How much money do you need

[jim8flog]

I got a wake up call when 2 close friends died suddenly, both in their 50s. It made me realise you never know what’s round the corner. I decided to retire very early, a couple of weeks after my 54th birthday. Took a big hit on the pension, but knew I’d have enough to live comfortably.

7 years on, it’s the best thing I ever did. It’s not all about how much money you’ve got, you only live once, make the right choices which give you quality of life.

Yes that was my intention. I worked in insurance and I saw too many men not quite make it to retirement age or retire and die.

Sadly the 2008 financial crises and the massive drop in interest rates meant my finances were not quite as planned, instead of living off the income I have had to live off the capital.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

“Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen nineteen and six , result happiness.
Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery”

Much is going to depend on the balance of what you value in life...acquiring stuff or living experiences...and a lived experience can be as simple and complex as a loving relationship and peace of mind. And that balance can and will change as we experience and live through the randomness of the events that impact our lives...or the lives of those closest to us.

That balance, and what is important to me today with my wife in remission from BC and post-pandemic is in many ways very different from what it was 10yrs ago when I was personally also in a very different mental and spiritual place.

Both now retired, though wife still doing a couple of days work she enjoys, we are comfortable in our day-to-day living and have much to be grateful for in our family relationships...and taking much joy and reassurance from how our two children are developing and progressing in their careers.

For stuff I care little...I have much of what I value and that is freely available and that can be given.

 

[Mudball]

We will be still mortgaged when i hit 55 in a few years and kid would be in Uni. (probably unpopular opinion)....Even if i hit my lifetime limit in my pension pot when i get to 55, i dont think i can retire. Unless i move to a different country.

I envy a friend who retired at 55. Worked his backside in the City. At 55, all his kids had flown. So he decided he had enough. Sold the Surrey house, bought some sorted of listed property & land on Welsh border and moved. Perfect timing as he got top wack for his house before the pandemic hit.

 

[bobmac]

I live off my RAF pension so I can't afford to jet around the world all the time or drive a brand new Tesla, but my house and everything in it is paid for, and that gives me great peace of mind.
Being retired is the easiest 'job' I've ever had and I've discovered I'm brilliant at it, it's the only thing I've really been any good at and best of all.....I don't wear a watch and there is no alarm clock in the bedroom.

Could I go back to work? sure, but why work if you don't have to.
I consider myself very lucky.

Worked his backside in the City.

Tough job

 

[backwoodsman]

My dad wangled a redundancy into a retirement at age 58. My Ma worked for a bit longer then decided 'sod it, if you've stopped, so am I' - and they had a jolly time until my my dad passed away 20 years later. I decided to emulate his lead (as regards retirement at least).. Didn't quite manage the 58 but wasn't far behind. Retired 6 years 'early' but my work pension is enough. If I want stuff I can generally afford it - and I dont want much stuff (decent bottle of wine and golf subs & gear mainly). Best bit is that the state pension kicks in, in about a year - which given our circumstances will effectively be "jolly money". But I wouldn't turn down a lottery win though.

 

[PJ87]

We will be still mortgaged when i hit 55 in a few years and kid would be in Uni. (probably unpopular opinion)....Even if i hit my lifetime limit in my pension pot when i get to 55, i dont think i can retire. Unless i move to a different country.

I envy a friend who retired at 55. Worked his backside in the City. At 55, all his kids had flown. So he decided he had enough. Sold the Surrey house, bought some sorted of listed property & land on Welsh border and moved. Perfect timing as he got top wack for his house before the pandemic hit.

Nobody seemed to be able to answer this when I ask at work but there is lots of talk about the LTA... and how my age will hit it because its been frozen so long and we have been on big wages longer... i also pay AVCs so likely .. but what happens if I do? surely its like the 40% tax .. it doesnt affect whats below the limit only whats above?

 

[Mudball]

Nobody seemed to be able to answer this when I ask at work but there is lots of talk about the LTA... and how my age will hit it because its been frozen so long and we have been on big wages longer... i also pay AVCs so likely .. but what happens if I do? surely its like the 40% tax .. it doesnt affect whats below the limit only whats above?

I have been thinking of this... my LTA is dependend on which side of the bed Elon wakes up.. (another unpopular opinion) tbh 1m in todays money is going to be insufficient in 2030. Instead of increasing the LTA, the chancellor seems determined to raid LTAs. I am going to buy an island and declare myself a non-dorm.

I found this article useful. >> https://www.theprivateoffice.com/insights/myths-and-misconceptions-about-lifetime-allowance

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

I have been thinking of this... my LTA is dependend on which side of the bed Elon wakes up.. (another unpopular opinion) tbh 1m in todays money is going to be insufficient in 2030. Instead of increasing the LTA, the chancellor seems determined to raid LTAs. I am going to buy an island and declare myself a non-dorm.

I found this article useful. >> https://www.theprivateoffice.com/insights/myths-and-misconceptions-about-lifetime-allowance

Horses for Courses - I've got nowhere near £1m in my pension pot but what I can draw down from it plus my wife's NHS pension is plenty for our day-to-day needs and a comfortable life. We have a little bit of savings we can draw on for bigger expenditures and holidays. If we desperately ever need more for day2day we can simply sell our house; take a couple or three hundred thousand (as we live in a ludicrously expensive part of the country) and move to a cheaper area or smaller place. I could have kept working to build my pot further, but in my early 60s I decided that life was worth living.

 

[PJ87]

I have been thinking of this... my LTA is dependend on which side of the bed Elon wakes up.. (another unpopular opinion) tbh 1m in todays money is going to be insufficient in 2030. Instead of increasing the LTA, the chancellor seems determined to raid LTAs. I am going to buy an island and declare myself a non-dorm.

I found this article useful. >> https://www.theprivateoffice.com/insights/myths-and-misconceptions-about-lifetime-allowance

It's one of these taxes that don't rise with inflation or time anymore

Much like inheritance tax

Back in the day when my parents purchased their house for 120k they weren't worried about it. It's now worth 850k and their concerned

 

[stefanovic]

I know without any doubt that money is only paper wealth.
Health is wealth.

 

[PJ87]

I know without any doubt that money is only paper wealth.
Health is wealth.

Not 100% sure that's true, if someone is struggling to heat their home but healthy compared to someone like my grandad who's really sick but at home now with private carers he has paid for.. he can afford to heat his home but can't get out of bed

Whilst being healthy is a lot better if you can't even heat your house or feed yourself that's a horrible hell to live through.

The middle ground is key

 

[bobmac]

''The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil''
Apparently

 

[Swinglowandslow]

There's a lot of sense in there, but it's not really a surprise because the article focusses on the outliers. i'd warrant the majority on this board fall into the category of "could do with some more, but don't necessarily struggle too much". I've always maintained if i won the lottery I wouldn't want the £150m win - it's way too much.Just a million to take the worry out of life.

Can I send you my address so that when you win the lottery, you can send me all of it except 1 million and thus I can relieve you of the stress and worry
Always willing to help??

 

[Swinglowandslow]

Not 100% sure that's true, if someone is struggling to heat their home but healthy compared to someone like my grandad who's really sick but at home now with private carers he has paid for.. he can afford to heat his home but can't get out of bed

Whilst being healthy is a lot better if you can't even heat your house or feed yourself that's a horrible hell to live through.

The middle ground is key

Quite right. Many a time I've seen celebs etc on TV saying something like "money isn't important...etc". Invariably, they have quite a bit of it.!
Having ENOUGH money is important.( Having good health is vital )

There are way too many poor sods who haven't got nearly enough money and whose lives ( and their families) are blighted by worry and fear ( and ill health as a result).
I think we shouldn't forget that.

 

[IanM]

Know what it takes to run the house, bills, food etc. Add enough on top to do what you want to do in addition to the domestics. That's how much money you need.

I always fancied a Range Rover. Never bought one as couldn't justify the expense to my self. That means it don't really need it. Birkdale? Ok, here's my credit card!! Depends on how you see the world, once you have the luxury of being able to out food on the table and a roof over your head.

My folks had very little spare money after the groceries were paid for. They also went without anything they couldn't pay for up front. Makes me appreciate what I have. Work hard, it's worth it, but stop when you can and keep stuff in perspective!