I have £300,000 cash at age 35. Can I retire yet?

Question

I have £270K in cash and investments, and £30K in a pension. I do not own a property (so I rent). I'm 35 years old. I live in Hampshire, UK. I have no dependants or partner, and it is unlikely I will have children.
Am I wealthy enough to retire yet? What sort of lifestyle would I have if I did so.
How much more money would I need to have a decent "retirement" on, say, £15K per year index linked for life?

Buy a house? At today's prices! I would have to be mad.
Oh - I already am. Hmmmm.

Why should I consult a financial advisor when I recon I'll get MUCH better advice from all my dear friends here on Yahoo Answers. Ahhhh.
(Maybe I need to get out a bit more).

Janine really! that's not a very nice thing to say.
There's plenty of people on Yahoo who are wealthier then me I'm sure.
I'm expecting some answers to say ha ha look how poor you are.
I interviewed a bloke worth £800 million last year. Now THAT is rich.

That's about 600,000 US dollars.

Davey: Indeed you are right. Money does not buy happieness - I take antidepressants prescribed by my doctor.

Nice bird on your avatar. I fancy pigeons.

Rosey. Are you really suggesting that I should choose to have children for the sole purpose of not being lonely in my old age. That's rediculous. I am half gay, and that's the reason. I think women can smell it a mile off and keep clear. Besides I don't want kids - what single bloke does?

I'm NOT bragging. Plenty of people have that sort of money, but locked up in their houses - I just sold mine when I moved, and decided to rent as prices are so high and I think there is likely to be a crash which would enable me to buy one much cheaper.

Tax Chap: I agree with you about it being better to consult an expert. But the benefit of drawing upon the wisdom of Yahoo people is that you get the common sense and wider view that can often be lost when you are dealing with a professional "detail" person. An accountant is hardly going to suggest for example that I should become a bank robber, but some cheeky so and so on here might.
(that's just an example - I'm not planning on becoming a bank robber. (but I'd listen to any interesting offers hehe))

Answer 1

You want your total savings to equal about 25x what it takes to live on. You can withdraw about 4% a year forever if you have your money invested safely with some return. So, you could retire if you could live on 12,000 a year.The problem is that the pension is untouchable now, probably. However, according to the Rule of 72, you could double your money if you had it invested at about 8% for another nine years without touching it, or 12% for six years. So it might be worth working a little longer to make sure you have enough. It would be pretty hard to have to start working again at 60 with a 25-year gap in your employment, so you'll want to think this through. Maybe the better choice is to partly retire and find something that doesn't pay as well but that you love to do. Or you could take a couple of years off and travel the world and then come back to work.

Answer 2

You say that you don't want to pay anyone to manage your capital but would rather take the advice of people you don't know, have never met and probably never will meet.

Unless these (Yahoo!) people have experience in handling investments similar to yours, they are in no position to render advice and neither am I.

I am qualified, however, to point you in the right direction as to whether you have sufficient means upon which to retire now.

With regard to the amount you need to be able to retire, that would depend entirely upon your lifestyle. Rent (have assumed £500 per month), council tax (assumed £1,000 p.a.), income tax (approx. £2k) and utilities will wipe out about 2/3rds leaving only £5k for food, entertainment, travel etc. which equates to less than £100 per week. Is that enough for you?

You can do your own calculations by writing down how much you spend at present over the course of a year. Add on what you wish you could have bought, including holidays etc., if only you'd have had the money. Then add on an amount for a reserve for unexpected calamities such as a new engine in the car, redundancy etc.

You now have the total amount you would like to spend each year, without increasing your savings. If this is provided from investments paying out at say 5% p.a. (for example purposes only) then you will need to invest 20 times your proposed annual spend, ie 100/5 = 20.

This is very simplified example.

Answer 3

This is About how much in U.S. ? Half mIll? Roughly, It wouldn't get you a new home here with the interest and the insurance and all the goodies, plus, all the other attachments involved.

I have a bright idea for you. Find a good investment consular, a really good one not just a good friend who thinks he's one. Someone, not a friend. Take out a portion of your money to live on, a small amount, you decide.
Let him invest your money for you. Sit back and watch your money grow. Also. Your not that old, go back to school. Choose a profession that you'd always wanted to go into from teaching to the medical profession and go for it.
Don't use your money though, go for State and Federal grants, try and use as many grants as possible and low interest loans. Get a decent education, be your own man.
Just think about it, in ten years down the line what will happen to you?

Answer 4

If you want to share it then feel free!! Not really, enjoy it. I doubt if you could live off it for the rest of your life, so stick it in a building society account, earn lots of interest and continue to work for about annother 10-15 years. You could maybe take a year out from work to travel or something and then go back to it. Or you could cut down to part time and enjoy some of the things you like at other times. Do as you please. Your situation could change, you may get a partner and have children. You should share your life with someone who will help you to be happy, just don't let on about how well off you are untill you have got together with the right person, and know that they like you for you and not your money. Keep it to yourself. Any way Good luck.
.

Answer 5

1

Answer 6

Not in this country....
If you want to retire, move abroad - somewhere cheaper.

I'm in a similar position and am off to Australia. Cheap plot of land and have my house built. All for about 140k. I'll have plenty left over. I'll get a simple but rewarding part time job and de-stress my life away. My idea of heaven.....

Answer 7

Surely if you were serious it would be a wothwhile investment to pay an independent financial adviser to answer this question?

As a layperson i would reckon you could have enough to live out an easy life in Thailand or similar though :-)

Answer 8

No. Continue to work. Start giving back to the people in this world that need it. Theres millions that don't have the luxury of making that kind of money, or even eating once a week.

Make as much money as you can,
Give as much as you can,
Save as much as you can.

Don't be greedy.

Answer 9

Wow £300,000 at 35. You should be so lucky. I am 60 and I have nowhere near as much. But then I have three children and four gorgeous grand children. I won't be lonely but you certainly will. Get a life and give over bragging about money.

Answer 10

You need to buy a property otherwise you will be paying off other peoples investments for the rest of your life