[Misc] Retirement

[LamieRobertson]

There's no better feeling than being mortgage free!

I reach that next month, just the rent to pay now

 

[OzMike]

2 years left now.

 

[dazzer6666]

There were many people slating different pension companies and advisers. I have three pension pots with three different companies, performance YTD is (in difficult times):

SJPP Annual Change -0.57%
Smart Pension Annual Change -2.58%
Scottish Widows Annual Change +1.76%

SJPP +3.97%
Ascot Lloyd +3.89%

Both are fairly volatile as quite high on the risk scale. The drop was c15% after the Trump tariff announcements but the recovery has been quick. Our ISAs have fared even better.

 

[maltaseagull]

The fallout is just another blip, shouldn’t impact pensions much given the invest time horizon. Much of the dip has already been recovered anyway……

Just been to Portugal on our annual (now old) gentleman’s golf/pissup, and off to South America with junior next next week for a couple of weeks to tick off another thing on the bucket list (Galapagos Islands). Bruges in July, Cyprus in September and now looking at booking stuff for Christmas and then the US next spring and a safari in the summer. Keeps me busy when not on one of my 3 days a week fishing.

That is some Pension pot you have there! Very envious of your trips. Especially Galapagos as it has been a dream for us for some time but unlikely to happen now.

 

[dazzer6666]

That is some Pension pot you have there! Very envious of your trips. Especially Galapagos as it has been a dream for us for some time but unlikely to happen now.

It’s going down rapidly

 

[A mex eyecan]

It’s going down rapidly

There’s the problem …. You may have to swap out Bruges for staying in Burgess (Hill). Still you would be near Wintons for your fishing

 

[dazzer6666]

There’s the problem …. You may have to swap out Bruges for staying in Burgess (Hill). Still you would be near Wintons for your fishing

Never fished there………think it’s the domain of the 3 day-long sleeping anglers

 

[A mex eyecan]

Never fished there………think it’s the domain of the 3 day-long sleeping anglers

Seriously though now being into 3rd year retirement, awaiting my first months state pension to hit the bank and having been living off cash savings now for 40months trying to
Judge how much I can draw down from my pension is a right conundrum. For a start I don’t have a clue what age to budget until

 

[Weststander]

Seriously though now being into 3rd year retirement, awaiting my first months state pension to hit the bank and having been living off cash savings now for 40months trying to
Judge how much I can draw down from my pension is a right conundrum. For a start I don’t have a clue what age to budget until

95

 

[BrightonCottager]

95

Is that what the financial advisors do?
I've been thinking of doing drawdown so was wondering about this.

 

[Weststander]

Is that what the financial advisors do?
I've been thinking of doing drawdown so was wondering about this.

I was joking . Do they include health prospects?

 

[Jovis]

Is that what the financial advisors do?
I've been thinking of doing drawdown so was wondering about this.

I got my IFA to do some cash modelling to work out how long my money would last if I retire in two years time. Based on a life expectancy of 95. It was a game changer, really interesting.

 

[dazzer6666]

Seriously though now being into 3rd year retirement, awaiting my first months state pension to hit the bank and having been living off cash savings now for 40months trying to
Judge how much I can draw down from my pension is a right conundrum. For a start I don’t have a clue what age to budget until

I'm coming up to 5 years................I did a 'basics' budget (ie what we needed to live relatively comfortably) before I decided to stop work, making sure there was enough to cover that from returns on savings/pensions etc then all the 'discretionary' spend is on top. We've got another 8/9 years before we get any state pension but so far it's been OK - we've blown an awful lot of money on holidays in the last 5 years but I don't see that continuing until the 90+ we're supposed to budget for (and any FA will tell you that your spending will diminish (all things being equal) as you descend fully into dozing, daytime TV and dribbling soup down your vest.

I drew the full tax free amount from my pensions as soon as I could (55th birthday basically) - didn't spend it but having control of it meant I could maximise tax efficiency and have much more flexibility.

 

[thedonkeycentrehalf]

Seriously though now being into 3rd year retirement, awaiting my first months state pension to hit the bank and having been living off cash savings now for 40months trying to
Judge how much I can draw down from my pension is a right conundrum. For a start I don’t have a clue what age to budget until

When my Pension guy and I were playing with projections he said that I was currently on track to run out of money at 98 but if i brought my retirement forward a year it would run out at 94. I said that if I am still alive at 94 I'm fairly sure I won't care about having much money to spend!

 

[BrightonCottager]

When my Pension guy and I were playing with projections he said that I was currently on track to run out of money at 98 but if i brought my retirement forward a year it would run out at 94. I said that if I am still alive at 94 I'm fairly sure I won't care about having much money to spend!

To also kind of answer @Weststander 's query, a lot depends on assumptions about health. My mum's coming up for 92 and living in a care home paying £9k / month out of her savings and (soon, inshallah) proceeds of selling her home. I doubt many of us on this thread are factoring in those kind of costs, unless we already have a medical condition that is likely to result in a care home stay. So life expectancy isn't the be-all and end-all, it's years of  healthy living and a contingency fund for the rest, I guess.

 

[A mex eyecan]

When I do my ‘considerations’ I take cash, future state pensions income for me and Mrs Amex and also pension pots. I don’t factor in our house, in a perfect case that will go as inheritance for children and grandchildren. I now await incoming moaning that’s morally wrong to do as all the residual left after death should go to the state.
I would imagine the reality will be that the cash and pension pots will go and the house needing to be sold to pay for nursing care for me and my wife.

 

[thedonkeycentrehalf]

When I do my ‘considerations’ I take cash, future state pensions income for me and Mrs Amex and also pension pots. I don’t factor in our house, in a perfect case that will go as inheritance for children and grandchildren. I now await incoming moaning that’s morally wrong to do as all the residual left after death should go to the state.
I would imagine the reality will be that the cash and pension pots will go and the house needing to be sold to pay for nursing care for me and my wife.

Same here - I 'could' leave a nice pot of money for my kids but their view is, you earned it, you spend it. The house will be their inheritance if it isn't used for care.

 

[dazzer6666]

Same here - I 'could' leave a nice pot of money for my kids but their view is, you earned it, you spend it. The house will be their inheritance if it isn't used for care.

Told ours that if we live life like we intend to then there won’t be much left for them

 

[A mex eyecan]

Told ours that if we live life like we intend to then there won’t be much left for them

Yes and of course you’re right, but I still feel a Pang of guilt when we spend on going away etc. we don’t go for anything overly extravagant as Mrs A hates travelling so we tend to be European breaks and of course a good break in the UK, there’s so many great places within our shores that would be sad to miss.