# Escape the rat race?



## SilentRunning (20 May 2021)

*Age:*
49
*Spouse’s/Partner's age:*
N/A

*Annual gross income from employment or profession:*
€100,000 
*Annual gross income spouse:*
N/A

*Type of employment:*
IT Analyst

*Expenditure pattern:*
Saver

*Rough estimate of value of home*
N/A

*Mortgage on home*
N/A


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

*Do you pay off your full credit card balance each month?*
Yes

*Savings and investments:*
Investments - €300,000

Cash - €500,000

*Do you have a pension scheme?*
Retirement Bond - €300,000

Personal Pension 1 - €100,000

Personal Pension 2 (Current) - €18,000 (€2,100 in each month)

*Do you own any investment or other property?*
No.

*Ages of children:*
None.

*Life insurance:*
No

*What specific question do you have or what issues are of concern to you?*
My goal is to retire (or at least semi-retire) next year when I hit 50. As indicated above, I am single with no kids and I plan to retire abroad in a lower cost of living country.

I am hoping to leave the Pension invested until I reach 60 so live off Investments plus Cash between age 50 and 60. I know the percentage in cash is too high but with the markets at all-time highs it makes me a little nervous to invest more at this time.

Question 1: Can I retire next year given the numbers above? For context I know I could manage comfortably on €30k p.a. so based on my own rough calculations and assuming there is not a massive crash in the markets I think the numbers stack up.

Question 2: Any thoughts on what to do with the €600k in cash? ETFs, Property, Crypto....


Thanks.


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## Cloudd (20 May 2021)

Firstly - well done on accumulating an impressive sum. You seem frugal - I hope you're enjoying your money on top of accumulating!

Question 1: Likely yes.

Question 2: Use some of the cash to buy a property and perhaps rent out a room for other income?

Assuming you've been renting all of your life - when you move abroad, do you intend on renting further?


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## Brendan Burgess (20 May 2021)

Depends on where you live. €1.2m would be huge money in some underdeveloped countries. 

Are you sure that you won't want to come back to Ireland when you are older?  If so, owning a property here is a very important hedge against housing costs. 

When you say you want to retire at 50 , is that because you have something else you want to do?  It's probably not a good idea to retire if you have no plans. 

But maybe you just don't like your job and you should explore doing something else you might enjoy. 

And if you do decide to retire next year, it's no an irreversible decision. If you get bored in your new location, you can always return to work.  So maybe do try to keep your skills updated to some extent.

Brendan


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## Cervelo (21 May 2021)

You make no mention of where you are living right now
Do you own a house, are you renting or are you living at home with family
If you don't own a property what are your plans with regards to putting a roof over your head??


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## mtk (21 May 2021)

One of your biggest assets is the state pension *if still around in 15 years+* . what are your plans to maintain entitlement/get credits etc.  -e.g. are you going to pay prsi here on inv income?


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## SilentRunning (21 May 2021)

Thanks for all the feedback folks. I’ll try to answer all your questions and provide some additional context on my retirement goals below.

With regards to returning to Ireland, never say never, I suppose, but I don’t have any plans to return permanently once I move. I still have family here so will certainly be visiting regularly.

Also, I can’t see myself wanting to return to my current career. I have not enjoyed what I do for some time and I have no real desire to re-skill at this stage in life.

I do see plenty of hobbies in my future though.

My current housing situation is that I have been in a fortunate position to have my own space in the family home (co-owned with Brother) for a while so housing costs have been manageable. I’m sure I could go off on a bit of a rant here about the state of the housing market in this country from a Rent/Purchase viewpoint but I’ll leave that for another day.

My initial plan, post-retirement, would be some slow travel for a while, a few months renting here and there. Then longer term, I will likely purchase some property in my chosen location.

Whether the state pension, in it’s current form, will still be around at the time I could access it is up for debate and it’s not something I had factored into my plans. However it would be a nice top-up if I can avail of it in future. So, I will likely continue with voluntary PRSI contributions.


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## joe sod (21 May 2021)

@SilentRunning  Yea you have done well financially, just out of curiosity why do you want to retire now , I see you are an IT analyst? My guess is that jobs in IT while financially rewarding are very demanding more so than in other jobs because your skills become out dated fast, so you are constantly having to learn new stuff. I know that's a cliche that's used about a lot of jobs but it really is the case in IT. I'd say the guys at the centre of the HSE cyber attack are under huge pressure now


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## Brendan Burgess (21 May 2021)

SilentRunning said:


> I have not enjoyed what I do for some time and I have no real desire to re-skill at this stage in life.



Just checking. 

Is it the work itself or the company you are working in? 

For example, might you enjoy the work better in a different company or maybe the voluntary sector instead of the for profit sector? 

It's probably a good idea to get career advice before financial advice.  Absolutely clarify that you want to retire before you press the button.

Brendan


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## SilentRunning (21 May 2021)

I find it odd to put these thoughts down in writing rather than having them swimming about in my head. Quite cathartic in a way.

It’s a combination of things really that is leading me towards early retirement.

As I mentioned above I have not enjoyed my work for some time and, as you point out @joe sod, there is certainly a need to constantly keep up to date with the latest developments in my area. To answer @Brendan Burgess's  question it’s definitely the work and not the job. It’s not a spur of the moment decision either, I have been considering this for some time.

Another major reason for choosing to retire early is that my Dad passed away suddenly in his 50’s when I was still quite young. I don’t currently have any health problems and fingers crossed a number of healthy years ahead but I want to give myself every opportunity to experience and enjoy the post-retirement years.


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## Purple (21 May 2021)

SilentRunning said:


> I do see plenty of hobbies in my future though.


I'd start them now and see if you really like them.


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## elcato (21 May 2021)

So you have a base in Ireland if/when you come home from your travels is required. I'd take a year off. Don't tell people you are retiring. This makes it easier to come back in should you find it is not for you. Then come back in a year and read this thread.


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## 50andOut (21 May 2021)

Silent Running

You are in a great position, well funded, and have no dependents or ties, with the luxury of a roof over your head here & family to visit whenever you need it. The world is your oyster and I agree with you on family history health take the foot off the gas and enjoy.

For me retirement is too generic a word. You are not retiring or even semi retiring as this is viewed as old age related. You are more financially independent and free to chose what you want to do. Travel, do some free lance/part time work as needed for funds or as something to do, hobbies. They key point Brendan said it's probably not a good idea to retire if you have no plans, but you can certainly move from a high paying job to a low paying less stressful one easily enough. You just need to find something to give you purpose

Any chance of a redundancy payoff from work to add a cherry on top when leaving?

On your question of what to do with the €600k - for gods sake don't go near crypto as you mentioned. Given its volatility It could be great for accumulating wealth or the complete opposite. You have the funds now which you plan to spend over the next 10 years, you only need to maintain the amount by trying to keep up with inflation, not speculating. 

You need a drawdown plan for the suggested €30k per year - presumably this doesn't include transport / accommodation costs if you are looking to travel? I'd suggest various different periods in state savings bonds for the amount you require over 10 years (€400k?) and put any excess into the investments pot. So you get some growth on accessible funds, the more readily available amount is released over time as the savings bonds mature and the excess amount can grow over a longer 10yr + period in investments (presume this is a global equity tracking fund and not individual shares).

Good luck and would love to hear your journey in 1 year on your decision and a year later on the reality of where you end up (although try and remember those of us stuck working so don't overdo the enjoyment levels)

50+Out


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## AAAContributor (21 May 2021)

SilentRunning said:


> I can’t see myself wanting to return to my current career. I have not enjoyed what I do for some time and I have no real desire to re-skill at this stage in life.



This blog charts a fellow IT analyst's work experiences, disillusionment with the career, and their escape the rat race / financial independence journey. It could be interesting for you to benefit from their insights / perspective:









						Living a FI
					

A Geek's Guide to Financial Independence




					livingafi.com


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## Brendan Burgess (21 May 2021)

elcato said:


> I'd take a year off. Don't tell people you are retiring.



Great advice. 

Maybe even ask your employer for a career break.  You don't have to go back if you don't want.

Brendan


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## SilentRunning (21 May 2021)

Thanks again everyone for all the great feedback.

I suppose I have been reading a lot about FIRE recently and probably focused more on the RE part and not fully appreciating/considering that the FI part gives me lots of options.

The travel plans will certainly give me the time and space to consider my future goals.

I’m an IT contractor so redundancy/career break is not an option.

State savings bonds was not something I had considered but I will do some research on how they work. On the Investments, there’s about 100k in one stock and the rest is in various active and passive funds. BTW… I wasn’t really serious about crypto. I don’t need any additional stress.

I will absolutely come back in a year’s time with an update.


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## joe sod (21 May 2021)

SilentRunning said:


> State savings bonds was not something I had considered but I will do some research on how they work. On the Investments, there’s about 100k in one stock and the rest is in various active and passive funds. BTW… I wasn’t really serious about crypto. I don’t need any additional stress


Is that 100k in a tech stock? From your career I would guess that it is maybe. I would be very careful about putting too much money into tech at the moment given the incredible run its had over the last decade. Nobody can predict the future but the current worries over inflation and possible future interest rate hikes would be very bad for tech stocks. We could be on the verge of a 2002 style big tech stocks sell off and rotation out of that sector. You probably remember how devastating that was for jobs in tech back then. Also as regards state savings bonds you are locking in ultra low interest rates for the duration of the bond even though the nominal value of the bond might be very safe.
There is a lot of talk about this subject now, I would recommend having a look at Rory gillens investment site. He has made many contributions to this site.


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## SilentRunning (21 May 2021)

@joe sod Yes, it is one of the big tech stocks. I actually have reduced my holding by about €200k in the last month (big CGT bill incoming). I agree that it's possible the tech stocks run will slow down over the next few years but I am not quite as pessimistic that there will be a huge selloff though.
Thanks for the Rory Gillen recommendation, I'll check out his site.


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