Pension stuff, how's it all looking ? HAve you prepared ?

[Taipan]

sitting at home shivering and miserable won't be fun,

There are other options. I've met many folk here who shut their house down for 3 month and live over here instead. Or others just have long hiolidays here.

That was one of our options, to be "snow birds", and now the only ooption I think, as we wont buy a property abroad now.

[IccyV2]

sitting at home shivering and miserable won't be fun,

There are other options. I've met many folk here who shut their house down for 3 month and live over here instead. Or others just have long hiolidays here.

If you're sat at home shivering because you can't afford to put the gas fire on then a 3 month stay in the Canaries probably isn't an option.

[Taipan]

sitting at home shivering and miserable won't be fun,

There are other options. I've met many folk here who shut their house down for 3 month and live over here instead. Or others just have long hiolidays here.

If you're sat at home shivering because you can't afford to put the gas fire on then a 3 month stay in the Canaries probably isn't an option.

Back in the 80s we knew a few pensioners who found it cheaper to go abroad over xmas than stay here. Back then hotels offered discounts for long stay people, December to March type stuff iirc? Back then few had private pensions, only state ones, so it made sense to get a half board deal as opposed to being here paying for food and heating. I think those deals have long gone though as people took to holidaying all year round.

[Sunny]

I'd go bananas with nothing to do. I don't really want to retire, but I do want to have enough to cover whatever I do want to do.

I reckon I'd carry on working/volunteering for a significant amount of time, but also there's loads of training and learning that I'd like to have the time to do.

The reason I'm obsessing about it a bit at the moment is that I really fancy a career change (I have a specific one in mind), but I can't afford to take the paycut. So having a 'retirement' income would really help!

[MyLittleStudPony]

I find the doing nothing very easy.

It also enables me to dedicate more time to my passion for ditherblocking.

[Count Steer]

I find the doing nothing very easy.

It also enables me to dedicate more time to my passion for ditherblocking.

I can send you a link to a nice set of exercises that help perfect the confusion routine at the checkout when the need to pay comes as a complete surprise and you can develop the perfect fumble routine trying to find your means of payment. Upgrade available for the modern tech-savvy blocker - hunting for your payment app and Club Card app on a phone packed with unused junk apps that your 'son is going to tidy up one day'.

(Masterclass available in splitting the shopping because 'I'm just getting these few things for a neighbour can I have 2 receipts?.....bonus points for doing it after the checkout person has sent everything through).

Oh, there's also an equivalent to the best local pump price for petrol finder - 'pensioner special: meal-deal finder'.

We should campaign for Olympics inclusion. The Blocking Pentathlon.

[Horse]

We should campaign for Olympics inclusion. The Blocking Pentathlon.

Internet JustAboutEverything has killed off something I'd been planning since 1989

Going to the Post Office on a Thursday lunchtime, )when every other customer is trying to get in and out during their lunch break) and struggling through every pocket to find the last penny for a stamp, etc.

[Dodgy69]

I think if you've got a well paid job you like then the decision to stop is much harder. If you're pissed off with your job its easier.

But I do believe we shouldn't rely on our jobs to give us our happiness and purpose. Enjoy your freedom, your time and your family. Work to live, not live to work type thinking here.

[Yorick]

I think if you've got a well paid job you like then the decision to stop is much harder. If you're pissed off with your job its easier.

But I do believe we shouldn't rely on our jobs to give us our happiness and purpose. Enjoy your freedom, your time and your family. Work to live, not live to work type thinking here.

Never a truer word spoken.

[IccyV2]

I think if you've got a well paid job you like then the decision to stop is much harder. If you're pissed off with your job its easier.

But I do believe we shouldn't rely on our jobs to give us our happiness and purpose. Enjoy your freedom, your time and your family. Work to live, not live to work type thinking here.

I understand the concept, but I always thought that it was a bit weird to stay in a job that made you unhappy, I've had one or two like that and I kept turning up because I needed the money but I always worked towards something better.

You spend about a third of your life at work so the flip side of that also holds water, find a job you love and you'll never do another days work in your life.

[Count Steer]

I think if you've got a well paid job you like then the decision to stop is much harder. If you're pissed off with your job its easier.

But I do believe we shouldn't rely on our jobs to give us our happiness and purpose. Enjoy your freedom, your time and your family. Work to live, not live to work type thinking here.

Just to complicate matters, in just about every job I've had there have been parts of it that I've really enjoyed and other parts not so much. In a couple of jobs there were long periods where I was working in what I think of as my sweet spot and having a great time, others where I wasn't in my comfort zone. Great to learn new areas and get new skills but a bit of a tightrope walk at times. If the downs exceeded the ups for too long I was inclined to move on.

In the end I decided that the balance had shifted too far and wasn't coming back. Went into the base office the next day and quit. As it turned out, quit for good.

The fact that I actually didn't need to have a job helped. (I hadn't lived like a monk but I had a made a few 'wise' decisions ).

<Gump> A job is like a box of chocolates - mostly nice, a few favourites but there's always a couple in there that are a bit meh.</Gump>

[Scotsrich]

The wife and I try to live off our state pensions on a day to day basis just as an exercise.

It’s harder than you’d think. You have a balanced budget then something throws it completely off. And that’s with no mortgage or loans of any kind. At the end of the period there can be literally a couple of quid in the account. It’s easier as a couple, one pension would be a nightmare.

I’d hate to have to rely on that permanently. There certainly wouldn’t be a GS in the shed and I’d be running an old car, eating out would go and most other fun things too.

[weeksy]

The wife and I try to live off our state pensions on a day to day basis just as an exercise.

It’s harder than you’d think. You have a balanced budget then something throws it completely off. And that’s with no mortgage or loans of any kind. At the end of the period there can be literally a couple of quid in the account. It’s easier as a couple, one pension would be a nightmare.

I’d hate to have to rely on that permanently. There certainly wouldn’t be a GS in the shed and I’d be running an old car, eating out would go and most other fun things too.

I think that's the point though. Its just about enough to get by on. Any nice things, you arrange for yourself accordingly

[gremlin]

With the demise of Dunn and Co., has anybody had any luck sourcing one of those beige lightweight jackets that seem to be de rigueur for the retired gentleman...

Just getting my ducks lined up. Skechers on order.

[Taipan]

This is why I struggle with the thought of early retirement. I'm too young to draw a state pension, so I'd have to self fund it. Walking away from an income, that is also contributing to my private pension, to then draw on my savings just doesn't make sense to me. Not sure I want to raid my private pension earlier either, assuming I even can do that?

I was in work early today because I have an exciting project to get done. It'll take some setting up and i may have to bring in someone else to help. Then I'll end up sorting things out in post production. I love these little challenges that get thrown up and the change from the normal daily work they bring. My work is based on conservation rather than commerce, so I never have the pressure of deadlines. Its a very relaxed job. I just can't see me giving this up, to then have to find things of equal interest to do, and lose a large percent of my income and savings too!

Its my f-i-ls funeral tomorrow, so understandably, my wife is in a "let's retire and enjoy things now, whilst were young and able enough to do so" mood. Its a fair point, especially given my advancing crippledom, but, like I say, I'm not, not enjoying life as it is at the moment. I've got 4 years until I officially retire. I've told her I'll go in 2...

[Yorick]

This is why I struggle with the thought of early retirement.

. I've told her I'll go in 2...

When you retire, we'll all miss your yearly episode of the next 'forever bike'

[Taipan]

This is why I struggle with the thought of early retirement.

. I've told her I'll go in 2...

When you retire, we'll all miss your yearly episode of the next 'forever bike'

Pah! When I retire, my child like attention span will kick in, and i'll probably be buying different bikes monthly!

[Bustaspoke]

Probably but it's a multiplier, for every year you've got an income coming in you're not using savings, so three extra years working means three years where you're not using up savings and if that gives you a couple of years in retirement then you've gained five years of sustainable living instead of five years struggling.
It's probably not a picnic either way but sitting at home shivering and miserable won't be fun, I'd rather go to work and have the extra coming in.

This was my attitude when saving for retirement.I was supermarket trucking for JS & much as I disliked the place & wanted to just park up the lorry I was hammering my pension contributions & maxing out the share save.I ended up taking a 4 month sabatical when one lot of share save came in & this gave me enough breathing space to go back in there & do another 5 year stint hammering the pension & another sharesave.It was mentally tough going back there but the target was 5 years & out.The week my shares came in I walked into the office & told them that I was leaving at the end of my shift.( I had booked two weeks holiday starting the following day so they couldn't make me work any notice)
It's easier to stay in work if you're enjoying it,& many of my colleagues enjoyed the place & stayed on well beyond pension age,but I don't think they did much outside of work & got institutionalised.For me it was just a means to an end

[ZRX61]

My rather unimpressive Vanguard took a hit last month because of the shenanigans in the Gulf (4.64% drop).

This month it's back up 4.98%, so just a minor short-term hiccup.

[weeksy]

My rather unimpressive Vanguard took a hit last month because of the shenanigans in the Gulf (4.64% drop).

This month it's back up 4.98%, so just a minor short-term hiccup.

Yeah this week mine is at the highest its ever been. I'm not unhappy with that