Urban75 Home About Offline BrixtonBuzz Contact

What do you think about retirement and when will you do it?

Turned 50 last summer, BB2 will be 10 next month, so 8 more school years for her for which I need to work, putting money aside for her to spend at uni should she choose to go, £5k a year will make £40k for her which is what BB1 got. Have paid off the mortgage, house currently worth ~£700k, so in 8 years will probably be more than that and we won't need a 4/5 bedroom place, so downsizing would free up some money. Only started paying in to a pension 8 years ago, £3200 a month between us, stopped when the plague came to town, need to re-start that now, this thread has given us the push to get the shiny-suited conman back round to get it going again. Possibility of some inheritances, my mum and dad are both still going and both own their houses outright, as does Frau Bahn's mum. Hopefully not for many, many years, though my sister is kind of hoping it will be sooner :rolleyes:



But of course...

image_2023-01-15_105007330.png
 
Re: inheritance, home ownership, retirement, and deceptive men....

My parents divorced when I was teenager. My mum got the house and discovered what she thought was a small mortgage left, was actually a significantly large re-mortgage my dad had got without her permission (we think he forged her signature) leaving her fucked financially so she spent 20 years working in a few jobs (factory, mail order packer, pub kitchen) far beyond her plans to pay that off. She eventually did retire but much later and had to downsize into a small house to make it OK.

My dad never got another house himself, but got together with someone who owned her own small house outright so he lived there. Anyway, they decided to retire to Spain and got a few equity release loans (his idea really) in the '90s and early '00s on their house to buy in Spain (think they totalled about £70,000). Very quickly (a few years) they got bored of Spain and moved back before they managed to sell their house here - luckily as it turns out otherwise they'd have been fucked and could have easily ended up homeless/insecurely housed as at that point they were both in their 60s with no assets or home. On top of that they lost loads on the house in Spain when it eventually did sell.

He died 8 years ago. When he died we found out he owed loads of money all over the place. Gambling issues we think.

She currently owes the company (Aviva) about £230,000 or so (compound interest innit) so Aviva get the whole house outright when she dies. When I last checked the interest was accumulating about £100 a week! The house has actually gone up in value from about £90,000 in the '90s to £250,000 now, but they'll get it all.

He was a bit of a lying fucker! And not very good with money. Obviously.
 
Last edited:
On the renters time bomb - home ownership rate has actually gone up in the last 10 years.

Ownership rates mean little to ordinary punters though. What matters is cost vs income, a gap that gets wider every year.

Also the number of private rentals available goes down when owner-occupation goes up, so fewer rentals to choose from, higher rents and even less chance for working folk to save money for a home of their own.
 
Re: inheritance, home ownership, retirement, and deceptive men....

My parents divorced when I was teenager. My mum got the house and discovered what she thought was a small mortgage left, was actually a re-mortgage my dad had got without her permission (we think he forged her signature) leaving her fucked financially so she spent 20 years working in a few jobs (factory, mail order packer, pub kitchen) far beyond her plans to pay that off. She eventually did retire but much later and had to downsize into a small house to make it OK.

My dad never got another house himself, but got together with someone who owned her own small house outright so he lived there. Anyway, they decided to retire to Spain and got a few equity release loans (his idea really) in the '90s and early '00s on their house to buy over there (think they totalled about £70,000). Very quickly (a few years) they got bored of Spain and moved back before they managed to sell their house here - luckily as it turns out otherwise they'd have been fucked.

He died 8 years ago. When he died we found out he owed loads of money all over the place. Gambling issues we think.

She currently owes the company (Aviva) about £230,000 or so (compound interest innit) so Aviva get the whole house outright when she dies. When I last checked the interest was accumulating about £100 a week! The house has actually gone up in value from about £90,000 in the '90s to £250,000 now, but they'll get it all.

He was a bit of a lying fucker!

I know of a few people who have got themselves into massive financial holes via 'retiring to spain' on borrowed money with no prospect of paying it back.
 
  • Sad
Reactions: LDC
Re: inheritance, home ownership, retirement, and deceptive men....

My parents divorced when I was teenager. My mum got the house and discovered what she thought was a small mortgage left, was actually a significantly large re-mortgage my dad had got without her permission (we think he forged her signature) leaving her fucked financially so she spent 20 years working in a few jobs (factory, mail order packer, pub kitchen) far beyond her plans to pay that off. She eventually did retire but much later and had to downsize into a small house to make it OK.

My dad never got another house himself, but got together with someone who owned her own small house outright so he lived there. Anyway, they decided to retire to Spain and got a few equity release loans (his idea really) in the '90s and early '00s on their house to buy in Spain (think they totalled about £70,000). Very quickly (a few years) they got bored of Spain and moved back before they managed to sell their house here - luckily as it turns out otherwise they'd have been fucked and could have easily ended up homeless/insecurely housed as at that point they were both in their 60s with no assets or home. On top of that they lost loads on the house in Spain when it eventually did sell.

He died 8 years ago. When he died we found out he owed loads of money all over the place. Gambling issues we think.

She currently owes the company (Aviva) about £230,000 or so (compound interest innit) so Aviva get the whole house outright when she dies. When I last checked the interest was accumulating about £100 a week! The house has actually gone up in value from about £90,000 in the '90s to £250,000 now, but they'll get it all.

He was a bit of a lying fucker! And not very good with money. Obviously.
My mum did all the financials when dad was alive , he never used a credit card or debit card in his life . He was cash all the way (others had to use the cashpoint for him) . Mum applied for & got various mortgages (in joint names) . When they bought the last house he lived in, she sorted everything out without him knowing a thing (probably said Tony , you need to sign this) and told him they were moving about 3 days before the sale completed.😂 He would have been a nightmare with any more notice than that. When he died, he left about £5k in a wallet in cash under the mattress, which paid for the funeral.
 
I think who your partner is can be pretty make or break. Not in terms of marry rich but making sure you dodge someone who's dysfunctional with money.

There's also the benefit of splitting costs of repairs, rent or mortgage etc. plus of course having a better safety net if things go wrong. I do think single people (either not living with anyone else or not in relationship etc.) have it much harder financially on average/balance or whatever the right term is.
 
Last edited:
There's also the benefit of splitting costs of repairs, rent or mortgage etc. plus of course having a better safety net if things go wrong. I do think single people (either not living with anyone else or not in relationship etc.) have it much harder financially on average/balance or whatever the right term is.
Absolutely. I earn a good salary now- 50k. And my brother and his wife always go on about being poor and not going out for meals etc. I had to point out that their joint income was actually MORE than mine and they were just being tight fuckers :D

Also your Dad sounds like a bit of a cunt if you don’t mind me saying so.
 
Re: inheritance, home ownership, retirement, and deceptive men....

My parents divorced when I was teenager. My mum got the house and discovered what she thought was a small mortgage left, was actually a significantly large re-mortgage my dad had got without her permission (we think he forged her signature) leaving her fucked financially so she spent 20 years working in a few jobs (factory, mail order packer, pub kitchen) far beyond her plans to pay that off. She eventually did retire but much later and had to downsize into a small house to make it OK.

My dad never got another house himself, but got together with someone who owned her own small house outright so he lived there. Anyway, they decided to retire to Spain and got a few equity release loans (his idea really) in the '90s and early '00s on their house to buy in Spain (think they totalled about £70,000). Very quickly (a few years) they got bored of Spain and moved back before they managed to sell their house here - luckily as it turns out otherwise they'd have been fucked and could have easily ended up homeless/insecurely housed as at that point they were both in their 60s with no assets or home. On top of that they lost loads on the house in Spain when it eventually did sell.

He died 8 years ago. When he died we found out he owed loads of money all over the place. Gambling issues we think.

She currently owes the company (Aviva) about £230,000 or so (compound interest innit) so Aviva get the whole house outright when she dies. When I last checked the interest was accumulating about £100 a week! The house has actually gone up in value from about £90,000 in the '90s to £250,000 now, but they'll get it all.

He was a bit of a lying fucker! And not very good with money. Obviously.
If we're talking inheritance and deceptive men, then I'll tell a story about something that's just happened to me.

When my dad was 16/17, his dad ran off with his 23 year old secretary, leaving my grandma to finish raising my dad and his younger sister.

My granddad married his secretary and spent most of the time between 1955 and 1995 taking his new wife away on fancy holidays and golfing trips, without ever really having much to do with his kids, who didn't even know he'd married the woman he ran off with.

It was only when my granddad had a stroke in 1995 that his wife got in touch for the first time to let us know what had happened, shortly before he passed away in 1996.

Anyway, we had occasional contact with his widow over the years as she was estranged from her own family, and she finallly passed away in December, at the age of 90, leaving her entire estate of £650,000 to my 83 year old dad and his 81 year old sister. My dad doesn't need the money, so he's decided to split his share with his five kids, and I'm now due to get a completely unexpected £50,000 windfall from some woman I barely knew. Anyway, that'll virtually all go into my pension, so I can take things slightly easier work wise over the next few years.

Completely unfair compared to those less fortunate, but as my dad said, at least it's something to make up for the fact that his mum never got over the divorce and severely fucked up him and his sister for a long time.
 
I have a feeling I may have accidentally “retired” already. I’m signed of sick with chronic fatigue and chronic pain. And no sign of improvement or prognosis. (I’m constantly pushing for tests and investigations - which is exhausting in itself - but seem never to get any further forward. The GP basically seems to think I just have to accept it).

So at some point my employer will get fed up and push me out. And that’ll be it. This has happened before with my mental illhealth. I was medically retired on account of depression once before, for which I still get a tiny pension. But I can’t see any prospect of recovery this time. I certainly can’t hold down a job feeling as I do. So that’s probably my working days over now.

I have no proper pension, aside from the state pension and the tiny amount coming from the scheme of the former employer who invalided me out, but we do have our mortgage paid off, and we “downsized” a little when we bought our current flat, to pay off some debt. So we’re housed. But things like the cost of heating and food inflation do worry me.

But it could be worse. I have lots to be grateful for.
 
I think who your partner is can be pretty make or break. Not in terms of marry rich but making sure you dodge someone who's dysfunctional with money.
Mrshakes totally landed on his feet when he met me. He went from being a 43 year old renter - paying £1.5k a month in rent and a terrible credit record - to having a house in Brixton fully paid off by the time he was 52. He was terrible with money despite having had multiple handouts from his parents, including a £50k deposit which had been sitting in the bank for 3 years.. he did contribute a lot financially when working but I do all the money and finance admin.

He grew up upper middle class whilst my upbringing was penniless so I’ve always craved housing and financial security
 
More or less retired now at 56. Haven't done a job type job since finishing a contract in the City in January 2021. Ten months WFH was enough of a wake-up call to step off the tread-mill.

Work a couple of days a month now doing film and telly extra stuff which is a bit of pocket-money, gets me out and about to all different locations and can be quite a laugh. :)
 
I have a feeling I may have accidentally “retired” already. I’m signed of sick with chronic fatigue and chronic pain. And no sign of improvement or prognosis. (I’m constantly pushing for tests and investigations - which is exhausting in itself - but seem never to get any further forward. The GP basically seems to think I just have to accept it).

So at some point my employer will get fed up and push me out. And that’ll be it. This has happened before with my mental illhealth. I was medically retired on account of depression once before, for which I still get a tiny pension. But I can’t see any prospect of recovery this time. I certainly can’t hold down a job feeling as I do. So that’s probably my working days over now.

I have no proper pension, aside from the state pension and the tiny amount coming from the scheme of the former employer who invalided me out, but we do have our mortgage paid off, and we “downsized” a little when we bought our current flat, to pay off some debt. So we’re housed. But things like the cost of heating and food inflation do worry me.

But it could be worse. I have lots to be grateful for.
Shit. This sounds dire mate. Don’t you qualify for state benefits if your still working age before you get to retirement age? Living off one tiny pension does not sound do-able (although maybe your wife works come to think about it).
 
Mrshakes totally landed on his feet when he met me. He went from being a 43 year old renter - paying £1.5k a month in rent and a terrible credit record - to having a house in Brixton fully paid off by the time he was 52. He was terrible with money despite having had multiple handouts from his parents, including a £50k deposit which had been sitting in the bank for 3 years.. he did contribute a lot financially when working but I do all the money and finance admin.

He grew up upper middle class whilst my upbringing was penniless so I’ve always craved housing and financial security
I have insane envy of anyone who gets given or inherits money. I’ll have neither. Why can’t someone give me 50k ffs 😩

I’ve got a mate who- no word of a lie- inherited over 200k when his parents died. After inheritance tax and fees etc. I mean you’d be sorted wouldn’t you- there ya go kids there’s a house for you bought outright.

This is the kind of leg up I want my kids to have.
 
Shit. This sounds dire mate. Don’t you qualify for state benefits if your still working age before you get to retirement age? Living off one tiny pension does not sound do-able (although maybe your wife works come to think about it).
Yes, Mrs LR works part time. And I will sort benefits out. Sort of in an in-between stage at the moment, complicated by my zero hours contract, but we’ve got people advising us; a good friend is on top of the benefits situation.
 
Yes, Mrs LR works part time. And I will sort benefits out. Sort of in an in-between stage at the moment, complicated by my zero hours contract, but we’ve got people advising us; a good friend is on top of the benefits situation.
Ok good. Just sounds like you’re stuck between a rock and a hard place rn (neither well enough to work or sick enough to be fired kinda thing). Hope it works out x
 
I have insane envy of anyone who gets given or inherits money. I’ll have neither. Why can’t someone give me 50k ffs 😩

I’ve got a mate who- no word of a lie- inherited over 200k when his parents died. After inheritance tax and fees etc. I mean you’d be sorted wouldn’t you- there ya go kids there’s a house for you bought outright.

This is the kind of leg up I want my kids to have.
I know.. I got $1000 when my grandmother died in 2009. Her house sold for $530k and was divided between her 5 kids. Wonder if my mum actually did anything sensible with her share. Not that she’s likely to leave me anything as I’ve not spoken to her for 30 years.
My paternal grandmother is loaded apparently, we have sporadic contact with her, my dad died when I was 21 and we lost contact for 18 years until she put an ad in the paper in oz to try and find my sister and I which I spotted whilst there on holiday… maybe she’ll leave my sis and I a fortune…
 
I have insane envy of anyone who gets given or inherits money.

Never had a single penny of inheritance, and would be happy for 100% tax on it.

My nan left her house to us 5 grandkids, however my aunt stole it, a small 2 bedroom in Hounslow, today worth around £450k. She also stole my great aunts' house, which if was up for sale today would be well north of a million quid.
My mum fell out with her dad, her brother scooped the lot, her dad was fucking minted, left over £1.5m in the late 80's. My uncle and his wife regularly moan that their dining room can only seat 12, ffs.

Would be nice to get free cash, but would never hold out for it and endless tales seem to suggest that it often gets wasted anyway...
 
Last edited:
My old man is (I think) worth quite a lot. Unfortunately he's a cynical, racist, homophobic, mysognist cunt who threw my sister out when she was 15 and me when i was 14. So I disowned the fuckwit. I swore even if I ever did get anything from him I'd be giving that to charity. He apparently told my mum he was never gonna leave his kids anything anyway so im not looking forward to what happens on his death. (that bit im actually looking forward to).

As I've got closer to old age with sweet fuck all to my name though, I have to admit, if something did come my way I might not give it all away but certainly a wedge. No idea how tax and stuff on this works.. but i'd quite like the fuck to know on his deathbed that his dosh was going to shelters. Might speed things up a it. Cunt.
 
Never had a single penny of inheritance, and would be happy for 100% tax on it.

My nan left her house to us 5 grandkids, however my aunt stole it, a small 2 bedroom in Hounslow, today worth around £450k. She also stole my great aunts' house, which if was up for sale today would be well north of a million quid.
My mum fell out with her dad, he brother scooped the lot, her dad was fucking minted, left over £1.5m in the late 80's. My uncle and his wife regularly moan that their dining room can only seat 12, ffs.

Would be nice to get free cash, but would never hold out for it and endless tales seem to suggest that it often gets wasted anyway...
How did she steal the house? And a second one?
 
Blimey, starting to feel a bit blessed reading this thread; am 62, homeowner, no mortgage, reasonable private pension - which I dipped into over pandemic as I got para about work drying up, but it didn’t, state pension on horizon and an inheritance of £200k+ due soon, kids moved out, both good earners, so can’t say I’m too worried about money tbh. Pure luck, generational thing, and wanting to buy my own place as soon as I possibly could. Still got a full head of hair too…:p
 
How did she steal the house? And a second one?


No written wills, and all three died in quick succession, beloved aunt then claimed that they all wanted her to have the money until she died when it would then be split between the 5 grandkids.

I am 50 and the youngest of the 5, aunt is still alive, one of the grandkids died last year.

Thieving aunt got a gong for her services to charity an'all, an MBE, for forming a charity that you would have heard of, she did it to cream off a lifestyle for herself, she's that kind of woman.
 
No written wills, and all three died in quick succession, beloved aunt then claimed that they all wanted her to have the money until she died when it would then be split between the 5 grandkids.

I am 50 and the youngest of the 5, aunt is still alive, one of the grandkids died last year.

Thieving aunt got a gong for her services to charity an'all, an MBE, for forming a charity that you would have heard of, she did it to cream off a lifestyle for herself, she's that kind of woman.
What a charmer.. how people can behave like that I’ll never understand
 
Turned 50 last summer, BB2 will be 10 next month, so 8 more school years for her for which I need to work, putting money aside for her to spend at uni should she choose to go, £5k a year will make £40k for her which is what BB1 got. Have paid off the mortgage, house currently worth ~£700k, so in 8 years will probably be more than that and we won't need a 4/5 bedroom place, so downsizing would free up some money. Only started paying in to a pension 8 years ago, £3200 a month between us, stopped when the plague came to town, need to re-start that now, this thread has given us the push to get the shiny-suited conman back round to get it going again. Possibility of some inheritances, my mum and dad are both still going and both own their houses outright, as does Frau Bahn's mum. Hopefully not for many, many years, though my sister is kind of hoping it will be sooner :rolleyes:



But of course...

View attachment 359539
So you should be alright then...😅
 
Back
Top Bottom