Retirees to the forum.

Wobbliscotte (sp?) made a great post about this on another thread.

Basically, 20 years from now you may well be drinking soup through a straw whilst repeatedly asking if it is soup.

In other words, you might live for decades but living is subjective. Enjoy being relatively young and being able to enjoy life in the true sense.

I retired at 50 but it was definitely "too soon" for me so I managed to find a whole new career - working with cyclists - through which I've many friends and had loads of great experiences. I retired again at 60 and feel it's now a better time.

Wobbliscotte (sp?) made a great post about this on another thread.

I think it was on my thread here https://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/retirement-whats-it-really-like/

215 posts, and quite a lot of them made sense. As for me, I'm now 5 months in and not regretting it yet.

🙋‍♂️

retired last yr 55 from fire service F/T work . its great.

Had planned lots of holidays/trips away etc etc but have just completed 1st yr of retirement in lockdown. Have a P/T job 15hrs a week which is fine, no responsibilities or worries turn up do job go home, without this I think the wife would've stabbed me at some point 😁. It gets me out of house been useful during lockdown rather than looking at the 4 walls. Not sure how I'll feel about it once we can travel abroad again but I don't think we will be away this yr.

Since retirement, my sleep is better (no more nights)Wife is a bit annoyed I'm home every night tho, she liked her 2 nights on own. I've lost weight (less crap food and takeaways) spending less money (lockdown may have helped)

I have just retired at 60. If I could have gone earlier I would have done. I have a tiny pension but I do not care.

the key thing IMO is to have stuff you want to do. I have 5 years worth of plans for adventuring on the cheap

55 is in no way too early. I go at 55 in 20 months.

I've watched too many folk work too long and then die with no life after work, not for me thanks.

Retired last autumn - mid 50s - had already been to one friend's funeral and lost both parents. One of my colleagues pointed out I could always get a job if I changed my mind!

Despite lockdown putting the kibosh on a lot of things I've not regretted it. As much daylight as I want, only need an alarm a couple of times a week. Out every day, mostly with another (1) person so I do see people.
Slowly getting round to clearing up some of the detritus from all the previous decades. Bin/eBay/give away.

Have time to go to the market for fruit and veg, cook proper meals, will be growing veg. Shifted some weight.

Last week I vaguely missed work very slightly. That thing where they bring a problem to you and don't know what's going on and you have a good look, tell them what's really up and how to sort it, and everyone is delighted. That feeling was fleeting though and I'm now planning a bit of long distance walking for when lockdown eases a bit ;D

Slung my hook at 58 but acted as a driver for my wife so a lot of hotels and opportunities to explore and do different stuff. Did a six month cover in a college. Very happy being retired and don't miss the pettiness and limitations of the workplace.

I plan to stop full-time work in 2 years at 60. My pension from my first job will be bigger than my current wage by then and it will be affordable. I plan on some volunteering to get me out of the house but mainly I want to ride a bike for the first year or two until herself retires.

Retirement is such an individual and personal decision and have spent a lot of time thinking and talking about this at home especially because of the pandemic, early death of friends and a pretty rough year. I retired (took my pension) from the NHS last July age 55 (mainly to give me much more flexibility when the pandemic ends) but went back 2 days later to the same job to continue to help out in the pandemic (it really wasn’t a good time to walk away and leave my colleagues at that time) but working 4 days a week. I’m now leaving end of April as things are more sorted but it’s far too early to stop work and I am concerned that my children (two in the arts) may need quite a lot of support during and after the pandemic and my pension won’t be enough on it’s own in that respect. I’m actually going to move from Devon to London with Mrs Devbrix who is also in the NHS but has been right on the C19 front line for a year now and really needs a change and we want to be nearer to all our children who live there. After what we’ve been through and particularly her over the last year we want to see much more of them, be able to go to their exhibitions, plays etc which we can’t do easily now - we are quite a close family. Retirement has given me an opportunity to have a change of culture and experience and be a family again. I’m not going to work full-time for sure.

I've retired from normal full time/working for people work in the last 18 months. No intention of going back to it, aged 40. So 55 doesn't seem too early to me! I will do some bits of consulting work part when I feel like it and it's convenient and do some playing around upgrading and selling vans as well. Between that and various volunteer stuff in the MTB world I'm more than ok with it.

I got made redundant at 53vfrom a ‘corporate’ job and decided to set up my own web ‘lifestyle’ business in 2018 plus was doing some part-time spannering at my LBS so been pretty well semi-retired since. Review of my pensions/finances last year was the final decider to sell-up and move from Hampshire to Scotland - we are nearing our new house being finished in Tobermory, meanwhile we’ve been stuck in a grotty rental in the middle of nowhere in Moray. We’ll reopen the web business, hopefully find some part-time work - 2 days /week will be ideal and maybe some volunteering - means the pensions can sit tight until past 65. We’re also go for far more self-sufficency, growing more of our food, bees, chickens etc. Plus hopefully a more active/healthy lifestyle. The house is configured such that it should see us out with minimum modification, plus impressed about how much more health service support / screening we get in Scotland having had nothing in England. Given the state of the job market from discussion with friends, very glad we’ve made the move.

Guess it depends on 2 things plans and money. You seem to have the prior in that grandchildren and family are something you want to do a few times a week, I guess they’ll be other things like biking you want to do. So you need to be realistic about the cash, is it there? Lots of companies want part time workers from mega Corps to small businesses requiring a reliable van driver now and agsin.

I'm 67, I spent today preparing some of my windsurfing gear ready for when the lakes reopen in a week's time; getting my road bike ready for tomorrow; cutting some boards to make a stool for one if my 4 grandkids; practising guitar (Peter Green - Oh Well) making a brilliant Fillet steak dinner with wild mushroom and red wine sauce, yet feeling mildly guilty that I should really have been finishing off some cabinets for a customer.
If I didn't still have work obligations I'm sure I wouldn't enjoy my "time off" half as much.
I don't ever want to stop working.

This is not a dilemma future generations will have the privilege of - if you can afford it enjoy it I say.

If you've retired and then worked at a different job, then you've not retired, you've just changed jobs.

And by the same token, if you don’t draw a pension (of some sort) you’re not retired either, just unemployed (or independently wealthy) 😉

If you’ve retired and then worked at a different job, then you’ve not retired, you’ve just changed jobs.

I think if someone has worked for 40 years in an office and retires to be a potter or something, that counts. 🙂

Ton,if work gets you out of bed in a morning then carry on working, however if you have other things to do & can afford to leave then retire.
In my industry,Supermarket trucking,there's a big shortage of drivers & a ageing workforce.It's surprising to see people's reactions when they get to retirement age,one of them is 70,his shift starts at 02.30 & he's there every week doing upto 12 hour shifts.He told me that his accountant has told him to stop working as he's getting hammered in tax but if he stopped work he would have nothing to do.We had a good chat a few months ago & he said his problem is that all he's done all his life is work & he's got no hobbies.When I watch him in the depot you can see it's also his social life.Work gets him out of bed.
Lots of the drivers are now part time & I asked one of them why he went P/T & he said that he couldn't live with his wife 7 days a week & work gets him away from her..
I'm 60 this summer & I'm out of it,retiring in Sept,can't wait.I took a 13 week sabatical in 2017,never missed the place for a minute.I've got all my hobbies to occupy my time,I just wish I could have retired earlier.

This makes depressing read for a 49yo with perhaps 11yrs to go, I’m jealous of you all. 3yrs until the mortgage is paid off and 9yrs until my youngest is 18 and work is starting to feel harder every day even at my age.

Ha. 44 with 22yrs left on the mortgage.

I think the concept of retirement will be looked back on as a quaint phase during the late 1900’s, early 2000’s.

This makes depressing read for a 49yo with perhaps 11yrs to go,

Remember though that not only is life expectancy higher, we're generally fitter and more active than our parents and grandparents. 60 isn't what it used to be.

Without a doubt, it's also easier to retire early if financial commitments have been sensible/restrained. I'm lucky in that I've never really done the expensive foreign holiday thing (most of my trips were motorbike or car to Europe) and even cars aren't a big deal for me as I always went for "practical". If I'd been into those things then trying to balance the fun of the here and now with longer term financial stability would have been harder.

My dad retired at 58. 60 (8 years time) may work for me if youngest has finished uni.

Done a 4 day week for a few years to fit round kids, now needing it to help aging parents. Kind of semi retired already, without the income.

Best advice I've seen was from a retirement seminar a friend went on. Teach your partner how to do the things round the house that you do that they can't. Because they may have to do them sooner than you hope.

Without a doubt, it’s also easier to retire early if financial commitments have been sensible/restrained. I’m lucky in that I’ve never really done the expensive foreign holiday thing (most of my trips were motorbike or car to Europe) and even cars aren’t a big deal for me as I always went for “practical”. If I’d been into those things then trying to balance the fun of the here and now with longer term financial stability would have been harder.

^^^ THIS ^^^^

47 here on target for a 57 retirement. No way too early, I have plans already involving camper, canoe and bike that will take a couple of years. Wife has separate plans involving a place in the sun! We will find a compromise 🤣

Remember though that not only is life expectancy higher, we’re generally fitter and more active than our parents and grandparents. 60 isn’t what it used to be.

I meant that I can't wait to retire and be away from the daily grind.

Without a doubt, it’s also easier to retire early if financial commitments have been sensible/restrained

Thats the route I've taken. Have turned the materialist corner, nearly every time I have some money and discuss something I want to buy, if its not repairing the house or something appropriate for the kids it gets saved/invested. How much I've saved surprises me, hopefully it'll be enough to support a mediocre but fruitful lifestyle in 11 years time.

Not a retiree Ton, but at 58 I am in a position where I can stop working. Don't need to work financially and I certainly could do well mentally without it. Something is holding me back however, I think its guilt - Grum said above that the next and future generations wont have this luxury, and I would feel like i'm (sort of) freeloading on their future efforts - don't know if that makes sense. Son is in first year at college so a wee bit more financial stability would be a help, and partner is not ready to retire yet, so more nudge towards staying on..... and the work related worry has diminished considerably since the IFA said I could basically stop now though, and that also makes staying a wee bit longer easier.
Decisions, decisions....

and the work related worry has diminished considerably since the IFA said I could basically stop now though, and that also makes staying a wee bit longer easier.

I think the above is key, and also explains why the following isn't really as cut nbdried as it could be...

If you’ve retired and then worked at a different job, then you’ve not retired, you’ve just changed jobs.

Getting to the stage where you don't need to work (financially) must be amazing.
Knowing that if the boss is being a dick you could just walk out, with no issues.

Without a doubt, it’s also easier to retire early if financial commitments have been sensible/restrained

Yup. My pension will be small but I don't care. No 5 star hotels for me it will be backpackers hostels. Mortgages paid off and no debt

My biggest feeling was relief, that I no longer have to take the responsibility, that I no longer have to have the same arguments about how to do stuff as i have been for decades, that I no longer have to put up with management bullshine

I don't have to work again but I will probably do some bits and pieces to pay for some luxuries

The risk of dying in a single year aged 55 male is approximately 1 in 120.

I retired 2 years ago at 65. Despite last year limiting social opportunities and making some of my usual pastimes unavailable I'm not bored yet.

My Dad retired at 55 after leaving school at 15 he felt 40 years was enough. Helped that BT were having a restructure and if he’d stayed his workload would have increased massively.
My sis lives in Spain so they went over there 3-4 times a year for extended periods to see the grandkids.

He died at 69 so he had a decent retirement albeit to short.

Teach your partner how to do the things round the house that you do that they can’t

+1 to this - it’s been a bit of a shock for Mum to deal with a lot of this. Fortunately I’m just a few miles away so can help when there’s any issues.

I retired a few years ago aged 52. Mrs Kenny went shortly after aged 49. Easily the best thing we've ever done. Haven't regretted it or been bored for even a millisecond. Both happier now than we've been in our entire lives.

I know loads of folk who've gone early and they all say pretty much the same thing. In fact I can only think of one or two folk who have gone the full distance to 60.

I recommend it 100%.

44 with 23 years left on the mortgage..

Retirement..!? 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣

The things you do now are built around work. Endless biking or surfing once retired and it'd lose its zing. Develop new interests or wildly indulge current ones. I spent 60 hours listening to one book during the summer, laughing my socks off, you couldn't do that whilst working plus studied one painting for 3.5 years, a complete joy. Money can be made to go further since you're not forking out to 'alleviate the stresses of work in a social environment'. Being free to move house discussed above is a lovely adventure and better if you're a younger retiree. We're looking. I've really valued the extra time with her-indoors.

60 this year but no plans to retire yet. I run my own business, so sometimes work hard and sometimes don’t, but mostly have the flexibility to do what I want, when I want.

The thought of just doing hobbies fills me with horror! But I realize I’m lucky.

Or not.

I can't imagine anything worse.

Went part time at 60, boss was happy for me to stand down from my official role and mentor my successor, share some of his workload while he mentored his successor, and unload 35 years experience to people who could use it, then retired fully at 62. The wind down helped me and the company. I was worried that having spent most of my life learning about a very complex industry, and still learning, I would be in a position where suddenly none of that knowledge was any use to me.

thegeneralist

Getting to the stage where you don’t need to work (financially) must be amazing.
Knowing that if the boss is being a dick you could just walk out, with no issues.

It is 🙂
My direct boss is a total flute, my next boss up is a top chap MTB'er as well.
I resigned (rescinded) nearly 2 years ago and the scrabbling round to keep me was hilarious,
I know poo/fan interface will happen if I leave!
But they know its only a stay of execution till I go on my terms.
I'm only staying as I feel sorry for my staff who are good people & I don't want them to suffer.

50 here, paid the mortgage off so long ago I can't remember when. I could afford to retire tomorrow, but I really like my job, gone down to a 4 day week (wed off), so only ever work 2 days in a row before having a break. I figure whilst I'm well paid to do something I enjoy, I'd be daft to pack it in. Wife is 7 years younger and not so keen on her job, but her pension is a lot smaller than mine and she's a long way off getting full NI contributions (I've still got 5 years to go). Will probably retire at 55 if nothing exciting happens inbetween.

If you've got a bit of self-employed or property income, then topping up your NI contributions is cheap as chips. We did it for Mrs BigJohn, I think about £150 a year did the trick and added £5 p.w to the pension.

60 this year but no plans to retire yet. I run my own business, so sometimes work hard and sometimes don’t, but mostly have the flexibility to do what I want, when I want.

The thought of just doing hobbies fills me with horror! But I realize I’m lucky.

You mostly have the flexibility to do what you want. Being retired we have total flexibility. I'd say you are actually unlucky. And retirement is far more than just hobbies.

I retired a few years ago aged 52. Mrs Kenny went shortly after aged 49. .

How the heck did you afford that?

can only think of one or two folk who have gone the full distance to 60.

Erm, um. 60 isn't the full distance. Not by a long shot.

67

How the heck did you afford that?

We made quite a few big financial sacrifices when we were younger. It was a gamble in that one or both of us could have died at a young age, the "enjoy it while you're young" thing. But we took the chance and it paid off. It's a bit "swings and roundabouts really". We took the hit early on and are getting the benefits now. Worked for us but other people may see it differently. There's no perfect answer.

Erm, um. 60 isn’t the full distance. Not by a long shot.

67

We are both Edinburgh and financial services where 60 really is the top limit. I was talking about the people we know. But fair point, the retirement age is different in different areas.

I still stand by my main point though. We chose to take a substantial hit financially. It means we won't be driving fancy new cars or taking luxury cruises. We'll have to watch the pennies but we both hit the point where we thought "time is more precious than money". And haven't regretted it one instant. Enjoy your hobbies, your interests, your grandchildren, each other. I don't think you'll regret it.

Interesting that no-one has volunteered the actual income that they are living on or expecting to live on. This is not a criticism, just an observation of a British/English trait...

read all this, and most of the other post mentioned.
some very interesting stuff.

mine and the wifes reasons to finish early are a mix of wanting to spend time while we are healthy, with the grandkids. we both have had periods of ill health in the past, me with heart problems, and the wife with epilepsy. both cured for now tho.

we have zero debt apart from living bills (utilities and food ). we spend very little.
our pesions will bring us half the income of what our wages did. but we managed to save one wage most month. and both our 25% lumps are tucked away too.

so grandkids monday and tuesday. resting wednesday, and a bit of cycle pottering thursday friday.
i somehow dont see boredom being a issue.

OK.. quick question to all you retirees.
If you retired at 55 with no pension but had about £700k between you as a couple from the sale of your house, could you still downsize/rent and make this money last, or would you need to get another job at some point? I have no real idea how much you tend to spend when retired, but it wouldn't include any flash holidays etc. Just wondering if I'll ever get to retire when I stopped paying in to my personal pension about 15 years ago? When I say no pension I think its worth about £45k so practically nothing.

A few useful pointers from Tim Kasseer:

Interesting that no-one has volunteered the actual income that they are living on or expecting to live on. This is not a criticism, just an observation of a British/English trait…

Not really, it's just that no-one asked.

I'll volunteer. We (2 of us) are currently getting by on my state pension plus about £6k pa from private pension. I could take much more from my personal scheme by running down the capital but at the moment I choose to remain under the tax threshold. We don't have expensive tastes. Now when my OH gets her state pension we'll be rolling in it!

This is a great thread and it’s very generous of you all to share this info, at 49 I appreciate it helping me to plan for the future. An IFA can tell you things but dozens of individual experiences give you a much wider view. Mortgage gone next year and no other debt (nows the time to buy my new road bike, somebody please let the wife know this) I’m thinking 60 and have done for a good while.

I'll quite happily volunteer.
Worked since 15 non stop and have 1.1 million in a SIPP.
Way more than enough. Plan it correctly and 700k is the magic number for me.
You could quit on much less
I reckon you could bin work at 50 on 400k and manage fine if you aren't posh

Currently 46. I have an RAF pension from 60 @13k/yr and 400k in the company pension scheme invested reasonably aggressively. Plan is retire at 60, take max tax free lump sums and use my pot to top me up to the Higher Rate Tax limit.

Retirement will hopefully involve a few years on a boat. Grandkids are a way off yet with 16/13yo kids, but that will surely feature.

Worked since 15 non stop and have 1.1 million in a SIPP

Congratulations on that! But I thought you couldn't hold more than £1m in a pension?

You can, but any excess above 1million (approx) is taxed at retirement. Theres a bit more to it, but roughly that.

Really interesting thread. I'm 52 and probably looking to retire or work part time in the next 3-4years (house paid off and will downsize and/or relocate to Brecon Beacons where MrsG comes from). I guess for me much will come down to what work is like post COVID-19. I used to travel alot (internationally) and dont want to go back to that level of travel.

I can take my pension in 355 working days at 55 with a 20% hit, and at 60 with no hit. I have a final salary scheme with 22 years that will soon close to me, but also have saved hard in AVCs with an aim to max my lifetime allowance at 55. I planned to take 25% to pay off one mortgage - we have two on the property as one was at a rate too good to be true. I’ll probably not retire though, but if I do, I could head back to academia or do consultancy.

If I moved back to my beloved Devon (from Windsor), I could manage on the income, but it wouldn’t sustain new cars, boat and multiple annual holidays. And then there are the two adult children. I’m not a dentist but Carla lane wrote with me in mind! 😉

Congratulations on that! But I thought you couldn’t hold more than £1m in a pension?

You can, but any excess above 1million (approx) is taxed at retirement. Theres a bit more to it, but roughly that.

Bar the 25% tax free (but only to to 1/4 the lifetime allowance), all income from pensions is taxed at your marginal rate.

However, with SIPPs anything over the lifetime allowance (currently £1.07m IIRC) gets an extra 20% tax added on top, so 20% rate becomes 40%, 40% rate becomes 60% etc.

I keep meaning to try and fully understand how this is all implemented as my SIPP is at £1.3m now, so will definately be having to deal with it in 5 years time....

I keep wondering wether or not you can get divorced and have a court split the pension in two, which would bring each half back down below the lifetime allowance and then just co-habit....

I find it best just to keep the pension pot under £1m. Turns out its actually pretty easy 🙂

I keep wondering wether or not you can get divorced and have a court split the pension in two, which would bring each half back down below the lifetime allowance and then just co-habit…

You can, but the issue is that when HMRC realise you are still living together they will come after you for tax evasion.

I find it best just to keep the pension pot under £1m. Turns out its actually pretty easy 🙂

what I've learnt from this thread is where my early retirement plans have gone wrong.

i'm not loaded..;-)

i’m not loaded..;-)

neither am i mate. but i also dont want to be.
i want to be time rich now, not money rich.

neither am i mate. but i also dont want to be.

I've been very lucky, very good salary and saved shed loads (lived very modestly for my salary), hence big pension pot.

My parents in law are retired and live off pretty small private pensions (a few £100 / month) and state pensions and they have a very nice life - their biggest expenses are probably Golf club fees (£500 / year). So you really don't need a lot to retire if you have modest tastes.

However, with SIPPs anything over the lifetime allowance (currently £1.07m IIRC) gets an extra 20% tax added on top, so 20% rate becomes 40%, 40% rate becomes 60% etc.

That's not quite how it works. Any amount over your lifetime allowance that you take as a lump sum is taxed at 55%, and any amount over your lifetime allowance that you take as a regular retirement income – for instance by buying an annuity – attracts a lifetime allowance charge of 25%, on top of any tax payable on the income in the usual way.

Also, it's not just SIPPs. If you have a defined benefit pension, this is assessed against the lifetime allowance by multiplying the annual pension by 20. So even if you have no SIPP at all, if your final salary scheme is paying you more than 5% of the lifetime allowance per year (about £53.5k at the moment) the amount above that will attract an extra 25% tax.

48 here with 18 years left on my mortgage...
I don't think early retirement is something i need to worry about.

However, we are overpaying the Mortgage slightly, and paying the maximum i can into my workplace pension (with the company matching it) so hopefully i won't need to work up to the morning of my funeral.
My Wife is a teacher, and although she's been screwed over on her pension its still better than nowt.

All being well i hope i can stop full time work at 62ish, and she can stop at the same time, when she's 60.
We've both got loads of transferable skills so intend to do a little part time work to bridge the gap to state pension age.

I think its easy to downplay the time of entry into the property market, I have a sister, 6yrs older than me. comparable career paths and earnings.

bought her first house mid 90's, whereas I didn't buy my first house until the mid 2000's. she now has multiple ,largely mortgage free properties and talking about retiring in the next couple of years.

I have one pretty modest, mid terrace with a fairly large mortgage on and I'll be lucky if I retire before I'm mid 60's.

in terms of investments, my biggest regret is renting, not buying when I got my first graduate job. the first house I ended up buying, went up ~120% in the three years I dithered...

I’ve learnt I missed the boat to die young and leave a beautiful corpse and all that’s left for me is to die poor.

and all that’s left for me is to die poor.

Well you can't take it with you.....

don't think I'll ever get my head around those who're worried about boredom if they stop working (even though my dad is one!) I've got so many interests, ideas & plans I don't think even two lifetimes would be enough, work just bloody gets in the way 🤣

I think its easy to downplay the time of entry into the property market

Some people have asked how much they need to retire.. and someone asked if £700k is enough.

There’s no one answer to that as everyone is different. It all depends on how much your annual outgoings will be in retirement. For some, £20k will be enough, for others £80k, others £100k+.

I posted some detailed financial info on the ‘Retirement - what’s it really like’ thread but will repost a couple of simple steps that will get you started if you’re wondering “How much is enough?”....

1. Start by tracking what your outgoings are today with your current lifestyle.

- Download some expense tracking software that automatically sucks in and categorises the transactions from your bank accounts, credit cards etc. Make sure you go though it regularly to ensure the categorisations are correct.
- This may sound like drudgery, but it's actually fun, and there's tremendous value in knowing what you're actually spending rather than guessing.
- So far as apps go, I've used BankTivity and Quicken in the past, but MoneyHub is my favourite these days - simple, easy, brilliant, UK(not USA) centric, and inexpensive at £10/year.

2. Do the above for at least 6 months then extrapolate it on a spreadsheet to a full year.

- Obviously, a year or more gives you much more reliable data and takes account of seasonal fluctuations such as Christmas, summer holidays, birthdays, etc.
- Doing this will give you an insight into what your actual spending is.
- Now, using a spreadsheet, project out how you think your spending in each category will change in retirement. For example, in our case we reduced the amounts each year for groceries (as we won't be feeding a family of 5), child & dependent expenses, clothing, cars (as we won't need the 3 we currently have), car insurance, telephones & mobiles, and so on - and increased the amounts we'll likely spend on travel/holidays, hobbies, entertainment, eating out, medical expenses, gifts, etc.

Some people have asked how much they need to retire.. and someone asked if £700k is enough.

MY basic pension for the years 60 - 67 will be £525 per month. Mrs TJ less plus a joint income from property of £400 per month so a total of under £1300 per month between us. thats how much we have. It will have to do. We may do some bits and piece of part time work and if we go away for long periods let the house out to gain a bit more.

We have no debt and no mortgage.

IMO yo can approach this in two ways.:
1) I need this much to retire on and work long enough to get that much or
2) I am retiring at this age and will make do with what I have

So you really don’t need a lot to retire if you have modest tastes.

It's surprising how much your outgoings reduce when you stop work.

don’t think I’ll ever get my head around those who’re worried about boredom if they stop working

Indeed.

Prior to drawing my pension I did what Digger90 suggests. I didn't use any fancy tracking software though, I just downloaded 12 months of bank statements as a CSV, stuck it into Excel and knocked up some pivot tables. It took me about a day to come up with a pretty accurate idea of my anticipated outgoings to present to my financial adviser. Looking back at the following 12 months I wasn't far off.

Which works well, but how do you capture and accurately categorise spending on credit cards, Paypal, and other sources of spending that are not directly from your current account?

Which works well, but how do you capture and accurately categorise spending on credit cards, Paypal, other that’s not directly from your current account?

It all comes out of your current account eventually, doesn't matter whether I pay by PP, CC or direct debit etc.

It’s surprising how much your outgoings reduce when you stop work

Another surprising number is how much you save when you actually retire. We are both working and probably save over 1k a month into our pensions and other savings.

ignore...

i’m not loaded..;-)

Neither am I,fortunately I don't need to be loaded so I'm retiring in a few months

It’s surprising how much your outgoings reduce when you stop work

This +1.
I'm currently paying £1350 PCM off our mortgage, an amount into my pension every month and if i'm in the office full time about £200 PCM on Fuel/Dartford tunnel tolls.

if i wasn't working/commuting, paying the mortgage or paying into a pension i'd be circa £1900 PCM better off..

Go now if you can and enjoy the grandchildren and cycling. You can't buy time no matter how much you save in the bank.

Something I think a number of people consider is what they want to leave to their dependents. With some small sacrifices I could possible retire now (56) but my 2 are at Uni and will need to get on the housing ladder when they leave and get jobs. I suppose that will dictate my timeline. I will retire when I can help with this financially then spend time helping them set up their homes from a DIY perspective, So likely a couple from years from now.