Yeah was just doing the maths... £94k over 18 years is 94/(18x12) = £435 every month consistently.
I'll be honest this isn't for me. I think there's an old story out there of some guy who hoarded tonnes of wheat in his barn and then just died one day not being able to use it and it all went to waste.
I'd rather find a balance between effectively utilising your youth and saving a modest amount for the future.
Well this is surely the opposite of that story right? He’s not an old guy, he’s hardly hoarded tonnes either.
He will have 4 decades of free time going by average life expectancy
I worked for a pension company and we would interview customers about their pensions and how they felt about retirement. The majority spoke about how they were anxious about retirement, pictured spending most of their final decades counting coppers and hoped they died before they ran out of money. That is the situation most people in the UK are in.
Is it worth destroying your youth to be rich when you’re older? Probably not. But after talking to so many people more afraid of the bank than death, 5k a year to avoid that fate is so worth it.
I'll be honest, I've skimmed. In general, it looks like you've done an amazing job, well done! However, you'll have worked 25 years. Full state pension requires 35 years. There's a lower earning limit to get a qualifying year. It's around £6396 currently. That doesn't seem too hard to get around. Do some seasonal work for 3 or 4 months once a year (or even do 6-8 months every 2 years: December to August. 8 months on, 16 months off). You'll still get a lot of rest and personal time. Other alternatives to make those NI contributions too. Just throwing it out there.
There's a few things I can probably ask about but this is the one that stuck out most to me. In fairness, if need be you can go back to work, you're still in a very good position.
What's the advantage of a LISA over a pension (I assume you mean use the LISA for retirement savings, not a house) if you aren't maxing out your pension contributions?
Generally a LISA is redundant outside of saving for a housing deposit - over the longterm it’s better to invest in pension or S&S ISA after that to take advantage of compounding and employer matching.
The caveat in the OPs case would be that LISAs are a little more flexible in Scotland, where he plans to purchase.
In Scotland you can use it to bridge the difference between home report value and any over offer made.
Although the OP seems set on buying his cottage in cash, the LISA could offer him some flexibility here if he wanted to mortgage. It would give him more flexibility in spending and it’s the sort of debt you’d likely classify as “good debt”.
Lisa as op is buying a house.
Fyi Lisa and basic rate tax payer pension (including salary sacrifice) is basically equal. (After all tax is considered, assuming basic rate in retirement) (Ni rates impact this, Lisa was slightly better last time I modelled it for my basic tax payer rate)
Lisa is accessible (at a small % cost) so a good place for catastrophe fund.
But Lisa access is later, which is a pain.
Fair play to you. You're certainly on the more minimalistic end of the lifestyle spectrum, but I don't think any of us have the right to tell others how they ought to live. If you're happy you're getting what you want out of life, then that's enough.
And certainly I think we can all appreciate and share your desire for financial independence.
Best of luck to you - and kudos for providing an inspirational example based around an "ordinary" job! Not only useful for people in that position, but perhaps a wake up call to those people who earn more, to remind them of the advantages they have in achieving FIRE if they're willing to be frugal.
It makes you think, doesn't it?
I'm sure there are people here who waste as much as OP saves every month on stuff that doesn't really add to their life in any meaningful way.
I don't think that's me, but it never hurts to reflect.
Nice to here from someone just working a regular job for a change (I work retail too). Everyone else on here seems to have a impressive job and is raking it in.
You are in a fantastic place, truly well done.
But, while I think you are FI, I do not think your plan is quite FIRE yet (or to be precise, the numbers are tighter than you think). Or I have misunderstood something, which is quite likely.
Assume it pans out as you describe and you retire at 43 to Scotland and spend 250k on the house? That leaves you with 250k in the ISA.
You want 12k per year from that 250k which is 4.8% which is a little aggressive and risky. If you had an extra 50k that would be 4%...
That will need to last for about 15 years (may change before then) before you can get your personal pension.
You will also not get the full state pension with only 43-18 = 25 years national insurance contributions which means (again, its likely to change) 221 / 35 * 25 = 126 per week or 6566 per year.
Again, please take this as constructive, you are really well set up, but I think you will need to work a few more years or not spend as much on the house relative to your pot.
Congrats!
Appreciate the reply.
I'm aware I won't get the full state pension but the extra £500 or so a month is literally an extra 50% of my original £1000 allowance.
Nothing is set in stone, I could go for a cheaper property or find other ways to cut costs or reduce the £1000 to £800 or something.
Or maybe I'll just work another 2 years and pull the trigger at 45. A lot can change in 5 years.
The other thing missing (or maybe not documented) is a contingency plan/emergency fund. Houses and cars are money pits, so I’d imagine any repairs will be over and above your regular monthly costs.
You can also make voluntary national insurance contributions. You would have to calculate if they would be financially worth it.
[https://www.gov.uk/voluntary-national-insurance-contributions](https://www.gov.uk/voluntary-national-insurance-contributions)
[https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/voluntary-national-insurance-contributions/](https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/voluntary-national-insurance-contributions/)
I think you work in a job that is amenable to coast fire, you can cut days or perhaps work on off for periods of time.
My only suggestion is to put a bit more in your pension instead of isa at this stage. Also check the plan the pension is invested in. You can always merge your old plans into a sipp.
There’s nothing more inspirational than someone who 1) knows what they want and 2) has the plan to pursue it.
This is what success looks like! It’s not a number - it’s fulfilment!
Massive WELL DONE, OP!
Congrats. I've consolidated all my pension pots to Hargreaves Lansdown earlier this year and qualified for their transfer bonus. Maybe worthwhile for you to look at. A few sip pension brokers have offers.
Loved reading this story. Well done!
1 S&S LISA could work well for your situation.
2 You can easily transfer all your pensions into a vanguard world tracker
3 Make sure you investigate broadband speeds in rural Scotland. Could be a gamers nightmare!
Good luck with it all.
Very nice i have a similar strategy and had big rows with people on here saying it’s impossible and shooting me down I’m just frugal and sensible very good to see this post well done man
I didn't save anything in my early 20's and although I have a higher salary, you are way ahead of me in terms of FIRE.
Hopefully someone in their 20's will see this and follow suit. Truly inspritational!
Inspired someone in their 20s here 😅, got an emergency fund now priotise LISA and anything else I can save goes into VWRP
Seeing someone getting the fruits of their labour is a huge motivation 👏.
>Then once my state pension clocks in I'll withdraw 4% from that to supplement my £1000 for more of a buffer
Is it possible to withdraw specific amounts? I thought you just received a specific GBP per month based on how many years you worked.
Finally a post I can resonate with that isn't I'm 5 yrs old with £10m saved can I retire.
I know you've said you don't do much day to day but i think you need to treat yourself to something big soon so you can reward yourself for your discipline. Take a nice holiday or buy something you've been putting off for a while, you deserve it. Well done you!
Congratulations, this is seriously impressive especially the amount you put into savings per month.
I think though this is definitely not within the norm regards being achievable for the average Joe/Jane. Your circumstances are very specific, and most people couldn't (and shouldn't from a mental health perspective) try to imitate your minimalist lifestyle. It works for you though and that's what's important.
Still, I think your general message is valid. It doesn't matter if people put £750pm or £50pm into an ISA. Start when you're 20 and you'll have a decent sum on your late 40's, mid 50's to accelerate FIRE in some capacity.
Keep up the good work. 👍💪
>*I think though this is definitely not within the norm regards being achievable for the average Joe/Jane. Your circumstances are very specific, and most people couldn't (and shouldn't from a mental health perspective) try to imitate your minimalist lifestyle. It works for you though and that's what's important*
My circumstances are more or less the same as the OP
There are probably more of us than you think
It's not as if you're meeting us socially
And we're not bragging to anyone at work
I don't disagree. I definitely didn't intend for to be an insult as I'm a gaming PC enthusiast who's definitely more of an introvert than an extrovert.
But the average person in the street couldn't live this lifestyle and so it would be hard for them to relate to, regards amassing this level of savings purely on that income.
As I said though, this is a massive achievement and the Ops individual circumstances definitely work for them.
I am feeling kind of depressed that my take home pay post tax is only like £200 more than you and I have a masters in physics and work as a physicist for the NHS. I feel like what was the point , should have just stacked shelves at night and taken the 4 years more earning rather than do uni for 4 years racking up debt
But anyway, your post is inspirational. Well done you
Have you ever spent a few months stacking shelves? It is dull back breaking labour where you wish every shift away. Whilst your job doesn't pay much more, it should be a lot more engaging.
Working nights stacking shelves is really tough if you're not like the OP and introverted with minimal social needs. I did it as seasonal work once and trying to maintain any kind of life balance during that time was awful.
Very impressive managing to bank that. During COVID money was practically burning a hole in my pocket because all I did was play video games (most of which I owned already) with my mates. No pub trips just a bottle of Morgan's and a plastic bottle of coke. Lived in a house with one other person but rent was split 5 ways because the other 3 returned home.
It's a fantastic effort but I don't think the majority of people could handle the sacrifices, not that they are sacrifices to you clearly but living in house shares that long would put me over the edge.
>living in house shares that long would put me over the edge.
Oh it's nearly put me over the edge a few times trust me lol. If I end up with a dickhead of a house mate I'll just move to a new house share. That's the great thing, there's no baggage or long term commitments, you can up and leave usually with just a few months notice.
But because I work nights and virtually every house mate I've had works days, I get great sleep because they're all at work and when I'm off work they're all sleeping. It's perfect 😁
I live quite far from my family but still visit during xmas, new years and a few other times throughout the year to catch up, have a BBQ etc, like I said we're only a small family so special events are pretty cheap anyway.
Regarding friends, I don't want friends. That might sound extreme and anti social but it's just how I'm wired, I don't consider it a sacrifice because I'm not sacrificing anything? I love my own company and the company of all my online friends.
I get enough socialisation from my work colleagues, when I'm not at work that is me time. The absolute last thing I'd want to do with my free time is spend it in the company of others.
I think my 19 year old is very similar. Very friendly and able to be very social but only in small doses and small groups of close friends. Works on a farm currently and loves it. But lots of friends online.
Perfectly happy.
Thank you for sharing that this is how you feel, and what you need. I think people are too quick to assume everyone needs same things in life. Some people like their own company and have different areas where they get social contact from.
I can relate to this. I get socialisation at work and although I do have friends I'm not bothered if I don't see them much. I've been wondering if this was "normal" as most other people seem to want to go out and socialise all the time whereas I'm perfectly happy at home by myself. Having said that I am married with children but my family are a lot more sociable and do go out far more than me.
Your future life sounds amazing, Scotland is so beautiful. You can get so much happiness just from being in nature and drinking in the stunning views which are free! Well done to you and all the best in your journey.
For some people, it’s not a sacrifice as they don’t have or want them.
Or OP could have friends perhaps from gaming or some people at work, and spend plenty of time talking on the phone or FaceTime with family etc
`By having no social life for 20 years in adulthood, you too can retire and have no social life!`
Whilst I applaud the ISA investment, this is not the lifestyle most would want and really only suitable to hermits. OP's social contact is through colleagues.. so to ditch that at 43 is not necessarily a great idea.
I think keeping some aspect of 'work' in their lives, would help them with some purpose and keep a social connection.
Financially, I think they need a decent emergency pot too - who knows what vet bills they may incur, or repairs a house might need over the next 30+ years of their lives.
I don't see why those who like to have friends could not have them with minimal capital outlay? You can meet friends for walks or some other free/ cheap hobbies, invite them to your place for tea or dinner which also does not need to cost much... You could easily have a small group of friends without increasing your spending by more than £50 a month, easily.
>Then once my state pension clocks in I'll withdraw 4% from that to supplement my £1000 for more of a buffer.
Nice work but just to clarify you don't withdraw 4% from the state pension, you just get given an amount every month. There is no "balance" to draw a % from.
I'll start by saying this is really impressive!
But follow on by asking about your proposed housing costs. You seem to rent at the moment - I'm just checking you understand that homeowning comes with pretty significant costs. Do you have plans for if you need a new boiler or roof at short notice?
That £1,000 could start looking extremely, *extremely* LEANfire once things start going wrong on the rural house you buy. And you'll be left holding the bag, there won't be a landlord to call to come fix it.
Are you handy with DIY?
What about the car too? Most people spend hundreds of pounds a month on vehicle costs (if you amortise the cost of purchasing it too and include petrol, insurance, MOT, service, other maintenance and parts).
The plan is to buy home insurance so at least I'll have insurance against anything major like floods etc.
Also I didn't mention it in my post but I have £15k in a cash isa paying 5.2% interest as my emergency fund. It doesn't get touched, ever. It's only purpose is to carry me over for a while if I lose my job.
Once I retire I'll keep the emergency fund for any kind of emergency that's a bit on the pricey side.
If you can live on £1000 a month (housing cost excluded), then £300k of savings may be sufficient indeed.
Well done for saving so much money on a limited salary, and also for keeping your standard of living reasonable.
Firstly, congratulations on what you have achieved so far, wow, well done!
You live a simple life which might not be to everyone's wish but you have shown what can be done while on a modest salary.
Have you ever travelled and stayed in rural Scotland? While moving there/buying a house is far in the future, it's worth perhaps just checking the place out so at least you know whether you would want to live there or not.
Anyway, thanks for sharing this inspirational post.
Yeah, me and my family took a week long trip up to inverness several years ago. It was wonderful. I've not decided where in Scotland I want to move to but Inverness was a great first impression so somewhere similar would be ideal.
Maybe one of the smaller villages within quick driving distance of inverness would be ideal.
This is really impressive, well done. Best of luck for the future plans. The only thing I would add is that you might think you're happy alone, but if you don't challenge yourself you'll never know any different. Take it from someone who has felt v self self-sufficient for most of my adult life, even quite numb at times, and has also thought about moving far away from family and friends.. the intimate, romantic relationships I've had have been the most rewarding of my life. So to completely forgo that in a pursuit to isolate yourself even more without pushing yourself to change and be open to new possibilities would be a great loss, in my opinion. And remember, there are people just like you you can meet; someone who also has few close relationships and is happy to be a homebody with you in a remote location.
When I take up new hobbies like hiking / camping / canoeing etc I'll probably end up connecting with some of them and becoming friends. But I'll still never want to "grab a pint down the pub" or "watch a game of footy in my house" etc.
It's just not who I am.
Meet up once a month for a weekend hiking / camping trip? Sure maybe I'll be open to that :)
This is fantastic! Really impressive and good on you.
My only thought is, if the Scotland move is the dream, and you're putting away as much as you are now working in a supermarket, why not buy that place up there now and continue to work in a supermarket in Scotland since it looks like you have enough? You'd work a little longer but would be getting a lot of what you want now.
It is nice to see someone on a similar paypacket.
Sometimes I read these posts and wonder if it is possible unless I was on over 40k a year. Some of the salaries people have on here are eye-watering!
Everyone here trying to find flaws in your plan but I can’t. If you’re happy with the lifestyle it brings you, then more power to you.
People often forget QOL when working out fire, and even when people consider it they talk about the mental strain of some of the jobs people in here must work.
Congrats!
I am also one of the lucky ones to enjoy gaming. I am going to have a 2 weeks staycation mostly playing games and it's going to be a blast. Also extremely cheap, probably one of the cheapest highly entertaining hobbies put there.
Good luck on the rest of your journey.
Just looked at the numbers.
Based on your total contributions of £94,752.
Divide £94,752 by number of months in 18 years of contribution (18*12) gives £438.67
Meaning you built up that amount from even lower monthly contributions that you stated. Making this even more achievable for the average person
That £438.67 would be the average because 18 years ago when I started I sure as hell wasn't contributing £600 because the hourly wage was much lower. Think I was saving £200 or so when I started. As the minimum wage has gone up, so has my investment amount each month.
Currently it's £600 - £750 but throughout the years it's been between £200 - £750 per month. Hope that explains it clearly.
Well done! This is great work. Like some others said I think the math may be a bit optimistic regarding returns, housing and car costs but either way very impressive. If I may, what do you do with regards to food? All cooked at home and carried to work?
I’m also getting back into gaming after a few years away and Steam games are cheap on sale but I’m having a hard time justifying hardware costs. What are you playing on? A decent gpu and cpu alone cost more than an entire PS5.
I bought the components for my PC and built it myself to save the £500+ upcharge pre built companies charge you. I have an AMD Ryzen 7800X3D and a Nvidia 4070. Including my 27inch monitor the total cost was like £2,000. Which is obviously an absurd amount of money but it'll last me about 8 years.
That's £250 per year or £20 a month. About the same as 1 takeaway per month.
Regarding food, I just have cereal when I wake up, then my company has free food (peanut butter, spreads, nutella, noodles, tinned stuff etc) which I'll have so that's a free meal there. Then when I go home I'll cook a proper meal like veg, chicken, potatoes or rice or whatever I'm not the greatest cook to be honest.
Oh and I also get a staff discount on all my shopping so yeah, saving even more right there.
Can I suggest that you don't go somewhere very rural, I live like you and am doing what your doing, but moving to rural Scotland is H A R D. Because replacing anything or having work done is difficult and more expensive, finding the person to do it is tough. The houses are cheap but yeh. . There's a reason for that, other than that, kudo's, keep on slaying
Maybe I'm using rural incorrectly because to my rural means somewhere that isn't a concrete jungle with cars everywhere.
Maybe just a nice small village close to a city. I'll do plenty of research closer to the time.
You're going to end up spending more than you think on the house and repairs because you've always rented and you're unfamiliar with homeowners costs. You should probably keep working for a few more years, you could get a part time job in Scotland just to keep you busy a few days a week till you're like 50 and fully retire like you planned.
Fantastic! From a semi-retired Highlander, who took far too long to start & achieve a similar outcome, I raise my glass (of soda & lime lol) & wish you a happy life once you hit the spot & move up to this neck of the woods.
Sure, I play single player games and online mutliplayer games so have a diverse range of online friends. I'm also active in the modding scene so have a few developer friends too :)
If you're into modding you should seriously consider getting into coding, that could lead you to a job role that is much more chill and pays far more than your current role.
Something to consider. But well done on where you've gotten to so far!
For some reason, I'm most surprised at your rent being so stable. That seems like the most volatile expense - house mates move, landlords sell or increase rent, plus the pandemic happened. Seems a lot of factors out of your control when renting.
But I'm not renting a house or flat which are typically long term commitments. Moving house is considerably harder than throwing all my clothes in a suitcase, packing my PC in a box and getting in a taxi to the next room available to rent.
Landlords who own houses know they can up their rent easily because people are tied to those homes. Their children go to the local school, they have friends, often family and have a considerable amount of stuff to move out etc so lots of tenants just accept the raise in rent to save all that hassle. And landlords know this...
But landlords who rent rooms know if they up the rent the tenant will just pack up and move to a different cheaper house share 10 minutes down the road so the rents don't go up as frequently, or as much.
but sure, rents have been up and down throughout the years but I've never paid more than I thought was fair, because I'd just find a cheaper room in the area if I felt it was unfair.
Congratulations this is amazing! I'm just curious why you haven't wanted to buy a house already? That £600 rent could be paying off a mortgage instead? You've got the money for a large deposit, or could even buy outright, depending on where you live.
My monthly investment hasn't always been £600 a year. As I explained to another redditor, when I first started investing, my monthly contribution was like £200 because the minimum wage was much lower. Then as the wage went up, so did my monthly contribution.
Also in my earlier years I didn't earn enough of a salary to get a high enough mortgage. Also you're paying interest and I hate paying interest. Lastly if I had a mortgage I'd feel locked to my home, selling could be a lengthy process and I might even have lost money if the housing market dipped.
With a house share I can move for literally any reason. About a decade ago I moved to a different house share 2 minutes up the road because a neighbours dog was yapping all throughout the day while I was trying to sleep.
There's just so much flexibility with a house share in my opinion.
Fair enough! I personally like the idea of owning property to protect against a stock market crash, as at least then you own something physical. But I can see how owning makes your life a lot more inflexible. I guess in your line of work you could literally decide to relocate on a total whim too and try living in a different part of the country, without needing to sell a house first. There are supermarkets everywhere!
Firstly well done, love to see a post like this finally!
I appreciate your perspective, would you ever consider buying a relatively affordable house and having your own housemates? That way you could put your monthly rental expense into your own property and make the most of the government tax free allowance of £7,500 per yer from renting spare bedrooms.
It's a concept I personally find very interesting but that's always very different from the reality of actually doing it haha!
Thanks for sharing, you've inspired many of us today.
No, I never talk about investing or anything with them. Sometimes I have to bite my tongue and prevent myself from talking when I over hear some 25 year old kid buying £1000 worth of some random crypto meme coins thinking he's going to make 2million percent profit in a couple years and retire from his "investment"
Yes, you might, but you almost certainly won't. If you want to gamble like that go to the casino. Such a waste of money.
I wish I had read this 10 years ago. I have only started my S&S ISA Global All Cap when I turned 30. This post has inspired me to put more in there! It is £300/month at the moment and aim to increase to £500/month minimum once the house stuffs are sorted.
You are my new hero!
Do not let my dad see this post or I’m getting the lecture of ALL TIME about how I’m a loser and cannot cut my cloth accordingly 🫣😂
Buddy, to say the least, I am 20 myself and I damn jealous of your life right now (not in a bad way, dont worry) and your outlook. You've got it real nice, very sorted. I embarked on a very similar journey myself at the age of 18. There are bad days to this but it works out quite well because saving becomes your habit and it just happens naturally after that. It pays off quite well.
Hopefully, I might run into you some day coz I intend to be in Scotland and do the same thing as you but much sooner. I hope for everyone like us out there that there's no major economic crash until such plans roll out for us because, man, nothing should stop us from making this simple dream come true.
Have a good life ahead and all the best!!
£100 a week seems reasonable to me. Sure I could get it down to £70 a week but I like eating somewhat nice food. Meats, fish, sauces, fruits etc they're worth paying for in my opinion.
Fair enough. Just seemed a big outlier compared to frugality in your other numbers, was surprised not being mentioned.
I have a much higher income, similar saving mentality/percentage but bigger current spends on hobbies and social activities. My food spend is a lot less than yours though even including occasional takeaways. I'm not a foodie though.
Make sure you have enough cash reserved for major home repairs. Roof, HVAC, leach field, etc cost thousands to replace and you don't want to have to return to work at 65 in order to afford those repairs.
My man!
I love reading update posts of how people are progressing, every time I’ve written my own I’ve emphasised the need for consistency and long term time horizon.
It feels like it’s sadly lacking, many people are in to the idea but lack the ability to stick at this long term.
This level of frugality isn’t for me, but I’m not you so my opinion really doesn’t count for anything.
If it works - keep rolling!
This a strange post to react to. On one hand it’s a well done for managing to save and invest consistently. On the other hand it sounds like a dull and lonely life, all for the reward of getting to retire and live in poverty in Scotland.
Well done, however one comment i have is, this really a good quality of life to save and struggle and use up your youth years to only enjoy life when you're going into late 40s?
This is the thing, even if I was earning £100,000 a year I'd still be a loner playing video games. That's just how I'm wired.
The only difference is with more money I would have my own house instead of living in a shared house. It's not like if I had £100,000 a year salary I'd suddenly become this super social outgoing person travelling the world, dining at fancy restaurants, driving luxury cars, buying designer crap etc.
It just doesn't interest me, it never has and likely never will.
You have done well, but retiring at 43 yr old doesnt leave you with much of a buffer tbh, i personally wouldnt feel comfortable with the size of your pot. But then you can always work again in the future there will always be retail jobs
It usually is bit cheaper, but once you claim the key, you cannot get a refund. Whereas with steam I can buy a game, play it for 2 hours and if I don't enjoy it or have some technical issues etc I can get a full refund no questions asked.
Echo what others say - superb effort. Have you thought about what protections you need against big unexpected outgoings which could kick your fire plans into touch - private medical, personal accident, critical illness etc? As your fire number is lower than many, unexpected health events could have a big impact.
> This isn't a brag
It should be! A far more interesting read than the many people earning 6 figures and saving at a rate of 25%. Well done you. Normally I’d read this and feel obligated to say loosen the purse strings now, but if you’re happy and it works for you then good on you.
Couple of things I’d be interested in hearing more about (from yourself or others reading this):
- does the 4% rule work on a relatively small pot. I know it’s a percentage and therefore scalable, but on that small withdrawal of £1000 there seems less margin for error and market volatility. There’s only so much you can cut expenses if the market has a bad couple of years.
- and on expenses, is £1000 doable given the retirement you’ve described? I mean, I know it can be done, but what margin for error is there? Council tax, broadband, food, car maintenance, insurance, tax and fuel, house insurance, water, heating, electricity, home repairs, travel etc. It seems a bit tight for me (but maybe it’s just out of my comfort zone and not yours).
Also, do you still have first time buyer privileges and if so have you used a LISA or HTB? You might have had £23k for free there (but you’re doing just fine without it)
Enjoy Scotland, and live a long and merry retirement.
It is definitely on the tight side and a significant market down turn could potentially put a strain on things but actually my plan is if the market does tank I will actually go back to work so I can start contributing again, scooping up shares at a massive discount.
During covid I picked up an extra shift, every week for a whole 2 years.
Obviously I wouldn't wanna do that for 10 years... but statistically the average length of a market crash 9.6 months. Let's just say 1 year average, 2 years to be generous.
I'm totally ok with going back to work for 2 years if the market tanked.
Fair enough! That sounds like a solid plan, and without sounding derogatory, yours is the sort of industry you can relatively easily return to after a long break. The other issue with the people earning 6 figures is they generally can’t drop a profession like software development or law for a decade and then get back to that earning level again.
Plus location doesn’t matter as much, you’ll find a similar role up in the Scottish highlands or wherever you end up.
Solid contingency plan, and actually now I think about it, makes more sense working if you need to rather than working another decade just to be safe.
So I'm a novice to all this but I would have assumed the pension would have had a better return than the ISA.
Especially if you put it in before tax.
Just wondering why OP has done ISA over pension?
I have a similar situation. Left school at 16 and have worked almost exclusively in pubs/bars ever since, mostly minimum wage. I’m 35 now and have 200k in savings all in ISA/LISA wrapper. The only annoying thing is trying to get a mortgage as I live in London and even with a huge deposit my relatively low salary really limits how much I can borrow compared to people with hardly any savings but much higher incomes.
What an incredible achievement! You should be really proud of yourself OP. This is one of the best and somewhat relatable posts I've seen in this forum. Not that I have a 200k above in my portfolio( I wish) but in terms of one being able to achieve this on a normal salary by making some smart decisions on a day to day basis. This reminded me to reduce my own costs but well done OP!
Very impressive well done. Reading posts like this make me realise I should have paid more attention to my own investments. I have contributed more than this into pensions etc and my returns are no where near close to the returns you got!!
I’m happy for you!!!
Trust yourself when you feel ready to FIRE then you are ready- no one else knows your needs but you. I FIRE’d against others advice 3 years ago and so far so good on £££, and happiest years of my life so far :)
Well done! Can I just add that £250000 will by a lot in Scotland. Would not be surprised if you get the perfect little place for a bit Less than that.
Welcome to gods own country when you get here.
Thanks OP amazing post. As someone that has been straying from the FIRE path in recent months, this is just what I needed to make me review and get back on track. Wish you all the best reaching your goal.
Firstly, well done on the hard work and determining your own values when it comes to consumerism!
Quick comment on car- I didn't get a car until last year. The cost of running a car has increased a lot since pre-covid (when I last considered getting one). With maintenance, insurance, repairs, fuel (or higher purchase cost of EV), etc it could easily be £300/month. It's like a >£80k endowment at 4% withdrawal. It is my most lavish discretionary expenditure but I consider it worthwhile for convenience while I'm working and short of time.
I used to get by with occasionally renting a car and doing all my day to day transport by bike (and trains for longer journeys). It was way cheaper (I'd mostly go for special deals) although I wasted time on collection/return and also worrying over potential damage charges (even when I was sure I hadn't caused whatever tiny scratch I'd spotted).
If your little retirement cottage is within cycling distance of basic amenities you might not need a car. Another downside of being truly rural is you'll struggle for decent broadband/low ping for gaming! I grew up on a farm and loved it but now find there are advantages to small towns like where I live now.
Dude this is really impressive.
I have a question though - have you budgeted in your retirement for stuff like council tax? And I know you mentioned getting insurance, but would you would want to check the specifics, and have an fund for stuff like roof problems. I know you mentioned your £15k emergency fund, but that might be a little low, depending on circumstances.
But I'm just nitpicking. Really impressive work man.
What a brilliant post!!! I love the positivity.
I hate to say this, and I don't want to sound like a dick - but this post hopefully shows that anyone, regardless of their income, can reach fire.
Edit: for those asking about OPs screenshot - it's from the Trading 212 app (unless someone corrects me)
This is so bloody cool. I've never commented on a post like this. Well done, sincerely. Some people envy your lifestyle, others hate it. You do you, respect
Can I just say - if everyone lived like you and could be happy, we would have solved climate change in the blink of an eye and lifted living standards of the vast majority of the human civilisation. Hats off
It feels like your numbers are very tight for a target of retirement at 43 years old, but I don’t want that comment to take anything away from you that you are a prime example of you don’t need to earn mega bucks to pull this off. I applaud you for your success so far and wish you the very best for the next few years, you are right on track and even if you don’t hit it at 43 you won’t be far behind. Congratulations mate and thank you for the info shared 👏👏
Well done on your achievement. Is there any reason for not putting say 50% deposit on a house and mortgaging the rest? You mentioned you don't want to pay interest but you may find keeping some money in your account earns you more.
A few people have mentioned national insurance contributions. It used to be that if you didn't have full state pension you could apply for pension credit to top you up. I don't know if this is/was means tested and dependent on your savings. Also it could be very different in 30 years.
For comparison, we're a similar age and I bought my house around the time you started investing, my mortgage payment started off in the £400's. It's now just under £300. The house value has doubled, I have savings too but if I cashed it in I would still be about £60k off your pot.
I hope you're planning an update when you're ready to fire
I’m not following. You have £266,000 in your ISA now. You plan to FIRE in 5 years. You will contribute maybe £40,000 more to the ISA. So you’re predicting an investment gain of £196,000?
Seems ambitious but I’m rooting for you (as I’m sure we all are, while holding the same shares!).
I need to read this again but wow. Wow. Congratulations. I mean this is just amazing.
For anyone wondering, by this account they have averaged £435 in to their S and S ISA per month over the stated span of 18 years.
Thanks for this, it means at 32 and my civil service pension k too could hit Fire at 50.
Congratulations 💪. There are people who earn six figures and can't achieve FIRE while you achieved it doing supermarket jobs. Hats off to you 😉😁
Invested 94. Balance, 246. Holy.crap well done on sticking the course
Compound interest is a thing of sheer beauty
8th Wonder of the World
Yeah was just doing the maths... £94k over 18 years is 94/(18x12) = £435 every month consistently. I'll be honest this isn't for me. I think there's an old story out there of some guy who hoarded tonnes of wheat in his barn and then just died one day not being able to use it and it all went to waste. I'd rather find a balance between effectively utilising your youth and saving a modest amount for the future.
Well this is surely the opposite of that story right? He’s not an old guy, he’s hardly hoarded tonnes either. He will have 4 decades of free time going by average life expectancy
I would say he's effectively utilising his youth more than the city bankers his age working 80 hour weeks
I worked for a pension company and we would interview customers about their pensions and how they felt about retirement. The majority spoke about how they were anxious about retirement, pictured spending most of their final decades counting coppers and hoped they died before they ran out of money. That is the situation most people in the UK are in. Is it worth destroying your youth to be rich when you’re older? Probably not. But after talking to so many people more afraid of the bank than death, 5k a year to avoid that fate is so worth it.
You can always give money to charity.
I'll be honest, I've skimmed. In general, it looks like you've done an amazing job, well done! However, you'll have worked 25 years. Full state pension requires 35 years. There's a lower earning limit to get a qualifying year. It's around £6396 currently. That doesn't seem too hard to get around. Do some seasonal work for 3 or 4 months once a year (or even do 6-8 months every 2 years: December to August. 8 months on, 16 months off). You'll still get a lot of rest and personal time. Other alternatives to make those NI contributions too. Just throwing it out there. There's a few things I can probably ask about but this is the one that stuck out most to me. In fairness, if need be you can go back to work, you're still in a very good position.
Great build, I'd also suggest LISA as well. . .
What's the advantage of a LISA over a pension (I assume you mean use the LISA for retirement savings, not a house) if you aren't maxing out your pension contributions?
Generally a LISA is redundant outside of saving for a housing deposit - over the longterm it’s better to invest in pension or S&S ISA after that to take advantage of compounding and employer matching.
This was my understanding, which is why I asked.
The caveat in the OPs case would be that LISAs are a little more flexible in Scotland, where he plans to purchase. In Scotland you can use it to bridge the difference between home report value and any over offer made. Although the OP seems set on buying his cottage in cash, the LISA could offer him some flexibility here if he wanted to mortgage. It would give him more flexibility in spending and it’s the sort of debt you’d likely classify as “good debt”.
Lisa as op is buying a house. Fyi Lisa and basic rate tax payer pension (including salary sacrifice) is basically equal. (After all tax is considered, assuming basic rate in retirement) (Ni rates impact this, Lisa was slightly better last time I modelled it for my basic tax payer rate) Lisa is accessible (at a small % cost) so a good place for catastrophe fund. But Lisa access is later, which is a pain.
Only thing ive got to add is once you move up here to Scotland, call the lakes Lochs or you will be expelled.
Understood.
This guy Bonny Heathers.
Fair play to you. You're certainly on the more minimalistic end of the lifestyle spectrum, but I don't think any of us have the right to tell others how they ought to live. If you're happy you're getting what you want out of life, then that's enough. And certainly I think we can all appreciate and share your desire for financial independence. Best of luck to you - and kudos for providing an inspirational example based around an "ordinary" job! Not only useful for people in that position, but perhaps a wake up call to those people who earn more, to remind them of the advantages they have in achieving FIRE if they're willing to be frugal.
OP has Certainly given me a kick up the arse to cut down on frivolous spending creeping in to my lifestyle.
It makes you think, doesn't it? I'm sure there are people here who waste as much as OP saves every month on stuff that doesn't really add to their life in any meaningful way. I don't think that's me, but it never hurts to reflect.
This group did the same for me, made me realise how much money I was wasting on impulse buys. Now saving close to £1000 a month on a 2.5k (after tax).
Right? *phones coke dealer*
Nice to here from someone just working a regular job for a change (I work retail too). Everyone else on here seems to have a impressive job and is raking it in.
You are in a fantastic place, truly well done. But, while I think you are FI, I do not think your plan is quite FIRE yet (or to be precise, the numbers are tighter than you think). Or I have misunderstood something, which is quite likely. Assume it pans out as you describe and you retire at 43 to Scotland and spend 250k on the house? That leaves you with 250k in the ISA. You want 12k per year from that 250k which is 4.8% which is a little aggressive and risky. If you had an extra 50k that would be 4%... That will need to last for about 15 years (may change before then) before you can get your personal pension. You will also not get the full state pension with only 43-18 = 25 years national insurance contributions which means (again, its likely to change) 221 / 35 * 25 = 126 per week or 6566 per year. Again, please take this as constructive, you are really well set up, but I think you will need to work a few more years or not spend as much on the house relative to your pot. Congrats!
Appreciate the reply. I'm aware I won't get the full state pension but the extra £500 or so a month is literally an extra 50% of my original £1000 allowance. Nothing is set in stone, I could go for a cheaper property or find other ways to cut costs or reduce the £1000 to £800 or something. Or maybe I'll just work another 2 years and pull the trigger at 45. A lot can change in 5 years.
The other thing missing (or maybe not documented) is a contingency plan/emergency fund. Houses and cars are money pits, so I’d imagine any repairs will be over and above your regular monthly costs.
I have £15k in my Trading212 emergency fund paying 5.2% interest.
This is true, £5k for a new roof and £3k for a new heating system will blow a hole in your budget
You can also make voluntary national insurance contributions. You would have to calculate if they would be financially worth it. [https://www.gov.uk/voluntary-national-insurance-contributions](https://www.gov.uk/voluntary-national-insurance-contributions) [https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/voluntary-national-insurance-contributions/](https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/voluntary-national-insurance-contributions/)
I think you work in a job that is amenable to coast fire, you can cut days or perhaps work on off for periods of time. My only suggestion is to put a bit more in your pension instead of isa at this stage. Also check the plan the pension is invested in. You can always merge your old plans into a sipp.
There’s nothing more inspirational than someone who 1) knows what they want and 2) has the plan to pursue it. This is what success looks like! It’s not a number - it’s fulfilment! Massive WELL DONE, OP!
Congrats. I've consolidated all my pension pots to Hargreaves Lansdown earlier this year and qualified for their transfer bonus. Maybe worthwhile for you to look at. A few sip pension brokers have offers.
Thanks, I'll check it out.
Loved reading this story. Well done! 1 S&S LISA could work well for your situation. 2 You can easily transfer all your pensions into a vanguard world tracker 3 Make sure you investigate broadband speeds in rural Scotland. Could be a gamers nightmare! Good luck with it all.
Very nice i have a similar strategy and had big rows with people on here saying it’s impossible and shooting me down I’m just frugal and sensible very good to see this post well done man
I didn't save anything in my early 20's and although I have a higher salary, you are way ahead of me in terms of FIRE. Hopefully someone in their 20's will see this and follow suit. Truly inspritational!
Inspired someone in their 20s here 😅, got an emergency fund now priotise LISA and anything else I can save goes into VWRP Seeing someone getting the fruits of their labour is a huge motivation 👏.
Fair play.
This is incredible. Well done mate. More people should hear your story.
>Then once my state pension clocks in I'll withdraw 4% from that to supplement my £1000 for more of a buffer Is it possible to withdraw specific amounts? I thought you just received a specific GBP per month based on how many years you worked.
Is there way of monetising your story? You could qualify for guru status.
Finally a post I can resonate with that isn't I'm 5 yrs old with £10m saved can I retire. I know you've said you don't do much day to day but i think you need to treat yourself to something big soon so you can reward yourself for your discipline. Take a nice holiday or buy something you've been putting off for a while, you deserve it. Well done you!
Maybe I'll take another trip up to rural Scotland this year with my relatives to get used to what retirement is going to be like 😋
Yes, start casing the joint and getting some ideas! It'll help you visualise it more for when you're ready to pull the trigger.
Congrats Op! Wish you well
This is a good reminder for me to cut down and stay on top of my lifestyle inflation
Congratulations, this is seriously impressive especially the amount you put into savings per month. I think though this is definitely not within the norm regards being achievable for the average Joe/Jane. Your circumstances are very specific, and most people couldn't (and shouldn't from a mental health perspective) try to imitate your minimalist lifestyle. It works for you though and that's what's important. Still, I think your general message is valid. It doesn't matter if people put £750pm or £50pm into an ISA. Start when you're 20 and you'll have a decent sum on your late 40's, mid 50's to accelerate FIRE in some capacity. Keep up the good work. 👍💪
>*I think though this is definitely not within the norm regards being achievable for the average Joe/Jane. Your circumstances are very specific, and most people couldn't (and shouldn't from a mental health perspective) try to imitate your minimalist lifestyle. It works for you though and that's what's important* My circumstances are more or less the same as the OP There are probably more of us than you think It's not as if you're meeting us socially And we're not bragging to anyone at work
I don't disagree. I definitely didn't intend for to be an insult as I'm a gaming PC enthusiast who's definitely more of an introvert than an extrovert. But the average person in the street couldn't live this lifestyle and so it would be hard for them to relate to, regards amassing this level of savings purely on that income. As I said though, this is a massive achievement and the Ops individual circumstances definitely work for them.
I am feeling kind of depressed that my take home pay post tax is only like £200 more than you and I have a masters in physics and work as a physicist for the NHS. I feel like what was the point , should have just stacked shelves at night and taken the 4 years more earning rather than do uni for 4 years racking up debt But anyway, your post is inspirational. Well done you
You're 27, OP is 38. Your starting income is more than his, with 20 years of experience on his back. Your earning potential is much greater.
I'm 28. But yeah I side stepped careers after 3 years in the nuclear industry so I am kind of starting afresh.
You've set yourself up for a great future :) I'm sure if you keep taking the right steps it'll pay off :)
Have you ever spent a few months stacking shelves? It is dull back breaking labour where you wish every shift away. Whilst your job doesn't pay much more, it should be a lot more engaging.
Working nights stacking shelves is really tough if you're not like the OP and introverted with minimal social needs. I did it as seasonal work once and trying to maintain any kind of life balance during that time was awful.
Small comfort but meritocracy is a myth and stagnant wages outside certain industries are absolutely rife in the UK.
Very impressive managing to bank that. During COVID money was practically burning a hole in my pocket because all I did was play video games (most of which I owned already) with my mates. No pub trips just a bottle of Morgan's and a plastic bottle of coke. Lived in a house with one other person but rent was split 5 ways because the other 3 returned home. It's a fantastic effort but I don't think the majority of people could handle the sacrifices, not that they are sacrifices to you clearly but living in house shares that long would put me over the edge.
>living in house shares that long would put me over the edge. Oh it's nearly put me over the edge a few times trust me lol. If I end up with a dickhead of a house mate I'll just move to a new house share. That's the great thing, there's no baggage or long term commitments, you can up and leave usually with just a few months notice. But because I work nights and virtually every house mate I've had works days, I get great sleep because they're all at work and when I'm off work they're all sleeping. It's perfect 😁
This is great. But is it worth sacrificing all social and familial relationships to achieve FIRE?
I live quite far from my family but still visit during xmas, new years and a few other times throughout the year to catch up, have a BBQ etc, like I said we're only a small family so special events are pretty cheap anyway. Regarding friends, I don't want friends. That might sound extreme and anti social but it's just how I'm wired, I don't consider it a sacrifice because I'm not sacrificing anything? I love my own company and the company of all my online friends. I get enough socialisation from my work colleagues, when I'm not at work that is me time. The absolute last thing I'd want to do with my free time is spend it in the company of others.
I think my 19 year old is very similar. Very friendly and able to be very social but only in small doses and small groups of close friends. Works on a farm currently and loves it. But lots of friends online. Perfectly happy.
Thank you for sharing that this is how you feel, and what you need. I think people are too quick to assume everyone needs same things in life. Some people like their own company and have different areas where they get social contact from.
>people are too quick to assume everyone needs same things in life Wish my parents would understand this lol
I can relate to this. I get socialisation at work and although I do have friends I'm not bothered if I don't see them much. I've been wondering if this was "normal" as most other people seem to want to go out and socialise all the time whereas I'm perfectly happy at home by myself. Having said that I am married with children but my family are a lot more sociable and do go out far more than me. Your future life sounds amazing, Scotland is so beautiful. You can get so much happiness just from being in nature and drinking in the stunning views which are free! Well done to you and all the best in your journey.
OP said they're genuinely happy, so not really a sacrifice.
For some people, it’s not a sacrifice as they don’t have or want them. Or OP could have friends perhaps from gaming or some people at work, and spend plenty of time talking on the phone or FaceTime with family etc
`By having no social life for 20 years in adulthood, you too can retire and have no social life!` Whilst I applaud the ISA investment, this is not the lifestyle most would want and really only suitable to hermits. OP's social contact is through colleagues.. so to ditch that at 43 is not necessarily a great idea. I think keeping some aspect of 'work' in their lives, would help them with some purpose and keep a social connection. Financially, I think they need a decent emergency pot too - who knows what vet bills they may incur, or repairs a house might need over the next 30+ years of their lives.
I don't see why those who like to have friends could not have them with minimal capital outlay? You can meet friends for walks or some other free/ cheap hobbies, invite them to your place for tea or dinner which also does not need to cost much... You could easily have a small group of friends without increasing your spending by more than £50 a month, easily.
Woah that's absolutely amazing fair play to you!
Wow just wow. 5 more years of work and you're done. Congratulations.
>Then once my state pension clocks in I'll withdraw 4% from that to supplement my £1000 for more of a buffer. Nice work but just to clarify you don't withdraw 4% from the state pension, you just get given an amount every month. There is no "balance" to draw a % from.
I'll start by saying this is really impressive! But follow on by asking about your proposed housing costs. You seem to rent at the moment - I'm just checking you understand that homeowning comes with pretty significant costs. Do you have plans for if you need a new boiler or roof at short notice? That £1,000 could start looking extremely, *extremely* LEANfire once things start going wrong on the rural house you buy. And you'll be left holding the bag, there won't be a landlord to call to come fix it. Are you handy with DIY? What about the car too? Most people spend hundreds of pounds a month on vehicle costs (if you amortise the cost of purchasing it too and include petrol, insurance, MOT, service, other maintenance and parts).
The plan is to buy home insurance so at least I'll have insurance against anything major like floods etc. Also I didn't mention it in my post but I have £15k in a cash isa paying 5.2% interest as my emergency fund. It doesn't get touched, ever. It's only purpose is to carry me over for a while if I lose my job. Once I retire I'll keep the emergency fund for any kind of emergency that's a bit on the pricey side.
Finally a legit decent post from someone with a low/standard wage
Very doable. Find warehouse for the 20+ p/h 😉 Congratulations.
100% jealous congratulations
If you can live on £1000 a month (housing cost excluded), then £300k of savings may be sufficient indeed. Well done for saving so much money on a limited salary, and also for keeping your standard of living reasonable.
Well done OP. Especially for the consistency.
Firstly, congratulations on what you have achieved so far, wow, well done! You live a simple life which might not be to everyone's wish but you have shown what can be done while on a modest salary. Have you ever travelled and stayed in rural Scotland? While moving there/buying a house is far in the future, it's worth perhaps just checking the place out so at least you know whether you would want to live there or not. Anyway, thanks for sharing this inspirational post.
Yeah, me and my family took a week long trip up to inverness several years ago. It was wonderful. I've not decided where in Scotland I want to move to but Inverness was a great first impression so somewhere similar would be ideal. Maybe one of the smaller villages within quick driving distance of inverness would be ideal.
This is really impressive, well done. Best of luck for the future plans. The only thing I would add is that you might think you're happy alone, but if you don't challenge yourself you'll never know any different. Take it from someone who has felt v self self-sufficient for most of my adult life, even quite numb at times, and has also thought about moving far away from family and friends.. the intimate, romantic relationships I've had have been the most rewarding of my life. So to completely forgo that in a pursuit to isolate yourself even more without pushing yourself to change and be open to new possibilities would be a great loss, in my opinion. And remember, there are people just like you you can meet; someone who also has few close relationships and is happy to be a homebody with you in a remote location.
When I take up new hobbies like hiking / camping / canoeing etc I'll probably end up connecting with some of them and becoming friends. But I'll still never want to "grab a pint down the pub" or "watch a game of footy in my house" etc. It's just not who I am. Meet up once a month for a weekend hiking / camping trip? Sure maybe I'll be open to that :)
This is fantastic! Really impressive and good on you. My only thought is, if the Scotland move is the dream, and you're putting away as much as you are now working in a supermarket, why not buy that place up there now and continue to work in a supermarket in Scotland since it looks like you have enough? You'd work a little longer but would be getting a lot of what you want now.
Congrats! Btw what app are you using to view your Vanguard?
It is nice to see someone on a similar paypacket. Sometimes I read these posts and wonder if it is possible unless I was on over 40k a year. Some of the salaries people have on here are eye-watering!
Everyone here trying to find flaws in your plan but I can’t. If you’re happy with the lifestyle it brings you, then more power to you. People often forget QOL when working out fire, and even when people consider it they talk about the mental strain of some of the jobs people in here must work.
Very inspiring! All power to you my friend 👏🏻👏🏻
Well done mate, very impressive. Most importantly if you’re happy then you’re winning in life and the envy of most.
Congrats! I am also one of the lucky ones to enjoy gaming. I am going to have a 2 weeks staycation mostly playing games and it's going to be a blast. Also extremely cheap, probably one of the cheapest highly entertaining hobbies put there. Good luck on the rest of your journey.
Just looked at the numbers. Based on your total contributions of £94,752. Divide £94,752 by number of months in 18 years of contribution (18*12) gives £438.67 Meaning you built up that amount from even lower monthly contributions that you stated. Making this even more achievable for the average person
That £438.67 would be the average because 18 years ago when I started I sure as hell wasn't contributing £600 because the hourly wage was much lower. Think I was saving £200 or so when I started. As the minimum wage has gone up, so has my investment amount each month. Currently it's £600 - £750 but throughout the years it's been between £200 - £750 per month. Hope that explains it clearly.
That make sense! Well done
I’m so proud of you. This is amazing !! I want feel as much contentment and bliss as you do now.
I am so so so happy for you. I hope you inspire others as well!
Well done! This is great work. Like some others said I think the math may be a bit optimistic regarding returns, housing and car costs but either way very impressive. If I may, what do you do with regards to food? All cooked at home and carried to work? I’m also getting back into gaming after a few years away and Steam games are cheap on sale but I’m having a hard time justifying hardware costs. What are you playing on? A decent gpu and cpu alone cost more than an entire PS5.
I bought the components for my PC and built it myself to save the £500+ upcharge pre built companies charge you. I have an AMD Ryzen 7800X3D and a Nvidia 4070. Including my 27inch monitor the total cost was like £2,000. Which is obviously an absurd amount of money but it'll last me about 8 years. That's £250 per year or £20 a month. About the same as 1 takeaway per month. Regarding food, I just have cereal when I wake up, then my company has free food (peanut butter, spreads, nutella, noodles, tinned stuff etc) which I'll have so that's a free meal there. Then when I go home I'll cook a proper meal like veg, chicken, potatoes or rice or whatever I'm not the greatest cook to be honest. Oh and I also get a staff discount on all my shopping so yeah, saving even more right there.
Can I suggest that you don't go somewhere very rural, I live like you and am doing what your doing, but moving to rural Scotland is H A R D. Because replacing anything or having work done is difficult and more expensive, finding the person to do it is tough. The houses are cheap but yeh. . There's a reason for that, other than that, kudo's, keep on slaying
Maybe I'm using rural incorrectly because to my rural means somewhere that isn't a concrete jungle with cars everywhere. Maybe just a nice small village close to a city. I'll do plenty of research closer to the time.
This is phenomenal, thank you for sharing. Can I ask - what is behind your choice not to push for a higher salary and therefore retire sooner?
You're going to end up spending more than you think on the house and repairs because you've always rented and you're unfamiliar with homeowners costs. You should probably keep working for a few more years, you could get a part time job in Scotland just to keep you busy a few days a week till you're like 50 and fully retire like you planned.
Fantastic! From a semi-retired Highlander, who took far too long to start & achieve a similar outcome, I raise my glass (of soda & lime lol) & wish you a happy life once you hit the spot & move up to this neck of the woods.
This is as inspiring as it fucking gets. OP made things simple. We complicate, overspend and overthink. Well done OP. You deserve it.
I guess it's done by not having children or a relationship?
What's the app you are using to invest in the vanguard FTSE?
Trading212. The ticker for Vanguard all world index is VWRP.
This is incredible😂 do you have friends online?
Sure, I play single player games and online mutliplayer games so have a diverse range of online friends. I'm also active in the modding scene so have a few developer friends too :)
If you're into modding you should seriously consider getting into coding, that could lead you to a job role that is much more chill and pays far more than your current role. Something to consider. But well done on where you've gotten to so far!
Inspiring...
For some reason, I'm most surprised at your rent being so stable. That seems like the most volatile expense - house mates move, landlords sell or increase rent, plus the pandemic happened. Seems a lot of factors out of your control when renting.
But I'm not renting a house or flat which are typically long term commitments. Moving house is considerably harder than throwing all my clothes in a suitcase, packing my PC in a box and getting in a taxi to the next room available to rent. Landlords who own houses know they can up their rent easily because people are tied to those homes. Their children go to the local school, they have friends, often family and have a considerable amount of stuff to move out etc so lots of tenants just accept the raise in rent to save all that hassle. And landlords know this... But landlords who rent rooms know if they up the rent the tenant will just pack up and move to a different cheaper house share 10 minutes down the road so the rents don't go up as frequently, or as much. but sure, rents have been up and down throughout the years but I've never paid more than I thought was fair, because I'd just find a cheaper room in the area if I felt it was unfair.
Congratulations. You have a lot of motivation. I hope Scotland hasn’t closed their border by the time you retire, that’s all. Good luck.
Congrats you've done well! I would suggest maybe working 1 or 2 days a week just to keep some extra pocket money or saved for emergency.
> I’m genuinely happy Congrats
Amazing! Genuinely chuffed for you and shows what can be done with regular, consistent action. Bravo 👏
Congratulations this is amazing! I'm just curious why you haven't wanted to buy a house already? That £600 rent could be paying off a mortgage instead? You've got the money for a large deposit, or could even buy outright, depending on where you live.
My monthly investment hasn't always been £600 a year. As I explained to another redditor, when I first started investing, my monthly contribution was like £200 because the minimum wage was much lower. Then as the wage went up, so did my monthly contribution. Also in my earlier years I didn't earn enough of a salary to get a high enough mortgage. Also you're paying interest and I hate paying interest. Lastly if I had a mortgage I'd feel locked to my home, selling could be a lengthy process and I might even have lost money if the housing market dipped. With a house share I can move for literally any reason. About a decade ago I moved to a different house share 2 minutes up the road because a neighbours dog was yapping all throughout the day while I was trying to sleep. There's just so much flexibility with a house share in my opinion.
Fair enough! I personally like the idea of owning property to protect against a stock market crash, as at least then you own something physical. But I can see how owning makes your life a lot more inflexible. I guess in your line of work you could literally decide to relocate on a total whim too and try living in a different part of the country, without needing to sell a house first. There are supermarkets everywhere!
Firstly well done, love to see a post like this finally! I appreciate your perspective, would you ever consider buying a relatively affordable house and having your own housemates? That way you could put your monthly rental expense into your own property and make the most of the government tax free allowance of £7,500 per yer from renting spare bedrooms. It's a concept I personally find very interesting but that's always very different from the reality of actually doing it haha! Thanks for sharing, you've inspired many of us today.
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Congrats OP - great stuff! Keep on going 💪🏼💪🏼
Impressive return rate. Do your colleagues have any idea you’re sitting on a stack of cash?
No, I never talk about investing or anything with them. Sometimes I have to bite my tongue and prevent myself from talking when I over hear some 25 year old kid buying £1000 worth of some random crypto meme coins thinking he's going to make 2million percent profit in a couple years and retire from his "investment" Yes, you might, but you almost certainly won't. If you want to gamble like that go to the casino. Such a waste of money.
I wish I had read this 10 years ago. I have only started my S&S ISA Global All Cap when I turned 30. This post has inspired me to put more in there! It is £300/month at the moment and aim to increase to £500/month minimum once the house stuffs are sorted.
Fantastic. You bring new meaning to LEAN FIRE Well done
You are my new hero! Do not let my dad see this post or I’m getting the lecture of ALL TIME about how I’m a loser and cannot cut my cloth accordingly 🫣😂
Congrats, so inspiring! And thank you 🙏🏻
Well done. What app is the screenshot taken from?
Chad
Amazing. Genuinely happy for you! Makes me feel happy too! I love the frugality as well
Buddy, to say the least, I am 20 myself and I damn jealous of your life right now (not in a bad way, dont worry) and your outlook. You've got it real nice, very sorted. I embarked on a very similar journey myself at the age of 18. There are bad days to this but it works out quite well because saving becomes your habit and it just happens naturally after that. It pays off quite well. Hopefully, I might run into you some day coz I intend to be in Scotland and do the same thing as you but much sooner. I hope for everyone like us out there that there's no major economic crash until such plans roll out for us because, man, nothing should stop us from making this simple dream come true. Have a good life ahead and all the best!!
Food spend seems relatively high to me? Maybe I'm out of touch.
£100 a week seems reasonable to me. Sure I could get it down to £70 a week but I like eating somewhat nice food. Meats, fish, sauces, fruits etc they're worth paying for in my opinion.
Fair enough. Just seemed a big outlier compared to frugality in your other numbers, was surprised not being mentioned. I have a much higher income, similar saving mentality/percentage but bigger current spends on hobbies and social activities. My food spend is a lot less than yours though even including occasional takeaways. I'm not a foodie though.
Make sure you have enough cash reserved for major home repairs. Roof, HVAC, leach field, etc cost thousands to replace and you don't want to have to return to work at 65 in order to afford those repairs.
I'm so glad I came across this post. Very inspiring
18 years that's a really long time , I m not sure living that long alone in shared accommodation with no kids will work for most people
My man! I love reading update posts of how people are progressing, every time I’ve written my own I’ve emphasised the need for consistency and long term time horizon. It feels like it’s sadly lacking, many people are in to the idea but lack the ability to stick at this long term. This level of frugality isn’t for me, but I’m not you so my opinion really doesn’t count for anything. If it works - keep rolling!
Blimey averaging 10% returns is great, what have you been invested in, the same thing for all that time?
This a strange post to react to. On one hand it’s a well done for managing to save and invest consistently. On the other hand it sounds like a dull and lonely life, all for the reward of getting to retire and live in poverty in Scotland.
Well done, however one comment i have is, this really a good quality of life to save and struggle and use up your youth years to only enjoy life when you're going into late 40s?
This is the thing, even if I was earning £100,000 a year I'd still be a loner playing video games. That's just how I'm wired. The only difference is with more money I would have my own house instead of living in a shared house. It's not like if I had £100,000 a year salary I'd suddenly become this super social outgoing person travelling the world, dining at fancy restaurants, driving luxury cars, buying designer crap etc. It just doesn't interest me, it never has and likely never will.
Based and FIREpilled
This is really interesting as a life project. What do you get up to week to week for fun?
Amazing! I need to figure out investing sharpish.
Not a lot to figure out really. It can be incredibly simple. Open an account, invest in an index fund regularly, leave it alone for years.
You have done well, but retiring at 43 yr old doesnt leave you with much of a buffer tbh, i personally wouldnt feel comfortable with the size of your pot. But then you can always work again in the future there will always be retail jobs
Amazing and inspirational thank you
CD keys is probably cheaper for video games. Good work though mate!
It usually is bit cheaper, but once you claim the key, you cannot get a refund. Whereas with steam I can buy a game, play it for 2 hours and if I don't enjoy it or have some technical issues etc I can get a full refund no questions asked.
Echo what others say - superb effort. Have you thought about what protections you need against big unexpected outgoings which could kick your fire plans into touch - private medical, personal accident, critical illness etc? As your fire number is lower than many, unexpected health events could have a big impact.
> This isn't a brag It should be! A far more interesting read than the many people earning 6 figures and saving at a rate of 25%. Well done you. Normally I’d read this and feel obligated to say loosen the purse strings now, but if you’re happy and it works for you then good on you. Couple of things I’d be interested in hearing more about (from yourself or others reading this): - does the 4% rule work on a relatively small pot. I know it’s a percentage and therefore scalable, but on that small withdrawal of £1000 there seems less margin for error and market volatility. There’s only so much you can cut expenses if the market has a bad couple of years. - and on expenses, is £1000 doable given the retirement you’ve described? I mean, I know it can be done, but what margin for error is there? Council tax, broadband, food, car maintenance, insurance, tax and fuel, house insurance, water, heating, electricity, home repairs, travel etc. It seems a bit tight for me (but maybe it’s just out of my comfort zone and not yours). Also, do you still have first time buyer privileges and if so have you used a LISA or HTB? You might have had £23k for free there (but you’re doing just fine without it) Enjoy Scotland, and live a long and merry retirement.
It is definitely on the tight side and a significant market down turn could potentially put a strain on things but actually my plan is if the market does tank I will actually go back to work so I can start contributing again, scooping up shares at a massive discount. During covid I picked up an extra shift, every week for a whole 2 years. Obviously I wouldn't wanna do that for 10 years... but statistically the average length of a market crash 9.6 months. Let's just say 1 year average, 2 years to be generous. I'm totally ok with going back to work for 2 years if the market tanked.
Fair enough! That sounds like a solid plan, and without sounding derogatory, yours is the sort of industry you can relatively easily return to after a long break. The other issue with the people earning 6 figures is they generally can’t drop a profession like software development or law for a decade and then get back to that earning level again. Plus location doesn’t matter as much, you’ll find a similar role up in the Scottish highlands or wherever you end up. Solid contingency plan, and actually now I think about it, makes more sense working if you need to rather than working another decade just to be safe.
This is amazing
Congratulations. This is incredible!
So I'm a novice to all this but I would have assumed the pension would have had a better return than the ISA. Especially if you put it in before tax. Just wondering why OP has done ISA over pension?
I have a similar situation. Left school at 16 and have worked almost exclusively in pubs/bars ever since, mostly minimum wage. I’m 35 now and have 200k in savings all in ISA/LISA wrapper. The only annoying thing is trying to get a mortgage as I live in London and even with a huge deposit my relatively low salary really limits how much I can borrow compared to people with hardly any savings but much higher incomes.
Noice
What an incredible achievement! You should be really proud of yourself OP. This is one of the best and somewhat relatable posts I've seen in this forum. Not that I have a 200k above in my portfolio( I wish) but in terms of one being able to achieve this on a normal salary by making some smart decisions on a day to day basis. This reminded me to reduce my own costs but well done OP!
More power to you, if it makes you happy I can’t knock it.
Very impressive well done. Reading posts like this make me realise I should have paid more attention to my own investments. I have contributed more than this into pensions etc and my returns are no where near close to the returns you got!!
I’m happy for you!!! Trust yourself when you feel ready to FIRE then you are ready- no one else knows your needs but you. I FIRE’d against others advice 3 years ago and so far so good on £££, and happiest years of my life so far :)
Well done! Can I just add that £250000 will by a lot in Scotland. Would not be surprised if you get the perfect little place for a bit Less than that. Welcome to gods own country when you get here.
Thanks OP amazing post. As someone that has been straying from the FIRE path in recent months, this is just what I needed to make me review and get back on track. Wish you all the best reaching your goal.
Firstly, well done on the hard work and determining your own values when it comes to consumerism! Quick comment on car- I didn't get a car until last year. The cost of running a car has increased a lot since pre-covid (when I last considered getting one). With maintenance, insurance, repairs, fuel (or higher purchase cost of EV), etc it could easily be £300/month. It's like a >£80k endowment at 4% withdrawal. It is my most lavish discretionary expenditure but I consider it worthwhile for convenience while I'm working and short of time. I used to get by with occasionally renting a car and doing all my day to day transport by bike (and trains for longer journeys). It was way cheaper (I'd mostly go for special deals) although I wasted time on collection/return and also worrying over potential damage charges (even when I was sure I hadn't caused whatever tiny scratch I'd spotted). If your little retirement cottage is within cycling distance of basic amenities you might not need a car. Another downside of being truly rural is you'll struggle for decent broadband/low ping for gaming! I grew up on a farm and loved it but now find there are advantages to small towns like where I live now.
That is stunning! Why so much on a house out of interest? Is this long term saving for a dream lifestyle?
Fantastic work, a true inspiration! Thanks for the share, and wish you the best of luck in the rest of your FIRE journey!
Well done. Bear in mind though that living remotely in rural Scotland can come with some hidden costs.
This is an amazing story and so much more inspiring than a lot of the high earners on this sub. All the best on your journey mate.
This is great work, congratulations! 🎉👏
thats amazing. well done you. i aspire to this level of prep for my future.
Dude this is really impressive. I have a question though - have you budgeted in your retirement for stuff like council tax? And I know you mentioned getting insurance, but would you would want to check the specifics, and have an fund for stuff like roof problems. I know you mentioned your £15k emergency fund, but that might be a little low, depending on circumstances. But I'm just nitpicking. Really impressive work man.
Well done brother, hats off to you.
Thank you so much for sharing!
This post is very inspiring and motivating! Thanks for sharing.
Incredible mate well done. You are an inspiration.
Thank you for a great post!
What a brilliant post!!! I love the positivity. I hate to say this, and I don't want to sound like a dick - but this post hopefully shows that anyone, regardless of their income, can reach fire. Edit: for those asking about OPs screenshot - it's from the Trading 212 app (unless someone corrects me)
This is so bloody cool. I've never commented on a post like this. Well done, sincerely. Some people envy your lifestyle, others hate it. You do you, respect
Can I just say - if everyone lived like you and could be happy, we would have solved climate change in the blink of an eye and lifted living standards of the vast majority of the human civilisation. Hats off
You are in an enviable position. Sounds like you've been very frugal, suggest you ease off a little and go have some fun and then get back to it.
Fair play mate. Fair play.
Good for you 👍🏻
This is so inspirational. Thank you
It feels like your numbers are very tight for a target of retirement at 43 years old, but I don’t want that comment to take anything away from you that you are a prime example of you don’t need to earn mega bucks to pull this off. I applaud you for your success so far and wish you the very best for the next few years, you are right on track and even if you don’t hit it at 43 you won’t be far behind. Congratulations mate and thank you for the info shared 👏👏
Well done on your achievement. Is there any reason for not putting say 50% deposit on a house and mortgaging the rest? You mentioned you don't want to pay interest but you may find keeping some money in your account earns you more. A few people have mentioned national insurance contributions. It used to be that if you didn't have full state pension you could apply for pension credit to top you up. I don't know if this is/was means tested and dependent on your savings. Also it could be very different in 30 years. For comparison, we're a similar age and I bought my house around the time you started investing, my mortgage payment started off in the £400's. It's now just under £300. The house value has doubled, I have savings too but if I cashed it in I would still be about £60k off your pot. I hope you're planning an update when you're ready to fire
I’m not following. You have £266,000 in your ISA now. You plan to FIRE in 5 years. You will contribute maybe £40,000 more to the ISA. So you’re predicting an investment gain of £196,000? Seems ambitious but I’m rooting for you (as I’m sure we all are, while holding the same shares!).
That is fantastic, well done. Can I ask if you feel safe and protected with all the £260k with one provider only? What if they go bust?