Retirement

[lindsay]

If you live full time on a sail boat, you will not lack for "things to do", the boat will take care of that.. Costs can easily be one third of what is considered a "normal' life, partly because you may realize that much of what you previously spent your money on was simply for distractions to take your mind off the fact that you were not sailing the dream.

You can "feel rich" - if you wish - by calculating what would be your absolute minimum to live on, and then doubling it.

Good luck

 

[BrianH]

And I feel sorry for anyone who doesn't find their job fulfilling

I can relate to that. It is basically why I didn't retire early.

I've been retired now for ten years and still can't believe it. That I can spend the summer on the boat in the Med. and winters comfortably at home and to go skiing without having to work to bring in the money – well, it's incredible. But both my wife and I worked crazily hard through our lives and our savings and combined pensions make it all possible.

Plus that I worked until 69, being asked year after year to stay on. I had a great job and was happy to do so, the only negative was that I was having to keep putting off the dream of taking my yacht, already in the Adriatic, longer-term cruising for another year.

But long ago I reached an epiphany in my dreams – that full-time living aboard and world-girdling sailing was not for me. Not because I am now too old - clearly at 79 I probably am, despite being active and fit, still able to sail my boat single-handed - but because for some years I realised that I no longer wanted to.

In my younger days sailing was an obsession and dreams of blue-water voyaging were only that, dreams, but always in the background. Family and mortgage had priority and with a partner who was less than keen, I raced and cruised alone. Then maintenance and alimony further restricted the dreams and reality set in; I knew those blue-water days were disappearing further into the future. I moved abroad and focussed on improving my career – and my income.

I was successful and, much to my surprise, I found enormous fulfilment in my work as I gained experience and responsibility. I still sailed, taking my holiday each year in one long period to live aboard and satisfy the urge to get some distance under the keel. But my interests had slowly changed as I had matured and broadened my horizons, my work had given me more than a means to live, I was beginning to live to work, a sad case in the eyes of many of you, I'm sure. But I was genuinely happy with my life and with my sailing obsession no longer my reason to exist.

Then shortly after my retirement I was asked to take a friend's yacht from Grenada up the Windward Isles and jumped at the opportunity to experience the Caribbean – it was fantastic and clearly an idyllic cruising life way beyond my previous experiences. But somehow for me there was a dark side; anchored in English Harbour, Antigua, and waiting for the owner to briefly join me, I had time to observe some of the other cruising yachts and their long-term lifestyle – some had been anchored there for months. I suddenly realised that it was not for me, I just didn't have the temperament for such a life. So after a wonderful few months and ending up in the Dominican Republic, I happily flew home to my less adventurous six months cruising around the Adriatic, happy to spend the cold winter months in a spacious and luxuriously warm house. I had long ago gone soft and crossed the line necessary to be a live-aboard hard case.

Each to their own.

 

[bedouin]

If I read the information correctly a married couple are each will get a full single tier pension - that will make an income of over £15K year which is a good way towards a comfortable income. The problem is that that only kicks in in the mid-late 60s. It is very difficult to plan for early retirement on that basis. Perhaps the best plan is to burn a lot of the pension pot funding the years before the state pension kicks in.

That is another benefit of the recent announcement - you can choose at what rate to spend the money

 

[GrahamM376]

If I read the information correctly a married couple are each will get a full single tier pension - that will make an income of over £15K year which is a good way towards a comfortable income.

The amount of state pension varies depending on contracted out employment periods, if any. Having our own business, we decided to contract out for quite a few years and the private pensions which should have made up the shortfall fell far short of the amounts the con artists who sold them forecast. Had we taken our annities <1999, we would now have double the amount. Ain't hind sight great!

 

[Daydream believer]

A point people have not mentioned is the cost of living against age
True when one retires a lot of expenses such as train fares etc may disappear but initially the costs do not actually drop
Firstly at a younger age one still wants to entertain, go places etc & in the first couple of years the euphoria of retirement can be great.
As you get older the requirement to do these things starts to wane & the costs actually begin to fall off. For instance you may still socialise with old work colleagues but that will fall away as you are no longer involved in what they are doing
So at first the savings take a bashing where the pension cannot cope
But one still has to estimate how much one needs as one gets older
Next when one gets to go sailing weekends, & the odd holiday, the thrill of waiting to get to the boat is always there & this adds to the enjoyment of our hobby.
But once you have the chance to sail every day the thrill can wear off. For some at least. Plus as you get older the bones start to hurt & bruises you never knew you got before now begin to take their toll. For some that is not the case & they get to enjoy a liveaboard life. For most however, it is just the odd cruise up the coast now & again.

So i feel that the attraction of going back to work is understandable. For me I have found that being at work this winter means I spend less on luxuries ( meals out etc) as I do not have time . So that is a plus as well as the healthy amount of cash coming in.
But it has not stopped me going fishing,joining a model flying club, a model yacht club & buying a couple more boats. Going back to work has also helped me add even more kit to the boats. But then I learnt to have hobbies years ago as I always believed that having something to do was an important part of retirement