early retirement survive on 1.5k a month yes of no?

57Deluxe

I retired at 40 when interest rates were between 8    and 6% and as such was how I costed it. You can imagine having the best part of a decade at 2% has been a challenge. Is why I supplement with giving guitar lessons and metaphorically coupon clipping may way through, ahead of amy big Premium Bond win!

But - I wouldn't have had it any other way as I bloody love doing what I want whenever I want. Right now I am lying in bed at 4:33 in the morning and not had my head down yet; browsing here or Twitter waring. I might slip a podcast on or a music stream on the phone under the pillow to go off in a mo. I'll get up at 10 and mooch, even have a nap later in afternoon. All my toys are around me and is warm and cosy where I live, rural space outside... Might light the log fire if gets cold... have  a snifter, read a book...

You reassess what is important to you when you step back and make a compromise.

Money is useful, but Time is precious.

Blaendulais

Retired at 51.  Loving every moment.  Healthy and fit.  Not enough hours in the day.   Gym reading guitarand motorbike restoration.    Never loved life so much.  Not a traveller bored of cars dont need much cash

McSwaggerty

GoldenEraGuitars said:

mark123 said:

 I'm 54 no mortgage, car paid for, no debt, no kids ,pension adviser said i would easily have 1.5k a month to live off ,basic outgoings inc food fuel gas leccy poll tax water £800 .

I just read this again.... £800 on utilities, food and fuel? Just to compare, our mortgage, utilities, phone contracts, rates, insurances, car payments, broadband, tv licence, heat, fuel and half the food for a family of 5 is less than this. Can you trim that £800 down? 

Yes.... If you are paying £800 on utilities, food an fuel l think you should consider closing down the West Wing and paying off your Butler..... 

menamestom

I would take the retirement but then work part time.
If you end up doing something you don’t like you can walk away as you always have enough to live on.
You may find something fulfilling part time, that gives you extra for rainy day funds, keeps you occupied some of the week but much more free time to do other things you want.  

I don’t think retiring needs to mean you don’t do any more work, it just means any you do, is on your terms because you want rather than have to.

Iamnobody

McSwaggerty said:

GoldenEraGuitars said:

mark123 said:

 I'm 54 no mortgage, car paid for, no debt, no kids ,pension adviser said i would easily have 1.5k a month to live off ,basic outgoings inc food fuel gas leccy poll tax water £800 .

I just read this again.... £800 on utilities, food and fuel? Just to compare, our mortgage, utilities, phone contracts, rates, insurances, car payments, broadband, tv licence, heat, fuel and half the food for a family of 5 is less than this. Can you trim that £800 down? 

Yes.... If you are paying £800 on utilities, food an fuel l think you should consider closing down the West Wing and paying off your Butler..... 

Following these two comments I quickly reviewed my own monthly outgoings.

Council tax £192
Water £45
Gas/Elec £90
Insurance for car and house ~ £60
Fuel for car (varies) ~ £120 minimum
Broadband/TV - £50
Mobile phone inc Spotify - £42
TV licence paid quarterly but works out ~ £12

Total £611

I understand that some of those sums are non-essential but it leaves less than £50/week for food.

£800 sounds a lot of money but it all adds up.

I think my council tax is paid over 10 months though so the actual monthly sums would be a bit lower.

I don’t think £800 for the OP’s basics is extravagant though?

Modulus_Amps

tone1 said:

Dominic said:

retire early - get old quickly

This happened to my Parents.... retired at 50&51.....don’t do it, get a part time job to keep you interesting and flexing your social skills... 

I have seen the same, if you retire early you need a plan, what are you going to do everyday to keep your brain working and your body moving

Barney

Iamnobody said:

McSwaggerty said:

GoldenEraGuitars said:

mark123 said:

 I'm 54 no mortgage, car paid for, no debt, no kids ,pension adviser said i would easily have 1.5k a month to live off ,basic outgoings inc food fuel gas leccy poll tax water £800 .

I just read this again.... £800 on utilities, food and fuel? Just to compare, our mortgage, utilities, phone contracts, rates, insurances, car payments, broadband, tv licence, heat, fuel and half the food for a family of 5 is less than this. Can you trim that £800 down? 

Yes.... If you are paying £800 on utilities, food an fuel l think you should consider closing down the West Wing and paying off your Butler..... 

Following these two comments I quickly reviewed my own monthly outgoings.

Council tax £192
Water £45
Gas/Elec £90
Insurance for car and house ~ £60
Fuel for car (varies) ~ £120 minimum
Broadband/TV - £50
Mobile phone inc Spotify - £42
TV licence paid quarterly but works out ~ £12

Total £611

I understand that some of those sums are non-essential but it leaves less than £50/week for food.

£800 sounds a lot of money but it all adds up.

I think my council tax is paid over 10 months though so the actual monthly sums would be a bit lower.

I don’t think £800 for the OP’s basics is extravagant though?

Yeah I thought exactly the same ....mine is roughly that and  possibly more now because I was underpaying on electric and gas ..so that's gone up for a while ..we roughly spend £100 a week on shopping as well ...plus youngest is learning to drive so another 100 a month 

It does all add up ..and all this is really before you start living and spending money on things you like doing ECT....buying things you need ...

Philly_Q

A lot of people mentioning part time work.  I find it hard to imagine what sort of thing I could do part-time.  I've worked in an office for 35 years, it's not a role where I could reduce my hours without drastically cutting my client base - otherwise it would just turn into trying to do 5 days' work in 2 or 3 days.  But I can't imagine doing something completely different, either.

Paul7926

Philly_Q said:

A lot of people mentioning part time work.  I find it hard to imagine what sort of thing I could do part-time.  I've worked in an office for 35 years, it's not a role where I could reduce my hours without drastically cutting my client base - otherwise it would just turn into trying to do 5 days' work in 2 or 3 days.  But I can't imagine doing something completely different, either.

Job sharing might work.  I mean it might not I have no idea what you do! 

Might it be possible to either split the client base between you and another person.  If that's not realistic then perhaps share the load with a junior (your eventual replacement) taking the easier more mundane tasks while you concentrate on the difficult/important ones.

EricTheWeary

Philly_Q said:

A lot of people mentioning part time work.  I find it hard to imagine what sort of thing I could do part-time.  I've worked in an office for 35 years, it's not a role where I could reduce my hours without drastically cutting my client base - otherwise it would just turn into trying to do 5 days' work in 2 or 3 days.  But I can't imagine doing something completely different, either.

My sister in law took early retirement from working in HR and now works part time helping people with learning disabilities run allotments ( which she loves). 
Lot of jobs that wouldn't really offer a full time salary and don't need a high skill set either. I know someone who was a coroner, took early retirement and now works part time driving Ocado vans. It's physical, it's social, limited stress, don't need a lot of pre existing skills ( apart from driving). 
Having said that it's a leap I haven't made and am not keen on the idea of a steep learning curve for anything. But these are jobs that you can enjoy and the minimum wage is on top of a pension. 

Jalapeno

Philly_Q said:

A lot of people mentioning part time work.  I find it hard to imagine what sort of thing I could do part-time.  I've worked in an office for 35 years, it's not a role where I could reduce my hours without drastically cutting my client base - otherwise it would just turn into trying to do 5 days' work in 2 or 3 days.  But I can't imagine doing something completely different, either.

It's amazing how when it's clear you're not getting paid your perspective changes - I'm flexible - if needed for something on my day off I'll move my day off, but I won't surrender it !

57Deluxe

what worries me is that my Council Tax is now approaching the level of my last mortgage payment before I paid it off....

Jalapeno

Iamnobody said:

McSwaggerty said:

GoldenEraGuitars said:

mark123 said:

 I'm 54 no mortgage, car paid for, no debt, no kids ,pension adviser said i would easily have 1.5k a month to live off ,basic outgoings inc food fuel gas leccy poll tax water £800 .

I just read this again.... £800 on utilities, food and fuel? Just to compare, our mortgage, utilities, phone contracts, rates, insurances, car payments, broadband, tv licence, heat, fuel and half the food for a family of 5 is less than this. Can you trim that £800 down? 

Yes.... If you are paying £800 on utilities, food an fuel l think you should consider closing down the West Wing and paying off your Butler..... 

Following these two comments I quickly reviewed my own monthly outgoings.

Council tax £192
Water £45
Gas/Elec £90
Insurance for car and house ~ £60
Fuel for car (varies) ~ £120 minimum
Broadband/TV - £50
Mobile phone inc Spotify - £42
TV licence paid quarterly but works out ~ £12

Total £611

I understand that some of those sums are non-essential but it leaves less than £50/week for food.

£800 sounds a lot of money but it all adds up.

I think my council tax is paid over 10 months though so the actual monthly sums would be a bit lower.

I don’t think £800 for the OP’s basics is extravagant though?

What about ....

Birthday gifts ?

Hobbies ? - Walking (gear), Golf (fees & gear), basket weaving, extreme ironing, whatever

Car maint ? - servicing, tyres, MOT, ding repairs

Contents Insurance ?

Instrument Insurance ?

Sky / NowTV / Netflix / Amazon Prime ?  (not essential I'd agree, but .....)

Emergency fund ? (for new / repair Telly/Washing Machine/Drier/Cooker/Microwave)

Property maint ? - decorating, carpets/curtains, broken roof tiles, burst waterpipes, blocked drains etc (claiming on insurance for relatively minor things gets expensive

Holidays/Breaks/Days out/Gigs/Festivals/Meals out (even if only a kebab) ?

Minor GAS - Strings, valves, pedals, speakers etc

Iamnobody

Jalapeno said:

Iamnobody said:

McSwaggerty said:

GoldenEraGuitars said:

mark123 said:

 I'm 54 no mortgage, car paid for, no debt, no kids ,pension adviser said i would easily have 1.5k a month to live off ,basic outgoings inc food fuel gas leccy poll tax water £800 .

I just read this again.... £800 on utilities, food and fuel? Just to compare, our mortgage, utilities, phone contracts, rates, insurances, car payments, broadband, tv licence, heat, fuel and half the food for a family of 5 is less than this. Can you trim that £800 down? 

Yes.... If you are paying £800 on utilities, food an fuel l think you should consider closing down the West Wing and paying off your Butler..... 

Following these two comments I quickly reviewed my own monthly outgoings.

Council tax £192
Water £45
Gas/Elec £90
Insurance for car and house ~ £60
Fuel for car (varies) ~ £120 minimum
Broadband/TV - £50
Mobile phone inc Spotify - £42
TV licence paid quarterly but works out ~ £12

Total £611

I understand that some of those sums are non-essential but it leaves less than £50/week for food.

£800 sounds a lot of money but it all adds up.

I think my council tax is paid over 10 months though so the actual monthly sums would be a bit lower.

I don’t think £800 for the OP’s basics is extravagant though?

What about ....

Birthday gifts ?

Hobbies ? - Walking (gear), Golf (fees & gear), basket weaving, extreme ironing, whatever

Car maint ? - servicing, tyres, MOT, ding repairs

Contents Insurance ?

Instrument Insurance ?

Sky / NowTV / Netflix / Amazon Prime ?  (not essential I'd agree, but .....)

Emergency fund ? (for new / repair Telly/Washing Machine/Drier/Cooker/Microwave)

Property maint ? - decorating, carpets/curtains, broken roof tiles, burst waterpipes, blocked drains etc (claiming on insurance for relatively minor things gets expensive

Holidays/Breaks/Days out/Gigs/Festivals/Meals out (even if only a kebab) ?

Minor GAS - Strings, valves, pedals, speakers etc

I agree - I wasn’t trying to think of every single cost just the very basic known outlays each month and picking up on the joke about sacking the Butler. £800 easily gets swallowed up.

Roland

Philly_Q said:

A lot of people mentioning part time work.  I find it hard to imagine what sort of thing I could do part-time. 

Think of it as an opportunity to do something different. You have a set of skills which are transferable. Don’t belittle basic skills like listening, summarising, planning. I know a business manager in a large corporation who retired early and now delivers and retrieves hire cars.

When it comes to professional skills there are accountants who work a few days at month or a couple of weeks at year end. I know someone who spends five hours a week running a payroll.

Kittyfrisk

57Deluxe said:

I retired at 40 when interest rates were between 8    and 6% and as such was how I costed it. You can imagine having the best part of a decade at 2% has been a challenge. Is why I supplement with giving guitar lessons and metaphorically coupon clipping may way through, ahead of amy big Premium Bond win!

But - I wouldn't have had it any other way as I bloody love doing what I want whenever I want. Right now I am lying in bed at 4:33 in the morning and not had my head down yet; browsing here or Twitter waring. I might slip a podcast on or a music stream on the phone under the pillow to go off in a mo. I'll get up at 10 and mooch, even have a nap later in afternoon. All my toys are around me and is warm and cosy where I live, rural space outside... Might light the log fire if gets cold... have  a snifter, read a book...

You reassess what is important to you when you step back and make a compromise.

Money is useful, but Time is precious.

By George Sir! I think you have got it    
I'm not advocating being awake at 4.33am, that doesn't sound like fun unless you haven't been to bed & are still partying 
However I see society as placing far too much value on the 'virtue' of always being seen to be keeping busy.
Henry David Thoreau & Bertrand Russell for example, both argued against this 'virtue signalling' (although not describing it in those terms).
The art of loafing is much underrated IMHO  .
I find having time to lose myself in a book, having a guilt free lie in, work in the garden for as long as I please when the weather is best, visiting family & friends, emergency baby sitting & taxi-ing, messing with my guitars etc,etc. is absolutely brilliant.

Or as Kenneth Grahame wrote   " Believe me, my young friend, there is nothing — absolutely nothing — half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats. Simply messing... about in boats — or with boats. In or out of ’em, it doesn't matter. Nothing seems really to matter, that's the charm of it. Whether you get away, or whether you don't; whether you arrive at your destination or whether you reach somewhere else, or whether you never get anywhere at all, you're always busy, and you never do anything in particular; and when you've done it there's always something else to do, and you can do it if you like, but you'd much better not. "

McSwaggerty

Iamnobody said:

Jalapeno said:

Iamnobody said:

McSwaggerty said:

GoldenEraGuitars said:

mark123 said:

 I'm 54 no mortgage, car paid for, no debt, no kids ,pension adviser said i would easily have 1.5k a month to live off ,basic outgoings inc food fuel gas leccy poll tax water £800 .

I just read this again.... £800 on utilities, food and fuel? Just to compare, our mortgage, utilities, phone contracts, rates, insurances, car payments, broadband, tv licence, heat, fuel and half the food for a family of 5 is less than this. Can you trim that £800 down? 

Yes.... If you are paying £800 on utilities, food an fuel l think you should consider closing down the West Wing and paying off your Butler..... 

Following these two comments I quickly reviewed my own monthly outgoings.

Council tax £192
Water £45
Gas/Elec £90
Insurance for car and house ~ £60
Fuel for car (varies) ~ £120 minimum
Broadband/TV - £50
Mobile phone inc Spotify - £42
TV licence paid quarterly but works out ~ £12

Total £611

I understand that some of those sums are non-essential but it leaves less than £50/week for food.

£800 sounds a lot of money but it all adds up.

I think my council tax is paid over 10 months though so the actual monthly sums would be a bit lower.

I don’t think £800 for the OP’s basics is extravagant though?

What about ....

Birthday gifts ?

Hobbies ? - Walking (gear), Golf (fees & gear), basket weaving, extreme ironing, whatever

Car maint ? - servicing, tyres, MOT, ding repairs

Contents Insurance ?

Instrument Insurance ?

Sky / NowTV / Netflix / Amazon Prime ?  (not essential I'd agree, but .....)

Emergency fund ? (for new / repair Telly/Washing Machine/Drier/Cooker/Microwave)

Property maint ? - decorating, carpets/curtains, broken roof tiles, burst waterpipes, blocked drains etc (claiming on insurance for relatively minor things gets expensive

Holidays/Breaks/Days out/Gigs/Festivals/Meals out (even if only a kebab) ?

Minor GAS - Strings, valves, pedals, speakers etc

I agree - I wasn’t trying to think of every single cost just the very basic known outlays each month and picking up on the joke about sacking the Butler. £800 easily gets swallowed up.

Mortgage paid off, and l live alone... No Butler.... .... 

Essentials - 
Council Tax / Including water charge (Scotland /SNP) - £95
Gas/Leccy - (Martin Lewis Money Supermarket Switch) - £36
Contents Insurance - (Minamalist, no clutter apart from Guitars) £7
Broadband - £37.50
TV - (Freeview) £0
Car/Fuel (Works Van) £0
Other Travel  (Scotland/SNP) Free Bus Pass £0
TV Licence £12
Virgin Mobile £9

Total - £196.50 + Food and Beer. 

Kittyfrisk

^  Living in the Peoples Socialist Republic of Scotland doesn't count, you woad daubed renegade 
These things only apply to those naturally, privileged, entitled civilised citizens living in the one true land of liberty & freedom... Ingerlaaaaand.

Actually, having processed your figures & thought it over a bit, I think I may have made a teeny weeny error   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5i1cJIwE7M

Philly_Q

Roland said:

When it comes to professional skills there are accountants who work a few days at month or a couple of weeks at year end. I know someone who spends five hours a week running a payroll.

That's a good point, there are semi-retired guys who come back to our office every year, just for the tax return busy season (used to be just January, now it seems to be October to January)

Skipped

Here is what Greta Thunburg said.

(I might be paraphrasing slightly  )

Living close to nature is Awesome.

Gardening is Awesome.

Walking is Awesome.

Do you really need more Stuff?

Are you going to continue to fill your house with Chinese Made Tat?   (Hint......)