The Retirement Thread
176 watchers
Aug 2024
12:57pm, 13 Aug 2024
52,496 posts
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♪♫ Synge ♪♫
Indeed, @Sigh! And we have saved tens of thousands of pounds today by buying a new tent instead of a secondhand campervan! 😁 (That’s not to say that a campervan is completely off the radar, but we are going to go back under canvas for a bit; after all, we used to enjoy proper camping a lot when the children were younger/at home.) |
Aug 2024
12:57pm, 13 Aug 2024
56,852 posts
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EvilPixie
Excellent news
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Aug 2024
1:19pm, 13 Aug 2024
23,766 posts
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geordiegirl
super exciting! Best of luck filling in the last few days but you can always use any down time to plan your camping. whoop!
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Aug 2024
5:30pm, 13 Aug 2024
162 posts
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OO61
@♪♫ Synge ♪♫ have also dreamed of a campervan but not sure we could justify the expense. Would be handy for parkrun tourism though 🤔
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Aug 2024
6:09pm, 13 Aug 2024
52,504 posts
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♪♫ Synge ♪♫
@OO61 - we had one for a couple of years (while both still working) and I think its main use in that period was for me to travel to marathons/ultras that were too far away to do in a day, so it was an expensive luxury. Now that we have more time, we would make better use of one, but we are weighing up the pros and cons all over again and our answer may be different this time. You can do a lot of cottage rentals and AirBnbs for the same cost. But then, the lure of the open road is hard to resist ... 
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Aug 2024
6:14pm, 13 Aug 2024
12,814 posts
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cathrobinson
My OH says the same about the cost but you have to consider they hold their value, so it’s a small bit of depreciation plus your annual running costs like maintenance and insurance. Still expensive, but if you use it a lot - and if you enjoy using it - then you’ll likely break even.
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Aug 2024
6:28pm, 13 Aug 2024
52,505 posts
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♪♫ Synge ♪♫
@cathrobinson - it is incredibly tempting and I am still a keen follower of the Fetch Camper Vans thread. 😁 Even though there will be more free time in retirement, the decision has changed in several ways. We loved the VW campervan, but we wouldn’t get another, as we would like a little more onboard space (and a WC/shower!) for the longer trips, so we are pushed towards a 5.5 to 6-metre motorhome. That brings different challenges, of course, and would also mean that we really couldn’t justify keeping two cars. Neither car (one big estate and one little convertible) would really work as the “compromise” car, so we would need to replace both, probably with something VW Golf-sized. And that is a big added cost when my current plan is to keep both for at least another five to eight years! |
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Aug 2024
6:33pm, 13 Aug 2024
12,815 posts
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cathrobinson
Ah yes, that does rather add a proverbial spanner to the works.
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Aug 2024
6:52pm, 13 Aug 2024
52,506 posts
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♪♫ Synge ♪♫
All of which brings me back to a question which will be relevant for most watchers of this thread: car replacement in retirement. We met our IFA last week and he is running a load of projections of differing amounts of expenditure so that we can work out whether we can afford our desired lifestyle! We have a pretty good idea of what we need to spend and we know how much we would *like* to spend on the discretionary stuff like holidays, but I have no idea how to build in car replacement other than using very generic assumptions. At the moment, I’m assuming that it will come from a separate savings pot rather than from any kind of regular drawdown. (It’s close to being added to the “far too difficult to worry about” category which currently contains medical expenses!) |
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Aug 2024
6:55pm, 13 Aug 2024
52,507 posts
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♪♫ Synge ♪♫
PS I like the Retirement Living Standards doc in the sidebar, so thank you to whoever added the 2023 edition. It’s really helpful for reality checking our assumptions.
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McGoohan Useful Links
FE accepts no responsibility for external links. Or anything, really.- Money Helper
- How Much is Enough to Retire On?
- Retirement Living Standards
- How much will you need to retire?
- Free Govt website for pension advice
- SIPP pensions
- ISAs
- Check your National Insurance contributions
- Check your state pension account
- Martin Lewis on pensions
- Support and advice for those widowed under the age of 50
- Power of Attorney information
- Making the most of your retirement
- 20 tips for a happy retirement
- Married Couple's Allowance
- Aviva guide to retirement planning
- U3A
- U3A Local Sites - map
- Make a Power of Attorney
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