For some reason I cannot update my original post on this forum as it says the thread is too old to update!
http://www.early-retirement.org/foru...ack-83300.html.
Anyway after what seems like months of negotiation I think we are finally there and I will head into early retirement at the end of June aged 52 and two thirds. It will be a relatively smooth glide path as for the first year I have agreed to remain connected on a one day a week contract.
In November 2010 I started a thread on another forum on the topic of early retirement and originally thought we would retire at 50. Looking back I am not sure that would have been reasonable or rather the amount of investable assets could have left us short of funds. So while I have been a victim of OMY syndrome (in fact 2MY) we’re now in a position of feeling a lot more comfortable [that we won’t run out of money and / or need to significantly adjust our lifestyle].
I think early retirement is a really difficult decision and paradoxically especially for those earning above average salaries as reversing the decision is so much more difficult (and I would say in my case nigh on impossible). The decision needs to be underpinned by a real understanding of expenses and of the type of lifestyle one wants to have in retirement. Or for those who could not be bothered with the detailed planning, sufficient buffer to allow for any eventuality. We sit somewhere between the two stools (i.e. a good handle on lifestyle but a very big buffer AND very conservative investment assumptions – after all who want to live on the edge of an SWR?).
So what do the numbers look like? The bulk of our retirement planning is underpinned by regular payments / pensions which come from an employer early retirement fund and DB pensions which collectively will cover our regular spending (including most of the discretionary spend). On top of that we have a deferred income account which will pay out from age 60. Taken together that will leave investible assets of c. $2.6 million largely untouched. We will use the natural income from those funds to provide the “cream” on our retirement spending (maybe business class flights or at least premium?). We own our own home and have no debt.
Of course the difference in financial planning for a European based early retiree is that we largely have full visibility and control on future medical costs which make a massive difference (and our health costs will be cost free from age 67).
We have some thoughts about what I will do in retirement which I’ve set out on another thread and although it seems like a lot, the thinking in largely unstructured. But actually I am not really too concerned. I had had enough back in 2010 when I started this thinking journey so now in 2017 I have definitely had enough. Preparing to decompress…..
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