How to retire early?

I can’t draw on my DB pension until 65 but that aside the pension I’d get at 65 if I stopped contributing now is still a way off the max. Every year it gets a bit closer. I’m watching that gap…when it is narrow enough I’m out!
I have burned out and lost interest. Lots of changes coming and frankly I cannot be bothered. I’m happy to leave it to the next generation. Some of the senior people in the organisation are younger than my kids and while they are great, and more than qualified etc theres only so much I am prepared to invest emotionally now.

Work has been a defining aspect of my life, aside from the decent salary it is what I did at uni, post uni study, professional exams… I suspect I’ll still describe myself as a “former” for a long time. But bring on the next stage. And I want to embrace it while I’m young enough (?) and agile (mentally) enough to do so.
 
I’ve been thinking about this too. We have a big job to do on the house. Not sure how much it will take so I am going to do that. See how much it costs and what savings remain.
 
DeeKie said:
We have a big job to do on the house.
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What kind of job? Is there any prospect you can do some/all of it yourself (or relatives you can guilt into doing it for you!) and/or is there a more affordable solution to the one you're currently looking at? Are there grants?

I mentioned above that I renovated my own home. Doing it myself has saved €100k or so. That's 10 years or so off my mortgage. Bringing it from an estimated E1 to a certified B2 has reduced my outgoings by around €2.5k a year which obviously reduces my burn rate.
  • I'm an extreme example and I totally get that the vast majority of people balk at doing most of the kinds of work I've done, but even shopping around for solar panels saved me several thousand euro.
  • Also, getting as many solar panels onto your roof as can fit facing S/E/W is a no-brainer and I just cannot understand why so many people are reluctant to do this.
I would seriously recommend assessing the value to you of whatever work you're getting done on the basis of cost reductions and comfort added. Ignore entirely any increase in the potential sale price of your home, because you won't make anything other than a theoretical profit on the work.

Your house is generally your biggest expense. Doing what needs doing more affordably will therefore be your biggest saving and the biggest enabler of retirement.
 
I also desire to retire young. I am targeting age 50, am currently 38.

A brief summary of my plan;

- Paid off mortgage 2 years ago (putting every penny I had spare off it, was on a variable rate one).
- Have a DB pension which will have 29 years service / 40 years max at aged 50
- Maxing my AVCs since paying off mortgage and will continue to do so until early retirement
- Investing 70% of my remaining income into a diversified set of ~40 companies between now and 50
- Use my equity liquidity to fund 50-60
- Withdraw DB and ARF from 60

As per other posts above, a key enabler is me knowing my spending rate and being very very intentional with my money;

With annual expense of just €20k I manage to pay golf membership, go on 3 holidays a year, drive a €45k car and eat out ever 3rd week or so. But I maximise the value I obtain in every other aspect of life and enjoy the challenge of it.
 
New strategic vision, yawn, new backend IT systems and a new workflow associated with it. Change of reporting lines so I’ll have a new boss.
We are dripping with management consultants so the end company will be very different, I’ve seen this a few times and each period of change is tiring and I’m not interested anymore.

I know, it’s me not them…
 
BIG-notorious said:
Also, getting as many solar panels onto your roof as can fit facing S/E/W is a no-brainer and I just cannot understand why so many people are reluctant to do this.
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Just to give my situation as someone who looks to optimise all aspects of household spending;

We spend €1,092 last year on electricity, of which €235 was standing charge, so €857 of usage. The majority of our usage is evening into night, so at best the prize is ~€300 usage a year if doing just pure solar. With a battery the prize could go up to about €600 I reckon but an extra €300 in annual savings won’t pay for any decent battery investment.

Happy to hear any flaws in my logic.
 
jpmackey said:
Happy to hear any flaws in my logic.
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Your payback in a year is not limited to your €857 of usage, the theoretical limit is actually your usage plus your tax-free export plus other taxable export. Ignoring the last and since you said "our usage", you're somewhere between the €857 and 2x €400 tax-free export, so €1657. Then you can also look at EV's, switch to an EV night rate at 5c/kWh. Then you can consider increasing your electricity usage versus other energy sources - e.g. running an immersion overnight instead of gas (5c@100% efficiency vs ~10c @ 80% efficiency with gas). Maybe even consider a big battery plus heat-pump to eliminate gas heating, if you're on gas that is.

Not gonna lie, I've thought a lot about this particular rabbit-hole! :D
 
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Annieindublin said:
I have burned out and lost interest.
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From this and previous posts of yours, your experience/situation sounds a lot like what I went through at the tail end of 2021 and when I eventually decided to jack it in and effectively and prematurely slip into retirement. Luckily I have had the means and modest lifestyle to be able to do this without any difficulties. Out for a long walk the other day, I bumped into a former colleague who is still in the same place and he asked if I had any regrets or might do some contract work for them and I had no hesitation in saying "no" to both questions. :D Good luck with whatever you choose to do in your situation.
 
conor_mc said:
Your payback in a year is not limited to your €857 of usage, the theoretical limit is actually your usage plus your tax-free export plus other taxable export. Ignoring the last and since you said "our usage", you're somewhere between the €857 and 2x €400 tax-free export, so €1657. Then you can also look at EV's, switch to an EV night rate at 5c/kWh. Then you can consider running an immersion overnight instead of your alternative (5c@100% efficiency vs ~10c @ 80% efficiency with gas). Maybe even consider a big battery plus heat-pump to eliminate gas usage, if you're on gas.

Not gonna lie, I've thought a lot about this particular rabbit-hole! :D
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Thanks, Conor.

I won’t reply in detail as I’m conscious we will derail the thread topic, but will just say that I didn’t consider export income.

Re EV car; my car is a hobby, not my sole means of transport. I just can’t abide any of the EVs at the moment.

Re Immersion heating; I have a modern heat pump hot water tank that runs on an off peak smart plan rate already.

Re heating; I have a modern heat pump as our heating system. My €1,092 electricity for the year includes heating!
 
Another thing that needs to come into the calculations is that with more time on your hands people are inclined to spend more. Yes there are plenty of free things to do but still feel that people do spend more generally if they have free time.
 
jpmackey said:
Happy to hear any flaws in my logic.
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As @conor_mc says, your equation omits the most influential elements and therefore you've gotten a totally incorrect result when solving for X.

BIG-notorious said:
I just cannot understand why so many people are reluctant to do this
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A more honest statement would probably be "I just cannot understand why so many people can't do what I consider to be basic maths".
jpmackey said:
I am targeting age 50, am currently 38.
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jpmackey said:
Have a DB pension which will have 29 years service / 40 years max at aged 50
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jpmackey said:
- Use my equity liquidity to fund 50-60
- Withdraw DB and ARF from 60
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With a DB pension & max of 40 years service I'm assuming you're post-1995 public sector.

I'd say you'd have a much easier hill to climb from 50 to 60 if you either took cost neutral early retirement or went 3 days a week 40 weeks a year at 50 instead of just resigning. My own numbers tell me that coasting to retirement by going part time for 5 years will be vastly more viable than fully retiring at 55.

Sue Ellen said:
Another thing that needs to come into the calculations is that with more time on your hands people are inclined to spend more. Yes there are plenty of free things to do but still feel that people do spend more generally if they have free time.
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I intend for my spending on travel to greatly increase when I retire, that's for sure!

More generally, people's spending tends to expand to absorb all available funds. That's why I can easily think of couples with twice our household income but who are still somehow broke....
 
I wonder is that generally the case?

Most retired folks that I know aren’t exactly globe trotters!

On the other hand, there are some work-related costs (commuting, clothing, lunches, coffees, etc) that would fall away in retirement.

Also, I wonder do time-poor working folks “treat” themselves more than retired folks? As a form of self-therapy, perhaps?
 
It's not uncommon for people to do a fair amount of travelling in the few years after retirement. But they generally scale back significantly after that. This may be because they have done the big trips they always planned to do, or because they are running out of ready money, or because they are running out of energy and extended foreign travel is not the unalloyed joy that it used to be. Or it may be a bit of all three.

Whatever, once people get much past 70 the pattern seems to be that, mostly, they like the quiet life.

Your milage may vary, of course. Literally.
 
BIG-notorious said:
With a DB pension & max of 40 years service I'm assuming you're post-1995 public sector.

I'd say you'd have a much easier hill to climb from 50 to 60 if you either took cost neutral early retirement or went 3 days a week 40 weeks a year at 50 instead of just resigning. My own numbers tell me that coasting to retirement by going part time for 5 years will be vastly more viable than fully retiring at 55.
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You are making some big assumptions. I can only take my cost neutral early retirement from 60. I am head of a dept so cannot just go to a 3 day week or take 12 weeks off. I am either all in or all out.
 
I’m 63 later this year. I thought I might have been able to go at 60 but no way unfortunately. We still have one in college and I’m pouring 40% of a very modest income into AVCs. I spent a lot of my life working part time so the pension has suffered badly.
I like my workplace but I’m tired of the grind. As my brother says it’s not the work it’s just work.
I’m giving myself two more years max and then I’m gone.
 
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