Early retirement

[noTAGlove]

Are you genuinely looking at £30k pension, plus your wife’s to minimise your tax paid, or was that just a random example for the maths?

I’m more for living my life in retirement, but don’t have the kids to set up after I guess, so there are many different lenses at play based on circumstances.

Will plan for IHT as appropriate but won’t live my life differently. I’d rather treat siblings to holidays etc while alive to enjoy it with them; yoi are a long time dead, that’s the only certainty in life. Well, death and then taxes!

The £30k was a random example.

My wife numbers are all accurate.

I have been very fortunate to have had non-contributory DB pension for all my working life that is unreduced at my retirement age of 60, or reduced by -3% for every year I retire early, up to a minimum age of 55.

Retiring before 60 and getting the preferential -3% is subject to company approval. Without approval I would take more than a -3% per year hit.

My issue is how I avoid getting whacked for tax on the way out, and given we have a couple of kids, how part of it can best benefit them.

It isn’t going to inheritance. I don’t see the point. The kids need it in their early 30s, not in their late 50s.

[Mj2k]

The £30k was a random example.

My wife numbers are all accurate.

I have been very fortunate to have had non-contributory DB pension for all my working life that is unreduced at my retirement age of 60, or reduced by -3% for every year I retire early, up to a minimum age of 55.

Retiring before 60 and getting the preferential -3% is subject to company approval. Without approval I would take more than a -3% per year hit.

My issue is how I avoid getting whacked for tax on the way out, and given we have a couple of kids, how part of it can best benefit them.

It isn’t going to inheritance. I don’t see the point. The kids need it in their early 30s, not in their late 50s.

I’ve managed to leave 3 NC DB ones in my early years, but wouldn’t have got the progression I wanted staying there. Often wonder what if I’d stayed, but saw someone who I thought was better than I was at the job take 15yrs to get promotion.

I’m resigned to the fact I will pay the higher tax on the way back out, but I guess better to have it & pay tax vs not have it at all. Being heavily taxed vs worrying about the heating bill etc, I know which I’d prefer to have.

Completely agree with the timings required for the kids & it’s a tough one. Deciding to not have any certainly does make the decision easier / more selfish on future planning.

Short of drawing down more heavily at the start, not sure of how else you will manage it short of some form of trust for them using current capital / annual gift allowance into an ISA for them. No idea on their ages or the feasibility. All I know is they are gamers, but I still am too!


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[noTAGlove]

I’ve managed to leave 3 NC DB ones in my early years, but wouldn’t have got the progression I wanted staying there. Often wonder what if I’d stayed, but saw someone who I thought was better than I was at the job take 15yrs to get promotion.

All my friends in the industry quit as permies 15-20 years ago and went freelance through a limited company. They earned a lot more over the years, but no pension. Who knows which route was the best overall. I enjoyed being a staffy as long as the DB pension was around.

Ironically with the clampdown on IR35 and divis being taxed a lot harder, many of them have now taken the King’s shilling and gone back as PAYE very late in their career.

[Mj2k]

All my friends in the industry quit as permies 15-20 years ago and went freelance through a limited company. They earned a lot more over the years, but no pension. Who knows which route was the best overall. I enjoyed being a staffy as long as the DB pension was around.

Ironically with the clampdown on IR35 and divis being taxed a lot harder, many of them have now taken the King’s shilling and gone back as PAYE very late in their career.

Not sure which thread it was on, maybe even this one, but I saw the writing on the wall for the work I did and IR35 - so came back into PAYE. I miss the freedom on a solo project of either working, or not based on weather and how I was feeling, or taking a 2hr lunch as long as I brought it all in on time - couldn’t do the 9-5 consulting gig.

Had another look at bonus in cash vs pension, couple of tweaks from other savings and can keep putting it in there, especially as annual limit increased. Amazed to think it was £255k (or so) in 2010, such a variance is clearly corrupt somewhere for someone’s friends! Wish I had the income to invest that amount as pension, Jesus!


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[Halitosis]

This?

https://www.timeline.co/

Seems only available to IFA professionals .... ??

I think the link I posted uses UK historical data for modelling which I guess will be more conservative than the USA ones ... given S&P500 returns have been better.

That's the one, though I signed up a couple of years ago and don't think it asked for any evidence of being an IFA. As previously mentioned, I read that it more recently restricts access, but someone commented that it accepts any random 6 digit number (not condoning obvs...)

Agree on your point regarding UK vs US market data, though I imagine more portfolios are global these days (mine certainly is). Edit - just read that US stocks make up 70% of the supposedly global MSCI world index - goes to show the relative size of the US market

[Montello]

That's the one, though I signed up a couple of years ago and don't think it asked for any evidence of being an IFA. As previously mentioned, I read that it more recently restricts access, but someone commented that it accepts any random 6 digit number (not condoning obvs...)

Agree on your point regarding UK vs US market data, though I imagine more portfolios are global these days (mine certainly is). Edit - just read that US stocks make up 70% of the supposedly global MSCI world index - goes to show the relative size of the US market

Looks like they want credit card details to sign up for the free trial. Payment of £1.

Note the MSCI world is not the whole world as you may expect.

See the map on this page. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MSCI_World

[Halitosis]

Good to know. I have a portion in an emerging markets fund, so am perhaps and unintentionally more global than the MSCI.

I’d say the £1 trial is worthwhile for Timeline (similar to the Which website - get in, get what you came for, then cancel). Takes a couple of hours to input all the info though - and then start playing with the variables.

[westberks]

Yes, I recall sitting with an advisor when I had my own company discussing pensions and management of them, those numbers made it a real shocker!

We have no kids, so our siblings will get whatever is left (house / funds assuming we haven’t had to use for care homes) when we pop our clogs. Our focus is our needs and lifestyle in retirement, less about them enjoying theirs on our earnings when we are 6ft under.

Yes, will end up paying higher level tax, but can’t really see a way around that if we want to live to the best of our ability financially, especially in the first 10-15 years of it.

if the higher rate tax is unavoidable and you're enjoying yourself then i don't see an issue. where possible take an income from non taxable assets such as savings if the pension can be left until later on but with no kids; just enjoy it.

[Montello]

I’d say the £1 trial is worthwhile for Timeline (similar to the Which website - get in, get what you came for, then cancel). Takes a couple of hours to input all the info though - and then start playing with the variables.

I’d happily pay the £1 for the trial, but I’m not and IFA …

[PhilT]

In case this link hasn’t been posted on here already. Here is the site that PensionWise steer you towards:

https://www.retirementlivingstandards.org.uk/

It gives a breakdown of what it means by each of the minimum/moderate/comfortable living standards, but the numbers are about a year out of date (expected update end of 2023) - add an inflation figure of your choosing.

[noTAGlove]

add an inflation figure of your choosing.

Plus HMG has sneakily frozen income tax thresholds to keep the pensioners, and everyone else paying a lot more tax.

Fiscal drag doesn’t sound as bad a tax increases.

[Montello]

In case this link hasn’t been posted on here already. Here is the site that PensionWise steer you towards:

https://www.retirementlivingstandards.org.uk/

It gives a breakdown of what it means by each of the minimum/moderate/comfortable living standards, but the numbers are about a year out of date (expected update end of 2023) - add an inflation figure of your choosing.

It doesn’t say if those figures are gross or net of tax.

[Mj2k]

In case this link hasn’t been posted on here already. Here is the site that PensionWise steer you towards:

https://www.retirementlivingstandards.org.uk/

It gives a breakdown of what it means by each of the minimum/moderate/comfortable living standards, but the numbers are about a year out of date (expected update end of 2023) - add an inflation figure of your choosing.

In case this link hasn’t been posted on here already. Here is the site that PensionWise steer you towards:

https://www.retirementlivingstandards.org.uk/

It gives a breakdown of what it means by each of the minimum/moderate/comfortable living standards, but the numbers are about a year out of date (expected update end of 2023) - add an inflation figure of your choosing.

Comfortable being £144 a week including food away from home is not comfortable in the slightest! That’s a meal out for 2 people.


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[PhilT]

It doesn’t say if those figures are gross or net of tax.

These are described as living standards by which they mean expenditure (net of tax).

There’s a lot more detail if you click through to some of the pdf reports, including how inflation has affected the numbers since 2019 (comfortable LS for a couple outside London went up from £47500 to £54500 in that time, a rise of nearly 15%, while the minimum LS rose by nearly 27% over the same period)

I think the taxation element of this hasn’t been emphasised enough, but it’s very dependent on where your income comes from. If you don’t have any tax free savings that £54500 becomes nearly £62k for a couple before tax…

I think 2023 numbers will be closer to £60k net (almost £69k gross for a couple).

[Passenger]

Comfortable being £144 a week including food away from home is not comfortable in the slightest! That’s a meal out for 2 people.


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I chat with my Pa most weekends, he and Ma are on the basic statey plus iirc a tiny, tiny private stipend from when Mum was a school cleaning lady...Pa confirms they can manage OK, but they don´t get out much any longer, Ma´s Alzheimer's has apparently put paid to that...every cloud etc

[PhilT]

Comfortable being £144 a week including food away from home is not comfortable in the slightest! That’s a meal out for 2 people.


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Yep, £59 weekly food shop (anyone done a £59 food shop this week?!), a bottle of wine @£8 and a meal out once a week, all for £144.

Note that comfortable in this report also equates to 2 cars - a 5 year old Nissan Qashqai and an 8 year old Ford Fiesta, both replaced every 5 years or so. People on here may wish to look at their own driveways (heated garage etc) to decide where they sit on the scale…

Reminds me of that old hospital joke: nurse says to patient: *are you comfortable?*, patient replies: *I make a living*

[Passenger]

Yep, £59 weekly food shop (anyone done a £59 food shop this week?!), a bottle of wine @£8 and a meal out once a week, all for £144.

Note that comfortable in this report also equates to 2 cars - a 5 year old Nissan Qashqai and an 8 year old Ford Fiesta, both replaced every 5 years or so. People on here may wish to look at their own driveways (heated garage etc) to decide where they sit on the scale…

Reminds me of that old hospital joke: nurse says to patient: *are you comfortable?*, patient replies: *I make a living*

That shop could be done for two out here, and the meal out, a 3 or 4 course menu del dia is typically around 12 euro per person, usually includes a drink. There´s some very good supermarket wines for between 3 to 4 euro, bodega´s even cheaper a euro or 2 per litre, though it´s likely going to be easy drinking stuff.

Purely posted as an illustration for comparison purposes within the context of the discussion on pensions and retirement, no intention to provoke envy.

[Passenger]

Just thinking it through, the pot required for a really good retirement UK based, sounds like a pot worth a million and half by 65 is a goodly number to aim for then. The average Brits life time earnings is under 600k.

I like numbers...Anyone wanna guess how many folks reach the magic million?


There's 1.1 million apparently, between the period 2018/ 2020, having pots worth a million or more, ONS figures. There's around 11 million folks over 65 in the UK.

[Mj2k]

Just thinking it through, the pot required for a really good retirement UK based, sounds like a pot worth a million and half by 65 is a goodly number to aim for then. The average Brits life time earnings is under 600k.

I like numbers...Anyone wanna guess how many folks reach the magic million?


There's 1.1 million apparently, between the period 2018/ 2020, having pots worth a million or more, ONS figures. There's around 11 million folks over 65 in the UK.

Yeah, it’s a tough number to get to certainly. Retiring at 57 will see me not hit that, but will still live a good life with pension & investments beyond what I thought feasible a few years back.

Can get some fixed price lunches here, but they haven’t floated my boat in any restaurant when I’m earning, so sure as hell won’t grab my attention in my elder years, well while I can afford to do what I want.

I honestly cannot wait to retire, this working crap gets dull.


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[Montello]

These are described as living standards by which they mean expenditure (net of tax).

There’s a lot more detail if you click through to some of the pdf reports, including how inflation has affected the numbers since 2019 (comfortable LS for a couple outside London went up from £47500 to £54500 in that time, a rise of nearly 15%, while the minimum LS rose by nearly 27% over the same period)

I think the taxation element of this hasn’t been emphasised enough, but it’s very dependent on where your income comes from. If you don’t have any tax free savings that £54500 becomes nearly £62k for a couple before tax…

I think 2023 numbers will be closer to £60k net (almost £69k gross for a couple).

£70k gross per couple is going to require some substantial SIPP balance. I’d guess at a safe drawdown rate about £2m 

Edit, If you add in two full state pensions I’d guess about £1.6m

[Passenger]

Yeah, it’s a tough number to get to certainly. Retiring at 57 will see me not hit that, but will still live a good life with pension & investments beyond what I thought feasible a few years back.

Can get some fixed price lunches here, but they haven’t floated my boat in any restaurant when I’m earning, so sure as hell won’t grab my attention in my elder years, well while I can afford to do what I want.

I honestly cannot wait to retire, this working crap gets dull.


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The very best of luck to you.

[Halitosis]

There's 1.1 million apparently, between the period 2018/ 2020, having pots worth a million or more, ONS figures. There's around 11 million folks over 65 in the UK.

Does this account for folk on defined benefit pensions? Such don't have 'pots' so to speak, but I think I recall at least a third of retirees have a DB pension. Not that I'm suggesting their pensions are big enough to put all those folk in the big spender brackets!

[Passenger]

Does this account for folk on defined benefit pensions? Such don't have 'pots' so to speak, but I think I recall at least a third of retirees have a DB pension. Not that I'm suggesting their pensions are big enough to put all those folk in the big spender brackets!

Good question, short answer I dunno.

[sish101]

Tomorrow will see me left work a month.

This is the first Sunday since I left when I haven't felt that I should be going into work tomorrow. Up to now it's felt like I was on holiday and that I was ready to go back. That I should be going back.

I guess after all these years of working it was habitual and it's taken a month to break that habit.

I'm much enjoying the slower pace and getting around to the things I never had time for before. It's also eased the workload for my wife as I'm now doing the bulk of the household jobs.

Something I've not shared on my posts here is that none of my wider family or friends know that I'm retired. Only my work colleagues and my immediate family. I wanted to have some me time (however selfish that may read to you). I realise at some point it will get out but for the moment it's a secret I'm closely guarding.



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[Mick P]

That shop could be done for two out here, and the meal out, a 3 or 4 course menu del dia is typically around 12 euro per person, usually includes a drink. There´s some very good supermarket wines for between 3 to 4 euro, bodega´s even cheaper a euro or 2 per litre, though it´s likely going to be easy drinking stuff.

Purely posted as an illustration for comparison purposes within the context of the discussion on pensions and retirement, no intention to provoke envy.

This is entirely correct.

I have been in Spain for nearly 20 days and my expenditure on fuel, shopping and eating out is considerably lower than in the UK. I would guesstimate that the overall cost of living in Spain is about 30% lower than in the UK. I am out here for 9 weeks and those savings alone will easily pay for our air fares.

The biggest saving is in the respective community tax that you pay on the house where you live. My UK place is a 4 bed house and the community tax is £2910 pa. The 3 bed villa with a pool in Spain costs just
€245 pa which is a big difference.

If I was say 60 and coming up for retirement, I would certainly think about what Passenger has done and move over to Spain full time. Your money will go further, the food is genuinely better, the pace of life is so slow that you are lying horizontal and the eating out culture in the sunny weather is cheap and brilliant. You should, statistically speaking, live for an extra two years in the sun.

It's like having an instant increase in your pension, savings and longevity.

[Mj2k]

Tomorrow will see me left work a month.

This is the first Sunday since I left when I haven't felt that I should be going into work tomorrow. Up to now it's felt like I was on holiday and that I was ready to go back. That I should be going back.

I guess after all these years of working it was habitual and it's taken a month to break that habit.

I'm much enjoying the slower pace and getting around to the things I never had time for before. It's also eased the workload for my wife as I'm now doing the bulk of the household jobs.

Something I've not shared on my posts here is that none of my wider family or friends know that I'm retired. Only my work colleagues and my immediate family. I wanted to have some me time (however selfish that may read to you). I realise at some point it will get out but for the moment it's a secret I'm closely guarding.



Sent through the ether by diddling with radio waves

I can only imagine how weird the transition feels!

God knows what my retirement cooking habits will become, as regularly spend over an hour a night cooking, with all the time on my hands I will be tinkering like I do at weekends with food.

Cannot wait, playing about in my kitchen is my happy place!


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[M1011]

Bit of a moan, felt like the right thread.

One thing that bugs me is changing legislation making it difficult to plan well for the future. I know folk are feeling the pinch now who planned for their future through the BTL route, with rules changing under their feet. I'm now sitting here thinking about how I can best reach an early retirement one day, and changes to the pension annual/lifetime allowance seem to make that the preferred route to focus on now, but then I read 3-out-of-4 financial advisors surveyed expect the lifetime allowance to be reintroduced?! Feels impossible to plan long-term for the future with politicians (both sides) winning favour by messing with the rules in an attempt to win votes. Not a statement in support or against a LTA by the way, I just find it frustrating having to make decisions now to lock money away as inaccessible for 20+ years, knowing the rules could plausibly change 5x before I can touch it again...

1st world problems rant over

[Mick P]

Bit of a moan, felt like the right thread.

One thing that bugs me is changing legislation making it difficult to plan well for the future. I know folk are feeling the pinch now who planned for their future through the BTL route, with rules changing under their feet. I'm now sitting here thinking about how I can best reach an early retirement one day, and changes to the pension annual/lifetime allowance seem to make that the preferred route to focus on now, but then I read 3-out-of-4 financial advisors surveyed expect the lifetime allowance to be reintroduced?! Feels impossible to plan long-term for the future with politicians (both sides) winning favour by messing with the rules in an attempt to win votes. Not a statement in support or against a LTA by the way, I just find it frustrating having to make decisions now to lock money away as inaccessible for 20+ years, knowing the rules could plausibly change 5x before I can touch it again...

1st world problems rant over

It's alway been like that, even a civil servant on a fully indexed pension plus state pension will not be that well off, he won't go hungry but neither will he thrive.

The simple answer is to start young, anyone who ignored their pension until they were 40 and then panicked will rarely have a good pension.

You must contribute as much as your company pension will allow, but you also have to pile more into a private pension especially from your early twenties, this is the money that's going to multiply in the years ahead. Also don't decry BTL, even with minimal tax relief etc, BTL means someone else is buying a house for you, so when you retire you will have a nice juicy asset which you can rent out or sell off depending on your circumstances and prevailing tax conditions.

Drip feed every month without fail into a tracker or similar and just let it grow. You will get the ups and downs which although worrying at the time, are nothing in the long term.

Finally when you do finally retire, do what a few of us here have done, buy a second home in Spain or France or similar. If you buy and live rent or mortgage free in a house out there, you are living in a land with
a cheaper cost of living, better food and much better weather and lifestyle. Spending 365 days in the UK when retired is a nightmare at worse and dull existence at best. You need the variety of different food, different cultures, different weather and seasons plus the overall difference of lifestyle which only flitting around will give.

All it needs is a bit of planning and then JFDI mentality.

The ball is firmly in your court.

[M1011]

It's alway been like that, even a civil servant on a fully indexed pension plus state pension will not be that well off, he won't go hungry but neither will he thrive.

The simple answer is to start young, anyone who ignored their pension until they were 40 and then panicked will rarely have a good pension.

You must contribute as much as your company pension will allow, but you also have to pile more into a private pension especially from your early twenties, this is the money that's going to multiply in the years ahead. Also don't decry BTL, even with minimal tax relief etc, BTL means someone else is buying a house for you, so when you retire you will have a nice juicy asset which you can rent out or sell off depending on your circumstances and prevailing tax conditions.

Drip feed every month without fail into a tracker or similar and just let it grow. You will get the ups and downs which although worrying at the time, are nothing in the long term.

Finally when you do finally retire, do what a few of us here have done, buy a second home in Spain or France or similar. If you buy and live rent or mortgage free in a house out there, you are living in a land with
a cheaper cost of living, better food and much better weather and lifestyle. Spending 365 days in the UK when retired is a nightmare at worse and dull existence at best. You need the variety of different food, different cultures, different weather and seasons plus the overall difference of lifestyle which only flitting around will give.

All it needs is a bit of planning and then JFDI mentality.

The ball is firmly in your court.

Maxing employer contributions is a winner for sure, but over that may not be a great choice if it means exceeding the lifetime allowance, given it was previously 55% tax on the way out over the LTA. It's a complex enough system made impossible with ever changing rules IMO. BTL I think can be a good passive source of income for retirement, but to buy the BTLs is in effect making a decision to not maximise the pension opportunity. Roll of the dice!

I don't have the complexion for extended sun unfortunately, somewhere Nordic would suit me nicely but they're more expensive than here!

[craig1912]

Yes you need to plan.

I’m four and a half years in retirement having retired at 58. The advice I would give is don’t just use pensions. My retirement savings whilst very good were all in pensions and I regret not putting more in other investments with greater flexibility when retired. Yes you don’t get tax relief going in to them but you also don’t get taxed coming out of them.
I do think the LTA will be introduced but many people don’t need to worry too much about until age 75.

[westberks]

the LTA is something that I, along with lots of other advisers, as mentioned, expect will come back at some stage,

lets be honest though; it impacts very few people and those that it does will get very little sympathy from the majority that have very small pension provisions.

BTL has been totally screwed by the changes to the way the income is taxed against the reduced relief on mortgages. That single act was pretty much criminal in my opinion. But again, doesn't get a lot of sympathy from the masses despite the knock on effect to hte housing market that will affect lots of renters.

The upshot being that anyone that is paying income tax at 40% or above form income are screwed if they have mortgaged BTLs. A few will be able to use lower tax spouse allowances to do the BTL's but overall its a mess and with a massive shortage in housing stock hte government have just pushed up rental prices by doing this.

VCT's can help in the BTL tax planning but overall they are a bit riskier than many would feel comfortable with.

[Passenger]

Personally been a bit wary of pensions, yes there's tax advantages, yes the employer puts in but it always felt to me like it was potentially a bit of a swizz, the UK's pensions were historically expensive when compared with other nations, declining annuity rates, the legislative potential to meddle, the taxing of your pension funds upon withdrawal, despite being taxed already on the money when you've earned it and taxed again when you spend it. You're only allowed your own money back at 55, what the fudge...Sure with BTL the legislative ground moves under you here too, but you can use leverage and OPM, Goobermunt can't legislate when you can take your own money out. I couldn't abide the sense of being telt, especially not by proven arse clowns. It's my money, I earned it.
Almost forgot to mention, the odds of building a pot worth the magic million or million and a half, seemed pretty damn remote from a personal perspective. Despite earning above the average wage, what with the cost of housing, cost of living, children, it seemed unlikely that even by putting in a solid 4 or even 5 decades and maxing the pension, retirement might still only be comfortable at best...Then in all probability, a decade or two to 'enjoy', before the inevitable.

Property seemed more straightforward, cleaner somehow, fewer restrictions. Property enabled work to stop at 40, when I deemed there to be financial sufficiency, rather than slogging it out till 55 at the earliest.


Obviously everyone's different, wants different things out of life, different attitudes, some folks love their work! . I try to choose the keep it simple route wherever, whenever possible. But that doesn't necessarily suit everyone...It's simple to be happy. But it's difficult to be simple.

[Montello]

The bottom line is if you want to retire early you need to get the numbers to add up ... that may mean a huge asset pot or a low cost lifestyle of a mix of both.

It is a very individual matter and it is of course frustrating that political change can scupper ones plans, but that is life and I guess the best any of us can do is to create a balance of investments that will hopefully do the job.

It is clear that our political masters don't want us investing in property they want us investing in our SIPPs and they have made significant changes to the rules and tax regimes to drive that change.

BTL with borrowings for high rate tax payers isn't really an option any more but that does not mean that property is no longer a good home for a proportion of your assets if you are looking for income and capital growth ...

The key is diversification ... personally I don't trust the politicians one bit and if they are really hard up I can see some sort of raid on UK pension savings as it's by far the biggest pot to take a dip in ...

[emmm]

It's alway been like that, even a civil servant on a fully indexed pension plus state pension will not be that well off, he won't go hungry but neither will he thrive.

Some do very nicely, especially with the fully indexed DB pension. I came across a retired ex-local government surveyor type who goes on holiday with his wife every other month and rides the Orient Express to Venice every year.

[Passenger]

Now that's riding the gravy train.

A bygone age.

[Mick P]

Some do very nicely, especially with the fully indexed DB pension. I came across a retired ex-local government surveyor type who goes on holiday with his wife every other month and rides the Orient Express to Venice every year.

emmm - I have no figures to prove this but I believe the average public and civil service service pension is around £11k pa. The only good thing about this is that the pension does retain its purchasing power due to CPI annual increases.

This is why we need to keep the Triple Lock because the younger generation need a good state pension and another 20/30 yrs of Triple Lock will ensure that state pensions have some sort of value.

[Ruggertech]

Now that's riding the gravy train.

A bygone age.

Very good :)

[noTAGlove]

The only good thing about this is that the pension does retain its purchasing power due to CPI annual increases.

I don’t know about the civil service but most private company DB pensions provide RPI increases up to a maximum of 5%.

Obviously purchasing power has suffered over the last 2 years even for these type of DB pensions.

[M1011]

Many wise words. Personally I'm still stumped, but hey ho. Maybe I'll just spend it on watches...

[noTAGlove]

For those who have retired early, do you end up drinking more than you did when working?

I find with the structure of work I mostly avoid any alcohol Sun-Thurs, but feel if I retired early there may be more of a temptation.

[Dr.f]

🍷🍷, Afraid so.

[Ruggertech]

For those who have retired early, do you end up drinking more than you did when working?

I find with the structure of work I mostly avoid any alcohol Sun-Thurs, but feel if I retired early there may be more of a temptation.

I retired early and I find that now I drink a lot less, its now purely for pleasure rather than a stress buster or after work reward.

[robcuk]

Some do very nicely, especially with the fully indexed DB pension. I came across a retired ex-local government surveyor type who goes on holiday with his wife every other month and rides the Orient Express to Venice every year.

He’s not doing that on his local Government pension is he? Suspect he has access to other funds, maybe wife is loaded? Or he’s inherited? Or even, gasp, won the lottery?

[Mj2k]

I retired early and I find that now I drink a lot less, its now purely for pleasure rather than a stress buster or after work reward.

I think / hope I will be the same, rather than just increase the available drinking hours!

For me it is my unwind mechanism, and something I enjoy to switch off.

Gym is a morning thing for me, don't have the discipline to go after work vs a few glasses of wine.

[Ruggertech]

I think / hope I will be the same, rather than just increase the available drinking hours!

For me it is my unwind mechanism, and something I enjoy to switch off.

Gym is a morning thing for me, don't have the discipline to go after work vs a few glasses of wine.

I'm sure you will adapt easily. Don't get me wrong, I love a drink, I'll have a couple of pints tomorrow afternoon by the sea, and a bottle of red tomorrow night. Friday is my 'big' day :)

[Mj2k]

I'm sure you will adapt easily. Don't get me wrong, I love a drink, I'll have a couple of pints tomorrow afternoon by the sea, and a bottle of red tomorrow night. Friday is my 'big' day :)

My challenge will be going for a lunch, cheeky few pints / bottle of wine & then I have opened the 'tap' for remainder of afternoon & evening. But to be fair I won't be eating out every day!

Spent time between meetings, emails & lunch today making 10L of pea & mint soup, loved the fact I was just tinkering here & there all day with food.

Sightly saddened that last year I was making it for an old neighbour opposite, who passed recently - great innings at 97 though. Brought a smile to my face though as the previous year I added some pancetta instead of ham chunks for him & he said to me that as a friend, please don't put that crap in there again. Miss him!

[Ruggertech]

My challenge will be going for a lunch, cheeky few pints / bottle of wine & then I have opened the 'tap' for remainder of afternoon & evening. But to be fair I won't be eating out every day!

Spent time between meetings, emails & lunch today making 10L of pea & mint soup, loved the fact I was just tinkering here & there all day with food.

Sightly saddened that last year I was making it for an old neighbour opposite, who passed recently - great innings at 97 though. Brought a smile to my face though as the previous year I added some pancetta instead of ham chunks for him & he said to me that as a friend, please don't put that crap in there again. Miss him!

That is a danger in the early days but soon wears off.
Sorry to hear about your neighbour, sounds like he was an entertaining character!

[genesos]

He’s not doing that on his local Government pension is he?

Why not? as someone with personal insight, you might need to re-evaluate your thoughts.

Do not take any notice of the previous 11k/year nonsense mentioned , typical DB civil service pension at least 50% final salary without any possible AVC payments included, with some early release schemes allowing pension payments in full without penalty for claiming before normal retirement age, (which could still be at age 60 within certain scheme sections)

[deepreddave]

Do not take any notice of the previous 11k/year nonsense mentioned , typical DB civil service pension at least 50% final salary...

Would have needed 40yrs in to get 50% under the older schemes and 30+ in the newer ones which required greater employee contributions (bearing in mind CS salaries have fallen well behind the private sector in the last 20 years and, remember, its unfunded so there's no access to a pension pot). Not to mention that final salary finished a few years back so n/a for recent/future years.

[robcuk]

Why not? as someone with personal insight, you might need to re-evaluate your thoughts.

Do not take any notice of the previous 11k/year nonsense mentioned , typical DB civil service pension at least 50% final salary without any possible AVC payments included, with some early release schemes allowing pension payments in full without penalty for claiming before normal retirement age, (which could still be at age 60 within certain scheme sections)

I understand that, I’m a civil servant on a 70% final salary pension But unless I’ve got another income I wouldn’t be able to cover the Orient Express , if I was so inclined, more than once in my retirement, let alone annually! A suite is around 18k per trip and even a twin room is around £8k!