revtothelimit - motorbike forum

Nordboy wrote: Fri Jun 06, 2025 7:11 am Well, things have escalated a bit since I last posted here.

I'm now just under 8 wks from my last shift in work and then 12 wks away from retiring from my 24.5 yr 'career'. My pension forms are in, and whilst they're not fantastic, I'm going earlier than planned so acceptable.

I also have another job to go to in the local council. With my pension and wage, I'll be taking home more than I currently do, and will now be paying into a new local gvnt pension. I expect to be working for at least another 10 yrs (I'm 55 this year). Obviously, or hopefully I have the full whack state pension to get in many years time as well.

Good luck with it all. Hope everything works out just for you. It's all a big adventure!

Just for interest's sake as it landed recently, another, 'how much do I/we need for a comfy retirement?' article.

https://www.fidelity.co.uk/markets-insi ... srJeFWISoL

Count Steer wrote: Sun Jun 08, 2025 7:42 am Just for interest's sake as it landed recently, another, 'how much do I/we need for a comfy retirement?' article.

https://www.fidelity.co.uk/markets-insi ... srJeFWISoL

I’m living on mine and can’t get any more so I better not read that or I’ll start worrying!

Count Steer wrote: Sun Jun 08, 2025 7:42 am Just for interest's sake as it landed recently, another, 'how much do I/we need for a comfy retirement?' article.

https://www.fidelity.co.uk/markets-insi ... srJeFWISoL

I'd be alright on that if I was single, buggered as I'm married though!!!

So me and Mrs. G have been talking about packing it in a bit sooner rather then later, maybe after the Money Vampire, aka Gremlinette finishes uni next year. Been jotting down what pensions we have, shares, other works perks such as SIPPs that will be coming to fruition soon and thought we'd get an estate agent around to see how much Chez Gremlin is worth.

Well, considerably more than we both thought and having looked at Rightmove to se what we'd downsize to, the numbers are looking quite rosy. Just gotta keep breathing...

I've been rummaging through the stuff I was sold by a financial adviser back in 1997 and found an 'Investment Bond' that's been ticking along steadily. It's a sort of joint life assurance thing that you don't have to die for.

Time to simplify the stash. It's getting cashed in. Half into a cash ISA and half each to do whatever we want with. (The adviser went through the, 'when do you want to retire? How well do you want to live in retirement? What happens to that plan if one of you croaks? Having retired ages ago, life insurance isn't high on the list of needs ).

I qualify for state pension in 2 weeks. Woo hoo
It's just over £1k a month.

When we came here we had enough to buy the big villa and live off savings and rental income and Pen's early teachers pension

We've been drawing about £15k a year from savings which have dropped same as we envisaged

Now my pension will provide the shortfall and we'll be very comfortable on savings and my private pension pots

Gonna be hard to spend it as we don't need anything
And villa is worth a pretty penny now and can draw into the equity if we need to.

We did some sums before we came, and we're very close to where we expected

Yorick wrote: Thu Aug 07, 2025 3:34 pm I qualify for state pension in 2 weeks. Woo hoo
It's just over £1k a month.

When we came here we had enough to buy the big villa and live off savings and rental income and Pen's early teachers pension

We've been drawing about £15k a year from savings which have dropped same as we envisaged

Now my pension will provide the shortfall and we'll be very comfortable on savings and my private pension pots

Gonna be hard to spend it as we don't need anything
And villa is worth a pretty penny now and can draw into the equity if we need to.

We did some sums before we came, and we're very close to where we expected

You must have factored-in a good safety margin, if you’ve successfully weathered the inflation and price rises since 2020.

Just found out that the wife's pension is better than we initially thought.... if she works to 67, the new woman's retirement age for teachers.

That would bring in £1k a month, along with her state pension, which by then will be close to full wack.

That means we will actually be able to afford a high tea crumpet once a month! Yay. Pension funds are up and down at the moment with Trump's tax games, but they are not dropping too far, and having bought when they dropped sharply, we benefitted from the following rise in value.

Nordboy wrote: Fri Jun 06, 2025 7:11 am Well, things have escalated a bit since I last posted here.

I'm now just under 8 wks from my last shift in work and then 12 wks away from retiring from my 24.5 yr 'career'. My pension forms are in, and whilst they're not fantastic, I'm going earlier than planned so acceptable.

I also have another job to go to in the local council. With my pension and wage, I'll be taking home more than I currently do, and will now be paying into a new local gvnt pension. I expect to be working for at least another 10 yrs (I'm 55 this year). Obviously, or hopefully I have the full whack state pension to get in many years time as well.

Oh, and we've sold our house and bought another!! Just starting this process, I forgot how stressful and how much hassle it all is, which then should release some of the equity we currently have. We'll use this to pay off any debts we've incurred and then have a fresh start so to speak. We have bought a house more expensive than we planned, so have another mortgage, but we're planning to pay extra to reduce that over the next few years. Worst case, we can downsize again (the house we bought is still quite big and not the downsize we originally thought it'd be )

So, it's all coming at me (us including the wife I guess?) at the same time, in for a penny they say.....Have we made the right decisions, fuck knows, but they seem ok at the moment, who knows what the hell's coming.

Well, forgot I wrote this. Anyway, my last shift came and went, although I'm on a months leave and still technically employed as a police officer, I will be handing my warrant card in at the end of the month. 25 yrs, where the f**k did that go?
Will I miss it, probably a bit. But only a very very small bit. Whilst I've had some fantastic moments and have done things some people could only dream about, I've also seen and dealt with some things that no one should, and I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy.

Anyhow, then starting my new job with the local council on 1st Sept. That really is a leap into the unknown for me. But I'm quite looking forward to it, albeit a bit apprehensive.

Bonus is, that I'll be getting my police pension, lump sum and first months pension in early Sept. Then got to work out what to do with it (not booze, drugs and hookers ) so it makes me some cash. I'll then start paying into the council pension scheme, so will hopefully see some of those benefits in a few years.

And we moved house, was very stressful, and continues to be while we get all the stuff sorted. It's proving problematic and it's a downsize, and we have too much crap and don't know what to do with it!!! I'm sure we'll get there.

The good news is, that even though my new salary is lower, with my monthly pension, I'll actually be taking home more, and due to the downsize, managed to pay of all our debts, so less going out as well. Going to try and overpay the mortgage to reduce that.

What a month!!!

Back in the mists of time I was a tube driver on London Underground, I know I've got money in a pension but I've ignored it. They recently got in touch asking for age confirmation and have written back with my pension options, I'm 62 and could have taken it at 60. One of the options is to defer taking it, the pension pot then increases at 8% plus RPI (up to 5%) a year. I don't need the money so it can stay where it is. You have to love an index linked pension.

Pirahna wrote: Thu Aug 14, 2025 9:13 am Back in the mists of time I was a tube driver on London Underground, I know I've got money in a pension but I've ignored it. They recently got in touch asking for age confirmation and have written back with my pension options, I'm 62 and could have taken it at 60. One of the options is to defer taking it, the pension pot then increases at 8% plus RPI (up to 5%) a year. I don't need the money so it can stay where it is. You have to love an index linked pension.

You can see why most employers have binned off the DB pensions. They were a little on the unsustainable side.


(Says me, who still has one, albeit now closed but protected, for wish I give thanks more frequently with every passing day as I get older and closer to retirement)

My missus has a final salary pension which kicked in at 60. She was caught in the first uplift of state pension age for women so her pension people said 'Oh dear, you were expecting, and probably planned for, your state pension to be rolling in at this point in time.....so we're increasing your pension to cover the shortfall until it arrives"

I think they've since realised this might not have been a good idea and are boiling their heads on how to claw some of it back.

Yorick wrote: Thu Aug 07, 2025 3:34 pm I qualify for state pension in 2 weeks.

Can anybody else smell stale wee and boiled cabbage?

I asked ChatGPT to draw me an old Yorkshireman sitting on the beach drinking a beer…

gremlin wrote: Thu Aug 14, 2025 9:49 am

Yorick wrote: Thu Aug 07, 2025 3:34 pm I qualify for state pension in 2 weeks.

Can anybody else smell stale wee and boiled cabbage?

That's fresh wee mate. Can piss mesen whenever I want to now

Taipan wrote: Thu Aug 14, 2025 10:05 am I asked ChatGPT to draw me an old Yorkshireman sitting on the beach drinking a beer…

Cartoon version..



image uploading site

Taipan wrote: Thu Aug 14, 2025 10:25 am

Taipan wrote: Thu Aug 14, 2025 10:05 am I asked ChatGPT to draw me an old Yorkshireman sitting on the beach drinking a beer…

Cartoon version..



image uploading site

It's uncanny. A few sun umbrellas and loungers and it's perfect. Can almost smell the piss, or is that me?

I dunno, but I nearly pissed myself laughing! Yorick in a flat cap??? More like a helmet and leathers kneedown/elbow down around Portimao circuit giggling like a loon from what I've learned about him online....

the_priest wrote: Fri Aug 15, 2025 8:46 am I dunno, but I nearly pissed myself laughing! Yorick in a flat cap??? More like a helmet and leathers kneedown/elbow down around Portimao circuit giggling like a loon from what I've learned about him online....

I'm there in 3 weeks