Author Topic: The finish line is in site- retirement planning and financial advice  (Read 8279 times)

Jaded

  • The Codfather
  • Formerly known as Jaded
Re: The finish line is in site- retirement planning and financial advice
« Reply #25 on: 20 January, 2018, 11:04:55 am »
If any of you do have a lump sum and not enough cruises (or bikes) to spend it on, consider ways that you could help your local community with some of the lump. Inconsequential amounts of money make huge differences for small organisations, individuals and community groups.

Absolutely. 

Local hospice, air ambulance, lifeboats, guide dogs, community energy projects, night hostels and soup kitchens for the homeless, etc., etc.  The list of worthy and deserving causes is endless.

I don't give time or money to the bigger, well known names any more. They get plenty of exposure and loads of money. A small sum means not a lot to them, but I've seen the eyes of a local organisation light up with the offer of a small amount of time or a small amount of money (that's huge to them) and that's what I prefer.

Anyone looking for these kinds of organisations, see if you a Community Foundation nearby, or look out for lists of organisations, or pleas for help in local media etc. A little help goes much further in a small organisation.
It is simpler than it looks.

Re: The finish line is in site- retirement planning and financial advice
« Reply #26 on: 20 January, 2018, 03:03:50 pm »
Living in  former Essex  but the Essex side of the Lea..  So ,  I have done well out of the house price casino.

We live fairly simply as  it is .One car, and that  could be replaced by a hire or a car share..

LEE

  • "Shut Up Jens" - Legs.
Re: The finish line is in site- retirement planning and financial advice
« Reply #27 on: 20 January, 2018, 03:40:15 pm »
Surely £20K a year is plenty once you've deducted the "subsistence costs" of running a house and car.

£400 a week seems a lot of money for food/drink and entertainment to me.

The question is, how much are basic "subsistence costs" once you own your house and car?

Assuming most people on the forum enjoy cycling then that's a fundamentally cheap hobby.

I'm genuinely looking forward to de-cluttering and becoming more minimalist.  The process has started and I've started selling the byproducts of my old hobbies and collections.  My aim is to rationalise my way down to  a set of "Classic" objects, rather than chasing fads.

Example - I Ebay'd 30 Watches i collected and bought a £100 Seiko 5 Automatic.  Not exactly expensive but a classic watch for life.

Example - I just bought an old, used, Canon DSLR.  Far from modern but built like a brick outhouse and super dependable (actually built like a magnesium alloy outhouse).

I'm aiming for a low maintenance, minimal possession, lifestyle.  If I own something then I want it to be tried, tested, dependable and used regularly.  I look at Ford Transit vans longingly (but having a hard job convincing my wife it's the perfect vehicle).  I think a Nissan Leaf may make a lot of sense in retirement, when there will be less of a hurry.

£33K seems perfectly adequate to me for that sort of life.  People manage on that and pay rent/mortgages/car-loans..etc
Some people say I'm self-obsessed but that's enough about them.

hellymedic

  • Just do it!
Re: The finish line is in site- retirement planning and financial advice
« Reply #28 on: 20 January, 2018, 04:21:48 pm »
[OTish] Hope LEE's Canon DSLR speaks to ever-updated computers and software he has; David's had problems! But there's the rub; our expenditure on chasing obsolescent technology seems to be substantial and we'd really like to use our kit for much longer. The iPads slow down, the interwebs bloat with the bloatiest of bloatware and you can no longer opt not to automagically download bulky items so you need to chase faster computers, MOAR cloud storage, faster broadband etc.

My telecoms expenditure has risen much faster than inflation.

I think chasing technology is a significant expense.

Unfortunately.

Kim

  • Timelord
    • Fediverse
Re: The finish line is in site- retirement planning and financial advice
« Reply #29 on: 20 January, 2018, 04:43:38 pm »
I think chasing technology is a significant expense.

That's a tricky one, as the sweet spot seems to be for the tech-savvy user who isn't interested in the latest shiny.  If you rely on, say, the Mega-global Fruit Corporation of Cupertino, USAnia, then you're locked into their upgrade cycles.  If you go for the total luddite approach of using a given level of tech until it breaks, then you get little control on *when* it all goes horribly pear-shaped, be it through hardware failure, malware, or general incompatibility with the rest of the world.  At which point your almost-zero tech costs become suddenly very expensive as you effectively have to start from scratch.

(I spend relatively little keeping my desktop computers going - occasional piecemeal upgrades to last season's tech when something breaks. I run Linux so avoid the worst of the bloat.  ADSL is more than adequate.  No cloud storage because I run my own server, etc. etc.)

Anyway, it's all vanishingly small when you compare it to the cost of housing.  A high-end iMac is only a couple of month's rent, for example.  The only way to win is to be old and lucky enough to have paid the bulk of your housing costs at 1976 prices.

Wowbagger

  • Former Sylph
    • Stuff mostly about weather
Re: The finish line is in site- retirement planning and financial advice
« Reply #30 on: 20 January, 2018, 04:55:02 pm »
But that's not really winning because you are soon going to be too old and decrepit to be able to use it! Or dead...
Quote from: Dez
It doesn’t matter where you start. Just start.

hellymedic

  • Just do it!
Re: The finish line is in site- retirement planning and financial advice
« Reply #31 on: 20 January, 2018, 05:00:27 pm »
My mortgage is paid, my house is now freehold. I've been retired 14 years and live on my NHS pension & benefits.
Some of the Big Bills are predictable and consistent.
Just treading water technologically doesn't appear trivial; I wish it were!

We certainly don't get the latest of everything but David is oft hamstrung when various bits no longer communicate and old files become inaccessible.

Wowbagger

  • Former Sylph
    • Stuff mostly about weather
Re: The finish line is in site- retirement planning and financial advice
« Reply #32 on: 20 January, 2018, 05:05:59 pm »
We get pretty significant contributions from our lodgers. Both get a much better deal that they would elsewhere. This needs to be factored in when we decide that we are selling up and moving elsewhere - if we do.
Quote from: Dez
It doesn’t matter where you start. Just start.

Re: The finish line is in site- retirement planning and financial advice
« Reply #33 on: 20 January, 2018, 05:13:48 pm »
Helly, Wow,

Did you both pay off your mortgages alone, or with help from others (or parents)?

Wowbagger

  • Former Sylph
    • Stuff mostly about weather
Re: The finish line is in site- retirement planning and financial advice
« Reply #34 on: 20 January, 2018, 05:18:16 pm »
I paid off a chunk when I took a redundancy in 1995. We had a couple of endowments, one of which just about gave us a return on our cash, and the other of which didn't. I claimed compensation for the one that didn't and, to my amazement, got over £5k from whoever it was that had taken over the insurance company we originally took the endowment out with. I topped it up with money from my mother's estate.

I can't actually remember when we got shot of the mortgage. 2005 I reckon - my mother died in 2004.
Quote from: Dez
It doesn’t matter where you start. Just start.

Re: The finish line is in site- retirement planning and financial advice
« Reply #35 on: 20 January, 2018, 05:23:55 pm »
I packed in work 8 years ago at 57.  Single, no dependants, mortgage paid, no debts.  I've been monitoring my spending for 8 years.  Other than exceptional costs like reroofing I know I live well enough on £8k a year.  I run a car, take holidays, and have 8 pedal cycles to feed and water.  This means I can just about get by on the state pension alone.  Now I've reached that magic age and have that to bolster my work place pensions I have an annual income somewhat less than half the £33k the OP is looking at.  I spent my life in the private sector and have moved around a lot including internationally, so have not had time in any one place to accrue such a pension pot, and certainly not final salary.  I consider myself quite fortunate to have what I have and the experiences I've had.  I could not imagine being in one company/job for a whole working life.

Re: The finish line is in site- retirement planning and financial advice
« Reply #36 on: 20 January, 2018, 05:29:53 pm »
Certainly interested in the minimal but high quality approach  to  living. Phone is a Wiley fox  but could have been a Moto G 5.
Bikes, possibly one or two too many.
Clothes, and I like clothes, I have enough of for now.

Tech,  not bothered by the latest other than it works and makes my life easier..

hellymedic

  • Just do it!
Re: The finish line is in site- retirement planning and financial advice
« Reply #37 on: 20 January, 2018, 05:37:19 pm »
Helly, Wow,

Did you both pay off your mortgages alone, or with help from others (or parents)?

All my own earnings and savings.

Never inherited from my grandparents, my parents are still alive. Inherited from an aunt after I'd finished my mortgage.

I never smoked, drank or drove and have no kids.

Students had good grants 40 years ago, doctors were paid fairly and hospital accommodation was free or cheap.

Re: The finish line is in site- retirement planning and financial advice
« Reply #38 on: 20 January, 2018, 05:47:12 pm »
The thought of paying off my mortgage and having nothing but bills and council tax (as mentioned up thread) is
so appealing. In theory I could do it in October this year, but I'd lose 15% from my pension and 9% from the lump sum.

Leaving it another 12 months will make the hit more palatable (10% and 6% respectively). Remaining lump sum will still be good, and the savings (58 - 60) of not paying a mortgage will eventually add to the lump sum total.

Wowbagger

  • Former Sylph
    • Stuff mostly about weather
Re: The finish line is in site- retirement planning and financial advice
« Reply #39 on: 20 January, 2018, 06:31:04 pm »
I was "fortunate" to get my pension early on health grounds, although it didn't seem like it at the time. My rheumatoid arthritis gave me hell for the first two years of its existence and I have had the occasional flare-up since, but thanks to the wonder-drug methotrexate I don't get all that many symptoms now. Getting it early on health grounds meant I had no actuarial reduction on what is a pretty small pension by some of the standards here.
Quote from: Dez
It doesn’t matter where you start. Just start.

Re: The finish line is in site- retirement planning and financial advice
« Reply #40 on: 20 January, 2018, 06:39:45 pm »
I retired early 3 years ago (48 yrs) I was fed up with work and now enjoy my freedom. The last two years I have spent approx £6k/annum, I enjoy being frugal. I could start my FS pension but am still stringing out the redundancy/savings.

Re: The finish line is in site- retirement planning and financial advice
« Reply #41 on: 21 January, 2018, 09:15:28 am »
I retired from the NHS 5 (or is it 6) years ago after 39 years service. My final salary was based on an 8b scale.
 (I'm not old enough yet to get the state pension, but I know when I do it d will mean a significant boost in disposable income.)
I had been overpaying on my mortgage for a number of years, and am convinced that those excess payments were the best investments I ever made. Without those payments a good chunk of my lump sum would have gone to the bank.
Expenses in retirement are not as predictable as I expected. My lifestyle has changed in ways I didn't anticipate: I'm cycling less than I intended - but I've got two allotment plots I didn't have before. We take  longer holidays, rather than the more frequent shorter ones we used to. I spend a LOT less on clothes, but a fair bit more on grandchildren related activities. I've taken up analogue photography which had come out of the blue.
I have been using KMyMoney to track expenses for a number of years and while I'm still crap at budgeting it gives me a very good handle on where the money is, and who's getting it, for what.

Sent from my P01W using Tapatalk

Too many angry people - breathe & relax.

Re: The finish line is in site- retirement planning and financial advice
« Reply #42 on: 21 January, 2018, 11:16:00 am »
8b pay range (and pension) is pretty good. You must have had a lot of responsibility.

Re: The finish line is in site- retirement planning and financial advice
« Reply #43 on: 21 January, 2018, 01:19:46 pm »
8b pay range (and pension) is pretty good. You must have had a lot of responsibility.
It was a bit of a fudge (aka clusterfuck) in that I was re-organised into an 8b post for reasons that I'd be unhappy to share in public (even after this time). My last 'proper job' was an 8a Clinical Governance / Patient Safety role. I migrated (or was manipulated / shunted) from my comfort zone as a Quality Manager in Pathology services into increasingly scary situations where I was getting minimal training and/or support - in the end my head imploded and I suffered severe Clinical Depression and Anxiety - which as anyone who has experienced will testify, really never leaves you. Retirement was a happy release, but I'm still bitter that they wouldn't consider Ill-Health retirement, and even more bitter about the way I was treated by a supposedly caring employer.
Financially I came out of it OK, but personally ......
Too many angry people - breathe & relax.

hellymedic

  • Just do it!
Re: The finish line is in site- retirement planning and financial advice
« Reply #44 on: 21 January, 2018, 01:31:49 pm »
[Totally OT comment]
It is really sad that retirement from the NHS is a relief thather than a somewhat sad end to a long fulfilling and happy career...

Re: The finish line is in site- retirement planning and financial advice
« Reply #45 on: 21 January, 2018, 01:32:54 pm »
Mike,

I understand your misgivings about the NHS. I have a brother working for one of the trusts in the Manchester area
and he is full of woe about his department, managers and HR. :(

Re: The finish line is in site- retirement planning and financial advice
« Reply #46 on: 21 January, 2018, 02:11:54 pm »
I am 60 in august and able to retire I believe on the 1995 scheme.  I still really enjoy my work and will continue as I have a very supportive group of colleagues who see me as an elder statesman and have allowed me to move into research/entrepreneurship and reduce some of my clinical duties.  I have however taken a number of career breaks overseas and therefore may have less than hoped. These included Italy, Australia, Ghana and Research.

I however still have a hefty mortgage.  In the NHS, we moved every couple of years and at one time since graduating my wife and I had had 16 houses in 17 years.  We then managed to make every house buy and sell coincide with a slump or boon but in a bad way!  When the boys left home we decided to downsize and build a 2 person home.  This was wonderful and I would not change it for the world but it means our fixed outgoings are still fairly major.

We will have substantially less than many of our friends but will still be very comfortable and have an excellent lifestyle.  The important thing though is that my wife and I would not change a single day of 37 years of marriage or forgo a single experience.

I am struck by how many people on this thread also have put life experience ahead of absolute financial security.

LEE

  • "Shut Up Jens" - Legs.
Re: The finish line is in site- retirement planning and financial advice
« Reply #47 on: 21 January, 2018, 02:34:42 pm »
I think chasing technology is a significant expense.

That's a tricky one, as the sweet spot seems to be for the tech-savvy user who isn't interested in the latest shiny.

Kim has it right.

"Bleeding Edge" Shiny stuff is expensive but there's a problem for the Apples of this World, their tech has reached a point where there are only slight marginal gains to be had from their new stuff.
The latest iPhone advert tells me I can have face-recognition to unlock it and have Emojis that sing along with my face (I tend not to sing at my phone though).  If that's the best they can come up with for £1,000 then they are in serious trouble.
 
Camera-phones were pretty dismal for 10 years but now they aren't, they are amazingly bloody good.  I've stopped looking for a better camera phone now.
Digital cameras were in a megapixel war for 15 years but that's stopped now, we have enough pixels.  12Mp is absolutely fine for 20" exhibition prints (and how many people need images bigger than their friends' phones anyway?)  The market for compact cameras has collapsed (because of camera phones).

Stick to the previous generation of shiny and it's all becoming very affordable (and perfectly good enough...unless it's an iPhone being deliberately knobbled by Apple of course.).

There's really just one iteration of Moore's Law required for me to be perfectly happy.  I need a truly portable laptop, like my wonderful and tiny Dell XPS13, that can handle 4K video editing.
All my stuff is 1080p (which is generally as good as most people need) but I'm aware that 4K will be ubiquitous in 5-10 years.  I expect I'll pay the same for that Laptop as I did for my "1080p" Laptop (Thanks to Moore's law).

I doubt many people will be in a desperate rush for 8K and above TV but I can understand why people with TVs the size of their wall would like 4K definition. 
8K brings with it some serious implications for bandwidth and storage... for what?  Resolution that you really can't appreciate unless you replace a house wall with an OLED TV? (Most 4K TV streams are compressed below 4K, 8K streams will be compressed even more).  I really don't need to see News-readers' nasal hairs the size of my furniture.

Once I have that 4k Laptop I'll stump up for a Panasonic Lumix GH? camera, with 4K video and I'm done.  I have the bikes I want and the Motorhome I want.  I'll have all the photo/video gear I need for amateur work and a Laptop capable of editing/publishing it.  I can go cycling and I can read one of the 1000s of books on my (old but perfectly adequate) Kindle.  Done. 

Of course I expect the Tech Giants to continue to push more CPU intensive features, in order to sell more shiny, but I don't know would tempt me.  VR seems as dead as 3D. It hardly gets a mention any more.  I tried it and it was a fun novelty for an hour.
 
Camera-phone software will improve to generate DSLR type effects but physics simply prevents them from ever replacing the quality from big pieces of glass on a "real" camera*
*The latest iPhone has a nice camera but it costs more than my full-frame DSLR camera body....so it should be a good camera.

I can walk around a CURRYS superstore now and genuinely think, "meh", from start to finish.

The one major advance I'm waiting on now is Electric Car range.  As soon as we have Ford Focus type cars, with a genuine 300 mile range, I'm in.  That's going to happen within 5 years.  Tesla have seemingly cracked the range issue, the costs will obviously fall with volumes.

So, before retirement proper, I think it's wise to de-clutter and, if you do buy things, make sure they are style classics and hard-wearing (Think Victorinox Swiss Army Knives, Seiko watches, Canon L-series lenses, Barbour Jackets...etc). 

Buy well, buy once.

Some people say I'm self-obsessed but that's enough about them.

hellymedic

  • Just do it!
Re: The finish line is in site- retirement planning and financial advice
« Reply #48 on: 21 January, 2018, 02:54:11 pm »
[Straying into Ctrl-Alt-Del land]

Buy well, but once would be great if the old DSLRs would talk to the telescopes and computers updated systems. They don't always. David tracks and guides telescopes and stacks images. Ensuring mutual compatibility betwixt mont and camera is a headache...

LEE

  • "Shut Up Jens" - Legs.
Re: The finish line is in site- retirement planning and financial advice
« Reply #49 on: 21 January, 2018, 05:25:06 pm »
[Straying into Ctrl-Alt-Del land]

Buy well, but once would be great if the old DSLRs would talk to the telescopes and computers updated systems. They don't always. David tracks and guides telescopes and stacks images. Ensuring mutual compatibility betwixt mont and camera is a headache...

I suppose that highly specialised requirements will always require highly specialised, and expensive, solutions.

The demand for more resolution in Astro-photography will never end.
Some people say I'm self-obsessed but that's enough about them.