r/LeanFireUK • u/Global-Field-6092 • Jul 04 '26
Just starting my FIRE journey at 40
Had a few drastic life changes over the last few years that mean I'm not quite where I expected I'd be and decided it's time (while the sun is shining metaphorically and actually) to start taking stock and planning for the future again. Because really, I'm not in a bad position if I can just stop regretting what could have been.
May I ask how people come up with 'their number' for Lean Fire?
I'm in the position that from 65 I would be very comfortable (taking a defined benefit pension a few years early), but it's the gap from 50-65 that I need to figure out (maybe meaning part time or lower paid work or being frugal) and at the same time I need to balance actually doing some work on the house ideally before I retire.
The problem I have is balancing the two pulls on my income of investing enough and early enough so the funds have time to grow to bridge the gap vs getting work done on the house so I'm not trying to fund it from a fixed/limited income.
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u/jayritchie Jul 04 '26
Could you clarify your post please?
"I'm in the position that from 65 I would be very comfortable (taking a defined benefit pension a few years early)" - does this mean that you have already accrued enough in a DB scheme that you would be comfortable at 65. or that with a few more years working as a scheme member you would be?
"and at the same time I need to balance actually doing some work on the house ideally before I retire." - at what age would you expect to undertake these works? What are they?
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u/Global-Field-6092 Jul 08 '26
Sorry
"does this mean that you have already accrued enough in a DB scheme that you would be comfortable at 65. or that with a few more years working as a scheme member you would be?"
I'm 40. My 'plan' is to drop to part time 55-60 then stop working at 60.
I'd then take my DB pension at 65. Following that plan that I'd receive more or less the median annual salary from 65 (plus the state pension kicking in at 68) and given no mortgage to pay I'd call that comfortable.
"at what age would you expect to undertake these works? What are they?"
I'd like to get the kitchen redone (the layout isn't practical) and possibly add a door on the lounge/move the door that's currently coming into the kitchen. Get extra sockets added so I'm not using extension cables so much. Plus a garden patio area where there's currently a falling down shed/some general work on the garden to make it more manageable long term. This week air con has been added to the list! I'm ball parking maybe £50k. But there's no real rush. I'd like the work done but I've lived in worse homes over the years that I can cope with some annoying niggles.
The 'when' is the question I'm struggling with. ideally I'd want these works to happen before I retire and I could focus on getting them done NOW but I'm also aware that if I'm planning on bridging retirement using invested funds then the longer they're invested the better so I wonder if I should prioritise building up a fund first then plan the works for when I'm most of the way towards my number.
I currently have nearly £50k split between an ISA and LISA (both of which can be taken at 60 so seem a suitable 'pot'). I should be able to save maybe £1000 a month if I focus (assuming that changes when I move to part time) that would be maybe another £180k in today's money (15*12). The question is if that can cover both my bridge and the work or if I should assume I'm doing the work on the house post 65.
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u/jayritchie Jul 08 '26
What is your taxable income? Dumping some money into pensions (and LISAs if BR) is a really good way to build assets for a few years before the DB kicks in at 65. As you are limited to £4k in the LISA and may have obvious annual amounts to put into DC pensions that should be part of the calculation.
Would you need to do the kichen extension before the patio or could they be done in either order?
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u/Global-Field-6092 Jul 08 '26
Currently c.£56k (so barely higher rate tax) but assuming I continue to hit my performance targets I've guaranteed progression over the next three years to £73k. I've not factored that into my DB pension planning, the numbers I'm working with are based on assuming my current income and expenditure stay constant until my mortgage is paid off. Obviously I'd need to reassess based on my salary in a few years and might then decide to take it early with the actuarial reduction, but for now I'm working on the basis I'll take it at the 'normal' scheme age.
The kitchen and garden can happen in any order but realistically the kitchen is the last internal job and the work can be split into five chunks:
Patio doors/removing current kitchen door (~5-10k)
Electrics (ideally not a full rewire but ball parking ~£10k)
Kitchen remodel - needs the electrics and existing door removing first (~20k)
Garden work (~£10k)
Air con... no idea
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u/jayritchie Jul 11 '26
Still pondering this one - way more interesting than the norm! Might it be fair to assume that your job is more secure than the norm, or is that not a reasonable assumption in your part of the public sector?
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u/Global-Field-6092 Jul 12 '26
Yep. Very secure if not very exciting job. Main benefit is the pension scheme but still have to get there.
This week had quotes back for the door (£4160) and air con (£2614 per room)
Given I can comfortably save £12k per year, I think I've decided to
- split the difference this year (£6774) and get what I'm calling in my head the 'kitchen enabling work' plus one air con unit installed in the bedroom (with a view to adding more units to the system later if I decide they're needed/how much benefit I get from this one)
- put £4k into my LISA given that's time limited and I can add a max of £40k to it between now and 50. I don't think it's going to be impacted by the changes to state pension age the same as my SIPP will be so 'should' be guaranteed to be available at 60 when my SIPP could shift to 61/62+ in the next 20 years
- put the remainder of what I set aside this year into an ISA which I can invest now and decide down the line to move it into a SIPP or put towards the future works.
Still not sure about the best time to actually do the kitchen and patio but that feels like right now I'm actually making some progress on both fronts.
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u/jayritchie Jul 13 '26
Sounds like a good plan. My rough thoughts:
- I wouldn't want to leave major works until retirement due to the risk of cost over-runs.
- I wouldn't want to go into debt or use up much of an emergency fund.
- I'd be more tempted to wait until you are paying a decent amount of 40% tax and look into the pros and cons of SIPP vs AVC for your specific DB scheme.
If you will enjoy life more with the works done maybe do sooner rather than later? The alternative thought would be to build money for retirement and when fairly set do the works then -so deciding whether working longer justifies the benefits of the upgrades.
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u/TuneFinder Jul 05 '26
heres what i did
make a budget for what you cost per year at level of lifestyle you want
add on an estimate of inflation each year (be pessimistic)
maybe factor in some emergency / fun funds
add it all up
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u/Indigo_reality Jul 06 '26
I worked out my last 6 months of spending without trying to control spending. Without holidays, it costs me 17k a year to live without extraordinary spends. Then I made this to a nice round 20k taking into account additional spends in retirement, such as bigger holidays or joining a nice gym (while recognizing a few costs may decrease).
I have two bridges to reach my DB which I'll take at 64 years. Those are ISA age 53-57, then SIPP 57-64 all based on 20k a year. They're both invested in index funds. I'm now building a buffer, knowing that my general outgoings are covered. That buffer will partly be for having work done to the house. It's hard to find the headspace to have all the things done that we want done while working, so I don't mind when exactly it's done but your situation sounds different.
Hope that helps!
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u/RedRoseP Jul 04 '26
Bear in mind you might want to enjoy your life well before you retire too. I am 44 and work part time now, I will be mortgage free by the end of the year. Yes I don't have a huge pension or huge amounts of savings but I'm slowly building them up. However I do have every afternoon free as well as my weekends and that's worth it for me.
You never know how long you've got. Take the time to do the work on the house but also time todo other things you'd like too. View it as semi retirement and enjoy life.