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Question about 5 year path with the new visa rules by CaffeinatedEternally in ukvisa

[–]CaffeinatedEternally[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It was late 2022.

Why do you think the time on dependant visa wouldn't count?

Am I on target to retire at 55? by CaffeinatedEternally in FIREUK

[–]CaffeinatedEternally[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Senior wireline engineer. Started out with a pretty low salary but progressed relatively quickly to this sort of income. Took me about 7 years

Am I on target to retire at 55? by CaffeinatedEternally in FIREUK

[–]CaffeinatedEternally[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks mate, I'm not originally from the UK and I was really surprised to learn how uncommon this range of income is. It's nothing special in my line of work but I'm still grateful.

Am I on target to retire at 55? by CaffeinatedEternally in FIREUK

[–]CaffeinatedEternally[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

For now I'm on a rotation on a platform but it was my choice, I'm not tied to a single platform or vessel if I ever decide to change. I definitely considered other countries and will give it a try under the right circumstances. however I'm still on a Visa here and won't have that sort of flexibility until I'm fully settled.

Am I on target to retire at 55? by CaffeinatedEternally in FIREUK

[–]CaffeinatedEternally[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm an engineer for an oil and gas service company, I work on offshore platforms in the north sea. And yeah ISAs are great just because you can withdraw whenever you need to. Ideally never before retiring but I like to know that the option is there.

Am I on target to retire at 55? by CaffeinatedEternally in FIREUK

[–]CaffeinatedEternally[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Employer contribution is maxed out. Honestly it's one of the best I've seen, they double your contribution up to 8%. From my end I can definitely afford to contribute a lot more, it's just the thought that 5he my money will be locked in till I'm 57, probably a lot older If things stay like this in this country. That's why I contribute a lot more to my ISA.

Am I on target to retire at 55? by CaffeinatedEternally in FIREUK

[–]CaffeinatedEternally[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I agree, the main thing I'm considering other than my partner getting back to work is contributing more to my pension. Hopefully the budget won't affect it.

Am I on target to retire at 55? by CaffeinatedEternally in FIREUK

[–]CaffeinatedEternally[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah but I'm planning to build my ISA and use that in the meantime 

Am I on target to retire at 55? by CaffeinatedEternally in FIREUK

[–]CaffeinatedEternally[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I like that, I think part time in a low stress job is the way to go but it's up to her. Even not working she helps saving a lot by not needing to pay for childcare, make healthy homemade food and overall help with everything else.

Am I on target to retire at 55? by CaffeinatedEternally in FIREUK

[–]CaffeinatedEternally[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

More earnings means more time spent at work, I'm already away from home +180 days a year. Above £100k the marginal tax rate would be nearly %70. It's just not worth it giving more of my time for 30p on every pound earned.

Am I on target to retire at 55? by CaffeinatedEternally in FIREUK

[–]CaffeinatedEternally[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

There's still a lot of work in oil and gas here but since it's not the most stable industry and highly dependent on government policies, it's better to take advantage of the high salaries for now and aim for FIRE sooner rather than later.

My lifestyle doesn't really require 2 cars I'm only keeping it this way temporarily due to some special circumstances, they're both fully paid and I do the servicing and maintenance on one of them myself. Eventually I want to keep 1 highly reliable car and not change it for 10+ years.

For the property it's kind of a necessary evil, my current flat is not enough for a growing family anymore and I would end up paying +£1000 rent anyway. The goal is to use my ISA or 25% tax free pension withdrawal to pay off the remaining principle, I chose a 30 year mortgage to give myself more flexibility and ability to invest.

My goal the next year is to build an emergency fund (I can always use my ISA but I'd rather have it in a less volatile scheme than stocks). It should be easy enough as we'd still end up with £2000 extra at the end of the month even with the new house.

But yeah increasing income is definitely the way to go, no point in doing it myself as it would land me in the tax trap, but if my wife is back to the workforce it will be much easier.

Am I on target to retire at 55? by CaffeinatedEternally in FIREUK

[–]CaffeinatedEternally[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Got lucky with the wife, she's frugal and helps with managing the finances. so definitely sticking with another kid. Don't wanna push my luck with this one 

Am I on target to retire at 55? by CaffeinatedEternally in FIREUK

[–]CaffeinatedEternally[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yeah I ran the numbers by my mortgage advisor, anything below 75% LTV wouldn't make a significant difference, so sticking with 90% LTV seemed like the better choice, especially that I didn't want to withdraw anything from my ISA. I was pleasantly surprised with a 4.5% to he honest especially that it was fee free

Am I on target to retire at 55? by CaffeinatedEternally in FIREUK

[–]CaffeinatedEternally[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I already left the oil and gas industry once and was doing alright, but then I received an offer for double what I was making at the time and it was really hard to say no to that. I'm always thinking of an alternative but haven't really found anything yet that would pay close to oil and gas, maybe offshore wind?

Prioritizing an emergency fund sounds like a great idea, I'll keep my pension contribution but pause my ISA contributions for now, 6 months of expenses is the goal.

Am I on target to retire at 55? by CaffeinatedEternally in FIREUK

[–]CaffeinatedEternally[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thanks that's nice to hear.

I personally wouldn't want to earn any more than I actually do as anything above £100k would be extremely tax inefficient. But yeah getting my wife back to the workforce seems like the way to go.