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It’s still at least 5 years away for me, probably nearer 10, but thoughts are certainly starting to turn to life post work…..
Just wondering what hints & tips, strategies, war stories, pitfalls, etc. people have, especially from those who are now retired.
For example is an earn & burn strategy still the right one or should I start to think about building a big pot in the same way I do with my pension?
I imagine I’ll be spending less, so my ability to earn points is reduced but I’ll probably have need for more points/miles.
Also, I suspect it’s harder to get accepted for a card with a pension – do people still regularly churn or do they have cards for life? (And which ones if so?)
So a very broad topic and one, as is normally the case, where there probably isn’t one size fits all answer.
Thanks!I’ve certainly done more travelling since retiring and BAH double tier points offer has been brilliant for me!
Yes, there’s possibly less spending, but I’ve switched a few bills away from DD to a card spend to earn SUB’s and general card spending for vouchers etc.
Depending on how you’ll draw a pension it can definitely be harder for card sign ups with minimum earning requirements – investment income as opposed to actual pension payments seems to cause issues.
Welcome to the world of off-peak travel. As you have been doing this for sometime I think you will be OK. You may earn less points but you will probably be able to make better use of those you do have, as you will have more flexibility. You will also have more time to search out deals and read forums.
I think earn and burn or building up a pot is a personal decision. Some people like to see their points balance growing others worry about devaluation.
SUBs do seem harder to get, from what I understand, I was turned down for a BAPP but I think it was my fault as I didn’t pay much attention to my application. OH has been approved, so who knows, as we are both retired.
It certainly does mean you can be more flexible about travel dates which can mean cheaper travel and hotel stays when going away mid week to mid week rather than weekend to weekend.
And it means more time to plan trips and do all those searches ‘if I fly Wed to Mon is that cheaper than going Thursday to Tues’ as well as ‘how much will I save and extra point will I earn if I fly to Arlanda and then start a trip from there rather than going to heathrow’ and so on
The flexibility is intoxicating! Fancy a last minute trip to France to see family and do a bit of shopping? £33 return on Ryanair, thank you very much 😀 (you’ll be shafted on seating but it’s doable for 90 minutes).
This summer I am travelling round Europe and the U.K. on BA holidays to get me to gold and lock in gold/silver benefits until autumn 2027.
I was declined for an Amex when I put my pension as my main income. Crazy because it’s far more guaranteed than any salary. I do a tiny bit of tutoring (not even for the low amount of money, but because it supports disadvantaged students), and putting that as my main occupation got me accepted, so consider something like that if necessary.
Also Sunday night stays are your friend here, lower rates and Monday tends to be quieter than weekends for any activities you have planned.
As per Flyer/Stayer, explore other routes – did you see my post about using a 241 for DUB-LHR-MEX outbound in F for 92k avios plus £483? 😂
I am currently retired (I may get bored) and before taking the decision to do so, I nailed down my credit card portfolio. I probably have too many cards but I figured better too many than too few. But I do now have my own personal investment company from which I take a modest income which is handy. It was enough to get me over the line when I changed my mind and realised I wanted the Virgin Atlantic premium card both for the voucher and the ability to earn points on euro spending (I swore off Curve after the Creation saga).
My churning was not high anyway but I am probably now the customer that Amex dreams of in that I pay two annual fees and Mrs Froggee also pays two annual fees and we are unlikely to churn. However, the next time they ask me to update my income they might not like the fact it is much, much lower than previously!
Anyway, for me the most valuable card by a country mile is the BAPP. I would not wish to risk losing this as the £250 annual fee pays for itself multiple times on J redemptions. In addition to this, I have:
– Amex Gold. I don’t consider this a long term keeper but between the Deliveroo credit and the offers it more than covers its fee. It’s nice to get 2x points on airline spending and with the bonus points, effectively earns 1.5 MR per £. I stop spending on it if I hit £25k.
– Amex bog standard rewards card. I applied for this with the intention of cancelling Gold but ended up not doing so. It lives in my gym bag and occasionally gets offers the others don’t.
– I’m a supplemental cardholder on Mrs Froggee’s Platinum, I think this is questionable but between Harvey Nicks, dining, Hilton Gold and priority pass it isn’t that disastrous a proposition.
– Virgin Atlantic Reward+ – I don’t think I’ll have this forever but I have the best part of one million Virgin points so I figured the vouchers would be handy and justify the annual fee and also as mentioned I like it for € spending.
– HSBC World Elite – this is handy for Singapore Air miles and also with the frequent conversion bonus is the best way of earning Avios on a free non Amex. I say free as I am “HSBC Premier (retained Jade benefits)” which means I do not pay the annual fee. If they tried to charge me the annual fee I would drop it.
– Halifax Clarity – I wanted a fee free credit card for overseas spending where s75 was desirable. I rarely use it though so it may go at some point.
– MBNA cash back – This is the old BMI card and gives 0.5% cash back with no annual fee but does charge for FX. I keep it because it has a big limit and there seems little point in giving it up but if e.g. Amex got jittery about my available credit then it would get jettisoned.
– Hilton Barclaycard. I considered giving this up so I could get the Barclaycard Avios rewards but didn’t want to poke the Barclays beast so have just let it rest. I would not be a long term keeper of the Barclaycard Avios rewards anyway and hitting and running is something I am very reticent to do now.That’s all! Oh – I did also open Barclays Premier before I decided to retire as I feel the £100 annual fee I pay on custody of investments is more than compensated for by the upgrade voucher. I believe the last one got me £650 of value on a flight for my mum.
As far as points balances go, I continue to use Avios if I get > 1 pence value. Both Mrs Froggee and I boosted a whole bunch to top up our balances. We currently have about 1.5m Avios in our household account which includes Granny Froggee and is roughly two years’ worth of Avios spend. I’d be happy to run this down if I get flights at better than 1 pence. But the biggies are long haul J and they are limited by Amex/Barclays voucher capacity.
I am relatively young and sadly am still very much tied to travelling in school holidays albeit Scottish ones. Avios really can be incredibly handy such as Singapore flights we have coming up. But having several years’ balance is likely to lead to disappointment.
I have some residual points with Marriott, Hilton, IHG and Accor (roughly a couple of nights in a five star with each). These have depreciated in value for sure but I am hopeful that they will get used as Mrs Froggee increasingly encourages me to pop dowm to London to see friends etc which perhaps gives some indication of how she feels about me being around all the time!
People do tend to do a double take when I say I’m retired, particularly as I have been told I look younger than I am and I have wee sprogs. They then demand to know what I do with my time. I have no idea what they want to hear but I’ll generally waffle along the lines of run my own investments, charity trustee, a bit of pro bono business advisory, driving Miss Daisy (taking Granny Froggee to appointments) and I have plenty time to shout at my kids. This tends to suffice but many people genuinely feel I was crazy to give up the high flying corporate life. Each to their own, eh?
I was declined for an Amex when I put my pension as my main income. Crazy because it’s far more guaranteed than any salary. I do a tiny bit of tutoring (not even for the low amount of money, but because it supports disadvantaged students), and putting that as my main occupation got me accepted, so consider something like that if necessary.
I suspect something else has been a factor here. I’m retired in my 40s so don’t even have the security of a pension income and it’s never been a problem applying for an Amex, even after the recent reintroduction of minimum income requirements.) Obviously this only applies if you meet the minimum requirements for the given card, otherwise you’d expect to be declined, whether retired or employed.
This is all brilliant, exactly the kind of info and responses I was hoping for. Thank you!
Ps @froggee – hope that didn’t take you too long to compose!!Well I’m 6 months into the full 2-year break so things will probably have changed again the next time I apply! Who knows, I may even have another “proper” job”, if the sheer thrill of not having to be anywhere ever wears off, lol.
I too am now fully retired although I have yet to start taking my bigger pension pot – will start to do so in the new tax year so my annual income will actually increase for the first time in a few years. I stopped working entirely 4 years ago and have been living off my investment income in the interim. In preparation for that I reduced my credit card portfolio to 3 cards all of which I have kept and don’t churn. MY primary card is the BAPP Amex for the 2-4-1 voucher and I have kept my legacy Barclaycard Hilton card although that stops me getting the Barclays Avios card. I value the credit limit I have on the card though and it keeps my Hilton points alive even though I haven’t stayed in a Hilton in the last year so I do wonder if I should finally chuck it in. That said it is a Visa card. My 3rd card is a M&S Mastercard (great for foreign exchange cash withdrawals, commision free and I earn M&S points) Consequently I have all 3 major card companies covered.
I now earn and burn Avios although the non travel during the pandemic allowed me to build up a balance in excess of 400k and no matter what I do I can’t seem to get my individual balance to go below 200k Avios as I seem to keep earning them so I feel I am more than covered. It helps having a HHA.
My OH has a BAPP so we get 2 vouchers per year and our earning years are 6 months apart meaning we prioritise spending on one card over the other while aiming for the £10k threshold. The other card held is a Nationwide card which gives us commission free spending on foreign trips when we don’t use our BAPPs.
@degsy compared to my trip reports it was a blink of an eye. And it’s all therapy!
This is a very interesting thread, especially hearing from people that retired young. Even though I’m only in my 30s, I am in the fortunate position that I can consider retiring in the next 10 years (house bought without a mortgage, etc). Or max, maybe work 1 day a week to keep my skills and knowledge fresh. One thing I’ll definitely have to keep in mind is ensuring I’m happy with my card portfolio, particularly my Amex cards, at the time.
I’m new to retirement and 3 months in feel pretty relaxed with my position. My points planning only began 1 yr ago but have half a million avios in a HHA and x3 241’s and will look to maintain a decent balance, I used to earn and burn and churn, but churning isn’t so easy and I’m content with the BAPP for both of us and my Platinum for the SUB and regular retention bonus’s, restaurant spend has also worked out recently.
I don’t bother with hotel points as I prefer smaller chains or independents, but a recent promo with GHA and Regent cruises got me a £2k credit to spend in Asia/Australia in some nice hotels.
Looking forward to other comments, thanks for posting.
@Frogee RE:
MBNA cash back – This is the old BMI card and gives 0.5% cash back with no annual fee but does charge for FX.
Are you sure on the charge for FX? My MBNA Horizon is 0.5% CB and no FX fee’s (just uses the spot Visa rate, in the same way that Halifax clarity uses the spot Mastercard rate). It has resulted in Halifax Clarity being a purely ‘backup’ card.
I had pontificated retiring next year, age 57. However, I decided a few years ago to stagger it instead, I dropped initially to a 75% contract and then last May dropped to 50%. As long as I’m fit enough I think I’ll keep going, it works out as 9 days work every 28. I personally think there’s a huge benefit if a similar option is available to you, it keeps the body and mind active and also provides income to travel.
Some very interesting thoughts in this thread, the different perspectives and personal experiences are fascinating. Particularly those who seem to get ‘grief’ for admitting they’ve retired young.
I’m only mid 30’s so I’m a little off yet, but never too early to start planning! Fortunately my pensions are in great shape for my age, but plenty of time to finesse both them and my points balances!
I had pontificated retiring next year, age 57. However, I decided a few years ago to stagger it instead, I dropped initially to a 75% contract and then last May dropped to 50%. As long as I’m fit enough I think I’ll keep going, it works out as 9 days work every 28. I personally think there’s a huge benefit if a similar option is available to you, it keeps the body and mind active and also provides income to travel.
Totally agree, @Strickers – not sure I’ll ever completely stop, but I’m 100% online so have been
cherry-picking in recent years. Usually works out at around 6-10 days a months, just enough not to stagnate.Still have our son at school, but OH works in a uni, so 12 weeks’ hols a year, albeit a bit limited date-wise.
At some point, I’ll do Tues-Thurs trippettes, things like seeing old schoolfriends, the odd Euro city visit or walking along the Cornish coastal footpath, which no-one else is interested in anyway!
I think life’s too short to be bothered about going to work. And I don’t care what others say about me being too young to retire. That’s their problem, not mine. I worked hard to be able to stop working when I did. And I have a good income that enables me to do what I want. Why continue working if you don’t have to? Then again, if you enjoy working I’m not going to stop you, but my dad worked several years beyond when he could’ve retired and then only managed to enjoy retirement for a very short time before getting dementia.
I think life’s too short to be bothered about going to work. And I don’t care what others say about me being too young to retire. That’s their problem, not mine. I worked hard to be able to stop working when I did. And I have a good income that enables me to do what I want. Why continue working if you don’t have to? Then again, if you enjoy working I’m not going to stop you, but my dad worked several years beyond when he could’ve retired and then only managed to enjoy retirement for a very short time before getting dementia.
Sorry to hear about your Father AJA. Life can be cruel.
Each to their own, I think. I don’t see work as something to escape from, but then again I control my own time and work life balance. I suppose the old advice ‘don’t retire from something but too something’ applies.
@AJA I agree, if you don’t enjoy your job and you can afford to retire then do so. But I really enjoy mine and it doesn’t significantly hamper my travel plans.
I had pontificated retiring next year, age 57. However, I decided a few years ago to stagger it instead, I dropped initially to a 75% contract and then last May dropped to 50%. As long as I’m fit enough I think I’ll keep going, it works out as 9 days work every 28. I personally think there’s a huge benefit if a similar option is available to you, it keeps the body and mind active and also provides income to travel.
I agree with this. I’ve seen the “stop working at a boring job, have a wrenching adjustment, die a year later” pattern, and also the “lose most contact with younger generations and become an ossified creature of a bygone age” one.
The ideal is to keep on working on stuff that you enjoy, for those of us lucky enough to have things we enjoy – which might well be “managing the investment portfolio”. Agree with the idea of presenting this as something vague like “work in finance” – which avoids the extreme envy triggered by saying “retired at $young_age”.
If, like me, you work for yourself and enjoy what you do then there’s no need to retire as you have a lifestyle business. If on the other hand you’re a slave to your employer with a Just Over Broke (Job) then I can can see the appeal of retirement at whatever age. Remember #yolo and no point being the richest person in the graveyard.
@Frogee RE:
MBNA cash back – This is the old BMI card and gives 0.5% cash back with no annual fee but does charge for FX.
Are you sure on the charge for FX? My MBNA Horizon is 0.5% CB and no FX fee’s (just uses the spot Visa rate, in the same way that Halifax clarity uses the spot Mastercard rate). It has resulted in Halifax Clarity being a purely ‘backup’ card.
There’s more than one variety of Horizon. I too have the ex-BMI version with the 0.5% rebate, but with it comes with FX fees.
Thanks @QwertyKnowsBest and @Strickers I agree with both of your comments.
Retiring early also allowed me to spend time with my dad before things worsened too much and I was able support my mum. Dementia is a cruel disease and I felt really sorry for my mum who looked forward to spending time with my dad and had planned to travel with him. They did at least have a long and happy marriage and had some great trips together. That was until one hair-raising incident on board a cruise ship in the Caribbean where my dad managed to wander off on his own and it took several hours with the entire ship’s crew searching before he was found. The captain had stern words with my mum as she had neglected to tell anyone he was in the early stages of the disease. They thought at one point that he may have fallen overboard!
Fortunately for her she has a good circle of friends and neighbours and recently while on holiday met a lovely lady who lives relatively close by and they now go on Saga trips together.
@Frogee RE:
MBNA cash back – This is the old BMI card and gives 0.5% cash back with no annual fee but does charge for FX.
Are you sure on the charge for FX? My MBNA Horizon is 0.5% CB and no FX fee’s (just uses the spot Visa rate, in the same way that Halifax clarity uses the spot Mastercard rate). It has resulted in Halifax Clarity being a purely ‘backup’ card.
I’m not 100% but am pretty positive. My MBNA isn’t called a Horizon. I had been hoping when the BMI cards ceased but there is no mention of free FX in the Ts and Cs or Rob’s old article on the replacement cards!
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