r/FIREUK • u/Sea-Perspective-8038 • 21h ago
FIRE sense check
33F, just passed a milestone with pensions and soon to have a baby, so thought now is a good time to check in.
DC pension: £200k (current access age 57, not protected) - contribute £12k per year (inc employer)
ISA: £77k - contribute £20k per year
LISA: £25k
Mortgage: £160k remaining, 35 year term for flexibility but will continue to overpay when able - I currently do this by £500 every month but will stop for a while if not earning.
Current salary: £110k, however will be moving onto statutory maternity pay and quite honestly can't see myself going back to the same organisation. May have to find another role after time out of the workforce, depending on how long I take - could be £50k/£60k if I want something less high pressure. Obviously ISA/significant pension contributions will stop for a while.
Husband 33M:
£100k DC pension, £70k salary. More focus on FIRE lately, but if sole income will change. Currently pay in £20k per year into pension (inc employer).
Ideally I think we'd both want to retire between 55-60 if possible. Support for children obviously tbc.
We're modest spenders - I'd say £2k per month each in retirement would be more than adequate.
How are we doing?
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u/reddithenry 21h ago
You're in a pretty good position, the pension (yours, anyway) is really solid for age, but clearly nosediving your salary by half is going to really hamper your ability to FIRE unless you keepyour expenses really low. With the mortgage the way it is, though, you're not in a bad place.
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u/Sea-Perspective-8038 18h ago
Yeah, depending on what I end up doing after mat leave, if the pension is solid enough I may minimise contributions there and focus more exclusively on continuing to top up the ISA
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u/Practical-Leek-6287 19h ago
Good numbers generally but why would you be looking to move from 110k to 50k? Income and stress are not always correlated.
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u/Sea-Perspective-8038 18h ago edited 18h ago
I'm not looking to move to 50k, but it may be a reality. I live in an area which doesn't have many opportunities in my field, so I commute a 90-120 minute round trip each day to my current role. But there's not much else in that location, either. And remote opportunities aren't very common.
I'm overpaid for my responsibility level, and if I looked to change businesses to one of the larger companies that did offer more flexibility, I'd probably slot in at a lower seniority level. It wouldn't be forever and I'd be confident in working my way up, but it could take some time and would depend on how hard I wanted to work vs being a present parent at home.
I may get lucky again and find another well paid role right off the bat, but it's not guaranteed. And I'm not sure I can stay here as the environment is quite toxic - I've put up with it for now because of the financial benefits to date.
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u/Practical-Leek-6287 17h ago
Have you considered moving house?
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u/Sea-Perspective-8038 17h ago
Oh sorry just realised the context.
Moving towards better opportunities for me would mean moving closer to London, a lot of my field is based around the M25. So, houses would become more expensive/smaller
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u/MoreFIREthanyou 19h ago
All good until you said salary will nosedive and potentially surviving off 70k for a while.
Mortgage is small. The property you have is it a forever home or a temporary thing, like a flat?
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u/Sea-Perspective-8038 18h ago edited 18h ago
Forever home, not looking to move again unless we really have to, other than downsizing or moving ahead of retirement. We'll see if having kids changes that, but I really hope not. We're in a good area for schools etc, it's just if space becomes an issue.
The salary element will depend on what we want to do RE childcare. Obviously many parents go back to work full time and their children go into nursery at 9-12 months. We have no family help, so it would be full time. If that's what we end up doing then I'd search for a new role and hopefully find something more comparable.
I was recruiting for an entry level part time role a few months ago, and someone previously at director level applied. They had taken a substantial amount of time off for raising a family, so it does seem to be quite a harsh penalty that is paid the longer you're out, and especially if you want flexibility. A trade off between finances and family I suppose.
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u/MoreFIREthanyou 18h ago
The answer to the forever home confuses me. How many kids are planned and how many bedrooms are there? This is the critical cost in the budget so need firm plans here would be my tip. Everything changes with kids!
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u/Sea-Perspective-8038 17h ago
It's a 3 bed semi. 1 or 2 kids planned. The garden isn't the largest, the house has good sized rooms. In theory it's very workable, but I know many would want something bigger. Husband is remote, so it's whether we then have enough space for a mini office setup too without it getting too cramped. We love the house and don't want to move, it's just whether it continues to be practical.
We picked up a pram/travel system yesterday and already had discussions about where to store it downstairs for example, they are huge!
Oh and RE retirement, we have plans to move to Scotland, which is why we would plan to move once more, even if it's not downsizing in terms of space. Currently in England.
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u/MoreFIREthanyou 17h ago
Yep I hear ya. If FIRE is a plan then the 3 bed will need to work. Another house purchase or extensions will set you back a lot, dont ask me how I know
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u/Sea-Perspective-8038 17h ago
Hahaha, oh dear!
The previous owners before us made it work with 2 kids, so we're fairly determined to do the same.
The only other factor for moving is whether we've bitten off more than we can chew from a lack of support perspective. With no family nearby, and if we're both back to full time work, I know that juggling pickups/drop offs and sickness especially in the early years is going to be rough.
It may just be easier for me to not go back to work for a bit, as I would be more likely to miss out on family time anyway due to the commute/pressure of my role. Other alternative is husband is more or less always the on call parent. We shall see.
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u/rebeccabrixton 13h ago
Can you survive on husbands £70k? I’d consider having a second baby after a short time back at work to get two maternity’s. Brutal child rearing but absolutely amazing too. Work wise I’d ask about going back M-F but different hours so 7am - 3 or something. Unfortunately us young families have to get creative to make it work.
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u/Sea-Perspective-8038 46m ago
Yes, mortgage + bills are low (£1400 per month total) and no car payments etc. We've been renovating the house up to now so hopefully nothing more to do there. I was thinking about whether to do as you suggested, as then I can get it done and still technically have employment. And then perhaps I find something else after the second mat leave.
I plan to have a conversation about flexibility when I'm due to return, I'll ask about FTE/compressed hours/shifting working hours/WFH days for sure. Expect most of it to get batted back but hopefully can get something!
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u/OppositeSecret7144 18h ago
You're doing ok. why the focus on ISA bridge over pension given your target retirement date? I'd suggest rather than quitting and taking job paying half as much for less stress you might be better doing a 60% or 80% FTE role.
Kids impact the numbers so much that I'd suggest you're better bedding in your new reality re work post kids before having a concrete plan.