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  1. #1
    Grand Master MartynJC (UK)'s Avatar
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    Question Early retirement

    Well I’m getting to a certain age - 2 years to my official retirement age (pension age that was, for our company pension scheme that was closed to new contributions last year). And getting more and more dissolusoned with the promises of ‘jam tomorrow’ and less than inflation pay rises and deminishing paltry ‘bonuses’.

    Expected to work harder, produce more, with increased responsibility - with no (monatory) benefits.

    Continual changes in structure and introduction of methods and practices that were around in 1986 (kanban / JIT) and pretending they are ‘new’ (Agile / Squads).

    I’m sick of it.

    Wife and I have seen a small place in Portugal- 2 bed ‘farm’ with own water well and solar heated water tank.

    Why sweat it for another two years closer to the grave?

    what do you think. Have any of you jumped early??

    Martyn.

  2. #2
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    Sounds like a great idea Martyn, my only question would be are you able to keep a property in the Uk as well?

  3. #3
    Grand Master MartynJC (UK)'s Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Pretzel View Post
    Sounds like a great idea Martyn, my only question would be are you able to keep a property in the Uk as well?
    Plan to sell main property in UK to release equity and buy place in Portugal. Either that or Wiltshire- but UK seems so cold and damp!

  4. #4
    Master blackal's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by MartynJC (UK) View Post
    Plan to sell main property in UK to release equity and buy place in Portugal. Either that or Wiltshire- but UK seems so cold and damp!

    Stay hitched to the UK property market, otherwise you could end up like many in later life - wanting back to UK for health reasons, and unable to sell the place in continental Europe.

    Many now live in small apartments in crap areas - as it is all they can afford in UK.

    Rent your UK house out, and use that money to rent in Portugal. If after a year, you see somewhere better to live - just move.

    If you do have to return to UK - you come back to your old house/neighbourhood.

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by blackal View Post

    Rent your UK house out, and use that money to rent in Portugal. If after a year, you see somewhere better to live - just move.
    We have friends who do this in Spain who cant afford to buy. Amazing what they can rent in comparison to the house they rent out in UK, living like kings in comparison!!!

  6. #6
    I’ve been self employed for nearly 18 yrs now. Would love to retire at 50in a few years time

  7. #7
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    I jumped at 61.

    I have a villa in Spain and we spend 24 lovely weeks every year here. I also flit around Europe (nice easy short flights) and it is a good life.

    Does it beat working - what do you think ?

    The only downside to early retirement is the shock of not working and contributing to society and that does take a bit of getting used too. However I now take the view that work is for fools and horses.

    Just do it.

  8. #8
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    I lasted until 49, then jumped. Now you have had the thought, you need to act on it.

  9. #9
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    I jumped at 59 job, stress made decision for me. From where I sit you have two decisions
    1) Early retirement or not
    2 Place in Portugal

    Separate the two and do one at a time.

    Good luck with your choices

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by higham5 View Post
    I jumped at 59 job, stress made decision for me. From where I sit you have two decisions
    1) Early retirement or not
    2 Place in Portugal

    Separate the two and do one at a time.

    Good luck with your choices
    Exactly.

  11. #11
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    I'm 40, I don't intend working past 50.

    If you can afford to not work, why bother?

    Life is too short.

  12. #12
    Grand Master MartynJC (UK)'s Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by demonloop View Post
    I'm 40, I don't intend working past 50.

    If you can afford to not work, why bother?

    Life is too short.
    You won’t be able to draw on any pension plans until 55, but perhaps you have other investment? Good luck with whatever you do!

  13. #13
    Master murkeywaters's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by demonloop View Post
    I'm 40, I don't intend working past 50.

    If you can afford to not work, why bother?

    Life is too short.
    Very true, my Dad retired at 51 and never had another job, others and myself included said for him to get a part time job to keep busy, but he always said that he spent too many years working for others and now he was going to enjoy it and I'm glad he did as he recently passed at nearly 74.

    Some other dear friends I worked with years ago worked very hard and lots of hours to save for retirement only for the dreaded big C to hit while in work and not see the retirement date.

    In the end it's only human made currency but life is worth much more.

  14. #14
    Quote Originally Posted by demonloop View Post
    I'm 40, I don't intend working past 50.

    If you can afford to not work, why bother?

    Life is too short.
    Completely agree.

    I'm 40 too and always said I would retire by the time I'm 45.

    Life is far to short.

  15. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by demonloop View Post
    I'm 40, I don't intend working past 50.

    If you can afford to not work, why bother?

    Life is too short.
    Maybe you might enjoy your work? I could easily afford to retire (i'm 55) but I quite enjoy going in for my 3 days a week. Knowing that I could jack it all in if I wanted to, without worrying about finances, is quite liberating

  16. #16
    Grand Master MartynJC (UK)'s Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by higham5 View Post
    I jumped at 59 job, stress made decision for me. From where I sit you have two decisions
    1) Early retirement or not
    2 Place in Portugal

    Separate the two and do one at a time.

    Good luck with your choices

    Thanks!

    What about the reverse?

    Not so impossible as we have a flexible agreed mortgage on our current property which would allow purchase of place in Portugal first beforehand.

    We are moving offices (again) mid 2019 and I was thinking of hanging on until then. But thinking about it I can’t keep my motivation going that long.

    Do keep the comments coming and experiences of amyone else that jumped. I am 57 this year btw and was planning to leave at 58 but thinking earlier than that if I could wangle a redundancy package I’d be out straight away!

    Martyn.

  17. #17
    I think you’re ‘hanging in’ comment probably says it all, you want to do it and if you can financially then do it but I would say retire first then look into what you want to do.

    I retired 8 days ago at 59, had intended to stay another year but I would have been hanging in.
    Decided at Xmas that was pointless and it was time to think about myself and family instead of work.
    Guess it’s the same for a lot of people these days but from getting up on Monday morning until I
    got home Friday night I was thinking work for 95% of the time and was knackered at weekends.

    I have a few things planned for the rest of the year and a reasonably long to do list but think it will take a while to adjust for both myself and my wife so better not to make any major changes immediately.
    Also didn’t have a lot of time between deciding and actually going. This probably depends a bit on what you’re job entailed and how much time you have to plan.

    Will make more solid plans later in the year, meantime in first week of retirement enjoying the alarm not going off and doing things when I want to do them rather than cramming everything into the weekend when I was knackered.
    Sofar had an eye test mid morning Wednesday, mowed the lawn yesterday afternoon in the sunshine and today went up to London at 10 O’clock (used get the train at 06.40) did a F2F sale, tried a few watches on at WOS and Watchfinder and then came home when I wanted to.

    My wife has already said I’m much more relaxed and I know I’m smiling a lot more, that started as soon as I told them at work.

    Good luck whatever you decide.
    Last edited by TBKBABAB; 6th April 2018 at 23:00.

  18. #18
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    Again, if you can afford to, then do it. Work is about two things for me, money and/or enjoyment. If you don't need the money and aren't enjoying it, why are you still there?

  19. #19
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    Seem someone did it before me :)

    Quote Originally Posted by Mick P View Post
    I jumped at 61.

    I have a villa in Spain and we spend 24 lovely weeks every year here. I also flit around Europe (nice easy short flights) and it is a good life.

    Does it beat working - what do you think ?

    The only downside to early retirement is the shock of not working and contributing to society and that does take a bit of getting used too. However I now take the view that work is for fools and horses.

    Just do it.
    I have retaired last year and planing to buy a house from Spain also maybe a bit big one for all the familly. what do you think about this option is the price good ?

  20. #20
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    Quote Originally Posted by Lifeisgood View Post
    I have retaired last year and planing to buy a house from Spain also maybe a bit big one for all the familly. what do you think about this option is the price good ?
    If you have the ability to stop worrying about about any supposed or real consequences of Brixit, buying a property in Spain is a good long term bet.

    If you want a 4 bed villa with a pool, you will probably need to buy about 5 miles inland, the coast is riddled with 2 bed apartments which are ok for say a 2 week break but would be a hell on earth for any longer.

    I have a large 3 bed villa with a pool and sea views and it is a place you could live for 52 weeks a year.

    I would advise in keeping a bolt hole in the UK as July and August are just too hot for comfort and I enjoy the travelling back and forth as it makes life interesting.

  21. #21
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mick P View Post
    If you have the ability to stop worrying about about any supposed or real consequences of Brixit, buying a property in Spain is a good long term bet.

    If you want a 4 bed villa with a pool, you will probably need to buy about 5 miles inland, the coast is riddled with 2 bed apartments which are ok for say a 2 week break but would be a hell on earth for any longer.

    I have a large 3 bed villa with a pool and sea views and it is a place you could live for 52 weeks a year.

    I would advise in keeping a bolt hole in the UK as July and August are just too hot for comfort and I enjoy the travelling back and forth as it makes life interesting.
    Thank you for your advice, I will think about that also.

  22. #22
    Master
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    Not sure what happened to this thread, we were getting some great responses and thoughts/perspectives about early retirement/financial freedom/moving abroad and then it went downhill fast with some talk about migrants etc.

    Let's see if we can get this back on track in a more positive manner.

    Maybe this will help - its one of the guys on the web that talks about his journey to financial freedom - http://www.mrmoneymustache.com

    Must admit that I don't track my spending in the way that he suggests (or anywhere close to that level) but hopefully there are some tips and perspectives in here that might help with thinking about early retirement/financial freedom.

    Like some others, I've found the 'take your desired yearly income in retirement and multiply by 25' a good way to get to see an amount to aim for.

    I'm particularly interested to hear thoughts/views on how much people are planning to aim for when it comes to an income in retirement and what sort of lifestyle that will get them.

    Cheers

  23. #23
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    The one thing I get very clearly from this thread which for me rings very true is that retirement = flexibility/choice and not specifically anything to do with work per se.

    Once you are choosing (as opposed to feeling you have to do something for the money etc) what you are doing with your time, whatever it is, it gets a lot more enjoyable !

  24. #24
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    Quote Originally Posted by JP28 View Post
    The one thing I get very clearly from this thread which for me rings very true is that retirement = flexibility/choice and not specifically anything to do with work per se.

    Once you are choosing (as opposed to feeling you have to do something for the money etc) what you are doing with your time, whatever it is, it gets a lot more enjoyable !
    nail hit firmly on the head.

  25. #25
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    Quote Originally Posted by MartynJC (UK) View Post
    Well I’m getting to a certain age - 2 years to my official retirement age (pension age that was, for our company pension scheme that was closed to new contributions last year). And getting more and more dissolusoned with the promises of ‘jam tomorrow’ and less than inflation pay rises and deminishing paltry ‘bonuses’.

    Expected to work harder, produce more, with increased responsibility - with no (monatory) benefits.

    Continual changes in structure and introduction of methods and practices that were around in 1986 (kanban / JIT) and pretending they are ‘new’ (Agile / Squads).

    I’m sick of it.

    Wife and I have seen a small place in Portugal- 2 bed ‘farm’ with own water well and solar heated water tank.

    Why sweat it for another two years closer to the grave?

    what do you think. Have any of you jumped early??

    Martyn.
    I will give you my 2 cents, please bare in mind they are not worth a lot.

    I am nowhere close to that age, we however bought a place on south Portugal few years ago and I love my time there, the quality of life is superb and price is reasonable.

    Close to our place there is quite a few retired folks and we speak a lot when there.. they seem to have a great quality of life but, mainly, their kids / grand kids seem to enjoy it as well...

    I am sure it's not to everyone but it is worth exploring.

  26. #26
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    I think we both work for the same company :0

    If you can afford to do it. Do it!

  27. #27
    Master alfat33's Avatar
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    I am in a similar situation. I would quite probably quit now as work is about to change and that could be a natural trigger point, but I want to help my grown up kids a little bit more.

    Go for it if you can.

  28. #28
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    I retired last year at 53 .
    best thing I have ever done .
    small apartment in Spain that we use as much as possible .
    no pension until next year at 55 as I cashed my company pensions in early and took reduced lump sum as never know what’s round the corner .
    we have 2 rental properties and some investments and we get by on that .
    life is too short .

  29. #29
    Do it. Do it now.

  30. #30
    Stepped off the train at 56 after 33 years on 12 hour shifts in the oil industry
    Best thing ever!
    Still do 15 hrs a week consultancy work
    Luck to have had a FS pension and not seen any change to lifestyle took a small downsize in property to a slightly nicer location
    Once you get the idea it’s hard to stop focusing on it.
    Good luck

  31. #31
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    Have you ever spent a lot of time living abroad?

    Personally I would want to keep a property in the U.K. even if it's smaller - just in case - no idea why, peace of mind I think.

    I would also try and work out how say another 1 or 2 years of work could increase your lifestyle long term. For example a couple of years extra pension saving would give xyz a year extra, plus if you could save xyz a year on top, how would all that make a difference to your income for the rest of your lives? If it could mean say 5k a year extra or more, worth considering, if practically nothing then you've nothing to lose.

  32. #32
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    Quote Originally Posted by Devonian View Post

    Personally I would want to keep a property in the U.K. even if it's smaller - just in case - no idea why, peace of mind I think.
    I guess medical / health reasons for sure!!!!!!!

  33. #33
    Grand Master Passenger's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by leechaz View Post
    I retired last year at 53 .
    best thing I have ever done .
    small apartment in Spain that we use as much as possible .
    no pension until next year at 55 as I cashed my company pensions in early and took reduced lump sum as never know what’s round the corner .
    we have 2 rental properties and some investments and we get by on that .
    life is too short .
    Glad to hear it's going so well.

  34. #34
    Master yumma's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by leechaz View Post
    I retired last year at 53 .
    best thing I have ever done .
    small apartment in Spain that we use as much as possible .
    no pension until next year at 55 as I cashed my company pensions in early and took reduced lump sum as never know what’s round the corner .
    we have 2 rental properties and some investments and we get by on that .
    life is too short .
    To the OP; just do it. But this post gives me hope, I’m currently 43, PAYE, but have a half decent 4 bed detached, 1 bed flat in the city offering a great yield, but am still mortgaged to the hilt, but I know there are better times ahead, so this gives me hope for 10-12 years time. I’d keep a UK base but would consider southern Italy or Southern France.


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  35. #35
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    Work to live - sounds like you don't need to.

    Live to work - sounds like you hate it.

    I retired last year (57) and since then I have loved it.

    Hobbies are important hence split my time between gardening, DIY (just finished the downstairs cloakroom and it looks great partly because I was able to take my time), playing golf (and meeting lots of new people), enjoying doing Porsche stuff and finally providing consultancy to a children's charity.

    The best bit of all is Sunday nights knowing I don't have to go to work on Monday.

    I would do it, and move to Wiltshire Portugal is lovely, but do you really want to spend the rest of your life there?

    Whoever does not know how to hit the nail on the head should be asked not to hit it at all.
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  36. #36
    I retired at 53. We have an apartment in Cyprus but also have our house in the UK so can flit between the 2. I was fortunate because my employer made me redundant at the right time (for us) and the money helped make the early retirement possible.

  37. #37
    I always planned to go at 55...

    Best laid plans and all that! One expensive divorce, starting the mortgage game again at nearly 40 and 2 kids going to uni has changed the plan somewhat.

    I would still like to go at 55 if I can stick for that long, at 47 now I will definitely have to adjust my aspirations but I am sure there is more to it than grinding out the last of our ‘good years’ at work when we could be trying on watches, playing golf, tormenting the wife or any number of other worthwhile hobbies.

    Sounds like you have a plan... I say go for it :)

  38. #38
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    55 for me right now. Plan is to try and work 3 days a week by 57/58 and then be done at 60.

    There's a real skill shortage in my industry now, so most employers are offering this kind of flexibility as they can't afford to completely loose people.

  39. #39
    Master
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    Once you do decide, make sure you have at least 3 hobbies lined up, I retired at 42 so 10 years for me, my 5 hobbies keep me busy.


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  40. #40
    Master valleywatch's Avatar
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    Im 58 now.

    I drive trains for a living.

    Im retiring in 2 years time...............cant wait!!

    Way more to life than work...if you can afford to retire, for me its a no brainer!

    (as to "afford it"! we are all different, whats enough for me, is no way near enough for others!!...its a personal thing!)

  41. #41
    Master nibby's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by valleywatch View Post
    Im 58 now.

    I drive trains for a living.

    Im retiring in 2 years time...............cant wait!!

    Way more to life than work...if you can afford to retire, for me its a no brainer!

    (as to "afford it"! we are all different, whats enough for me, is no way near enough for others!!...its a personal thing!)
    Wise words - each to his own.

  42. #42
    Journeyman rigster2's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by valleywatch View Post

    (as to "afford it"! we are all different, whats enough for me, is no way near enough for others!!...its a personal thing!)
    Exactly!

  43. #43
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    Looking at the responses, most by a considerable margin say go for it. MartynJC (Portugal)

  44. #44
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    I worked in Portugal for around 2 years and loved every bit of my time spent there! If you have the sufficient means i would do it!!


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  45. #45
    Master Tifa's Avatar
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    Find a job you love, and you'll never work another day.
    I'm semi retired....I just work 'TWAT' weeks now.
    It's great.

  46. #46
    Grand Master MartynJC (UK)'s Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tifa View Post
    Find a job you love, and you'll never work another day.
    I'm semi retired....I just work 'TWAT' weeks now.
    It's great.
    I always enjoy(ed) my employment until now - and promised myself that if I ever stopped enjoying it I would stop (that type of work).

    The time has come to leave the stupid SLT (Senior Leadership Team) and their acronyms and self-inflated importance of disruptive technology - stupid term - which breaks critical systems and blind ignorance of important basic requirements.

    Now I may not want to be a lumberjack (monty python) but I’d quite like to be a forest ranger or work for national trust (voluntary) or similar. If in Portugal I would guess there would be conservation schemes.

  47. #47
    Master wildheart's Avatar
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    My retirement plans were blown out of the water by an expensive divorce. Coming up 60 in 3 months never thought I'd be working at that age. Seeing Bristow & Wilkins pop off this week has sent alarm bells ringing. Can't really see me packing up until 66 unless I find few nuggets. My old man retired at 53 died at 88. I wanted to beat his retirement........... no chance! If you can afford it do it!

  48. #48
    Just out of interest, to those of you who have retired early, I take it your mortgage free? How much income per year would you say you need to live comfortably if it were just you and the wife and no mortgage? I’m way off some of you guys being only 34 but I’m hoping at 55 I can own two properties outright. One being my main family home and another being a buy to let that I’m hoping to get this year on a 20 year mortgage. Hoping this could be my pension. I was even thinking about buying a place abroad now and renting it out to cover the mortgage so that in 20 years if I cashed in the Uk property for say £500k+, if I paid myself £40k a year that would take me up to 67.5. Any thoughts?

  49. #49
    I retired in July 2015 at the age of 56 and looking at the OP, it was for similar work related circumstances to those outlined. I started thinking about when I would go about 2 years before, running calculations, as to how much would be needed to still have a decent lifestyle. My backstop date was a year later, but by April 2015, I thought enough.

    Had to take a large reduction in my pension by drawing it early, but the amount, in conjunction with other income is still fine to do what we want to do.

    Those I worked with either thought it was a great idea - generally my direct reports, or others of the same level. A few who were senior to me thought it was a strange thing to do - I just felt a bit sorry for them, that they couldn’t really envisage anything other than to either carry on climbing the greasy pole, or wait for a pay off!

    My wife retired a year later.

    No regrets and I finally realised I was definitely retired about 12 months later, when a former colleague asked if I was interested in a short term assignment. I saw the £signs, but still thought, thanks, but no thanks.

  50. #50
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    Nothing much to add, just to say don't burn bridges by selling UK property, re being bored , there are many useful things volunteers can do. Cheers, John B4

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