Reply With QuoteGreat news Martyn!.Originally Posted by MartynJC (UK)
Update: End April
Away: Offer accepted, legal searches underway
Home: Buyers agreed purchase - get formal date for non refundable deposit and completion date fixed within two weeks
Flights booked: 21 May and Airbnb for two weeks ready to talk to lawyer and sign papers.
Great news Martyn!.
When you look long into an abyss, the abyss looks long into you.........
Well done! Hope the final stages are smooth. Enjoy! (P.S. what is the local bee population like?)
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Living the dream - congratulations and enjoy!
Apis Mellifera has many sub species dependent on climate. The bees in Portugal will be different adapted to hot summers and short winters and different flower seasons. It will be interesting to see the difference. I won’t be taking my Apis Mellifera Mellifera - they will be handed off to my local association.
for scientific details: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full...9.2019.1693920
Last edited by MartynJC (UK); 29th April 2021 at 22:41.
Update:
Well guys and girls. Now seen the villa. It really is a rather special property. We viewed today and it was as good as predicted or better. Our architect has been over the property yesterday and we will meet him next week to see what the legality is like.
Like a lot of threads - it never happened without pictures:
And the chickens!
On the home front. Sale agreed and deposit received with completion date fixed.
Cheers for now. Martyn.
Last edited by MartynJC (UK); 22nd May 2021 at 22:44.
“ Ford... you're turning into a penguin. Stop it.” HHGTTG
That looks a lovely place.Update:
Well guys and girls. Now seen the villa. It really is a rather special property. We viewed today and it was as good as predicted or better. Our architect has been over the property yesterday and we will meet him next week to see what the legality is like.
Like a lot of threads - it never happened without pictures:
And the chickens!
On the home front. Sale agreed and deposit received with completion date fixed.
Cheers for now. Martyn.
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Nice looking place Martyn, happy it seems to be working out for you. Although with every post update I get increasingly concerned about what I'll do when my honey runs out.
Looks amazing. Very happy for you!
Looks perfect, great chapter ahead for you.
"There is no intermediate state between ice and water but there is one between life and death: employment." - Nassim Nicholas Taleb in The Bed of Procrustes
Looks wonderful Martyn, enjoy it to the fullest!
Looks very nice well done indeed AND chucks.
Nice Martyn, love the colour, balcony and pool. Make sure you invest more in the chicken’s welfare, that run is extremely lacking (no bark / soil for scratching, no coop, no water), although I’m sure you will if your bees are anything to go by.
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Congrats, looks like a great place to chill out and enjoy life.
WOW, that looks fantastic.
Well done.
Are you sure Martin?
Looks great and hope it all works out!
Don't worry - there was a whole area outside there for them to root around in - the pic was not representative - you can see an open cage door at the back (just). They could go inside a coop to lay and when it got very hot too. They had water and seemed very content birds and laying well (I believe a good sign). The owner loved the birds and sat with them while we visited. Thank you for your concern though! Martyn
Last edited by MartynJC (UK); 26th May 2021 at 08:25.
“ Ford... you're turning into a penguin. Stop it.” HHGTTG
Just a quick question - when people talk about £x per year to live on, are the sums net or before any taxes?
Nett of taxes and deductions. I reckon £3K a month, so £36K nett is comfortable for me in current situation. Good news for me is 0% tax on income for the remainder of 10years in Portugal under the NHR scheme to attract foreigners.
UPDATE: Phew. After a number of iterations a Binding contract agreed on the Portuguese villa and should exchange next week. Then complete earliest 60 days and latest 90 days from signing - which I reckon is Mid September to mid October.
It’s been a long road started in late 2019 - but got there in the end.
cheers. Martyn.
Last edited by MartynJC (UK); 9th July 2021 at 20:09.
“ Ford... you're turning into a penguin. Stop it.” HHGTTG
Well played Martyn, and that NHC zero tax scheme certainly looks appealing
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No NI on pensions, so after you deduct your personal allowance from the £36k, you saving a smidge less than £4.7k in tax pa.
Not something to be sniffed at, but not a good enough reason to leave the country on its own IMO.
Nice extra money in your pocket if you were planning on retiring their anyway.
Best thing to do, is take out VCT’s each year, you keep them for 5 years, get a dividend each year and you get 30% tax back in the first year.
So if you buy £10K of VCT’s, you will get £3K tax back in year 1, and typically £500 dividend each year. After 5 years you can sell them, usually with a small profit all tax free :)
please explain - without acronyms?
NB: not leaving because of the tax break - that’s just a bonus.
“ Ford... you're turning into a penguin. Stop it.” HHGTTG
We were living over years in Lisbon and were thinking of the sort of scheme examined by Martyn. Seems sound enough, given the pleasure of living in Portugal. For me, the timid sort, there were two obvious issues. The first is currency fluctuations, from Sterling, which you can’t properly control. The second, the avoidance by the UK treasury, of inflation increases on pensions. Sounds trivial, but give it a good few years.
Now, I think I was too timid and should have taken a risk. There was enough money.
So, good luck to Martyn, he thought it all through, and he acted. You can’t beat swift, decisive, action.
Interestingly, my Nephew , has retired fully to Spain, taking his wife and two kids, gone from the UK. They won’t return. Two other relatives, both PhDs in genetics, have also emigrated.
Most disconnected in some ways, is my partner, a French national with full membership of the EU as well as UK rights. Mind you, her thoughts on brexit are unprintable.
Europeans are better served than we are…..
Again, good luck Martyn. Courage is all.
Last edited by paskinner; 10th July 2021 at 20:35.
That means a lot. Thank you! I do have to thank my wife who has already lived in four countries and her stop of in UK was only meant to be temporary to a move to Europe. But she didn’t plan on meeting me! Now her dreams are realised. It was her that has been the spur - I didn’t want to move while tied to an employee. But with that commitment gone we are free to move.
Sure, there are exchange rate fluctuations to consider but (without giving all my financial details) hopefully not an overriding issue. Getting rid of “stuff” collected over 25+years it tricky. The new house comes furnished but we seem to want to take a load of “personal items”. Time to cut to the basics I think.
Time to light the blue touch paper and retire!
Last edited by MartynJC (UK); 10th July 2021 at 21:21.
“ Ford... you're turning into a penguin. Stop it.” HHGTTG
Firstly, massive congratulations on your impending completion! That is fantastic news, really pleased for you.
Secondly, re the net amount per year. Makes sense to calculate it on a net basis. Presume there is then some planning on making the most of tax free allowances etc and therefore minimising any deductions.
VCT = Venture Capital Trusts....https://www.ii.co.uk/advanced-investing/vcts
“ Ford... you're turning into a penguin. Stop it.” HHGTTG
Surely any tax breaks are moot once you're in Portugal? You'd be tax resident there after 6 months and therefore subject to their tax legislation not the UK's
We are tax resident there already. Did my first return this year for along time (all my UK income is PAYE). There is a scheme running called Non Habitual Residency - a way of encouraging foreigners to the country. I will be paying 0% on income (on income such as pensions but not from income from rentals - if any) for 10years. Double taxation rules apply also - so it depends.
We have a tax accountant in Portugal assisting us. We have to declare worldwide income in Portugal even if we pay no tax. Now my wife has to file in potentially fours countries! (UK, US, CAN, EU) It takes a lot of her time.
on a positive note - contracts were exchanged today - so no turning back - else we lose £55K.
“ Ford... you're turning into a penguin. Stop it.” HHGTTG
Great news!!
Martyn, all the winds are blowing in your favour. You made your own luck. Long may it go well…..
Best of luck!! Hope to follow your footsteps soon enough.
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Same for Spain I believe. I'm on the hunt for a good Tax Accountant there to plan for our move in a couple of years, complicated by the fact that virtually every region has different rules so I need one with specific knowledge of the Balearics/Menorca.
All the best for your retirement.
Yup same for Spain...we needs must do our bit supporting tax accountants in GB, Espana and the US of A, wife being a septic. 1st worlde problems.
Been a long journey - but got there in the end. The boxes are quite well packed in the UK. We fly to Portugal in less than fourteen days to pick up the keys on our new property in Portugal. The vision is becoming reality. Ok we spent maybe double what we thought of originally but I think ended up with a villa more than double in value - if that makes sense.
I stopped working for "the firm" back in August 2019 and a lot has happened since then (the whole world has changed I guess) but with eyes fixed on the goal it has been possible to complete this transition. We leave the UK shores at the end of October for a new life.
Ironically - we are looking to buy a bolt hole in the Uk now!!!!!
M
“ Ford... you're turning into a penguin. Stop it.” HHGTTG
Fantastic. It’s been a journey for sure and I think you have inspired quite a few on here by sharing your story and the ups and downs.
Looking forward to hearing about things when you finally get into your new place.
I've enjoyed this thread (and the associated 'When is too early to leave work') and they have spurred me on to take stock of finances and assess my pension arrangements and see how close I am to joining the TZ Retirement Club.
Good luck with the move to Portugal.
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3 1/2 years after I wrote this, in the wake of COVID and a generally trying last two years, business-wise, and I’m expecting that by early next year I’ll be retired. I just turned 55. I never thought I’d say this…
No doubt I’ll still find a few projects to keep my interest going but but the prospect of spending time in my music room, or shooting, or with family and friends, is really appealing to me.
I think the same is true for many as they get to their mid-50’s, especially after the last 18 months or so.
https://youtu.be/kisr3daNRx0
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Made it ----
As little Ern said - do excuse the legs!
“ Ford... you're turning into a penguin. Stop it.” HHGTTG
Awesome. CongratulationsMade it ----
As little Ern said - do excuse the legs!
Congrats Martyn, enjoy
Congratulations. Don’t know you, don’t know what you did and how you got there, but I’m bloody jealous ( of retirement not those legs).
Enjoy
It is so wonderful to see that picture to see you finally there!
Massive congratulations. I would say now you can put your feet up but I can see you’ve already done that.
Big congrats
So pleased that things have worked out for you.
Enjoy the rest of your life.
cheers
sam
Bump for this. I'd be very interested to hear from some of the earlier posters on this thread to hear if their initial feelings when taking early retirement have changed.
There are some changes going on at work with the divestment of a part of the business, which may result in redundancy for one of our team. I have over 20 years service and no dependents. Most of the team have wives and young children. I'd be happy to put my hand up.
I had a meeting last week with our Work and Benefits team to go through the actual value of my pension (and not my guesstimate).
There is also a feeling that I could do with getting off the hamster wheel after almost 40 years working and having the summer months off and then picking up some short-term contracts for the colder months.
Sent through the ether by diddling with radio waves
I’ve been left just 2 years now - I’ll be 55 in the summer.
Maybe in a slightly different position to some - I’m single - I’d had an offer Jan 2021 from Royal Mail after 34 years - basically years money
I’d not long separated from my wife and had recently lost both of my folks- it was a ‘no brainier’ as they say fir me - RM was moving away from how I liked it and my management style was not to their liking ( I didn’t like a big stick to get productivity)
2 years on - nothings changed - still loving it despite the weather
I live from my saving (pretty frugally) but I don’t go without and of course I’m always ‘busy’
I was pretty fortunate (if that’s what you call it) my folks left me a few quid and selling the marital home gave me a bit more
What’s not to like
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