- April 24, 2024
- Posted by: legaleseblogger
- Category: Related News
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**Navigating Financial Challenges at 39: A Personal Journey**
At the age of 39, I find myself starting from scratch due to a combination of factors such as prolonged education, mental health struggles, loss of a business, and a relationship during the pandemic. The lack of early financial guidance has led me to this point, with my father’s retirement into poverty serving as a wake-up call.
**Current Financial Standing and Goals**
Currently, I am employed full-time with a modest income and a promising Civil Service pension. While I hold a seasonal second job, my income is unpredictable until October. Despite having a student loan as my only debt and maintaining an excellent credit score, I find myself at ground zero financially. Adhering to a strict budget, I am focused on building my emergency fund and improving my financial literacy.
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**Long-Term Financial Planning and Resilience**
Looking ahead, I aspire to achieve financial independence and secure my retirement without the need to work indefinitely. Despite doubts about homeownership, I seek advice on maximizing long-term savings opportunities and optimizing my financial portfolio. Through dedicated saving and investment in avenues like S&S ISAs, I aim to build a stable financial foundation for the years to come.
**Seeking Encouragement and Expert Advice**
In my journey towards financial stability, I seek encouragement and recommendations on effective long-term savings strategies. By leveraging resources like Money Saving Expert (MSE) and seeking expert advice on investment avenues, I aim to make informed decisions tailored to my career goals and financial aspirations. Considering my Civil Service pension, I am open to exploring alternative saving and investment options to achieve financial security and resilience.
**Embracing Financial Independence**
Ultimately, I strive to break free from financial dependence, charting a path towards financial freedom and stability. While uncertainties linger, I remain dedicated to my financial goals, seeking guidance on prudent investment choices and strategies for long-term wealth accumulation. In embracing the journey towards financial independence, I am committed to exploring diverse avenues for building wealth and securing a stable future.
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Zero? Are you really serious mate? Come on, you’re rocking it. You’re doing quite splendid. Many start over or never start at zero but with less than zero. Remember that Eagles have to take on the hardest challenge. At 40 they get rid of their beaks, feathers, claws and everything and in that precarious state they try to stay alive. If they fail they die but if they endure they live 30 years more. And you mate… You are an Eagle that renovated one year before so you got this. Keep pushing forward so you soar high once again. Congratulations mate, you just did what I long and dream of. So when I grow up I wish I was like you.
PS just to add, I am also in the Civil Service and my guess is that you are on an EO wage. you might not be able to do it straight away, but if you get onto the CS internal jobs website you can see there will be lots of opportunities for promotion. If you just apply for multiple jobs, eventually you should have a shot at getting promoted. Jumping to HEO or SEO sometime during the next decade would help you save extra towards an early retirement fund.
Put £1 in LISA before you turn 40 to keep the option alive. Why not it is £1 and doesn’t take long. See moneysavingexpert guide.
A 29 year career will mean 29 * 0.232% = 67% of your career average salary as a guaranteed annual income, adjusted for inflation, on top of the state pension. So likely pretty much the same salary as you get now.
I’d still suggest opening a stocks and shares LISA with a few quid just to get it open before you turn 40, then you have the option to use that for a 20 year investment pot for taking at age 60. You can also set up a SIPP (or AVCs through your work pension if you want the contributions to come directly out of your pay slip) to get stock market exposure, make sure you read https://ukpersonal.finance/investing-101/ and the links it suggests.
But that being said, you will want to sort a plan for a home to retire in; you *could* rent forever but this might be very expensive later in life on a fixed income. So if you do intend to buy a house/flat, saving in a cash ISA (if you expect to build enough of a deposit within the next 5 years) or S&S ISA if you don’t expect to buy for a little longer, is also something to aim for. London is expensive, are you tied where you are or can you explore other civil service office locations?
Stick with the cs for 20 years and the pension will do most of the heavy lifting. If you can supplement this with as much ISA savings as possible then you can add in flexibility to the retirement date
I’m in a similar position as you but at 28 (so maybe not quite). Considering retaking my maths GCSE and doing an apprenticeship to get into a more meaningful avenue of employment.
Seeing your post actually inspired me a little. To be 40 and get onto £30K, from where I’m standing that looks fantastic. I also ruminate over retirement sometimes but lots of people do make it work.
I’m just here for moral support, take advice from people with more knowledge than me!
Very feasible to retire in your lifetime. Pretty much everyone saves quite a bit more money than they ever need for retirement. Spending slows down a lot once you get old.
Going to cut against the grain here and offer a different bit of advice as I think people here have investment advice covered for you.
I understand you may feel inclined to live very frugally for retirement but remember that this might be the last decade of your life that you can enjoy certain quality life experiences, and now you have a bit of money to pay for them! For example, climbing the Spanish steps in Rome doesn’t seem as fun when you’re in your sixties. You don’t want to save away the next decades and then realise you have the money to retire but can’t experience the things you want to anymore.
I’m not saying spend your whole paycheck, it’s all about balance here. But consider putting some cash aside to enjoy yourself as well as saving, best of luck! 🙂
I’m 39 too and see a lot of similarity with my experience here, especially in terms of timeline and effects of mental health stuff. 2008 really hit us hard eh! And 2016 was rough. I had a house and lost it so renting again. No savings and just coming out of 7 years fatigue, able to apply for full time jobs again. Not much advice, just solidarity, sure we’re not the only ones in this position
Honestly, I think you are doing great. I think I’d take the next couple of years to figure out how to maintain your mental health, keep a full time job, live within your income etc. Save to create an emergency fund, but don’t over complicate things. If you have to spend a small amount of money (eg. private therapy) to maintain your mental health then that’s a worthwhile investment because the best thing for you financially is staying healthy and staying in full time work.
Hi /u/entity_bean, based on your post the following pages from our wiki may be relevant:
* https://ukpersonal.finance/buy-to-let/
* https://ukpersonal.finance/budgeting/
* https://ukpersonal.finance/credit-cards/
* https://ukpersonal.finance/credit-ratings/
* https://ukpersonal.finance/emergency-fund/
* https://ukpersonal.finance/financial-advice/
* https://ukpersonal.finance/investing-101/
* https://ukpersonal.finance/lisa/
* https://ukpersonal.finance/pensions/
* https://ukpersonal.finance/student-loans/
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^(These suggestions are based on keywords, if they missed the mark please report this comment.)
A acquaintance of mine died at 21, id says your doing great ! Good luck, it seems you planned ahead.
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To be honest the CS pension scheme changes everything.
How many years of membership do you have to date and how much do you earn? How might you pay change over the next 5/ 10 years? How much in your E fund?
Hi there. How much money do you have leftover after essentials go out of your bank account? Like bills and food for example. That will determine what you can do with it? There might be more you can do to squeeze out the most of your budget by reducing bills and subscriptions; also London is quite pricey so that must take up some payments in rent or mortgage perhaps. How much you have left will determine what sort of plan you can devise with the rest of it.
If you have just started working in the Civil Service, why not look initially at really understanding that scheme? You may be able to do a buy-out of the actuarial reduction if you want to retire a bit early, you may be able to buy added years and there may be linked AVCs. I’m not sure what the current scheme offers but it’s worth looking around the CS pension website and getting familiar with it. A LISA could still be handy for bridging the gap between when you want to stop work and when you can get your pension. You can open one with a token amount while you think about it.
As for the rest, others are probably better placed than me to answer but you sound like you are heading in the right direction.
> The question is, can I realistically hope to get anywhere near being able to not work until I die?
Yes. 23 years ago I was bankrupt age 30 so the big reset and I’ve gone through two massive recessions since then. I’ve currently just over £100k shared between S&S ISA/SIPP that I didn’t even start until 2015 and that’s despite personally earning £20k or less up to 2020 with a household income for three averaging £30-£35k over the last several years. Our total household expenses are £20k a year so we’ve been able to put away several grand or more a year. Now at a point where when the next remortgage comes in 2026 I can clear it in full with my ISA. I’m planning on early retirement at age 60 but will most likely do a day or two a week just to give me something to do so effectively early retirement at age 60.
So yes it is possible to get into a position where you won’t have to work until you die but a lot of whether you can will be dictated by what your living costs are.
I’m guessing you got a PhD, tried to make it in academia and then joined the civil service at HEO grade? That’s the exact career path I had. It’s really, really easy to climb the ladder in the civil service as long as you are prepared to work hard and keep applying for new roles often. You can probably make G7 in a couple of years. Leverage that PhD!
Mate, you’ve come very far and deserve a fine five. I know it’s hard to see all the things you have and easier to focus on what you don’t but trust me, with your financial sensibilities (and you don’t sound delulu in any way), you just need to build again. It’s ok. We all do it from time to time.
2008 was tough on everyone but you’re not leaving anyone to save you and you cannot say that about a lot of people!
As for the LISA, I’m not sure you qualify if you’re not a FTB. Having said that, there are other high yield savings accounts you can get with a quick search.
Maybe now is the time to do what you love. It’s a position not many can do because it’s scary but I’ve learned that doing what scares you unlocks a part of you that has never not been amazing. Go get it 💪
25 years at the civil service will sort you out with a decent pension but I wouldn’t wish that lifelong sentence on my worst enemy
You’re doing fine mate! Best of luck
Good luck with this. The only financial advice I could offer is the same thing many others will.
I’ll offer that I’m willing you to succeed.
You’re starting at zero, and I’m 39 with still 270k left to pay off my mortgage, loans, and credit cards up to circa 28k. It’s all manageable for me, but zero is technically 300k better off than me! It’s all perspective my friend!
🚨Mid life crisis🚨
Just joking (or not) but you’re not in a bad place. Life begins at 40 and all that and that’s a popular saying precisely because a lot of people realise what they want to do at 40 and become focus on it.
Don’t let retirement be your goal. Instead aim to find a job or start a business you’re passionate in and wouldn’t want to give up.
Always wise to save a little, have an investment to mature in 5 years and have a separate long term investment. LISA can still serve you well, it’s a good bonus and you get yourself a lump sum to spend as you wish when you turn 60. And you may yet buy a property before then. Alternatively, pay more into your pension: you’ll get taxed less and a bigger payout when you do retire.
Spend a little, treat yourself now and again. Don’t just aggressively save. You’ll be 50 before you realise it and wonder what you’ve done the last ten years!
And sorry you had a bad relationship. I hope you heal and eventually start dating again, where you find someone to share dreams with and who knows what may happen.
Make sure you declare your second job in your mandatory declaration, else you’ll be on disciplinary and out of that civil service door. You should have declared it the moment you started there if it predates the Cs job, or the date you took the second
Wife and I lived basically on one salary for about 3 years. Left us with about £60k in savings. Put down about £50k on deposit and fees, bought a new build worth £240k and then spent the rest on furnishings etc.
Have a look at the flowchart and associated wiki in the sidebar/ About section. There’s a lot there to guide you.
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