Darka's FIRE Update (2021)

[DrFfybes]

If the state pension forecast can be relied on we should both get a full state pension, I have checked every year for a good few years now but I did check again after your question, just to make sure

I have 35 years NICS and Mrs Darka has 40 years.

So either MrsD is a bit older than you, or she had one hell of a well paid paper round

Congrats BTW - it does feel good not to have to get up in the morning, or rather it will until MrsD decides you need structure in your life and gets a dog.

Based on the PLSA's research https://www.retirementlivingstandards.org.uk/, the income levels they quote for a couple are:

£16,700 - Minimum
£30,600 - Moderate
£49,700 - Comfortable

Darka

I believe these figures are net, i.e. after tax

They are, although with some planning a couple can avoid tax on the first £31,140 by using personal allowance, personal savings allowance, and dividend allowances.

Paul

[Darka]

So either MrsD is a bit older than you, or she had one hell of a well paid paper round

Congrats BTW - it does feel good not to have to get up in the morning, or rather it will until MrsD decides you need structure in your life and gets a dog.
Paul

Thanks Paul,

MrsD is indeed a little older, don't think she had a paper round, although I did for a good while.

I suspect a dog might indeed be in our future, if it's up to MrsD then possibly several

[DrFfybes]

I suspect a dog might indeed be in our future, if it's up to MrsD then possibly several

At the risk of going well off topic, if you are planning on a dog (or more) then you might want to revisit your spend projections

Just before Covid our neighbour bought a cockadoodle (or whichever designer mongrel was fashionable), plus he built a 5 foot high fence around all the back of the house, he spent almost as much as I did on a Maserati. Cost him more to insure it too, but I suspect it was cheaper to feed. My car has now been replaced with an elderly Staffie from the RSPCA, she's 14 so will probably be gone by the time Covid goes away, so is getting (we hope) a good end of life and then we can decide if we want another or want to go travelling. Her running costs are eye watering though.

The thing we found when we stopped working full time, is that we had a lot more free time. Time to nip into town for lunch (lockdowns permitting), visiting the odd NT or English Heritage property, replacie those delapidated fence panels, install a wildflower meadow and clear the overgrown woodland and plant native bulbs, etc

Now as we haven't been swanning around the globe loitering at race circuits, we have saved quite a bit on our normal spend. However when things get more normal you could find you need more money than previously.

Paul

[Darka]

At the risk of going well off topic, if you are planning on a dog (or more) then you might want to revisit your spend projections

Just before Covid our neighbour bought a cockadoodle (or whichever designer mongrel was fashionable), plus he built a 5 foot high fence around all the back of the house, he spent almost as much as I did on a Maserati. Cost him more to insure it too, but I suspect it was cheaper to feed. My car has now been replaced with an elderly Staffie from the RSPCA, she's 14 so will probably be gone by the time Covid goes away, so is getting (we hope) a good end of life and then we can decide if we want another or want to go travelling. Her running costs are eye watering though.

Sensible advice

Sadly we lost our cat at the start of Covid, so I hope your dog doesn't suffer and we decided to hold off getting a dog until after we've done some travelling.

The thing we found when we stopped working full time, is that we had a lot more free time. Time to nip into town for lunch (lockdowns permitting), visiting the odd NT or English Heritage property, replacie those delapidated fence panels, install a wildflower meadow and clear the overgrown woodland and plant native bulbs, etc

Now as we haven't been swanning around the globe loitering at race circuits, we have saved quite a bit on our normal spend. However when things get more normal you could find you need more money than previously.

Paul

We kind of expected that and our budget post work was designed to be bigger than whilst working, even more so when my SIPP eventually kicks in.

Hopefully it'll all work out, we're fairly flexible with spending but want to enjoy what we have saved up as we have no dependents and can't take it with us.