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Retirement


Darlo1973 said:
I would have thought that your spending would go up immediately after retirement - new car, home improvements, expensive hoobies and bucket list travel while you are still young and healthy enough to enjoy them. Doesn't seem much point in taking an early retirement just so that you have to watch every penny for the next 30-odd years.
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My/our spending has gone up in the first year since we retired due to extra travel, which is fine as was budgeted for and expect this will continue for the next 10-15 years. Just come back from a few days in Tromso which was brilliant.
Also make more trips back to Sunderland which now means staying in hotel each time. Busy now deciding where to go next.

As I worked from home for the last 7-8 years my work expenses were non-existent, so no money saved from no longer working (although I did make sure that I saved the money that I didn’t spend on commuting, so in a way i am benefiting now).
 
Kent_Mackem said:
My kids won't be finished uni (if they go, that is). That will be a major expense. :(
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It doesn’t need to be a major expense. Your kids will get the tuition fee loan, and the maintenance loan is means tested so if you are retired/sticking most of your salary into pension/salary sacrifice then they will get near enough the full amount. That’s what we are doing and it works fine.
 
Barista said:
It doesn’t need to be a major expense. Your kids will get the tuition fee loan, and the maintenance loan is means tested so if you are retired/sticking most of your salary into pension/salary sacrifice then they will get near enough the full amount. That’s what we are doing and it works fine.
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That's my plan. Had kids late on in life so hoping to be retired before start uni & then will get extra benefits since ill be a low earner.
 
42 said:
That's my plan. Had kids late on in life so hoping to be retired before start uni & then will get extra benefits since ill be a low earner.
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I think the cut-off for getting the full amount is around £25k (combined income for both parents). The 25% tax fee pension lump sum is not included in this income calculation, neither is income from ISAs. It includes taxable pension income and other sources of taxable income. If your income is above approx 25k then the amount of maintenance grant the child receives goes down based on how much the income exceeds the threshold. So even if your income was 30k they would still receive in the region of 90% of the full maintenance loan.

For single/divorced parents I believe you just need to put down the income of the lower earning parent, which doesn’t make sense to me, but that’s how it is.
 
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Barista said:
I think the cut-off for getting the full amount is around £25k (combined income for both parents). The 25% tax fee pension lump sum is not included in this income calculation, neither is income from ISAs. It includes taxable pension income and other sources of taxable income. If your income is above approx 25k then the amount of maintenance grant the child receives goes down based on how much the income exceeds the threshold. So even if your income was 30k they would still receive in the region of 90% of the full maintenance loan.

For single/divorced parents I believe you just need to put down the income of the lower earning parent, which doesn’t make sense to me, but that’s how it is.
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Sounds good to me, as will under limit.
Was a bit concerned if they included money in bank as a factor, which would likely knack it since plan is to use ISA as a bridge to state pension, but if just purely taxable income, then i'll be alright. However, by then that could all change.
 
Devil71 said:
Great thread.

I'm 53 now and planning to finish work at 55, which will be just before they plan to raise the age up to 57 before you can take your works pension.

I've worked out my figures and if I've done it right we should hopefully be OK.
Been squirreling away as much spare cash as possible for a few years so I should have an OK (to me) nest egg when combined with my tax free lump sum.
I've never earned that much really, certainly nothing like some of the figures mentioned here. Always worked to live rather than lived to work, and done everything on the cheap out of necessity.
Was lucky though that we've never upsized from our little house, I've been mortgage free since I was 35.

Seen too many family members and friends go far too young for me to think about working till I'm 67.
To quote Freddie Mercury, I want it all and I want it now :)

I have a second source of income playing keyboards in a covers band round the pubs and clubs, so I will have the time to do more gigs if I need the extra money.
Also my son will be leaving home soon enough, so he will be paying his own bills for a change - his girlfriend has decided she's fed up of flitting between both houses and wants them to get their own place.

I guess the most difficult part will be taking thar big leap into the unknown, but from reading this thread, there don't seem to be many who've regretted it.
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My situation is similar to yours - earned decent money, but not big bucks, carefully saved, paid off mortgage at 35 as didn’t keep “climbing the property ladder”, and retired last year aged 55. Haven’t regretted it one bit.
 
Barista said:
My/our spending has gone up in the first year since we retired due to extra travel, which is fine as was budgeted for and expect this will continue for the next 10-15 years. Just come back from a few days in Tromso which was brilliant.
Also make more trips back to Sunderland which now means staying in hotel each time. Busy now deciding where to go next.

As I worked from home for the last 7-8 years my work expenses were non-existent, so no money saved from no longer working (although I did make sure that I saved the money that I didn’t spend on commuting, so in a way i am benefiting now).
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I can see me travelling a lot more and making sure I have those funds is a big consideration.

I've always preferred the more active holidays than beach or resort types. They can be more expensive initially but cheap living while you are there, often because you are remote and there is nowt to spend your money on! Me and the missus did quite a few holidays with trekking kayaking, scuba diving etc before we had kids (I was 30 when we had the first). My youngest is 13 now and is just reaching an age where we can do the more interesting stuff again, so I'm desperate to get back to some decent holidays again.

When I retire, I can imagine me going to the likes of Madagascar to see lemurs then not being back long and wanting to see otters in Scotland.

Where as today I have had no expenses. No petrol, lunch was a sandwich with stuff in the fridge and cost well under £2, I have not bought anything. Life is cheap today.
 
Barista said:
My situation is similar to yours - earned decent money, but not big bucks, carefully saved, paid off mortgage at 35 as didn’t keep “climbing the property ladder”, and retired last year aged 55. Haven’t regretted it one bit.
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This. I was mortgage free at around 50, as had no real desire to take on more debt in my 40s so just stayed where we are.

No interest in expensive holidays either, quite happy doing regular breaks in the Canaries or Med so won't have to fork out big sums for those. Another year or two of work would give me more wiggle room going forward, but I think we'll manage so just over a year to go for me.
 
Dark Traveller said:
Anybody advise on best place to go for retirement financial advice?

I don’t think I’m in a position to go early, but good to know if what I’m doing is right and if I need to do something else to assist me when I eventually leave work behind (12ish years until 67)
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The pension providers have some canny sites and people to chat to
My work one is Scottish Widows and there's online calculators and predictors etc and also all the options I have for taking my money and when .
bomber said:
A professional financial adviser maybe
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Lots of them just push you in a certain direction to make a few quid
Charge you for stuff you can find online
 
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Dark Traveller said:
Anybody advise on best place to go for retirement financial advice?

I don’t think I’m in a position to go early, but good to know if what I’m doing is right and if I need to do something else to assist me when I eventually leave work behind (12ish years until 67)
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If you want to increase your pensions/savings then check out the YouTube channel for James Shack who is a certified financial planner- he explains things really well.

If you’re over 50 then you can have a free appointment with an advisor from a government backed service:
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Darlo1973 said:
I need find some hobbies to do as I really don't do anything now which doesn't involve drinking beer and watching cricket/football. I saw what happened to my dad who retired to his armchair, never did anything to keep himself occupied and was dead within a few years

Not a petrol head in the slightest and have no musical, DIY or sports ability. I really like gadgets and tech but I'd like to spend less time with them in retirement.

I'd like to improve my languages, especially Spanish. I'd love to do a long trip to South America but it's one of the regions of the world where you really need to be able to cope in the local lingo and not rely on everyone else speaking English.
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I have very little musical ability but learning an instrument like guitar can be amazingly frustrating and rewarding but also good for mental health and there are some brilliant teachers on youyube that start from almost what is a guitar. There is so much to do or learn - I have walk adrians wall and others, do some wild camping, fishing, read more, write a book, learn the keyboard, go to all SAFC matches in a season, travel, get a caravan maybe then tour the UK, try painting. Some of these arent expensive and can be massively rewarding - try something for a couple of months if its not for you just try something else there will always be something you enjoy its just a matter of finding it.
 
DaveH said:
The hobbies are a complete unknown to be honest.

At the minute I'm wanting more time to spend woodworking, and could fancy making some of my own furniture. I'm also currently making my own electric guitar. Improving on my tools and power tools could be one thing I want to do. But equally I might end up doing that bit by bit over the next 10 years anyway.

I struggle to find time for astronomy and astrophotography so upgrading that kit and spending the time when I know I don't have to be up by 7am (or earlier) the next day would be good.

For years I have wanted to learn to sail and get a small boat. Who knows if I ever will!
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Join a Men's Shed with access to all the tools you need plus retired experts advice and training.
 
I've just seen a report in today’s I paper.
Apparently Hargreaves Lansdown are saying that single people need over £26,000 a year and couples over £38,000 to have a comfortable retirement.

I remember seeing this a few months ago and thinking how unrealistic it seemed:

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Who compiles these figures ?
Elon Musk ?
Jeff Bezos ?
Jacob Rees-Mogg ?
 
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