# Retiring at 51



## OMG_OMG

Age:  *51*
Spouse’s/Partner's age: *52*

Annual gross income from employment or profession:  *68K*
Annual gross income of spouse: *70K*

Monthly take-home pay : *€6k approx*

Type of employment: *Me - Private Sector.  Spouse Pre-95 Public sector*

In general are you:
*saving.  Amount varies month to month.  About 50K savings in equities.
Probably saving about €1.5k per month over the last year.  Overpaid mortgage too.*

Rough estimate of value of home : *€350k*
Amount outstanding on your mortgage: *0*

Other borrowings – car loans/personal loans etc
*None*

Do you pay off your full credit card balance each month? *Yes*
   If not, what is the balance on your credit card? *None*

Savings and investments:
*30K in equities with Degiro for childs education*

Do you have a pension scheme? *Yes.  €500K fund value
Spouse 32 Years in public sector.  €110k in AVCs*

Do you own any investment or other property? *Yes
Apartment in Dublin.  Value €200k.  Outstanding mortgage 52K.  1.5 years into 10 year lease with council at €11k per year*

Ages of children: *1 child aged 7
Childcare costs €400pm. *

Life insurance: Yes.  *Pay about €150 pm.


Questions:*
Ive always wanted to retire early.  Sick of working since the age of 15.  Just want to do my own things now.   Ive taken long 3 month holidays and thoroughly enjoyed them over the years and only went back to work because I needed to earn money.  Spouse feels the same way.

In March I was told I am being made redundant.  I will get about €40K in redundancy next month.
This came as a bit of a surprise but I am kinda glad it happened now.
Also this month, the mortgage on our house ended.
So big life changes afoot.

I was thinking now might be the time to retire.
My pension fund has about 500k in it though the retirement age is 60, so im 9 years too early 

Just looking for advice on if this can be done.
I figure between work expenses and insurance, car tax and insurance, mortgage that our monthly outgoings have dropped by €2000 euro in the last few months since the mortgage ended.   My take home is about €2800 after AVCs.  So if I stopped working we are €800 down on disposable income.  Childcare costs would reduce too.
Also when the investment mortgage is done thats another €550 that we wont be paying out every month.
Then the apartment is only in my name, and we could sell it or keep renting it after the 10 year lease is up.

The uni costs should be covered by that portion of equities we have already put away for it when that time comes.

In another 5 years my wife wants to retire too.  At that point she will be 57 and have 37 years done and get her pension.

We will have lump sums coming when she retires, and when I am 60.  Might even be able to get that lump sum at 55.

If you were in my position and wanted to give up work badly, do you think its doable.  Im kinda worried, because in my line of work, once you retire there is no going back, not that id want to anyway.

We wouldnt need to be contributing to AVCs or saving after we are both retired.

Just looking for pros and cons of making the jump to retiring at this time.  Its going round and round in my head.  Its a big step and one I really want to make.  Just a bit fearful. And sure ive missed something obvious


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## dereko1969

I suppose one thing to consider would be how likely would it be for you to get another job in your current field in the near term? The choice might not be there for you.
You could be retired for essentially 40 years all going well. How does your wife feel about you retiring now rather than around the same time she retires? I know when I mentioned retiring at 60 to my wife she immediately said she'd retire the same time, even though she's a couple of years younger than me, it stupidly felt unfair that she was "getting away" with working 2 years less than me!
I suppose if you don't have many outgoings (and well done on finishing the mortgage and well on the way to clearing the investment mortgage) it would seem feasible. I think we've all learned over the past few months just how comfortable we are with either working from home or not working so much or at all.
I haven't been much help here, I think I'm too jealous and looking for holes whereas it looks like a great opportunity if you wouldn't find yourself getting bored.


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## Sarenco

What are you going to live off before you start drawing down your pension?  Is your spouse happy to fund your living expenses?


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## 50andOut

Hi OMG

There's plenty of good threads on here with people asking similar questions, myself included, just look at my name! (look at the pensions thread also a really great one in there, i'll see if I can work out how to link it - https://www.askaboutmoney.com/threads/retiring-early-–-how-did-you-do-it.215643/).

You need to get a good idea of your actual expected income post redundancy if you no longer work again vs your average exp.
do an annual estimate of total inc vs exp year by year - up to and beyond your own pensions and then the state pensions.

Questions to consider
Could you do something part time for a small extra income
Look at the tax change your wife's net take salary will increase now as she will get your credits.
what will you do all day whilst your wife is working for the next 5 years
Is your home going to see you through retirement, are there any changes / upgrades needed  (like downstairs bedroom for when you are too old to manage stairs)
Cost of kids  increases as they get older through to college, so factor that in.
Extra time means additional costs elsewhere as you fill your time - try and be realistic with your expenditure.

Whilst your wife is working and with your roughly 900pm (is that gross or net?) income from the apartment I think you can probably see quite clearly if you can manage your current expenditure. but after that 5 year period with 1 income, and you both retire, will you have enough pension funds to last you until the state pensions kick in?

50andO


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## OMG_OMG

Thanks guys,  You have been of help.  This is exactly whats going round in my head because once i pull the trigger thats it, no going back.  
Im trying to figure out if ive missed something big that I will regret.   If I find out in another 3 years that I cant actually afford to retire that would be disastrous.

My wife would be very happy if i retired too.  She is all for it.  Some weeks I dont get in until 9pm every day.  And gone at 6am.  In my field age discrimination is rife.  I definitely wouldnt get a job in the same line.  And after so many years im kinda looking forward to having no work.  I want to get back into DIY.  I miss that so much truth be told.  We actually have very little outgoings apart from mortgages and holidays.  

We have 2 cars fully paid off (1 year and 2 years old) so wont need to be getting cars any time soon.  And now we could probably do with only one anyway because I wont be gone from morning to night with one of them.  My wife works locally and would be only too happy for me to get the kid up and drop them both to work and school and pick them up.

I dont suffer from boredom.  Never have.  I usually just think of something to do and dont get bored, even if its going to see some castle 20km away that just popped into my head or a walk on the beach or up to the mountains for an hour or two, oeven just a walk in a nearby town and read the papaer in a cafe. I dont drink much at all.  Probably had 3 pints and a couple of glasses of wine this year in total.  Nature is my drug, but i havent had much chance lately to partake.
We will actually have the same or maybe more disposable income with me retiring than staying at work, which I still cant quite believe.

And working from home has given me back so much time, i realize how much of it was wasted commuting.  That time is so nice to have and more of it would be lovely.


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## OMG_OMG

Sarenco said:


> What are you going to live off before you start drawing down your pension?  Is your spouse happy to fund your living expenses?



Well if she boots me out im in trouble 

We have always had joint accounts.  Kept the apartment in my name as when we retire that might matter when it comes to tax and pensions and assets.  It can easily be changed to whatever situation is best.  Otherwise everything has always been split down the middle.


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## Sarenco

Fair enough.

If you can live off one salary, and your wife is happy to keep working, then all is well. 

You might want to check your PRSI record to see if you have sufficient stamps to qualify for a full State (Contributory) Pension or whether it is worth making voluntary contributions.


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## OMG_OMG

Thanks Sarenco.  I didnt even think of that.  I doubt i have enough for the full pension.  I would be happy to make voluntary contributions.
Thats now on my list of things to sort out how do do.


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## michaelm

Methinks you're maybe a bit young, and the kids are a bit young, for retirement.  Long hours are no goo though.  If it were me I'd take the redundancy and job seekers while I looked for a part-time or term-time, low stress job . . then reassess in a few years.  I'd aim to retire at the same time as my spouse.


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## mtk

OMG_OMG said:


> Thanks Sarenco.  I didnt even think of that.  I doubt i have enough for the full pension.  I would be happy to make voluntary contributions.
> Thats now on my list of things to sort out how do do.


The prsi on INV.  income ( rent) Might count . Check it out


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## Sarenco

In addition to PRSI on investment income, you could also get credits for minding your child.  It's definitely an area worth investigating.


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## OMG_OMG

Thanks guys.  All things I never even thought about.  You are a fountain of knowledge.
Its also making me think about it in ways I didnt until i started typing it out.


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## bess

OMG to me this redundancy sounds like a pure gift. you are in a good position for retiring now and it sounds like it would suit you. working isn't paying you.


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## planck

Personally, I think 51 is pushing it, an option worth thinking about perhaps is part-time work for a few years as a stepping stone to full retirement


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## DeeKie

I think it puts a lot of pressure on your wife for a long time. Are you able to say roughly what you do? If we knew we could give you suggestions! Even taking a part time job based in nature would be a good idea. Is there anything you could reskill and do for some pin money. You would go through redundancy fairly quickly.


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## SPC100

There are many who chose to retire early. Some don't enjoy it. Read some of the fire community articles. Sounds like you would enjoy it.

If you have been 'only' saving 1.5k per month are you sure your lifestyle can be afforded on just your partners income. Even allowing for mortgage that looks tight. 

I'm sure you can but you might have to trim expenditure a bit?


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## OMG_OMG

I think we will have enough.  We just got new kitchen and a lot of the house renovated, and 2 new cars (if i knew redundancy was coming would have kept the old cars tbh) plus put the money away now for college, so that killed the savings a bit as it was earning no interest where it was, and those things should see us without major expenses for 10 years or more.  All that happened in the last year or two.  We really dont have huge outgoings and the savings were in the process of being ramped up again when the redundancy bombshell was dropped.

As usual, it was rolling around in my head last night again.  Fortunately my wife loves her job, but we want her to be a position to retire (if she wants to) in 5 years.  Signs are that we will be in position to do that if she wants.  We also pay substantial AVCs for her too at the moment.

Im biased here because i actually want to retire more than anything, so i probably make it sound better than it will be, so i am very happy to hear from you guys.  The more I have to think about the better.

Im thinking we can have exactly the same or more disposable income as we had at the beginning of this year if I retire and we live on the wifes salary plus our cash and rental income for the next 5 years.  Then we can reassess whether to take lump sums and draw down pension (one or both) or just carry one as we are until we need to his the pensions.  Its only 5 to 10 years before I would have to retire anyway.
Working part time is not retirement to me.  I want all my time to be mine and my family's when i retire.

If I did get another job the salary would probably be about 30% less and no bonuses.  The hours would be just as long if not longer.
We would still have to pay childcare, two cars, parking, public transport and all the other expenses that come with working and commuting.   Tax probably going up too.
We might break even money wise, but i would lose my soul and about 60 hours per week minimum.

Im probably rambling, but it really is crunch time and its all that goes through my head last few weeks 

I was trying to look up how to keep up voluntary PRSI payments.  Anyone know how I go about doing that and finding out how much I have to pay?  Thanks.

I guess another thing I have to think about is insurance if I get sick.  We have life insurance with 13 years left on it, but no illness isurance.  Have Laya health insrance though.


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## huskerdu

You are sick of what you do and you see it as a black and white decision 
My stressful job vs never working again

the challenge is that you have to fund your life for the next 35years on what you saved in the last 35 years . That’s a big ask.

You should leave your job if you can afford to and you want to .
However , you may need more income and 35 years is a long time . None of us know what we will face .
You should , over time , consider other jobs which you might enjoy and give you an income


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## elcato

You are basing all your decisions on how you are going to live on what you will save by not working or paying a mortgage. You need to actually look at what you will bring in (in this case your wife's salary mostly). You are down 3k a month net. You will not be saving your 1.5k anymore. Can you live on 3 to 4k net monthly given your childs costs may fluctuate ?


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## Fidgety

There are many forms of part-time jobs that don’t require stress or endless hours. Some might even be enjoyable. I have a friend who quit a high paying, comfortable job income wise because he hated it. Now he drives corporate visitors on sightseeing tours and loves it. Sure, he took a hit during this Covid crisis but he has never been happier and looks 10 years younger. 

An additional income doing something you like might make the journey a bit easier financially. 

You’ve done great so far, no reason to believe that with your spirit free you won’t hatch an enjoyable part-time activity.


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## Early Riser

As you are being made redundant you do not have to make a precipitous decision. I would suggest you register at your local Intreo office and also apply for Jobseekers Benefit. At the very least this will preserve your PRSI record, as you can continue to claim credits. You could also take the time to look at what jobs may be out there and make some applications without any final committment. You should be eligible for Jobseekers Benefit, in addition to your PRSI credits, during this time. You will then be away from your current job and should have lots of free time while not cutting yourself off from the job market. You will be maintaining your PRSI record. This should give you some space to decide whether it is work or retirement for the future.





						Losing your job
					

If you lose your job  you need to find out about the different payments and services for unemployed people.




					www.citizensinformation.ie
				








						Jobseeker's Benefit
					

This is a weekly payment to people who have lost their job and are covered by social insurance.




					www.citizensinformation.ie


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## OMG_OMG

Thanks Guys.  I hear you.
I feel ive done 60 years worth of work in 35 years.
Totally burnt out and not interested in work anymore.
Thats really where im coming from.
I know what you mean about basing it on my savings now, but what else would I base it on.

I did a tot up of what expenses will be gone now if I retire.
Mortgage 1  : €1200 PM
Mortgage 2 : €550 PM
Mortgage insurance 1 : €50 PM
Mortgage insurance 2 : €30 PM
Parking Space : €100 PM
Fuel : €150 PM
Childcare €400 PM
Charity Donations : €100 PM (They will stop if I retire)
Savings : drop them from €1500 to €750 PM

If we get rid of 1 car thats an additional 
Car tax €370 PY
Insurance €450 PY

Thats a total of about €3300 PM not including if we get rid of 1 car.  Probably wont do that for a year or 2.
Working im only taking home €2850 after tax and AVCs and a few other work related things that come out of my salary.
I understand there will be no more AVCs and the savings will be halved, but these numbers look like im no worse off at this point once mortgages are gone.  One is gone already and the other wont be too long before its gone.
There are probably tax credits that can be transferred too.
And i probably wont touch my pension or lump sum for another 5 to 10 years anyway. I'll be 60 or close to it by then.
We live very comfortably on our take home at the moment.  The rental income pays the mortage and tax on the property.  It will go into our pockets once the mortgage is done, less the tax.  We want for nothing really and have several holidays every year from what we currently take home, at peak times like Easter and summer because I cant get holidays any other time.  Pretty sure if I was retired we might change 1 or 2 holidays to off peak.

These numbers look good to me.  I would gain 60 or so hours per week to myself and would be available at home more too.
The stress that would be cut out would be huge.  Now I only started thinking about the possibility of retiring a couple of months ago, but im liking it as i get used to the idea.

Sorry if im dropping numbers all over the placce at you.  Just trying to get this right in my head as scared to make a mistake.


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## elcato

OMG_OMG said:


> Mortgage 2 : €550 PM
> Mortgage insurance 2 : €30 PM
> Fuel : €150 PM


These are not gone yet - maybe a drop in fuel. I still think you are looking at this the wrong way around.


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## OMG_OMG

Thats true, but they will be gone instantly if I retire.
Ive enough to pay it all off at the moment.

Ive also not been paying mortgage number 1 for a few months.  Thats been and will continue to be put into an account and not touched, for just such a use.  Redundancy and my last couple of pay cheques plus my expenses for the last quarter plus the money ive saved due to lockdown and refunds for cancelled holidays being paid will wipe that mortgage out and then some.
We've also saved the fuel, and childcare money since lockdown.

I just have to see if from a tax and expenses point of view on an investment property, should I use that money to pay off the mortgage or just use it to pay the mortgage every month.  Its one of the many complications of my current predicament 

That fuel will be almost totally wiped out.  Thats what I put in my car every month (well before the lockdown anyway) and it only goes into work and home.

I know I might be looking at it the wrong way round, but it seems perfectly logical to me.
Disposable income after retirement is greater than disposable income before retirement.  And you get 60 hours plus a week back.   Im trying to see how that would prevent me just retiring.
Someone told me I could get social welfare for a year while I think it over, but im pretty sure after a year i wont be able to get another job in my business anyway, not that id want one.  At least not one that pays well enough.

And if im being totally honest.  A huge driver for this is that, since March, for the first time since my baby was born I am actually able to see them awake during the week.  Used to be only some Saturdays and Sundays and holidays.  I didnt realize how nice it is spending the day with them.  So sad that I spent so many years seeing them asleep in the morning and asleep at night and missed them growing up.


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## Sarenco

OMG_OMG said:


> Disposable income after retirement is greater than disposable income before retirement.


That couldn't possibly be true.

Your expenses might reduce somewhat but your household income will definitely be lower.

The right way to look at this is to (a) figure out your monthly expenses post-retirement; and (b) figure out your household income post-retirement.  If (b) is higher than (a), then you're sorted (assuming your wife is happy to continue working to fund your household).


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## michaelm

If you do retire your wife will be able to get your €1650 annual tax credit and also claim the €1600 home carer tax as you'll be caring for the child.  She'll also be able to earn another €9000 @ the 20% tax rate (paying €1800 less tax). 

You would be subject the Homemaker Scheme which will make it easier to qualify for the contributory pension as the years spent caring full-time for you child while they are under 12 will be discounted.  You could crunch the numbers thereafter to see if it made sense to start paying voluntary PRSI contributions. 

You can read up on these things on https://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/


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## SPC100

Paying off your mortgage (s) is a separate decision to retiring.

Paying off your mortgage reduces your annual expenditure. But I don't think you are being honest with yourself to include it in how you are better or worse off if you don't return to work.

Honestly expressed, I think it's more like if I retire, pay off my mortgages, stop my avc saving, do the childcare myself, it's cashflow neutral.

But obviously you will then have less cash/liquid assests, and you will not be adding to your nest egg.

(Not trying to put you off the idea, just trying to paint rational picture).

If your families net take home will be higher than annual expenses then it can work.

But to be more definite you might want to model it into the future. And include some cases like paying for retirement home, wide becoming unable to work, kids needing house deposit or whatever else.

Some people live on very very little. You can definitely make it work.


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## SPC100

Roughly speaking you pay off mortgage now, live on wife's income for few years, then use some of your redundancy and next few years savings to bridge last few years till you can drawdown on pensions

in 9 years when fully retired you are looking at:

Pension 500k at conservative 3% withdrawal - 15k
Rental - 10k
Wife pension - 35k

I.e. 60k pre tax income

And that is not allowing for growth of pension or apartment income.

That should be comfortable with no mortgage.


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## SPC100

Biggest negative in my opinion is if you continue to work you could build up more capital which you can then use to insulate yourselves against any future surprises. E.g. state goes bust, pensions halved, hyper inflation, serious injury or disability or pyrite in apartment etc


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## OMG_OMG

SPC100 said:


> Roughly speaking you pay off mortgage now, live on wife's income for few years, then use some of your redundancy and next few years savings to bridge last few years till you can drawdown on pensions
> 
> in 9 years when fully retired you are looking at:
> 
> Pension 500k at conservative 3% withdrawal - 15k
> Rental - 10k
> Wife pension - 35k
> 
> I.e. 60k pre tax income
> 
> And that is not allowing for growth of pension or apartment income.
> 
> That should be comfortable with no mortgage.



Thats more or less how I was working it out.
With the pension I was going to take the max tax free lump sum though, so might not be as much, but then I guess it should grow in the mean time.
My wife will have AVCs with her pension too.  And a lump sum.

Im thinking I can do this now, and because of the timing with mortgage just finished and redundancy money i'll be actually better off financially, even still saving €750 per month plus wifes AVCs (Thats a substantial buffer that could be dipped into. But we would probably be adding to savings instead).  And 60 hours per week better off as well.   At 68 I should get the state pension.

I was thinking last night that if I totaled up the outgoings that will be gone compared to January this year (Ive been putting away what I would have spent then in a separate account and it is building fast) comes to about €40K per year.  Thats after tax money.  Its equal to an 60k per year job.
And I never even thought of the tax allowances that MichaelM posted.

When eventually we both retire we should have after tax income of over 50K per year (15k from my pension fund, 10k investment property, 35k wifes pension) even before i am old enough to get the state pension.  Approx 200K in lump sums will be sitting in the bank at that point too.  We live very comfortably on far less than that even now.  If I do retire this year then we will have after tax income of close to €60k until my wife retires.  We will drop nearly €10k per year when she retires and  I start to draw down pension, but we will have nice lump sums at that stage too.

I know im trying to get the downsides and upsides here as its a huge decision and thank you all for your input.  It helps me immensely.  Its good to churn this idea inside out.  Decision time is fast approaching   and ive had so much good advice reading AAM over the years.  

BTW how do you thank posts.  I cant find a thanks button   I would like to thank everyone.


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## OMG_OMG

SPC100 said:


> Biggest negative in my opinion is if you continue to work you could build up more capital which you can then use to insulate yourselves against any future surprises. E.g. state goes bust, pensions halved, hyper inflation, serious injury or disability or pyrite in apartment etc



I was worried about what if those things happened things too. Most of those and death would kill any plan even if I was working for another 10 years and they happened then. If they happened in 10 years I would still be wiped out, but I would be worse off at that point by about 30,000 hours in a job rather than at home with the family.


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## Purple

OMG_OMG said:


> I was worried about what if those things happened things too. Most of those and death would kill any plan even if I was working for another 10 years and they happened then. If they happened in 10 years I would still be wiped out, but I would be worse off at that point by about 30,000 hours in a job rather than at home with the family.


You wife will have a lump sum of around €100k, right? That will give you a significant addition to your nest egg.
What sort of life insurance do you guys have? If you retire then having a good policy in place on your wife, as the sole earner, is important. She probably has death in service benefit as she's a State employee but if you don't have the savings to protect yourself then make sure you have the insurance.

BTW, if I was you I'd go for it.


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## OMG_OMG

Purple said:


> You wife will have a lump sum of around €100k, right? That will give you a significant addition to your nest egg.
> What sort of life insurance do you guys have? If you retire then having a good policy in place on your wife, as the sole earner, is important. She probably has death in service benefit as she's a State employee but if you don't have the savings to protect yourself then make sure you have the insurance.
> 
> BTW, if I was you I'd go for it.



Hi Purple.  
Thanks for the post.
I just looked into insurance now when I read your post.
She has death in service.  And also salary protection insurance that she has been paying for for the last 25 years out of her salary.
The insurance on the apartment has €7000 built up in it that i will get when i cancel it.  Never even thought of that.  That will boost back up the funds if i use to pay off that mortgage.  I just checked and tht mortgage has exactly €49851 left on it as of today.
We took out a 21 year policy when the sprog was born that pays out €1M if either of us dies before they are 21.  The insurance ends at that point.  It is about €200 PM (Another thing that will be gone in about 12 years).  No illness insurance.
I have no insurance through work to speak of.
Other than that we just have normal house insurance and health insurance.

I guess i can take a year or so after i get redundancy to test it out for size.  After that I am probably committed and will never get back into my current line of work.  I wouldnt get back in at the same salary anyway. I really dont want to go back to that career.  Its toxic and getting dangerous now.  Has been slowly worsening for years and ive managed to stay away from the toxic people, but its flooded with them now and you cant avoid them anymore.  And starting any new career I wouldnt have the patience for.  Ive spent too long working and commuting over the years.  Had enough.  If I retire 10 years early i get 30,000 hours of time back for myself during those 10 years.  That makes it sound good.


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## Purple

OMG_OMG said:


> After that I am probably committed and will never get back into my current line of work. I wouldnt get back in at the same salary anyway. I really dont want to go back to that career. Its toxic and getting dangerous now. Has been slowly worsening for years and ive managed to stay away from the toxic people, but its flooded with them now and you cant avoid them anymore. And starting any new career I wouldnt have the patience for. Ive spent too long working and commuting over the years. Had enough.


You haven't mentioned the area you are in but have you got skills that could be used in other areas?   
You can get a job working 20 hours a week in Lidl or Dunnes while the kids are at school. It doesn't have to be in the same area your current career. Basically don't make the decisions that "right, I'm retired now". Take a year or two out and see how things go. You will get a job if you want one. The only question is what job. 

There are very few real Rubicons that we cross in life.


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## OMG_OMG

Thanks Purple.
The reason I dont want to mention my current work is that its becoming full of criminals now and its getting harder to avoid them in the job.
Part of me getting redundancy im sure is my failure to engage with the bad element.  Im not good for business.  But eventually that will lead to them putting their focus on me, so im happy to get out now.  They do not like people who are my age and havent been to jail.  There is one other company left that arent involved with the mob that i might be able to go to, but once im out for a year I wont get in there as my contact in there would be gone and having worked for the other guys I would not be wanted.

Regarding working in shops etc.  I could do that if I wanted or if I needed the money.
Im hoping i dont actually need the money though, so wont have to.  And pretty sure that we would end up paying the high tax rate on any money I earned part time.  A job at €13 per hour or whatever that would be after tax, its not really worth it for me.


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## Early Riser

You're in "financial services"?


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## planck

From what you say, it is good for you that you are getting out of your current situation and leaving with a redundancy package is better still, also clear that getting another similar position is not for you. It seems to me you don't have to make a decision about retirement right now, you can just see how it goes, after a while some form of part-time work might suit you for various reasons and then you can look for something suitable, something completely different to what you are leaving behind now.


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## OMG_OMG

Early Riser said:


> You're in "financial services"?



Ha ha.I see where you are going


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## OMG_OMG

planck said:


> From what you say, it is good for you that you are getting out of your current situation and leaving with a redundancy package is better still, also clear that getting another similar position is not for you. It seems to me you don't have to make a decision about retirement right now, you can just see how it goes, after a while some form of part-time work might suit you for various reasons and then you can look for something suitable, something completely different to what you are leaving behind now.



TBH the more you guys help me discuss it the clearer it is for me.  Im heavily leaning towards doing it.  
And youve helped me realize that it doesnt have to be permanent if it doesnt work out.


----------



## SPC100

Others have often felt like you do about work at the moment. A break from working and a more reasonable / ethical employer and industry might change your mind in the future.


----------



## SPC100

Many who FIRE do community, charity, volunteer work to stay connected, have a sense of belonging and help others.


----------



## DeeKie

Is there any FIRE Irish website? Or maybe this is it? Good luck OP. Will you keep us updated? I would love to retire early so I’m very interested in how you go.


----------



## Allpartied

Early Riser said:


> You're in "financial services"?


He did say that a lot of the people in his business had been to jail.  So, definitely not financial services, as we know, the crooks in that industry never go to chokey. 
I love this idea of retiring early.  I doubt it will be possible for me before 60, but good luck to anyone who manages it.


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## NiallSparky

I think you should call yourself "semi-retired". Take 6-12 months away from working, do your nature hobbies and whatever else, then make a decision after that. If financial projections are still looking rosy and you're enjoying yourself, then FIRE away. If it seems you could do with some additional income, then consider looking at a part-time job in a less stressful area.


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## OMG_OMG

NiallSparky said:


> I think you should call yourself "semi-retired". Take 6-12 months away from working, do your nature hobbies and whatever else, then make a decision after that. If financial projections are still looking rosy and you're enjoying yourself, then FIRE away. If it seems you could do with some additional income, then consider looking at a part-time job in a less stressful area.



I thin this is where im headed.
Decided to take 1 year off and then if the money situation does not work out as I expect it to there is always Aldi 
I think though once I get a taste for it i'll stay retired   Ive enjoyed long periods ive spent off away from work immensely before.
Partly thats because I had the money to enjoy it and not to worry.  I think our income and savings will actually have us better off retired than we were even at the start of this year.  And I have always considered us to be very comfortable and want for nothing really.
We both grew up in very poor families and have always tried to stay debt free as much as possible and save.  We both always sought out value and financial security and I think it has stood to us.  Now we can finally take advantage of it.
I could always wait another 2 or 3 years and put another €100k in the bank as a buffer, but its like buying a new PC.  It will always be better next year.
Time to just do it I think.


----------



## fistophobia

DeeKie said:


> Is there any FIRE Irish website? Or maybe this is it? Good luck OP. Will you keep us updated? I would love to retire early so I’m very interested in how you go.



There are a few FIRE websites. send me a PM, and I will talk to you.


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## SPC100

fistophobia

You should do a post on this site o  fire websites and meet up groups in Ireland!


----------



## Sarenco

The OP is not financially independent.

He will be largely supported by his wife's income until he can access his pension.

Nothing wrong with that but this is not a case of FIRE.


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## fistophobia

Negativity alert


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## SPC100

The reason I mentioned fire here, is that many in that community hate work and want to be free asap.  Which seems to be where the op is.

But if you read their stories, some then decide to return to part time work or community for a sense of meaning or network or being connected


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## Sarenco

fistophobia said:


> Negativity alert


Huh?

Where’s the negativity?


----------



## OMG_OMG

Sarenco said:


> The OP is not financially independent.
> 
> He will be largely supported by his wife's income until he can access his pension.
> 
> Nothing wrong with that but this is not a case of FIRE.



She is a rare person who loves her job.  She doesnt want to retire yet, but we do want the option for her to be able to retire also in another 5 years or so, as her job is starting to fill up with bureaucracy and has taken a lot of the fun out of it already, and seems to be getting worse.  
Should be doable I think.


----------



## Gordon Gekko

I’m seeing more and more of this FIRE stuff being talked about. In my opinion, it’s a load of horse manure. Most people can retire early and live on Aldi baked beans. But why would you want to do that? Not that many people love their job, some like it, some tolerate it, some dislike it, and some detest it. But you just get on with it. When I read about this FIRE stuff, my read through is that a lot of the people have either failed in their careers, they just can’t handle work due to some underlying mental or physical issue, or they’re just lazy. But in the world we now live in where nearly everyone seems to think that they’re special and that they should have an Instagram life, punting this FIRE stuff is probably smart as any number of loonies will latch on to it. If “Financially Independent, Retire Early” means getting out to smell the roses at around age 60, I’m all for that, provided that the lifestyle I enjoy now can continue. But if it’s some waster who couldn’t hold down a decent job because of his nerves pointing at a flipchart and telling me how great Lidl baked beans and cheap holidays are, I’m out.


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## SPC100

It's been trending up over the last decade. Read the history section here for more https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIRE_movement

There are Lean FIRE and fat fire sub communities. That ranges from the lean folks stocking up on years of lidl baked beans when they are on special to the 'fat' folks sending their Butler to m&s to pick up beans for their toast.

I think the main motivation is not coming from personal failures, more about not having to be dependent on the man / job and being free.

Viewed from afar most of us are forced to work for most of our lives. Seems like a form of slavery, albeit with nice experiences and many choices.

Are you not yourself trying to become financial independent? With a view to retiring if you can?

I've personally had an interest in being financial independent and having the ability to choose to retire early from before fire was a thing.


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## Gordon Gekko

Not necessarily. Yes to being financially independent but no to retiring early.


----------



## jim

I think the idea of FIRE is not to retire early and struggle financially having to eat cheap food, as Gordon suggests.
The idea is to retire early and be financially free to live how you want within the limitations of whatever level of financial freedom one aspires to. 
If FIRE is ones objective and its achieved then happy days and the sooner the better.
I can see how someone might infer that failed career etc is a factor but so what if it is. In any case its simply that one has had enough of working for the man amd wants freedom. If someone wants this does this mean they are lazy? Maybe... but again who cares? The end justifies the means.

Not wanting to be a slave to the man all your life does not make you a waster. If you can retire early having built up enough money to support you then youre hardly a waster, youre to be commended in my book.


----------



## SPC100

Gordon Gekko said:


> Not necessarily. Yes to being financially independent but no to retiring early.



So how will you decide the age to retire? Based on what a politician decides is correct? When you can no longer bring value to your employer? When your employer no longer wants you?

Maybe when you (I) want i.e. FIRWIW


----------



## becky

OMG_OMG said:


> She is a rare person who loves her job.  She doesnt want to retire yet, but we do want the option for her to be able to retire also in another 5 years or so, as her job is starting to fill up with bureaucracy and has taken a lot of the fun out of it already, and seems to be getting worse.
> Should be doable I think.


Are you sure she can retire in 5 years. I'm pre 95 and can't draw my pension until I'm 60.


----------



## Early Riser

becky said:


> Are you sure she can retire in 5 years. I'm pre 95 and can't draw my pension until I'm 60.



Teacher (pre-2004) , perhaps? Can draw pension from 55 once they have 35 years service clocked up


----------



## Gordon Gekko

SPC100 said:


> So how will you decide the age to retire? Based on what a politician decides is correct? When you can no longer bring value to your employer? When your employer no longer wants you?
> 
> Maybe when you (I) want i.e. FIRWIW



When I choose to.


----------



## Clamball

OMG_OMG said:


> I thin this is where im headed.
> Decided to take 1 year off and then if the money situation does not work out as I expect it to there is always Aldi
> I think though once I get a taste for it i'll stay retired


 
I think you should do it. Many women do just the same as you and no one bats an eye and you have a lot of advantages with your main mortgage paid off. Your living expenses do drop with no commuting, lunches, childcare expenses. Think of the fun you will have with the 7 yr old rambling over the hills after school. Being there for drop off and pick up. Having time to shop and cook saved money compared to working and dashing to shops for something quick but expensive. Think of the time you can have to volunteer at clubs your kid might be interested in - scouts, camping, hiking - whatever really.

And your health should improve with less stress, more sleep, more chance to exercise.  You say you have done it before for 3 months and loved it so that sounds like you will love the lifestyle. 

The mortgage going frees up a lot of money and going down to one car would as well.  I suppose knowing roughly what your monthly average outgoings will be would help a lot in the decision making.  And having lump sums and AVC’s banked will help cushion unplanned expenses.


----------



## Ndiddy

I'm the same with the some of the other posters, before FIRE was a thing I have been saving where I can and as much as I can where I'm still comfortable. Of course "comfortable" is different for each person, but I think of it as I can save to have nearly anything I want just not everything all at once. 

 We don't save so hard that we are missing out on the things that give us pleasure like food and travel, but we do try to max out retirement vehicles and live off the rest, pay down a mortgage for a more affordable home then our peers/friends live in,  buy cars we can afford in cash. etc.  

Financial Independence ( FIRE, early retirement, whatever name it is) is just another goal that one tries to plan for and achieve as best as on can like buying a house or saving for a wedding.  Same as those goals, you hope for the best and try and plan for the worst.


----------



## Ravima

In last Sunday Times, Baldrick of Black Adder said that retirement should be 1/3 work, 1/3 pension and 1/3 other. I'm not sure if he meant money or time. If money, then your pension should be 1/3 of income, other income another 1/3 and work the final 1/3.  I'm considering the situation!


----------



## michaelm

Baldrick was known for cunning plans.


----------



## OMG_OMG

Just a quick update.  I did it 
Well im retired now for about 2 weeks.  And was using my holidays the 2 weeks before that.  So altogether 4 weeks now without being at work.
Loving it 
Already the 2nd car hasnt moved once.  Will probably sell that when the insurance is up on it.  I do the school run and drop the wife into work.
Then home and getting stuck into projects I had around the house.
Making great progress and enjoying it.  And things are getting done quickly which is great.  They used to take me ages to do because I hadnt the time.
Also done a lot of things that would have cost me a lot of money getting other people to do the work.
I'll see how it goes until Christmas but I cant see myself not liking this lifestyle.
But the extra time with the family.  Priceless.  Really enjoying it.  And no childcare costs now either.
Turns out too that having sorted out all the financials (actually still a lot of things to iron out), we are actually better off now than we were when I was working and we had 2 mortgages at the beginning of the year.

So in case anyone is interested in the financials and I can see from others posts that some are,  here they are.  And this is rough at the moment.  Its a work in progress.
And I should have done all this accurately BEFORE thinking about retiring, but the redundancy came out of the blue and forced me to act, and tbh I didnt thik I was anywhere near being able to retire.  Not even in my wildest dreams.   But when I was forced to do some research, I was.

Im actually finding things subscriptions and savings that I had forgotten all about almost weekly since I have decided to go through the finances.
Also some things were costing me even more than I thought they were when I went through statements and receipts.  And things like we are paying €90PM for our two mobile plans.  And I can get the exact same service from another provider for about €15 each.  So just changed that too.  This is ongoing, but the figure I have so far are below.  Also the FA was saying we are over insured and have several policies we should just drop.

Expenses eliminated this year so far.

Mortgage 1  : €1220 PM
Mortgage insurance 1 : €52 PM
Mortgage 2 : €551 PM
Mortgage insurance 2 : €128 PM
Fuel : €150+ PM
Parking Space : €100 PM (€25PW)
Creche €440 PM
Charity Donations : €120 PM 
Savings : dropped them from €1500 to €750 PM
Also had about €120 PM in subscriptions that are now stopped, that I either dont get the use out of, or had forgotten I was paying for them (either way, they are now cancelled).

So expenses now gone at the moment are over €3600pm x 12 = €43,000 PY.  I was only taking home roughly €34,000 PY from my job (It has to be said that AVCs now will not be added to.  Whats there will have to do with only growth and no additional money added to it.  Also savings are down to €750 PM, which we could put back up if we wanted).  

Car number 2 will probably be gone in 3 months so thats another (Car tax) €370 PY and (Insurance) €450 PY.

Plus from this week I will be on the dole too.  Dont know how long that will be for.  I'll get kicked off it at some stage im sure.

Also there are tax implications that I might go further into when I get them all sorted out, where we will be paying less tax too.
I already had one session with an FA and have another soon to sort that out.

So the upshot is that once the mortgages have ended this year and all the work related expenses that I incur ended, we are actually far better off financially.  My job was literally paying those expenses (not even enough to pay them).
The big thing is the stress has just lifted.  Its like a totally new life.  I have 60 hours or more per week back to myself.  Must work out exactly how many hours I spent commuting and working last year.


----------



## michaelm

I'd sell the 2nd car now if it was me.  Also, you should be due tax back at the end of the year re PAYE.


----------



## 50andOut

That's brilliant OMG. Its pretty amazing the costs that you will no longer incur.... 

Can you maybe stick a date in your diary to give us an update in a year or twos time also..?  I'd anticipate some part time gig will be undertaken, for some additional pocket money and to fill all that extra time, but would be interesting to hear sometime down the line how you fare.

All the best with it.


----------



## OMG_OMG

50andOut said:


> That's brilliant OMG. Its pretty amazing the costs that you will no longer incur....
> 
> Can you maybe stick a date in your diary to give us an update in a year or twos time also..?  I'd anticipate some part time gig will be undertaken, for some additional pocket money and to fill all that extra time, but would be interesting to hear sometime down the line how you fare.
> 
> All the best with it.



Thanks.
I'll be sure to do that.  People have been a great help here, so thank you all.
I might update every month or 2 or im happy to answer any questions.  Or i might be back to ask more questions. I'll have the time 
Turns out we have far more spare cash now than we ever had, by a long way.  We've booked some holidays for next year.  Pity we cant go this year though with covid.
I dont think i'll be going back to work ever at this rate.  Im getting more comfortable now in this retired skin than ever 
But the gain of over 60 hours a week has done such wonders for me.  I feel like a new man.


----------



## creditworthy

I cannot offer you any canny financial advice but this might give you another perspective...sorry I can't copy the link !,
You Tube - Everybody Dies but not Everybody Lives 
Prince Ea .  Enjoy !!


----------



## Biggles

"Everyone has two lives; the second one begins when you realise you only have one" Steven Sotloff


----------



## Thirsty

Well done! Always great to hear back from an OP.


----------



## DeeKie

Yes keep us updated. I’d love to hear.


----------



## _OkGo_

One thing you must do now with all that free time is a proper budget from the bottom up. You think you are financially better off but you are adding and subtracting numbers that don't go together. You can't save on 'savings' so it is not an expense. You have listed expenses that are not dependent on you working. The mortgages, donations and subscriptions can all be saved whether you work or not. And I would also look at whether your savings of 750pm are actually savings or is it just budgeting for the yearly one off expenses (holidays, insurance, tax etc)

In reality, by not working, you only save on creche, fuel, parking space and probably some other casual expenditure (lunches etc), approx 9k but your income has reduced by 34k plus 20k pension contribution (I'm guessing it was about 30% of your 68k based on take home). If you stopped pension contributions and include your bonus, your take home is probably closer to 50k

I'm not going to say whether you should or shouldn't retire/semi-retire but you owe it to yourself (and your family) to be fully aware of your financial situation. You may be right that you can cover your lifestyle on one income but you are definitely not financially better off. You are time rich and stress free right now and will benefit mentally and physically from this experience.

Echoing some previous comments, it sounds like you hated your job and just wanted out which you see as retirement. You don't have a plan of how or what you will spend your newly found spare time on. Its easy in the beginning because there are always lots of jobs to do around the house and it is summertime so it is easy to enjoy the outdoors etc. But if you want to make it this a permanent 'retirement' then you need to find something that will keep you engaged and give you a purpose. Whether that is getting involved in clubs/societies, returning to part-time education etc etc But you need something that will fill 10-20 hours per week of your newly found freedom otherwise it will get boring very fast. 

I hope I don't sound too negative, I actually hope it works out for you and I look forward to seeing your updates. But knowledge is the key to your happy retirement. With a proper budget, you will see exactly what you situation is and whether you can afford retirement


----------



## OMG_OMG

I hear you.
I actually have always had a budget. I just hadnt gone through things in detail.  I always just rounded things off to the nearest tenner or so. 
Im correcting that now and going through statements and deciding what I need and what I dont need to keep.

What we did when I first heard of the redundancy was work out how much disposable income we have that is different to the amount we had before.
We still have good savings.  What we used to do with the savings was pay 50% of it off the mortgage every year.  And 30% into the college fund.
The college fund has enough in it now and there is no mortgage to pay off as of early this year.  The investment mortgage will be paid off within the next month.  It did have a few years left, but decided to just end it.
We saw those as expenses.  Both gone now.  So they would have cancelled out most of the savings in the past.  Along with buying a new car a while ago.  Looking back if I knew what I know now I wouldnt have gone for such an expensive car, but it will do us another 10 years or so 
Pretty much made our minds to sell the other one.

So pretty much we have always been very comfortable and had a lot of excess cash which we invested.  We havent led a frugal life by any means.
We just never were able to spend what we earned.  So always had spare money at the end of every month.
So, deciding that we had plenty of cash left over after bills we used last December as our yardstick.
Income - expenses left us very comfortable at that time and at all times up to then.
A lot of expenses that we had then, we now dont have.  So now Income - expenses leaves us with even more left in the bank account at the end of the month.  I dont see a need for it to be any more complicated than that.

I know you mention holidays, but the way we always did it was we had a nice chunk of money in equities.  We decided if it increased enough each year to go on holidays we would go and if it didnt we would skip that year.  The way its worked out since we started doing that 10 years ago we have had at least 3 foreign holidays a year out of that and a few weekends away.  This year all holidays are cancelled so dont have to worry about that this year.
Also my sister has an apartment in Spain that she lets us use whenever we want, so if we only had that it would only be the cost of flights really for a break away from Ireland, so holidays are not a problem for us either.  We have only ever gone to that apartment with my sister and her husband for a week the odd year, but its open to us whenever we want it.  I just never had the time before.  The wife and kid have gone over a few times with my sister though without me.

As for the pension, you are close.  It was 25%.  There were also a few other things I had to pay into in work, that would have come out of salary too. But I never counted that money as income as it was never in my pocket to spend anyway.  I realize that the pension will not be added to, but I feel if I leave it there it will probably grow a bit more.  At the moment and for the foreseeable future I actually dont need to tap the pension.
When my wife retires we will probably draw down both our pensions.

Funny every time I speak to people who havent retired yet they ask me how I am going to fill my time.  My answer is always the same "however I feel like it".  That to me is retirement.
And ive spoken to lots of people lately who are retired, some younger than me.  And not one of them is worried about filling their time.  I dont think i'll will  have a problem with that either.  I have so much time now to do family stuff.
Ive done so much that I didnt have time for in the last 4 weeks.  Fishing, Golf (dont think ill keep up the golf.  Never liked it.  But ive a few friends who i play with the odd time.)
Going to climb Carauntoohil with some friends next week, as well as a camping session for the week.  Havent done that in 20 years.  Really looking forward to it.  Also going to get back into the hiking.  Some people I used to do it with before I got too busy are in a local club, so i'll be down to join up there in the next few weeks.
But if im bored, and ive never ever been bored in my life yet (I just think of something else to do), I guess I could think of things to do that dont involve clocking in 
Basically its all leisure time as opposed to wage slave time.

Anyway, sorry for the ramble. Thats just my long winded way of saying.
There is far more money left in the current account at the end of every month now than there was in any month up until the start of this year.
I know we have reduced savings and eliminated payments into one pension.  We could actually increase the savings back up and still have more in the current account at month end.  We might do that if we still have spare money.


----------



## AAAContributor

OMG - I'd just like to add to those who are wishing you luck on this next stage of life. Updates from the promised land would be welcome! It sounds like you have a good handle on the financial side of things. For the non-financial, I'd definitely recommend that you google Simple Living in Somerset. The author of this site retired at around the same time as you and from a toxic work environment (as he perceived it). While the site is UK-centric and details features of the UK personal finance space that do not translate across the Irish Sea, his musings on the psychological aspects of early-retirement and the decompression from corporate life are worth a read, particularly his 'Two Years In' post. Anyway, enjoy the road ahead.


----------



## OMG_OMG

AAAContributor said:


> OMG - I'd just like to add to those who are wishing you luck on this next stage of life. Updates from the promised land would be welcome! It sounds like you have a good handle on the financial side of things. For the non-financial, I'd definitely recommend that you google Simple Living in Somerset. The author of this site retired at around the same time as you and from a toxic work environment (as he perceived it). While the site is UK-centric and details features of the UK personal finance space that do not translate across the Irish Sea, his musings on the psychological aspects of early-retirement and the decompression from corporate life are worth a read, particularly his 'Two Years In' post. Anyway, enjoy the road ahead.



Thanks for that.  I'll be sure to read that.
Ive been reading a lot about it lately.  What is noticeable the most so far is all the time I have to myself and my family that I never had.
I feel guilty now about working and commuting so much before so much.


----------



## AAAContributor

My angle would be that the working and commuting got you to where you are now - which is a reasonably good place! Time to yourself will be the best investment you'll ever make. Having the time to prepare proper food will do wonders for you and your family's health. I can't begin to think of all the positives - there are so many. You don't strike me as the sort who will lapse into daytime TV nor suffer an identity crisis without having a 9-5! If this does happen, Viktor Frankl's The Will to Meaning is cheaper than a psychologist!


----------



## _OkGo_

OMG_OMG said:


> I actually have always had a budget



I'm glad to hear it. I was a little afraid that you were working backwards from the top and getting to the wrong conclusion. But it sounds like you have a great handle on your budget/outgoings so good on you. Your spouse has a good salary and you also have rental income so I don't see any reason why you can't live comfortably on that as a family considering you have no major expenses of mortgage/cars/childcare.



OMG_OMG said:


> I guess I could think of things to do that dont involve clocking in



This is exactly what I mean when I say find something that will give you focus for 10 hours other than leisure/hobbies. It doesn't have to turn into a job or salary but could still be meaningful in some way to you. Random example but learn a language or study a subject you've never had time for before. It will help you support your child with school/homework and would be very rewarding to watch them succeed knowing you have helped. And it would double as family time too 

You have clearly worked hard to be in a healthy financial position so why not enjoy it. And if after 6-12 months you actually want to return to some type of part/full time work (paid/unpaid), then go for it too. You are in the enviable position where you have choices to do whatever you feel like. Best of luck with it OMG!!


----------



## OMG_OMG

AAAContributor said:


> My angle would be that the working and commuting got you to where you are now - which is a reasonably good place! Time to yourself will be the best investment you'll ever make. Having the time to prepare proper food will do wonders for you and your family's health. I can't begin to think of all the positives - there are so many. You don't strike me as the sort who will lapse into daytime TV nor suffer an identity crisis without having a 9-5! If this does happen, Viktor Frankl's The Will to Meaning is cheaper than a psychologist!



I draw the line at cooking 
Nobody ever lets me cook a second time.


----------



## november16

Gordon Gekko said:


> I’m seeing more and more of this FIRE stuff being talked about. In my opinion, it’s a load of horse manure. Most people can retire early and live on Aldi baked beans. But why would you want to do that? Not that many people love their job, some like it, some tolerate it, some dislike it, and some detest it. But you just get on with it. When I read about this FIRE stuff, my read through is that a lot of the people have either failed in their careers, they just can’t handle work due to some underlying mental or physical issue, or they’re just lazy. But in the world we now live in where nearly everyone seems to think that they’re special and that they should have an Instagram life, punting this FIRE stuff is probably smart as any number of loonies will latch on to it. If “Financially Independent, Retire Early” means getting out to smell the roses at around age 60, I’m all for that, provided that the lifestyle I enjoy now can continue. But if it’s some waster who couldn’t hold down a decent job because of his nerves pointing at a flipchart and telling me how great Lidl baked beans and cheap holidays are, I’m out.


How Judgemental are You


----------



## Saavy99

Gordon Gekko said:


> I’m seeing more and more of this FIRE stuff being talked about. In my opinion, it’s a load of horse manure. Most people can retire early and live on Aldi baked beans. But why would you want to do that? Not that many people love their job, some like it, some tolerate it, some dislike it, and some detest it. But you just get on with it. When I read about this FIRE stuff, my read through is that a lot of the people have either failed in their careers, they just can’t handle work due to some underlying mental or physical issue, or they’re just lazy. But in the world we now live in where nearly everyone seems to think that they’re special and that they should have an Instagram life, punting this FIRE stuff is probably smart as any number of loonies will latch on to it. If “Financially Independent, Retire Early” means getting out to smell the roses at around age 60, I’m all for that, provided that the lifestyle I enjoy now can continue. But if it’s some waster who couldn’t hold down a decent job because of his nerves pointing at a flipchart and telling me how great Lidl baked beans and cheap holidays are, I’m out.



I tend to agree with you. I have been reading articles on this and I also think the people pursuing it are a little crazy.
Some people have it financially made in middle age around 45 to 50, however, some of the articles I have been reading are talking about people in their late 20s and 30s doing the FIRE thing. It's a fad and they will eventually cop on.


----------



## OMG_OMG

Saavy99 said:


> I tend to agree with you. I have been reading articles on this and I also think the people pursuing it are a little crazy.
> Some people have it financially made in middle age around 45 to 50, however, some of the articles I have been reading are talking about people in their late 20s and 30s doing the FIRE thing. It's a fad and they will eventually cop on.



I had never heard of FIRE before this thread.
Im just retiring because it is half forced on me and when it was I found that it works out very well for me to retire at this time.
It works out better than getting another job actually.


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## Saavy99

OMG I'm not refering to your situation. I'm referring to this growing cult of young people in their 20's and 30's living off meagre amounts of money in order to achieve financial independence and when achieved  then continue to live out their days living in a pittance. There's web sites, blogs etc dedicated to the concept with huge followers.

 However, this topic of FIRE has completely derailed from your thread and your sutuation. So apologies for that and happy early retirement to you.


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## OMG_OMG

Well to be fair one of the reasons that I decided retirement was a good thing was that I discovered that my income retired would actually be more than my income was at the start of the year.
Ive never had a frugal existence, so it is important that in retirement we have more disposable income than we had before it.
Big expenses ending and a redundancy cheque have helped us achieve that.  Something we never would have imagined before being forced to examine it.
Of course I could get anothe job and keep working and bank the difference from those expenses that ended, but ............ 60 hours a week - not trading that time ever again for an employer no matter how much money they offered me.


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## OMG_OMG

Well another month of retirement gone by and more questions as I try to tidy up the finances 
Does anyone know how you go about investing in a rental property via your pension fund.
My pension fund is with my former employer and I wasnt going to touch it for another 10 years or so. 
Is it still available to me to invest in property via it?  I could actually pay the deposit for the property in cash.

But besides questions here is an update from me.  Really having fun now.  
Ive found lots of expenses that can just be taken away.  About €150 per month now that I was payng out and didnt need to be.
Decided though to keep the second car for a year or so as I used it a lot this month on my travels.
Been traveling the country, climbing mountains, seeing sights etc and a long time friend retired last year too and we do a lot of these trips together.  Wives are glad to get us out of their hair.  Saying we are like teenagers.
I have a 17ft motor cabin boat that id forgotten about since about 5 years ago down the bottom of a relatives garden.  Plan nbow is that we are going to fix up the engine and paint it up and get it in the water   That will probably keep us busy for the winter when the weather is too bad to enjoy the outdoors.  Hopefully the boat will be like new and in the water buy next spring.  Just never had time to do it before.
Also a couple of other friends are asking us how can they retire.  Its hilarious.  We'll be like Dads army, but in our 40s and 50s


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## Saavy99

I recall from a previous thread that you are a stay at home dad to a young child so not exactly early retirment.  You can't really throw away the alarm clock, laze in bed until 11am or head south for the winter months  for another ten years or so..


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## OMG_OMG

Saavy99 said:


> I recall from a previous thread that you are a stay at home dad to a young child so not exactly early retirment.  You can't really throw away the alarm clock, laze in bed until 11am or head south for the winter months  for another ten years or so..



Rumbled.  Part of the reason for keeping the second car for now 
Not that I laze in bed anyway, but now that they are back to school they can travel in and home together.
If I get rid of the second car then I have to drop them both in and collect them.  Handy having the wife and child in the same school 
Seriously though.  I dont mind doing the school run with them.  Ive just been told to go off and enjoy myself for a few months.
She feels sorry for me that ive had donkeys years of 1 week off a year while shes had teachers holidays, so she wants me to take it easy for a while, which im on board with


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## joe sod

OMG_OMG said:


> She feels sorry for me that ive had donkeys years of 1 week off a year while shes had teachers holidays, so she wants me to take it easy for a while, which im on board with


 yea but remember she has been off aswell due to the enforced closure of schools since March so she was basically in the same boat as you. But what about a year into this new life, she is working but you are off on a boat , will she not get very jealous?, the stress and shiftwork of your previous job will be long forgotten.


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## Saavy99

He won't be off on a boat when his other half is working as he has a young child to look after.


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## Early Riser

Would an au pair to help with childcare not just complete your retirement nirvana?


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## OMG_OMG

Early Riser said:


> Would an au pair to help with childcare not just complete your retirement nirvana?



Are you mad 
The biggest reason for this is to spend more time with the family. 
The summer holidays were great. My brat and my friends brat had a great time running up and down hills and valleys with us.
They are seasoned campers already.
We'll miss that now that the summer holidays are over.
They have jobs to do on the boat after homework with us too.  They insisted   And they have already picked their bunks for when its finally ready.
This retirement time is family time more than anything.  
The Mrs was delighted to get time to herself during the last month while we were off having a great time.
Herself and my friends wife came with us on a couple of trips but werent into the camping at all and went to a hotel one night when it was lashing rain .  The kids loved it though.
We actually nearly bought an RV we were looking at in Cork (Wouldnt cost much between the two families and we would get great use out of it), but said we will do the boat first before we think about that.  The boat will keep us busy during school hours on week days for a while.  

On the retirement finances thing though.  Im finding already that we have a lot more money left in the bank account at the end of the month nowadays than we did all the last few years even with still putting away decent savings.  Finishing a mortgage off makes a massive dent in outgoings.  But if the mortgages werent finished first we would have less money left every month but still a few hundred. 
If anyone is on the fence about retiring I would say to them.  Check your disposable income before you retire against what it would be after you retire and give yourself a buffer.  The best time i can think of to do it is right when you finish your mortgage.

Ive been reading a lot of FIRE articles lately since i discovered there is such a thing and a lot of people seem to be happy to have barely enough to live during retirement.  I wouldnt go for that.  You want at least the same standard of living that you had before you retired and a cushion.
For example if you used to go on two or three foreign holidays a year while working, you want to be able to do the same while retired.  You are retiring afterall, to enjoy it.  The time is the biggest factor though.  I get about 60hrs per week of my own life back from emplyment to spend on whatever I like.  Its bliss.


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## David_Dublin

If you buy the RV make a note of it, just to avoid leaving it and forgetting it in a relative's garden. Seriously....how can you forget owning a boat. Especially when you've spent some months or years daydreaming about having lots of spare time as part of early retirement....you never thought about the boat??!!


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## OMG_OMG

David_Dublin said:


> If you buy the RV make a note of it, just to avoid leaving it and forgetting it in a relative's garden. Seriously....how can you forget owning a boat. Especially when you've spent some months or years daydreaming about having lots of spare time as part of early retirement....you never thought about the boat??!!



It was given to my brother many years ago by a friend who left for Canada and wasnt coming back.
He left it in my cousins garden and when asked to get rid of it he gave it to me.
I said OK and never gave it a second thought.  I got a phone call a few weeks ago off the cousin who asked me if I wanted to take it away or dump it as they were building a new hay shed and that was in the way now.
My friend (who has experience of boats) was with me when I got the phone call and he has a massive garden and said to me that we could bring it to his garden and sort it out together.  So we got some photos of it from my cousin and he thinks its in great shape.
So we are going down to collect it this week.  I had totally forgotten about it before that phone call. With the RV, my wifes parents had one years ago and the two of us had many holidays and weekends away in it at the time, so its something we always wanted.  Just would have been a waste of time with me working every weekend.  And now with a partner on the costs it will work out quite cheap and get lots of use.

I tell you when you all of a sudden have leisure time that you never had before, things just appear, that may have only crossed your mind years ago and got dismissed for lack of time.  Its amazing really.


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## 50andOut

The way you luck is going OMG, I wouldn't be surprised if you found that boat had an old oil panting in it, hanging up, covered in dust that ends up being a Rembrant.


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## David_Dublin

It's like you're one of the FIRE people trying to corrupt us all 

Hope you continue to have great fun, adventures and health in your retirement, sounds like you have it sorted.


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## OMG_OMG

50andOut said:


> The way you luck is going OMG, I wouldn't be surprised if you found that boat had an old oil panting in it, hanging up, covered in dust that ends up being a Rembrant.



I wouldnt say its luck.  Its having time.
This weekend is the first time ive spent more than a couple of hours in the house in ages.
Ive just found so much that I want to do.  The only reason im in today is that im waiting for Eir to turn up.  Going camping next weekend again though  .


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## Drakon

I find these type threads very interesting. I’ve seen a number of posts by people intending to retire in their 40ies and 50ies, however, I don’t think they’re actually “retiring”, just leaving paid employment. IMHO. 

Some things worth noting, and AFAIK nobody else has brought them up. 

Most likely, if you wanted to get a loan (i.e. bank, CU) at any point going forward, you probably will be turned down. 

Your motor insurance (and possibly other cover) premium may be affected. That dropdown menu where you select your occupation does affect the premium. 

This next one is a million to one shot, but it comes to mind as it did impact a friend of mine. 

If you, heaven forbid, were ever in a serious accident, your compensation would be drastically reduced because most compensations take into account “loss of income”.


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## jim

But your occupation would stay as it was.youve just left paid employment


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## Drakon

jim said:


> But your occupation would stay as it was.youve just left paid employment



Your “profession” would stay as it was. However, your “occupation” is what you’re doing now.


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## Early Riser

Drakon said:


> Your motor insurance (and possibly other cover) premium may be affected. That dropdown menu where you select your occupation does affect the premium.



Well, insofar as is impacted on us it was in  positive way. Annual mileage  was a lot less which was good for the premium. Some may have an age loading but that is independent of retirement. As retired people spend more time at home, insurance against burglary is likely to be favourable. Our policy improved anyway. Of course, if you planning extensive time away it would probably be different.


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## OMG_OMG

I thought I would give an update in January, but tbh nothing much happening.
Covid has put the Kibosh on plans to do anything really.
One good thing though is we seem to have more money than we know what to do with now.
Nothing to spend it on really with covid.  Even without covid, we probably have plenty more than we can spend.
I think we definitely need to get advice on what to do with money we arent spending.
Im 100% sure retiring was the right thing to do though.


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## SPC100

Glad to hear you are enjoying it!

Would you be willing to do another money makeover, so folks can see your family's new income, savings and assets situation?


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## OMG_OMG

SPC100 said:


> Glad to hear you are enjoying it!
> 
> Would you be willing to do another money makeover, so folks can see your family's new income, savings and assets situation?



Of course.  No point doing it at the moment though as it wouldnt be a real thing with Covid.  The main things we spend money on are all out for the moment.  Also found all sorts of accounts we didnt know we had where we had money squirreled away.  And subscriptions etc that we dont even use anymore.  So at the moment and for a good few years yet we can just live off savings and dont need to even think about touching my pension.
It turns out our finances are messier than we thought.  In a good way though


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