Early Retirement - Could he do more ?

PERSONAL DETAILS
Age 56, Single, 1 adult child independent.


INCOME & EXPENDITURE
Annual Gross Income from employment €16,850.
Weekly Take Home Pay €320.

SPENDING OR SAVING INCOME
Spending all.

TYPE OF EMPLOYMENT
Private.

SUMMARY OF ASSETS
House. (Inherited many years ago). No mortgage.
Savings - Bank, PO Bonds, Prize Bonds €380k.

BORROWINGS/LIABILITIES
None.

LIFE COVER
€100K.

PENSION DETAILS
Deferred Defined Benefit Pension from a previous employer €22k per annum promised from age 63. (No further contributions being made).

Full Contributory Old Age Pension (will have 40 years stamps at Class A) at whatever age it becomes payable in the future.

WHAT SPECIFIC QUESTION DO YOU HAVE OR WHAT ISSUES ARE OF CONCERN TO YOU.

My Dad wants to retire at age 60 and live off his Savings, costing approx €20k per annum until his Deferred Defined Benefit kicks in at age 63. He should also receive the Contributory Old Age Pension (40 years stamps) in the future at whatever age it becomes payable.

Is this realistic ? He wants to try and maintain as much of his savings as possible. Is there anything else he should be doing or doing better in order to achieve his goal ?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

He has 380k cash savings and only has expenses of €20k per year (which is more than he currently earns).

On the face of it he can retire today, his savings easily will carry him up to his DB in 7 years, costing only €140k leaving €240k in savings
the DB will then cover his required 20k per year and that's before state pension

Unless he likes what he does, this seems pretty straightforward.

RETIRE TODAY = €380k - 20k x 7 years = €240k remaining that's a pretty nice sum to have as a buffer,

RETIRE AT 60 = €380k - 20K X 3 YEARS = €320K remaining

Then in either scenario at 67 when the pension kicks in he will start adding to the savings again (or maybe could be encouraged to spend more)

50+O

With 7 years to retirement maybe there's an argument to be made for putting some of the €380k into something other than deposits/bonds that might give a better return (i.e. better than c. zero or even negative in real terms) over that period? Maybe even some or all of the €240-320k that will not be needed for forthcoming years' living expenses until one or both pensions kick in? But the suggestion that he maybe spends a bit more on himself is also a good one..

Just a pointer that may or may not apply to his DB pension scheme, does his pension payment reduce by the state pension amount when it becomes payable, or is the state pension paid on top of his defined benefit pension amount at all times?

Thank you for your replies.

In answer to your questions/observations :

He likes his job & would like to continue working until he is 60. Also he does not yet have the 40 years of Class A Stamps but would have them by working until 60, thus hoping that in time he will get the full Contributory Old Age Pension.

I believe his two Pensions (DB and Contributory OAP) would be independent of each other.

I think he would like to have a nest egg to change the car, do home decoration, travel a bit more, etc.

Thank you again.