car does not seem such a good life investment :D

I see everything in terms of holidays now.

The only thing I regretted when I was very ill was not visiting places or doing things.

Not possessions I had bought. Or things I wanted to buy. Not my career etc.
I was like "man, I wish I had saved less and lived more".

So now everything takes a back seat to experiences. Holidays are active and not passive. I don't play computer games anymore.

I know a time will come (probably) where I can't do physical things, and life is just going to get worse after that. That is my biggest fear.
 
but cars...... I must admit as much as i do really like it, i look at my car now and i cant help but think the money i put into that car represents 18 months (or more) i could have retired early (and just kept my 11 year old nissan QQ)

when i put it into that perspective, suddenly the car does not seem such a good life investment :D

It's even worse when you consider it spends 80-90% of it's time sat there unused :D
 
I'd be interested in knowing if people actually feel their workplace would miss them when they were gone.

I'd be instantly replaceable in my role. It would take a replacement a bit of time to pick up the knowledge but it wouldn't be much of an ask.

No one will give two hoots when I retire.

I'm sure some people think they are irreplaceable but the reality is that by the time you're approaching retirement your company will have lined up your replacement or your younger colleagues will be glad you've left.

Every few years, I work with someone who passes away before they retire.

About 4 years ago, I worked with someone and we got talking at our Christmas party. General chit-chat about her growing up. At the time she was 33, a year later she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She was off fighting the good fight, so they hired a temp. Unfortunately it turned out to be terminal and she lost the fight about 18 months later
:(

No matter what you do, every company has someone else to replace you or on standby. They don't care once you are gone. Unless you are the founder of that company.

When you get to a certain age, companies see you as old and expensive. They cant wait to get rid of you.
 
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I want your thoughts on this idea I can't seem to get out of my head...

I'm really struggling to find a job, maybe it'll happen eventually but this side of Christmas seems unlikely, so maybe I stick with the search until June or so, but there must be a line somewhere where I eventually give up and either do something else or try to retire. [interested to hear thoughts on when you think is reasonable to give up]

Rounded numbers because this doesn't need to leak all my info, but does need to represent the decision so you can answer properly.

Imagine you're 38, you can sell a house and pocket about 400k, and you have about 200k investments/savings.
You also have 250k in your pension which you plan to use between 57-68, then whatever's left you take on top of the full state pension from 68.

If you buy a basic house oop norf for about 130k, you have 270k of house money left, and about 200k investments/savings still, 470k total.

My understanding is you can earn about 17.5k income from savings tax free (income tax personal allowance plus starter rate for savings).

If you dump £350k in a 5% savings account, you earn that. You have 470k so you can afford it. [interested to hear about how you'd use your money more effectively in this scenario, this is a basic example I doubt it's optimal]

You have a budget spreadsheet which says you spend 14k a year, but you can give up the car and cut back a bit to make that 11k.

So it seems possible to retire - do you do it?
If you move to tuscany, Puglia, or sardina you will get ~31k euros to move there, 4% income tax for 5/10 years (if you buy a house its 10) your pension will be taxed at only 7% (but only of you've not lived in italy for the previous 5 years before your pension starts) and there's up to 90k matched spending for renovating the house you buy.


There places are the equivilent of "up north" x10 in terms of property values, if you like the idea of living in a very very quiet village the houses are essentially free (auctions start at 1€)
 
Yeah same we got someone at work whos 2 years from official retirement and all she does is moan and moan and moan about everything.
Shes probably got 5 years left to live she has a string of medical problems too.
Shes been offered to retire early a couple of years ago with a lesser pension but said no she needs that extra (equivalent) £50 a month......
Absolutely mind-blowing someone will put up with that and probably be dead a few years later anyway.....
 
I'd be interested in knowing if people actually feel their workplace would miss them when they were gone.

I'd be instantly replaceable in my role. It would take a replacement a bit of time to pick up the knowledge but it wouldn't be much of an ask.

No one will give two hoots when I retire.

I'm sure some people think they are irreplaceable but the reality is that by the time you're approaching retirement your company will have lined up your replacement or your younger colleagues will be glad you've left.
I would be replaceable and spectacularly annoying to replace given the weird mix of jobs I know.

I spent a meeting weeks ago with what i thought was an engineer but is actualy my boss's boss's boss who fair play listened to me and what I was complaining about has cost the company ~50k in the last 2 weeks with the expectation being well over 100k for the comming month. But less than the h&s issues it could have caused and have been fixed

But yeah they could have me replaced in 6 weeks tops if they found the right people for me to train we're all replaceable
 
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