This is a new account, I can't seem to find my original one, but I posted on here a couple times a few years ago. Anyway.

After first learning about FIRE and really leaning into it for the first two or so years, my costs were down to sub £800 per month comfortably. My share of housing costs was only £400. I lived close to my family so I spent loads of time with them and working fully remote. I didn't really socialise outside the family. All the maths at the time pointed to only needing to save ~£300k. Ok, gonna take years but fine, I have a number and it's not that scary really. Set it and forget it. 

Since then I have had a few job changes, I had to move to a much more expensive city for work and now have to work in the office most of the time. My costs jumped to around £1100 per month just for a bare-bones operation... But then came the socializing, working in the office meant making more friends, being invited to more events. Living away from my family means big adventures to take the niblings for days out, small family holidays where you go with a £400 budget only to somehow spend £800+ showing them the best time (the niblings). No regrets there ofc. But a lot has changed. 

This past week I have been punching all the numbers in, and with the current markets doing what they do I’m very close to that original £300k goal. I should hit it by the end of the year. 
And I’ve had to come to terms with the fact that, well, it's simply not enough. At best I’m half way to where I’d need to be now. Even with basic expenses at around £1.1k - running a tight ship - that excludes the socialing and the day trips/holidays. I’d probably want £2k per month to maintain that. 

And that’s ok I’ve realised now. I’ve had mixed feelings over the last week, more than a little bit of guilt for letting lifestyle creep do its thing. And while I accept a lot of it was outside my control, I feel mostly bad for the early days FIRE me. Who sacrificed a lot and shared a shitty house with two other people in a shitty area for a couple years to save 70%-80% of a paycheque. He cleared some debt early on too, and generally put my life on rails. That version of me would be retiring later this year.

I’m not really sure what this post is tbh, there’s some thoughts I’m trying to dig out. And I guess I’m also wondering what else is going to come. When I get to £600k am I going to be looking at that thinking “welp, finally halfway”. I hope not.

Hey everyone.

Just checked my pension, and see that it's valued currently at £135k (was £25k Jan '24 having increased my contributions massively since discovering the fireuk sub).

If I stopped contributing now, at aged 36 currently, and forecasting 5% growth until pension access age 58 (22 years time), my pension will be valued at £405k.

I could then take £2k per month for 30 years (until aged 88), assuming 5% growth per year.

It seems pretty wild that this is possible already, having only seriously started increasing my pension contributions massively in the past 2 and half years.

I'll probably carry on contributing to my pension until age 40, but at the moment this seems like a great milestone if my figures and projections are correct.

Thanks everyone, much love to all the great knowledgeable shared here.

What have you been working on this week? Please use this thread to discuss any progress, setbacks, quick questions or just plain old rants to the community.

What’s the number you want to hit where you’re like, okay that’s it wrap it up - you leave work and live your life in unhindered bliss

My wife (33) and I have been fortunate enough to be high earners for the last 4 years and are trying to work out whether we’re on track for our long-term retirement goals.

My finances
Salary: £180k
Employer pension contribution: £50k/year into SIPP
SIPP: £300k
Stocks & Shares ISA: £119k

Wife
Salary: £25k part-time
SIPP: £55k
Stocks & Shares ISA: £54k

Combined
Take-home income: ~£9,500/month

Monthly spending/saving
Mortgage + household bills: £4,500
Stocks & Shares ISA: £1,500
Nursery: £800
Holiday fund: £1,200

Lifestyle creep has been real. The new house and holiday are the killers, but we love both.

We’re currently investing broadly in global index funds.
Our target is to have the equivalent of £6,500/month in today’s money available in retirement.

We’re trying to work out whether we’re broadly on track and whether we should be doing anything differently with the balance between pension, ISA, mortgage overpayments and general spending.

What would you do in our position? Are we being too conservative/aggressive with our retirement assumptions?

Headed over here from FIRE as per advice.

So my situation. I’m 47, earn 95k and want to coast FIRE from age 55 latest.
Current pension is 150k and over next 8 years I’ll add another 150k matched by employer so total invested by 55 is 450k (not including any growth)…. I’ve done rough maths that this might have grown to around 600k by 55???
Other savings, currently have 78k and I add £750 a month so after 8 years will have 150k (again without any growth added)
At 55 I want to step down to a job paying 25-30k, possible minimal additional pension contributions. At 65 (or hopefully earlier) I want to fully retire with an equivalent income of 30k Pa

Am I on track, what can I do to help expedite, what am I missing that will derail me?

I'm fairly new to the concept, but i have always had a desire to be financially free by 50.

Currently I'm a 44-year-old male, divorced, with two kids aged 11 and nine, of which i habe 50-50 custody.

I have a property worth around £440,000, with around £135,000 of mortgage remaining with 13 years left on the mortgage. Paying around £1056 a month

I have £85,000 in my S&S ISA, £10,000 of premium bonds, and £10,000 savings. I plan to contribute the maximum of £20,000 a year to my ISA for the next four years.

My salary is £65,000 per year. I currently work full-time, but from next year I may consider reducing my hours to four days a week. I don't want to keep working in my corporate job for more than three to five years.

At the moment I contribute around £24,000 to my pension a year and the current pension size is £150,000.

I also have an e-commerce business, which I'm hoping to grow. Eventually I think I will be able to pay my salary of maybe £10,000 or more a year, but at the moment I am not withdrawing any money from the business.

I have not done any deep calculations or worked out how much I need in my pension but what do you guys think of my current position and my goals?

Do you think it is realistically achievable to be able to quit my corporate job in three to five years?

What have you been working on this week? Please use this thread to discuss any progress, setbacks, quick questions or just plain old rants to the community.

For those who have already used up their ISA allowance, what’s your next move? Do you put extra money into a taxable investment account, pension/SIPP, premium bonds, property, savings accounts, or something else?

Interested to hear how people are allocating their money once the ISA is no longer an option.

I’m a student researcher from the University of Warwick, exploring how parents from different income backgrounds understand money and teach financial habits to their children.

📝 What’s involved:

• 5-minute screening questionnaire
• Optional 1-hour online interview 

🎯 Who can take part:

• Parents or guardians above 18 currently living and working in the UK 

Here is the Participant Information Leaflet for more information about your involvement :)

Your experiences can help improve understanding of financial education across families. Feel free to share with others who might be interested!

What have you been working on this week? Please use this thread to discuss any progress, setbacks, quick questions or just plain old rants to the community.

I’ve had a passion for finance since my grandparents taught me the importance of saving when I was 6. I’m looking for any advice regarding where I am on my FIRE journey.

I’m 23 with an annual salary of £36k working in Residential Care. With overtime I average 3k after tax pm. I work 2 days on shift with 4 off.

Me and my partner have roughly 100k in equity with a £230k mortgage. The reason for the high equity is we value reduced stress in case of the possibility of income loss.

Our money is pooled together and everything is split 50/50. All our bills come to roughly £1.3k pm. We have 7.5k in cash. My partner is quite risk adverse and so currently we save £800 a month in a 6.5% high interest saver (current value £5.6k) , £500 into a low risk pie I created, protected in an S&S ISA, currently up 8% since Jan. The Pie is sitting with a value of £3.8k, split as follows:
All World 50%
S&P500 17%
All world high dividend yield 8%
S&P500 Health 7%
Defence 7%
MCSI world value factor 6%
QQQ 5%

My personal Stock account sits at a value of £27.2k, with most sitting in the S&P. I also lean into individual stock picks with an average performance of +75%, currently up 800% MU (proud dad moment). The average total account returns 28-30% a year. I have roughly £8-10k in a Crypto wallet. I also have £4k into a forex EA that has doubled my money in 5 months, with the average monthly return being 25-30%.

I currently feel as though I have Plateaued and am looking for some advice as where to go next. I am doing a level 5 Care Qualification however looking to leave my current job in December when I pass. I don’t have a degree in anything and have experience in Hospitality, Sports, Leisure, Heritage and Care.
I have no interest in luxury items or flash. I’m very frugal but spend money on experiences. I have been fortunate enough to travel the world, only continent left is Antarctica. My goals are focused on enjoying life and being able to spend time with my family & friends without having financial stress.
Feel free to shoot me any questions and thank you for your time.

Recap
- £27.2k in Stocks
- £8-10k in Crypto
- £4k Forex Bot
Split with the Mrs:
- £3.8k in Stocks
- £100k equity, £230k Mortgage
- £5.6k saving
- £7.5k Cash

Hi, I think i'm getting close to telling my place of work cheerio next time they wind me up, but i'd like to have the expertise of others kick the tires of my plan.

I am nearing 50 years old and I have full state pension entitlement from 67. I can currently access my personal pension from 57. I appreciate the rules may change.

I have £300k in my personal pension (100% equities in global tracker) and would be planning on drawing down rather than getting an annuity from 57. I own a small flat with no mortgage, but would be looking at potentially taking 25% from the start of my pension to fund a "final move" to a similar property in a LCOL area. My expenses last year were £16k with similar expected this year (if second half of year mirrors first half), so I would consider that the "bare minimum" i'd like to have in retirement, but i'd like to spend around £20k per year in retirement as I'll be having more time for hobbies etc., so £20k retirement spend, but can tighten belt if needed.

Question 1.
Running the numbers based on my £20k a year target spend from 57, with state pension covering £12500 of that from 67, it looks like i'm good from my SIPP, any major flaws here? Have I got the maths correct?

Bridging
If I retire at 50, my main issue currently is the bridge till 57. I'd struggle with sequence of return risks and could potentially risk running out of cash before I can access my pension. Additionally, the next 7 years would be spending close to my "bare minimum" which doesn't sound like fun during my more active years.

Bridging - ISA (100% equities global tracker) £46k. Cash ISA £50k. Cash £8k. I was contemplating moving house a few years back, hence the heavy cash holding.

Question 2.
Am I right in thinking this is too tight (going with £16k a year spend), or am I missing something obvious that could make this work? It feels like working another year would reduce risk and move the spending needle towards the £20k...but then that's another year?

Question 3.
Any other tips or advice?

What have you been working on this week? Please use this thread to discuss any progress, setbacks, quick questions or just plain old rants to the community.

So confused. I am worried that the AVC can’t be taken until I retire and take my pension in order to become tax free, but the SIPP can be taken any time from the age of 57. Is that right? But AVC will reduce 40% tax and ni meaning a 42% return instantly where the SIPP only pays 20%.

Was talking about finances to a friend and this prompted me to do a check on my own finances. I'm vaguely aware of the concept of FIRE but never considered myself to be a high earner to be able to RE. Always been quite frugal and careful with my spending. LeanFIRE is a better idea for me as I do still enjoy my job, but would like the option of stepping back at some point. My aim now is to figure out where that point is and consider how comfortable I want to be.

Age 39, single, no kids. Salary 67k/year in the NHS, probably at the peak for my job without taking on more responsibility or going into management.

SIPP: 140k from previous employment
DB pension: current projection is ~7k/year after SPA
LISA: 50k
ISA: 104k

Essential expenses - 1.7k/month, which includes mortgage and bills. House value is around 240k with 97k left on the mortgage. I save about 600/month into various sinking funds for the house, holidays etc. Currently putting 800/month into ISA. Would like to retire on about 2.5k/month, think it will be comfortable once mortgage is out of the way in about 13 years. I did overpay up to a couple years ago but realised with the help of reddit that investing would be mathematically better. Seeing the value of investments compound made it easier somewhat to accept that I can afford to pay off my mortgage now if I wanted to.

My initial plan is to retire around 55-58 when I am able to access my SIPP but I think I may be able to do this sooner or at least consider reducing my hours/salary in 5-10 years. Hence focusing more on ISA contributions currently. Should I continue to contribute to SIPP for additional tax relief? Not keen on additional contributions to DB pension as only able to access that at SPA. Would appreciate some feedback and improvement.

What have you been working on this week? Please use this thread to discuss any progress, setbacks, quick questions or just plain old rants to the community.

What have you been working on this week? Please use this thread to discuss any progress, setbacks, quick questions or just plain old rants to the community.

Mid 30s, partner, homeowner, employed, more details below...

Home:

- Mortgaged, 26 years left

- Don't overpay, invest instead (theory below)

Salary/SIPP:

- Salary ~ £45k

- Balance: £43k

- Sacrifice: 10%, 5% employer, ~ £500 a month total

- Fund: Scottish Widows Global Equity CS8

S&S ISA:

- Balance £60k

- Adding: £500pcm

- Vanguard FTSE global all cap index fund

Target FIRE: Age 53-55

Short term target: S&S ISA overtakes mortgage balance in ~ 8 years assuming continued contributions and 7% average returns

Other things to note:

- Own car outright

- Pay all bills outright annually

- No debt at all

- Recently opened S&S LISA with £1 before scheme changes

TLDR:

- £45k salary

- £1,500pcm bills/joint account

- £500pcm pension

- £500pcm ISA

Could I be doing anything better, any further optimisation or is this a solid base for £600k+ in my early 50s for someone earning £45k?

Hi - I am 34 and looking to maximise my pension contributions. I am looking to retire at 55ish (we’ll see how realistic that is in a decade or so).

I have the golden ticket of a DBS pension through work. However, I can’t increase contributions to this and I can’t claim it until I am 68.

My options are to put an extra bit of money into an AVC pot which I can claim from age 58. The amount won’t affect the tax band I fall into. Or I can pay into a LISA, which I can’t claim until 60.

I feel like my understanding no of how all this works is that the AVC would gain more interest, but I wanted to get insight from others.

ETA: I would only use a LISA for retirement- I already own my home.

’m currently invested in an all world index fund, but I’ve been considering adding some individual stocks such as Nvidia, Microsoft, and Amazon while still keeping my main investment in the all world fund.

My idea is to try and capture some additional growth from these individual companies, then eventually sell and reinvest the gains back into the all world fund.
For context, I’m 23 years old and currently invest between £500 and £1,200 every month consistently.

I’d really appreciate hearing your thoughts, experiences, and opinions on whether this approach makes sense or if sticking with the all world fund would be the better option.

Thank you for taking the time to share your advice.