The FIRE goalposts have kept shifting over the past few years.
Shaken to the core by Truss’ brief but disastrous tenure, battered by high inflation, pounded by high mortgage rates and spiralling increased costs of living, and recently wobbled by Trump’s tariffs.
However, it’s time for the posts to be dug into deeper foundations.
I can’t let them slide about any more so I will tentatively say that the year I plan to FIRE (or let’s just say FIRE-ish to be more accurate) will be 2027.
There, it’s in black and white and it’s utterly frightening! But also a bit of a relief I might add.
Did I not always have a date? Well yes and no.
When I embarked on my FIRE journey, the only goal I had was to retire before the age of 60, 7 years before state pension age, which seemed like a realistic and not-too-wild goal to aim for, considering that I was starting from the age of 42/43, having spent most of my 20s and 30s recklessly spending far more than I earned and dealing with big credit card debts.
During parts of my journey, I toyed with the idea of a FIRE ‘number’, the magic sum my Future Fund (FF) would need to be to allow me to pull the FIRE plug.
But the number kept changing, depending on what I thought I would do during retirement or how I was going to live my life. Lots of foreign travel and expensive hobbies will mean a big FF number; a quieter life just pottering around house and garden with not so much foreign travelling, not so big a number.
Ultimately, it became a range of numbers, somewhere between £300k and £500k. I am of course within that range already but on the lower end of the scale. I realise that these numbers may seem like pittance to some but they are both in my ‘enough’ range.
So, if I don’t know my number, how will I know if I have enough?
As ermine says in this post of his, ‘Enough is a feeling, not a number‘.
Of course, I’m not going to be completely guessing, I already have an idea of what my planned spending will be, and websites such as Retirement Living Standards, as well as numerous other sources provide an estimate of retirement income needed. My intended spending will probably be an average of all of these varying numbers!
Why Now?
There are a couple of reasons why I’ve set a date of sorts now.
My sister calling it quits on her job for one. She handed in her work laptop a couple of months ago and she’s about to start enjoying her retirement properly now that my nephew is going to university. Her first ‘project’ will be to sort out her house from top to bottom with him out of the way. She has thus far resisted the call for ‘consultancy work’ but may not rule that out completely.
Her bloke engineered his own redundancy/early retirement last year.
It’s bloody annoying that she can laugh and say “Haha, you got work tomorrow!” when we catch up on a Sunday!
The second thing is that when I started working at this company, I had thought that it would be nice to give them 10 years of my service and let this be the last corporate job I do before I retire.
I’ve just completed my 8 years’ anniversary – that has come round fast! Also, as one of the oldest employees in the company, I think it’s right for me to let someone younger do this job, which can at times leave me mentally exhausted.
What Now?
That’s all I have to say for now about this as there’s tons more to consider and think about, lots of planning to do including more in-depth thoughts and ideas about decumulation, how I will live on my investment income, how I actually feel about it all.
Too much to go on about here but I will be elaborating at some point.
Don’t be getting too excited though, there’s nothing radical on the cards!
hi, good for you setting a date. Two years is still a long time, I think I did it with about 6 months to go. There could be a market crash before then but as long as your investment income meets your needs then don’t worry just go for it. Good luck.
Hi Tim
Yes, two years is still a long time but as others have mentioned, they will fly by! I’m not sure I could do it with just 6 months – I think it will take me a least a year to be my headspace ready for it!
Of course, market crash could still happen – will adapt when/if the time comes!
Wow, Weenie, that’s quite some statement of intent! Good for you. Guess this is where the dividend plan starts to show its mettle. I still worry about the years till SPA, plus inflation, plus being able to afford the extra things I might do if I stopped working…. However, being self-employed, I do have some flexibility over how much work I actually do! Be very interested to follow your progress over the next few years – thanks for sharing.
Hi Martin
I know – I was torn between saying something and not saying something and decided that it was more useful to me if I did!
The dividend plan is pretty much there now – soon it will be enough to cover all my basic monthly utility bills. The rest of my required income will be the hard bit, selling investments for income but I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it!
I have to say that I’m not overtly worried about inflation – in my mind, I’m aware that things will cost more and I will adjust my spending (where I can) accordingly.
Thanks for reading and all the best with your plans!
There’s something good about putting a stake in the ground – good for you and all the best with making it. Enough is indeed a feeling as well as a number, you’ve been on this journey long enough to have a good handle on it.
Bravo!
Thanks ermine, and a big thanks to you, as your post pushed me into thinking beyond the numbers on a spreadsheet.
Have followed along with your journey for a few years – congratulations!
I’ll miss the rockets.
Thanks and thanks for reading, Ray – I hope the rockets continue over the next two years!
I’m on the cusp. I think for me the recent changes in inheritance tax on pensions sort of forced me into making a decision one way or the other and so I decided to pull the plug. I’m most likely going to go at the end of the tax year. It’s a tough decision though as I have some very sizeable share options due Sep 2026. One thing I’ve noticed is that my FIRE number has increased significantly in ways I didn’t expect. Private health insurance through work literally saved my life – twice. My partner’s dental surgery where she’d been an NHS patient for many years simply said “we’re not seeing NHS patients any more”. I thought they meant they weren’t taking on new NHS patients – bit no, literally no more NHS patients. Over the last year she’s had about £8k of necessary work done and the private dental covered the bulk of it. So, I think good private health and dental is now an essential – I’m budgeting £3,600 a year extra for that based on what my work coverage is for me and the Mrs. – Labour are talking about adding 20% VAT on top of that so I’ve budgeted that in too. Energy bills are going up too – but I’ve already budgeted in solar panels and a new EV. These were all things I hadn’t planned on before. I am currently running scenarios based on 40k a year and it’s doable. Just a few years ago I would have laughed at that number and was running scenarios based on 12k core, and then with some luxury spending and a buffer taking expenses up to 20k – I am now looking at DOUBLE that. We switched to the cheaper supermarkets a while back, but all supermarket shopping is still averaging around £565. So, what is your actual FIRE number, and what are budgeting per year for retirement?
I’m dropping in, before Weenie arrives, as reading your response resonated with me. Private Health Care, likewise I get it through work and I’d have been in trouble without it. it is simply non negotiable. What is the point of all this hard work, when the real wealth is health? I’ve budgeted £2,400 for just me, as work do offer some sort of ongoing discount with BUPA for retirees. I also have private dental insurance, but the implant I now need isn’t covered, at 3k(!) These are serious things to think about and likewise, my numbers have jumped considerably. I’m now running scenarios on the ONS moderate £31,700 (solo) plus a large emergency fund for house repairs etc etc.
Interesting. On the capital expenses what I sort of did was estimate them and then converted that to a monthly figure – it seemed like a good idea at the time but now I’m not so sure – maybe the emergency fund approach is a better idea! 😀
Hi Codefreeze
I have to say I haven’t really considered medical/health insurance. I have BUPA cover with work and I already know this will be costly if I tried to get this personally. The benefit I use more often is the dental/optical cash plan, which can be replicated at a reasonable cost. I have a feeling that I’m likely to self insure for other medical costs, so these costs will come out of my emergency fund, which will need to be a lot bigger.
At the moment, I’m only doing one shop out of four in cheaper supermarkets so will try to switch up to two out of four for starters.
As stated in my post, I don’t have an actual FIRE number but I’d probably say my FF needs to be around the £400k mark to provide me with a bridge that I’m comfortable with until state pension age. However, if I’m not there in 2 years’ time, I may feel that I have ‘enough’ as I have scenarios where my spending is less than what I’m budgeting for, which is around £30k.
All the best for your ‘unplugging’ next year!
I think you’re right going for the annual budget approach rather than the FIRE number. FIRE numbers can get complicated when you have to allow for state pension kicking in, and perhaps other pensions.
But forgot to mention, well done on setting a date. Hopefully it will be a more stable timeline than mine has been!
“I have some very sizeable share options due Sep 2026”: that’s God’s way of telling you to retire in October 2026.
Ending with part of a tax year always struck me as a sensible manoeuvre to reduce income tax.
Of course the Autumn 2025 budget may encourage you to bolt for the door immediately.
Yeah, I should probably hang on until Oct 2026…But…but…oh dear…one more year syndrome! 🙂
Regarding the budget – it seems like everyone I know is scared stiff of what might happen in the next budget – especially with regards pensions…we will see…
Huge news! Congratulations weenie, and so well earned! What a journey you’ve been on – and now to start planning the next chapter.
Thanks Doug! And yes, must not procrastinate on planning the next chapter!
Wow – heck of a target, and congrats on the whole journey! Its interesting to see your reflection on the number and being ready for it – things I can echo well with. The big challenge for me is access to my personal pension which is a blocker, but I also know I can spend far more when Im not working!
Thanks FiL!
I think I will struggle a little at first getting the balance of spending right and can see me veering from overspending to being really unnecessarily frugal. This might mean I’ll be running my spreadsheets a good while longer!
Fantastic news, Weenie! These next two years will fly by. Believe me. The last nine years for me have zwipped away in a flash.
It was nine years ago I discovered FIRE. After the 2015 pension reforms I started looking at my finances and began trawling the Internet for info. I soon stumbled across Mr MM and the wonderful world of FIRE and, soon after, your lovely blog. Nine years later… I’ve FIRE’d! Yes. I’ve done it. It’s insane to me that it’s all worked out pretty much ok. Even with Brexit, Trump/Trade wars, Covid, Truss/Kwarteng and Trump again.
My ‘enough’ is slap bang in the middle of your range. I was aiming for 300k but, thanks to your wonderful rocket, I plowed through that late last year and now I’ve got an extra 100k+ breathing room. Unbelievable! Compounding!
I FIRE at the end of this coming September. I’ll be using my S&S ISA as a bridge to next April, at which point I’ll start accessing my pensions. If the markets remain as Trump-proof as they’re currently appearing to be, then it’ll all be fine and dandy.
Like your sister, my new full time job will be sorting our house from top to bottom. And, like you, I’ll be open to part time or short term contract work if I feel the need – boredom or I want to fund a big holiday.
All the best to you, Weenie. I’ll be continuing to read your excellent blog on the edge of my seat, awaiting your FIRE launch.
More power to Weenie’s rocket!
Hey Chromebaby
Thanks! I do think the next two years will fly by but I don’t want to wish them away (it means I get older quickly haha!)
Anyway, congratulations on FIRE’ing this month (September) – well done!
It’s heartening to hear that it’s all going well despite all those global/national events happening.
I think for me the middle of my enough is probably the sweet spot so good to hear that it’s the same as yours. Comforting to know that the number is not too ‘out there’!
Good luck with the house sorting and savour the time not having to work!
Thanks so much for reading and for your continued support!
Well congrats for setting a date, Weenie!
Looking forward to read more about your retirement plans. 2 years will go by in the blink of an eye! 🙂
Thanks Nick and yes, it will go by so very quickly!
“As ermine says in this post of his, ‘Enough is a feeling, not a number‘.”
That’s what I found. I never had a figure in mind and took voluntary redundancy in 2023 because I knew I had enough (less than what you have now).
“It’s bloody annoying that she can laugh and say “Haha, you got work tomorrow!” when we catch up on a Sunday!”
And to cap it all, she’s younger than you. 🙂 Family, eh?
Hey Curlew
If redundancy was offered to me now, I would snatch it out of their hands! But this is highly unlikely to happen.
My sister is older than me actually by nearly 2 years. So if I achieve my retirement in 2 years, she will still one-up me by saying she retired earlier/younger than I did!
Good to hear you’re getting closer. But beware the just One More Year disaster! I was planning to be retired at some point last year, but I felt guilty about leaving the rest of the team of contractors on hitting a major project milestone … suffice to say, the milestone has only now moved to the right to December 2027, by which time I’ll be well over 60! Fortunately enough, I’ve managed to wrangle my hours down to part-time. Funnily enough, both my younger sister and her partner both managed retirement at 55! If you’re experience is anything like mine, the time will both fly and drag, and life still gets in the way with those curved balls!
Hi Felice
Yes, next year will be my One More Year and I don’t want it to continue after that!
I hear what you are saying about feeling guilty, the thought has already crossed my mind since I made my decision.
I have considered part-time hours but as I work in a very small team, I can’t see how that would work, without impacting the rest of the team members.
I think you are right, time will both drag and fly!
Hi Weenie. Having been an avid reader of your blog (albeit from the sidelines, without commenting), I was delighted to read that you have set a date to FIRE and have allowed yourself plenty of time to get used to the idea, a sensible move I think.
For me, RE came earlier than I expected last year when the firm where I had worked for 16 happy years slid into administration. There was little warning and only statutory redundancy payments for the shocked workforce. I recall you have personal experience of redundancy and so will know the feeling!
What surprised me most was my reaction to this sudden change in circumstance. I felt fearful and anxious, as you might expect for someone in their mid 50’s and unemployed for the first time, but also I felt relieved, as I knew deep down that I needed that push as without it I doubt I would have been brave enough to pull the trigger on my own, always opting instead to work OMY.
Now my life is very different and definitely better. I spent some of the redundancy money to slow travel around Asia for two whole months which was thrilling and made me feel like a student again, and I have thoroughly enjoyed two long summers at home with my friends and family, unhindered by the stress of work.
I do miss the structure though, and the perhaps misplaced feeling of “being useful” so I have taken on some casual jobs, for low pay and zero hours, which suits me fine. Working as a Poll Clerk during the General Election has been the best so far, great fun and something I would never have considered previously!
Financially, there is abit less in my “Future Fund” as I would have liked, but I think that would always have been the case. I also am struggling with de-accumulating, and the concept of drawing money from my pot, rather than adding to it. feels unnatural and unnerving.
On the whole though,I suppose my message to others would be that, for me at least, the deep fear of no longer having a stable job and regular paycheque was soon overtaken and replaced by the freedom and excitement of having that rarest commodity of all…FREE TIME.
I do hope it is the same for you!
Thank you Weenie, for your immensely enjoyable and readable blog. It is a source of both comfort and encouragement. Roll on 2027!
Hi Tricky
Sorry to hear that you had to go through redundancy but am glad to see that it all worked out for you. Agree that even when warned, it came as a shock, there was the fear of the unknown and I too didn’t know if I was employable, felt I was perhaps institutionalised. But like you, after things had calmed down and I looked at my own financial situation, I realised that I would be ok and that after working for the company for so long, this was the best way for me to leave it.
Fantastic to hear that you slow travelled around Asia and had a real break away from the norm. Working as a poll clerk! That’s interesting and not something I had considered before (but probably something I could do!).
I will be like you, struggling with the decumulating aspect and while I acknowledge that my future fund will go down, actually seeing it being spent will take some getting used to.
But I look forward to the free time that will bring.
Thank you for reading my blog and for stopping by, very much appreciated and hope you continue to enjoy your FIRE’d life!
Thanks Weenie!
Please don’t go dark after you’ve FIRE’d. Promise? 😉
Ooops! Sorry. I’ve replied to the wrong post!
Haha!
I can’t promise, except that I think I owe it to myself (and to my loyal readers and supporters) to continue with some ‘what happened next’ type posts.
Hopefully, they will be along the lines of ‘best decision of my life’ and not ‘oh no, my numbers were wrong’!
Nice one, but you appear to be bucking a bit of a local trend there Weenie. I thought everyone in Manchester was coming out of retirement – Liam, Noel, Ricky Hatton……just waiting now for Sir Alex to be parachuted in to try and rescue the sinking ship!
Good thinking on giving yourself ~2 years notice. It took indecisive me a number of years to finally pull the plug, but as everyone says “you’ll know when the time is right”. I arranged a sabbatical in the lead up to it and that really helped confirm to me that the time was indeed right. Something else i did was to notify trustworthy bosses of my intentions as early as possible. This removed any guilt etc, but i concede this may not always be the best move financially, however i wasn’t too bothered about maximising bonuses, pay rises etc at that point. I was focused in on being as tax efficient as possible though, so maybe consider optimising your retirement date so that you can take best advantage of tax years etc.
Having your sis lead the way should be viewed as a positive as you’ll be able to learn from her experiences over the coming months. Remember, accumulation is the easy part. Soon, you’ll really have to ‘work’ for your money!
Hi KC
Haha, but once retired, I can’t see me making that kind of comeback!
Yes, I will be notifying my boss in advance but I need to time it right because I could lose any discretionary bonus I am due if they are aware I am thinking of leaving (even if I am still employed when it’s bonus payout time).
I already know for a fact that accumulation is much easier than decumulation – need to get my head round that one!
Hey Weenie – I can feel your excitement shining through! It’s important to set yourself a realistic date, it gives you something conclusive to aim for. You’re TMY and I’m T.8MY (three (and 8 months) more years), ha that doesn’t look right! My second thought was “Argh I hope Weenie doesn’t stop her blog” as it’s been an absolute source of motivation to me and others. I hope you will continue with the blog after retirement as many others have done, I think that’s just as important in many ways?
Your excellent post back in Feb about the ONS Retirement Figures of minimum, moderate and comfortable, really got me thinking again about what I need to FIRE. I track my spending every month, and being realistic I’m aiming for the single person moderate of £31,700 (gross not net though), or put another way I need around £2,300 net per month. £950 fixed outgoings, £1350 spending, plus a sizeable emergency fund for house repairs, unforseens etc. I’m still going with a “5” in front of my age out of principle, so it’s April 30th 2029. Saying that work is fairly easy at the moment, if it gets super stressful again, I may well think “sod the money” and run. I’m trying to hang it out though.
I probably need to go away and read Ermines post about how much is enough though.
Like Codefreeze, I’d be really interested to know what you think your figures will look like to pull the trigger? Monthly spending, fixed bills and free cash?
Amazing news, and as ever, you’ve really got me thinking!
Hey Starla
Right now, I have in my mind that I’ll probably be continuing with my blog, if only to talk about things that are going right (or wrong!).
I hope there won’t be an “Oh no, I made a big mistake” blog!
So exciting to hear that your date will be 30 April 2029! So you will be retired in the spring/summer (which is what they recommend), whereas I think I won’t be done until after the summer but I do have lots of ‘indoor’ hobbies that I can’t wait to get started on!
On the spending, yes, will be using £30k (or £31.7k ONS figure) as guideline. My basic spends fall short of that, it’s the discretionary spending (and what I need to put aside for emergency fund) that pushes it up.
I need to do a proper numbers post, which I did start looking at when I was drafting this post but I ended up down a rabbit hole of scenarios so it will take a wee while to pin what is more likely!
I’m glad this has got you thinking and I always appreciate your comments, if only to challenge my thinking, in case I’ve gone down the wrong direction!
Glad to hear your plans are fully back on track Weenie — and with a date now, too. I remember when the FF took a hit (I think it was after you moved house?) and everything felt a long time away to you as a result… but the snowball rolls, right?
I guess this will be a subject of a future post, but (how) are you going to alter your asset allocation with a two-year date in the diary? That’s well into sequence of returns risk. As you know from experience, the stock market can plunge at any time. If you’re dead set on this timeline then I think you need to be de-risking a bit, even in the face of a bull market that continues to deliver gains.
Luckily even shorter-duration bonds and related stuff are providing a decent yield nowadays.
Anyway something to ponder that I haven’t seen mentioned in these comments. Of course we all hope at our age for a few more years of strong markets before pulling the plug (versus the youngsters who should pray for a crash!) but nothing is promised to us. 🙂
Finally, careful with this wishing away the years. Someone above said nine years flew by! I know where they are coming from, but we don’t get many nine year bursts and I’d be looking into trying to slow down that feeling 😉
best
TI
Hi TI
Thanks and yes, back then, it felt like my whole plan had been derailed and I had so much further to go! I kept the faith and it snowballed and went back on track!
Having not so long ago posted an update on my investment allocations, I realised while drafting this post that I would need to amend it because yes, I do need to consider my asset allocation due to sequence of returns risk. I have already started shifting some bits into bonds/money market funds.
Off the top of my head though, it’s possible that I might be happy with a 60/40 allocation (currently aiming for 75/25). Or 65/35. The security of my DB pension provides me with some comfort on my risk, but I may get cold feet about the market as time goes on. Plus of course, the market could still crash between then and now.
And no, I don’t want to wish away the years; whilst I am looking forward to retiring, I do want to continue enjoying my current working life. The line in the sand has been drawn and I am steadily walking towards it, not running!
2 years is a great plan, I think it’s probably that same timeline as myself.
For some reason the months and weeks are flying past, I hope once we push the button it slows down a bit.
Still time for more posts and great investments.
Cheers Sean and all the best with your plans!
Hi Weenie, not commented on your blog before but follow your journey and couldn’t pass up the opportunity to wish you the best as you dip for the tape. Having followed a path with a number of similarities (not least the handle, when I ‘came out’ to commit) I am just about to miss my first milestone as I’m 60 next week but still going! Hoping to RE (well, slightly early) end of this financial year.
Fair financial winds and a smooth journey.
2MY
Hi 2 More Years
Thanks and all the best for the end of this financial year for your FIRE plans – hope all goes well for you.
Wow Weenie!
Glad you have set a date. I have been offline for a while enjoying my summer. I do not spend a lot, i dont travel globally but i do enjoy my time and not spw d it in my house and garden every day.
I have been watching the rebel finance school as they have done a section on retirement and how to manage your money., i have found that quite useful.
I have been retired now for 5 years and the worry of sequence of return risk has been the biggest cloud. I have maybe more money available as a fund that i should to keep me sane but i am happy.
My FI Fund has grown and after i sold my BtL i used that money to live and cover some of the gap (the rest i have been slowly feeding into my ISAa annually) My worry is that i have 10 years until SP but i can now draw on a few different fund sources, shares, ISA and a SIPP. So the best way to spend my money is my focus and it is hard after years of accumulating, having to think about spending it and the best way to do this.
Inflation and the madness of the last year does not help as my basic expenses increase but i can see that my investments are growing to cover this, its just that it is fund price growth rather than pure dividends so selling down to get some of that profit is the hardest action.
Hi Sparklebee
Hope you are well.
Right now, I’m aware of sequence of returns risk but trying not to dwell on it. When I finish my job here, I hope not to spend any time looking for alternative work and will hopefully just decompress and enjoy not having to work again.
I’m not looking forward to having to sell down to get my income – my dividends provide me with a buffer but it’s only a small buffer, so that will really take some getting used to and likely something I might stress a bit over.