Pleasantly surprised how cheap retirement is..

[Reproician]

Two years ago I was earning £70k and living very nicely on it.

Then stuff happened and I decided to take very early retirement. I have good pensions to come in 5 years' time, but meantime have some casual work which earns £4k pa and investment income of about £12k. I planned to live off savings to fill the gap and budgeted up to £20k pa.

Now, I realise I am very fortunate and I am definitely not claiming poverty. I realise being well set up and then moving to a lower income is entirely different to a lifetime lived on a low income. My mortgage is paid off etc, but I am finding I only need to draw on the saving for one off big purchases. I've drawn £6k altogether in 2 years.

I'm still living a good life. I still spend without thinking to hard on the things I want, I still have a busy social life, I still travel multiple times a year.

Being able to be fully flexible means everything is cheaper. I can at the time of the week/month/year when flights are cheapest etc. And the money I must have been spending on clothes, food, travel for work etc. PlusbI think when you're working hard there's a tendency to spend on "treats" that you don't feel the need for when lofe is.lore relaxed.

Just me and an adult son at home. He pays some keep, but I don't make any profit out of him.

My income is £4k earnings and £12k in investment income.

I didn't want to live on that, so I budgeted to take £20k pa from savings (which are substantial) until I take my pensions. So far in two years I have taken £6k.

She has 12 +4 k income - that’s 16k

and because she has savings she had allocated 4k from her savings each year taking her to 20k a year

but instead of spending 8k of the savings, she has spent 6k over the last 2 years - ie in effect living off 19 rather than 20k

if the original post is accurate

Apologies / taking 20k not 4 form savings - wow that would be a lot !

I think you made that up. The OP is accurate, and I've just repeated the figures, but this isn't.

What region do you live in?

Make sure you spend it or your relatives will go first class!

Hence the apologies ? I misread it somehow - but given other people were also unclear it might buy just be my fault there

SE England. Not a fancy bit, but 40 min from central London by train.

Your clarification isn't correct either.

Most people arent even on that when they're working!

I think I understand. So, in total OP is living off an average annual net income of 19k so far (which would be about 22k gross). I'm impressed that you can pay for 3 holidays abroad and still spend pretty much whatever you like in your day to day living.

ah you see, I don't! I take lunch to work and very rarely buy food or drink out during the week. Travel costs me £10-12 a week depending on how often I walk or get the bus.

Oh, hang on. Could you just tell us OP what is the annual figure that you are living off. Net or gross.

That's the beauty of being flexible. E.g I'm going to Spain in November. Flights were £14 return, on a Wednesday, and appartment accomodation is £400, shared with a friend for the week.

We'll eat out and have a few drinks, do sone activities while we're away but get supermarket bits to have an easy breakfast and lunch.

A lot of the trips are for a few days based around a specific activity.

That’s good to hear OP but tbh you do have a good pension to live on some will purely be relying on state pension which tbh could be payable not until your 70’s the way things are going.

A pp makes a good point about holidays. You are no longer tied to paying school holiday prices, and can go in the cheaper periods during termtime, and can also take advantage of last-minute deals.

You’ve given me hope.. I’m limping towards retirement next year at 55. I’m taking the 25% and have two paid board roles to keep me ticking over both pay me roughly 1k a month. Been paying into my pension since I was 23 years old and lined up the advisory board roles to give me a buffer..

My income is £4k earnings and £12k in investment income.
I didn't want to live on that, so I budgeted to take £20k pa from savings (which are substantial) until I take my pensions. So far in two years I have taken £6k.

That's gross but I don't pay income tax or NI.

I'm 57 and planning on retiring in 2 years. I'm comfortable with the pensions and savings draw dawns to give me the income I need in terms of bills, food, entertainment/hobbies, holidays, etc. But what worries me (and why I'm working longer) are the big ticket items. Lets assume I'll be retired for 25 years - so in that time I need to budget for at least one boiler placement, some window replacements, maybe 3 cars, a couple of garden sheds, fridges, freezers, washing machines, TVs, and also roof repairs, guttering, repointing, etc - could easily be £100k+

And by the time her pensions come through (state and workplace if she has one) she’ll have far more.

This is v reassuring. I’m mid forties and feel under prepared right now but maybe I’m on track. I think I’m feeling anxious because DH is older and under prepared, but I’ll still be working for years after he retires. I doubt he’ll go until 68 as we’ll still have a child in sixth form til then!

Yes, I have savings and investments that mean I don't need to worry too much about that.

As I said in OP, I realise I'm in a very privileged position and the cushion definitely makes a difference. I've been surprised how little I'm spending day to day.

I don't know why you are being so evasive and giving roundabout explanations. All I'm asking is what is the figure you are living off? A pp said it was 19k and you said that was wrong, so what is it?

I believe the OP worked for this.

£4k earned income + £12k investment income = £16k pa topped up by drawing from by savings, which so far has been £6k over two years. So my "income is £16k and I'm spending £19k pa.

Nothing evasive about it, you're wanting an answer which doesn't exist.

It was the method in tbe calculation PP had got wrong.

But @LardyCakeLover thats not £100k paid out in one go. Thats over 25 years. So £4k a year. And also, a lot of these things you’ve listed are lifestyle choices. Multiple garden sheds…