ICTJohnboy Posted June 25, 2018 Share Posted June 25, 2018 On 23/06/2018 at 17:37, Granny Danger said: Back on topic. We have started looking at areas of Spain to retire to and hoping that the whole Brexit thing doesn’t f**k it up. Two favourite holiday places are Barcelona and Ibiza but €400,000 for a shoebox is not an attractive proposition. I’m not sure how working families can afford to stay in these places. Almeria, on the south coast, is very affordable. My advice, FWIW, would be to rent a place for at least 6 months, wherever you plan to go. Having owned a villa in that area for almost 3 years, and which we are now in the process of selling, we did find that the novelty of Spanish culture very quickly wore off. We probably didn't do ourselves any favours by buying in an ex-pat area complete with English style pubs and of course, that mainstay of English/British culture - A fish & chip shop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Granny Danger Posted June 25, 2018 Share Posted June 25, 2018 1 hour ago, ICTJohnboy said: Almeria, on the south coast, is very affordable. My advice, FWIW, would be to rent a place for at least 6 months, wherever you plan to go. Having owned a villa in that area for almost 3 years, and which we are now in the process of selling, we did find that the novelty of Spanish culture very quickly wore off. We probably didn't do ourselves any favours by buying in an ex-pat area complete with English style pubs and of course, that mainstay of English/British culture - A fish & chip shop. My wife likes the idea of renting first, I’m more inclined to dive in but that may change. I’d like to get the right balance, not too touristy but most of the areas we have looked at will have an element of this as we want a coastal property. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross. Posted June 25, 2018 Share Posted June 25, 2018 Viewed a house on Saturday and viewing another place on Thursday morning. Expecting that we will buy one or the other. Not sure how that will affect my retirement plans but if we are there long enough to pay off the mortgage we should definitely be well placed for a more than comfortable retirement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MONKMAN Posted June 25, 2018 Share Posted June 25, 2018 I cannot wait to retire. My current aim is 55, which is fairly realistic of achieving. I’d be quite confident of getting there before the **** also. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peasy23 Posted June 25, 2018 Share Posted June 25, 2018 Almeria, on the south coast, is very affordable. My advice, FWIW, would be to rent a place for at least 6 months, wherever you plan to go. Having owned a villa in that area for almost 3 years, and which we are now in the process of selling, we did find that the novelty of Spanish culture very quickly wore off. We probably didn't do ourselves any favours by buying in an ex-pat area complete with English style pubs and of course, that mainstay of English/British culture - A fish & chip shop. My wife likes the idea of renting first, I’m more inclined to dive in but that may change. I’d like to get the right balance, not too touristy but most of the areas we have looked at will have an element of this as we want a coastal property. An ex workmate of mine planned to move to Cyprus when he retired. Moved into a rented place for a year then both he and his missus realised through the winter there that it wasn't really the life they thought it was going to be. Place was very quiet out of season and quite a lot of bars/restaurants etc closed for a few months. Added to that was stuff like missing the grandchildren and other family and friends which they thought they would cope with ok but in reality didn't. He was quite relieved that they hadn't just dived in and bought something as it could have been a potentially expensive mistake. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ICTJohnboy Posted June 25, 2018 Share Posted June 25, 2018 7 minutes ago, peasy23 said: An ex workmate of mine planned to move to Cyprus when he retired. Moved into a rented place for a year then both he and his missus realised through the winter there that it wasn't really the life they thought it was going to be. Place was very quiet out of season and quite a lot of bars/restaurants etc closed for a few months. Added to that was stuff like missing the grandchildren and other family and friends which they thought they would cope with ok but in reality didn't. He was quite relieved that they hadn't just dived in and bought something as it could have been a potentially expensive mistake. Renting first is good advice. You can go on holiday to some of these resorts and sitting in the sun outside a tapas bar, with the bright blue Med in front of you, and spectacular mountains behind you. Nibbling your tapas and supping an ice cold San Miguel can seem utterly idyllic - especially at a total cost of around £2.75! Missing young grandchildren was something that was getting to my partner - even although she could fly to her home town of Manchester, from Almeria, in less than 3 hours - which is less than half of what it took to drive from Inverness where we lived at the time. We both still love Spain and have made lots of friends there - we will return whenever we can, but not to live there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacksgranda Posted June 25, 2018 Share Posted June 25, 2018 21 hours ago, chomp my root said: One of the many good things about being retired is getting to have a wee siesta when you fancy it. Sometimes I can manage to squeeze a forenoon AND afternoon siesta in. #winning A man after my own heart. Although I'm only semi retired. Maybe by the time I'm 66 I'll be completely retired. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chomp my root Posted June 25, 2018 Share Posted June 25, 2018 44 minutes ago, Jacksgranda said: A man after my own heart. Although I'm only semi retired. Maybe by the time I'm 66 I'll be completely retired. I planned on going part time when I left my last job, basically for beer money but as we were getting dogs (supposed to be one, got conned and ended up with two) I was waiting until I got the pups settled. Realised that I could get by with a bit of belt tightening, I could avoid the whole working thing. We're poorer than we've been but it works for us, the missus enjoys coming home and getting her dinner cooked for her. It sort of suits us although we could do with more cash but that's always the case. Only got an afternoon snooze in the day though, busy busy busy this morning, well by my standards. Went through the bin looking for Tennents tins to try and win a glass. As I say, busy busy busy..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sergeant Wilson Posted June 25, 2018 Share Posted June 25, 2018 I've got about 12 years to go. If I didn't get my nap, I doubt I'd make it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chomp my root Posted June 25, 2018 Share Posted June 25, 2018 3 minutes ago, Sergeant Wilson said: I've got about 12 years to go. If I didn't get my nap, I doubt I'd make it. Tactical napping is vastly underrated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacksgranda Posted June 25, 2018 Share Posted June 25, 2018 24 minutes ago, chomp my root said: I planned on going part time when I left my last job, basically for beer money but as we were getting dogs (supposed to be one, got conned and ended up with two) I was waiting until I got the pups settled. Realised that I could get by with a bit of belt tightening, I could avoid the whole working thing. We're poorer than we've been but it works for us, the missus enjoys coming home and getting her dinner cooked for her. It sort of suits us although we could do with more cash but that's always the case. Only got an afternoon snooze in the day though, busy busy busy this morning, well by my standards. Went through the bin looking for Tennents tins to try and win a glass. As I say, busy busy busy..... I'd be over the moon if I could get completely retired, even if we were tightening belts. I haven't the energy any more for part time work, never mind full time. The money is handy but we could (probably! ) manage without it. I'd like to think by the end of July/start of August I could put the "managing without the money" theory to the test. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chomp my root Posted June 25, 2018 Share Posted June 25, 2018 16 minutes ago, Jacksgranda said: I'd be over the moon if I could get completely retired, even if we were tightening belts. I haven't the energy any more for part time work, never mind full time. The money is handy but we could (probably! ) manage without it. I'd like to think by the end of July/start of August I could put the "managing without the money" theory to the test. Good luck with it mate, it wasn't the work that got to me, it was the politics of work. My blood pressure went from the high end of 'normal' to 'I quote' "the blood pressure of a young man". We're all in different situations though and we only get the one shot at it (unless your a Buddhist) so go with what works for you, not whats expected. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Chlamydia Kid Posted June 25, 2018 Share Posted June 25, 2018 I've paid significant amounts of extra money into my pension pot over the last 2/3 years. At the same time I've educated myself a bit about how it's invested and suchlike. It's pretty much the only way of reducing your income tax / NI as a salaried employee - locking it away til you're 57 (or whatever). But, 57 is nae age at all. At the bare minimum, folk should be putting enough into their pension to maximise employer contributions - otherwise, you are letting your employer underpay you. I don’t understand pensions. I pay in my contributions and employer matches it but I was told there was no point paying extra in as they won’t match any more and you’d be as well saving the cash? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cerberus Posted June 25, 2018 Author Share Posted June 25, 2018 I think I'd get bored if I retired too early. I don't fancy sitting in some damp 1 bedroom flat in Partick, freezing my baws off hovering over 1 bar fire in the middle of May. Not wanting to go out in the pissing rain to get my Beef Olives and Soft Scoop ice cream from Iceland. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacksgranda Posted June 25, 2018 Share Posted June 25, 2018 7 minutes ago, Cerberus said: I think I'd get bored if I retired too early. I don't fancy sitting in some damp 1 bedroom flat in Partick, freezing my baws off hovering over 1 bar fire in the middle of May. Not wanting to go out in the pissing rain to get my Beef Olives and Soft Scoop ice cream from Iceland. Me neither. Thankfully I live in a mortgage free bungalow with dual central heating in rural Mid Ulster - positively Mediterranean at the moment - with my paid for car sitting at the front door and a bus service (free bus pass) to the nearest town should I need it. Bored - you're having a laugh - we're knee deep in grand children most days, and if I'm about when two of the boys are due out of school, off I toddle to walk them up the road, getting my ears bashed the whole way " Granda, do you know this? Granda, do you know that?" As they sometimes get out at different times it can mean two trips to the school, which means I get my daily walk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
expatowner Posted June 25, 2018 Share Posted June 25, 2018 I never trusted pensions, saving schemes or share investments. Worked until I was 59 and I’ve ended up with 4 rental properties providing us with a healthy retirement income. I’m currently obsessed with golf and play almost everyday (weather permitting). As others have said, retiring isn’t fr everybody. If you like work I suggest keep going. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Granny Danger Posted June 25, 2018 Share Posted June 25, 2018 1 hour ago, expatowner said: I never trusted pensions, saving schemes or share investments. Worked until I was 59 and I’ve ended up with 4 rental properties providing us with a healthy retirement income. I’m currently obsessed with golf and play almost everyday (weather permitting). As others have said, retiring isn’t fr everybody. If you like work I suggest keep going. I looked at this seriously a few years back and decided it was not for me; a decision that I’m glad I took. Amongst other things I decided I didn’t want to be a landlord, even at arms length. The SIPP reforms have been great news for pension accrual and retirement planning. I could probably retire now/soon but don’t feel ready yet. I make do with shorter days and more holidays. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
expatowner Posted June 25, 2018 Share Posted June 25, 2018 32 minutes ago, Granny Danger said: I looked at this seriously a few years back and decided it was not for me; a decision that I’m glad I took. Amongst other things I decided I didn’t want to be a landlord, even at arms length. The SIPP reforms have been great news for pension accrual and retirement planning. I could probably retire now/soon but don’t feel ready yet. I make do with shorter days and more holidays. We live in NZ so maybe its a bit easier than in the UK. The huge increases in property prices over the years is clearly where this strategy scores heavily over "investments" - in things like pensions, stocks and shares etc which have to absorb management charges and generally are more conservative in their approach to risk. I guess its not a choice that many folk had or would have been comfortable with. Glad to hear you are financially ready to retire whenever you feel the time is right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ICTJohnboy Posted June 25, 2018 Share Posted June 25, 2018 2 hours ago, Cerberus said: I think I'd get bored if I retired too early. I don't fancy sitting in some damp 1 bedroom flat in Partick, freezing my baws off hovering over 1 bar fire in the middle of May. Not wanting to go out in the pissing rain to get my Beef Olives and Soft Scoop ice cream from Iceland. Can't you get such delicacies in SF? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The DA Posted June 26, 2018 Share Posted June 26, 2018 10 hours ago, The Chlamydia Kid said: I don’t understand pensions. I pay in my contributions and employer matches it but I was told there was no point paying extra in as they won’t match any more and you’d be as well saving the cash? Anything you pay in is un-taxed meaning you only need to put in £600 to get £1000 credited to your scheme - assuming you're a 40% tax-payer. Your employer may only match a part of that but you get the tax back on your whole contribution. You'll never get 40% interest on any other savings scheme. If anyone official told you there was no point contributing more, sue the b*****d. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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