Congrats on finishing Barry, you’re quite right in what you say. My plan was 58 but cancer came and got me at 50 so my world changed overnight. Plan for tomorrow but live it as soon as you can, you don’t know what’s round the corner.
Happy retirement both of you enjoy and make the most of it. I retired at 55 and am now 83 and it was the best thing i ever did. And still enjoying my Florida holidays.
Congrats! I also just retired a few days ago at 58. Starting to de-clutter and purge all of the junk I don’t need anymore from my life. It’s an amazing feeling!
Fair play to you Bazza & for being so transparent about your lifestyle going forward. Quite refreshing when so many other vloggers hide behind smoke & mirrors or use deflection to avoid uncomfortable questions about their day to day lives. Enjoy your retirement, you’ve earned it 🥂
Found your video at 26 and I am saving a good amount to retirement so I can retire early like yourself. It's nice to hear advice from people who have lived life and gone through the emotions of retirement. Wishing you both all the best!
Congratulations! I'm 58, planned on retiring at 60 but the recent death of my mom led me to reconsider. I've moved my timeline up to possibly the end of this year. I don't mind work, per se, it's the waste of precious time that is leading me to this decision. Forty years of selling my time for dollars is enough!
Enjoy your retirement. We retired around 57 the best decision we ever made.You made a lot of a very good points,it’s takes years of planning to retire.So enjoy it ,you deserve it🎉🎉
Many congratulations, Barry - absolutely the right thing to do! Nobody knows what's around the corner so go out and enjoy life while you still can. Hope you both enjoy a long and happy retirement 🍻
Welcome to retirement! I retired about 2 years ago and was living in Lakeland Florida. My husband and I moved to East Tennessee near Gatlinburg after 42 years in the Sunshine State. That was always our dream at retirement, and we, like you, had to plan. I'm glad we did. We don't miss the Florida heat!!!! Enjoy the fruits of working hard and saving for this time in your lives. Say hello to Mickey for me....
I am 41 in the UK with zero savings and zero knowledge but I am hoping to learn all these lessons as I want to semi-retire at 55. Thank you for these tips you seem like such a lovely wholesome couple 💕
Great video and congratulations on your retirement Bazza. My story is a little bit different in that I didn’t have a lot of time to plan. I’m up north in the UK and started work at 17. Up until I was 25 , I was only in one company pension plan and which I was in for just over 2 years before been made redundant. At 25 started working in telecoms where it was mandatory to join company pension scheme. I had been paying a small amount for about 3 years into free standing AVC’s which i eventually had transferred into my company pension. Rented council property until I was 37 when I decided to buy my own house. Had sufficient savings to put down a 25% deposit. Fast forward to January 2018, my employer was asking for voluntary redundancies. At that time I had done 31 years and was 56 yrs old. The agreement was, had to leave on 31 March which was less than 3 months away. I had previously been to a few pension seminars organised by my employer but done by an external investments company so I had some ideas in my head. They accepted my application for the redundancy and at the same time I also applied to take my company pension too as I was over 55 and therefore could now access it. So I’ve now been finished work for approximately 6 and a half years but don’t regret it even though I have had to adjust things as I have gone along. I’ve got to wait until May 2028 to get my state pension but in the meantime I get a monthly company pension and still have quite a bit of the lump sum that I got when I finished which is made up of the redundancy amount and approximately 20% of my pension pot whjch was tax free. Obviously the cost of things have gone up a lot since 2018 because of the pandemic etc which I did not originally account for but with a bit of moving money around i’m still not putting my hand in my lump sum for my day to day living expenses or bills. First thing I did when I finished was pay the balance on my mortgage so no one can take the house from me and despite having had credit cards for about 40 years I have always paid the full amount off every month to avoid paying interest. Ideally like you say in your video planning a few years ahead is preferable but I only had myself to think about and fortunately wasn’t in debt like many people are. Best wishes for your retirement 😎
Excellent tips!!!! Learned a lot! Just turned 50 and am now paying for a small build after flipping my third home. I have about 10 years to go but all of it will be going into retirement. Having a paid off home, being car debt free and credit card debt is the key!
‘It’s a marathon, not a sprint’. 👌 Exactly this, and kudos to you for playing the long game. Super happy for you - but gutted you got shonky financial advice. Glad it got resolved but how frustrating and draining. Some great advice in here - thanks for sharing. X
Great listen! Congrats on your journey and success in meeting your goals. I’m 58 as well, 4 weeks from full retirement (following my wife who pulled the plug with her defined benefit pension in hand 6 months ago). We did many similar things in the last 3-5 years including selling our home, building a new smaller one with little maintenance for the next few years, and getting all financial affairs in good order. We could not agree with you folks more 👍. When we built the house we planned for it to be as operationally inexpensive to run as possible so we could enjoy our $ doing what we want to instead of paying big bills to keep it going. We installed a full solar array to drop our total annual heat/ac/light cost to less than $500/yr….and other things like that such as high efficiency water heater, high quality windows and insulation, etc. With all that in place, we are excited to both be in retirement in 4 weeks. No looking back now!
Congratulations to you both. I was fortunate enough to retire at 54 and now 18 months in. Live in the UK and spend 6 months of the year in Spain which is great. It takes a bit of adjustment going from saving to spending. Important to remain flexible and point 5 is key. You can’t buy more time 👍🏻
Nice one Bazza... Goodluck with your retirement mate.. I beat you I did it last week at 51.. But I don't have a swimming pool. Lol..u deserve it.. Hope u have plenty of hobbies. 😊
Ps great advice about pensions.. I was in the military then a manager for bt.. So always a good pension. Bt put in 3x everything I paid in. So great.. Hopefully we can meet for a pint one day. We are over in Orlando in October.
Congratulations on your retirement. I am 50 this year and am definitely starting to plan my retirement. I’m a teacher and can’t imagine doing that till I’m 68!
Well done 👏 just watched your video. i retired at 53 in the uk near Cambridge. Your 5 points are very helpful to people planning to retire early. From my personal experience, i would advocate for people to have streams of income as it's really necessary to be comfortable retiring early . In your case, fortunately, you don't have to wait that long 🙂
Thanks for doing this video, really interesting! You have made me realise that we don’t have a plan! I’m 50, my husband has already retired from the police but is currently working full time in a new role. Our children are only just starting to become more independent, so it has only been the past year where we have started to think what we would like to do, where we want to live. It’s funny we were literally saying yesterday how this next stage of life has taken us by surprise. Thank goodness we do have good pensions plans, a home that’s paid for and no debt; we just haven’t figured out yet when we’d like to retire, what we’d like to do and whether we can fund the gap until other pensions kick in. It definitely involves theme parks, travel and camper vans! Enjoy the next stage of life, excited to follow your journey! 😊
Enjoy it mate, so, can we expect more frequent vlogs? I must say I agree completely with the plan, we sold our stupidly expensive house in Surrey to move to the countryside, my wife quit work at 40 and I keep things ticking over till I retire in a couple of years. Planning and preparation is key. Well done Bazza!!
Congratulations, we’re just planning our retirement, I’m 53, hubby 55 in July & can take his local government pension, which he’ll get a large lump sum tax free & about £400 a week. He’s going to keep working so will be taxed 40% . We own our house, no debt at all & both going to keep working another 5 years, keep saving, & iv had a private pension from 20 years old, being self employed. So it’s 5 years banking plenty for, fingers crossed a fabulous retirement to travel & enjoy our twilight years, wishing you both a happy retirement, we’ve bloody earned it 😊
Congratulations on your retirement Barry - now time to enjoy your time with your lovely wife in your home which is looking amazing after the renovations 🎉
I really want to retire and move to Florida! It’s my dream. We visit every January and I basically have the blues till I get back 😊 Congratulations on your retirement
@@ThemeParkBazzaI’m in a stage in my life where I’m starting to think what I want to do at the end of my life. And for me visiting the parks is just the best feeling. I’m a singer in a band and it’s going great but I know it will come to an end one day. I’m very thankful for you guys making an informative vlog about these things. Big love from Glasgow
Enjoy your retirement Maxine and Barry you have worked hard and now time to reap the rewards especially as you are still young and have your health. I have just taken the same leap of faith at 57 due to my husband's illness and time I needed to take and spend with him. You are spot on we can always go back to work and get some more money if needed. However one thing that money cannot buy us is time with our loved ones.. both of us really enjoy your vlogs and look forward to watching your new adventures together. Enjoy xx
Congrats to you both! I’m the same age as Barry, I’ve got a couple of years left as a nurse in the NHS. Reasonable pension is one of the last ‘perks’ of my job. Very jealous of you both, you have worked hard , enjoy your retirement. ❤
I am a nurse I was on the old pension scheme, started 1982, and I semi left at 55, went back on the bank doing a few nights a week, used money for holidays.You are right the only good thing left is the pension
My thoughts on retirement have changed quite a bit. I don’t think a transition from full time work to full time retirement is the best for me. I would prefer to gradually go part time so I could still have the social connection with fellow workers and have some additional money coming from my job so I could have more discretionary spending money to take more extensive trips. Everyone has to make the right decision for themselves. Congratulations on your retirement!
Yes, it was easy for me as I have worked from a home office alone for the past 5 years without daily interaction with the same people , only video meetings
@@kennethpreston9813 I worked full time but quite a few people who were in the office with me did 3-4 days a week because some had kids or other commitments. I went straight from 5 day week to early retirement which wasn’t ideal at first but I found new interests to fill my time. I now don’t regret it especially since I know people who were the same age as me or thereabouts who won’t get a chance at retirement as they are no longer here
fair play to you, fully agree with the pensions advice and the cant have it if you cant afford it attitude, we work to live before retirement and then when we get there we should enjoy it-good for you for getting out of the rat race early good luck to you both look forward to seeing more blogs
Happy Retirement Bazza! Loved watching this, we’re looking towards our early retirement hopefully in the next 5 years. Hopefully Max will be able to put up with you under her feet 24/7 now 🤣 Enjoy your weekend and your lay-ins!
Many congratulations! I retired last year at 55 and my partner retires in 2 months...its the best feeling in the world! Wishing you both a long and happy retirement!
Many congratulations on your retirement bet Max is happy to have you home full time! Look forward to watching your retirement adventures for many years. Thank you also for being so transparent thats why I love your vlogs, so open and honest xx
At 64 now 71 light at the end of tunnel came and hit me ,a heart attack and triple heart bypass that throws all the plans out the window so enjoy life I’ve had house in Florida the stock market and the big financial crash took care of that ,but life carries on enjoy your house and the pool,if you have your health your a millionaire.
We to retired and now doing the same, plus healing all our medical issues on carnivore losing 50+ pounds and my husband lost 85+ pounds in 6 months and ketovore we found on UA-cam Dr. Philip Ovadia M.D. & Dr. Ken Berry M.D. health is wealth and enjoy your retirement.
Inspired by your story and well done for being so organised and planned with your life. You both look very comfortable, relaxed and stress free and that's what it is all about at our age [I am 58 also!]. Wish you all the best guys.
Thank you for the channel, and you're help and guidance enabled me to have a great Florida return with my daughters in May. Good luck with the retirement, and try not to get under Maxine's feet! Between you and The Lodge Guys you make my week
This video popped up on my algorithm today and I’m glad it did! I relocated from the UK to the US last year. Great to hear your views on transferring pensions over. Most recent advice I received was to keep them in the UK until retirement age. Sounds like I got the right advice judging by your experience!
We were advised to move ours off shore, which was a bad move. What has worked for us is getting them all in USA pension accounts where our financial advisors can help us manage the investment portfolio together rather than rely on tbevlension companies managing it. If you want to speak to our advisors to get their input, you can DM me on our socials, and I can give you their details. They only focus on Brits that have relocated to the USA
Congratulations to you both. We are 3 years away and will be retiring at 58. I'm hoping you can share your journey, and we can learn from your advice. As a fellow Yorkshire man, you fear the worst putting the money in the stock market 😀
For some reason I thought this was going to be a ‘wouldn’t you love to be us’ type bragging video but in fairness you seem like a decent, hard working sensible, straight down the line couple and I enjoyed your video. Thank you.
So happy for you. Like you we made a point of saving hard when we came to America. We maxed on all allowable contributions and were very fortunate with our financial planner. I retired at age 63 and the plan was for the husband to retire two years later as we had 2 expensive projects (one of which was refurbishing the pool). But life DID throw us a curve ball as literally 2 weeks after I retired he had a biopsy and was diagnosed with throat cancer. He came through it, returned to work but his heart wasn’t in it. Like you he traveled a lot, and could be bothered with it anymore so he retired a year earlier than planned. But due to very judicial planning we could financially do that. No-one knows what’s ahead of us. Wishing you a wonderful, fun filled, well deserved retirement
You are a natural Baz and 14k subscribers. Must be your youthful good looks and Northern charm. I scanned the RR photo but didn’t spot myself. Good luck in your early retirement ( you’ve been around a bit by the looks of it). 60 for me. Take care. Pete
Great video, looks like the hard work has paid off for you and now you can enjoy life without the daily grind. I bet you won’t miss all that travelling which definitely gets old after a while.
Thoroughly enjoyed your talk. We did the exact same plans in our life and enabled us to retire in Australia. We cannot get a government pension, but our savings are working hard for us. A good financial planner is a must. Ours is amazing.
Great Vlog! Solid advice, I just retired early too this past December and the bridge savings fund until I reach Social Security full retirement age which is when I will draw it, was key in making this happen. Enjoy your retirement !
Yes Congrats to the retiree... but not so much on retirement recommendation to "pay your pension" -perhaps there was option in UK for this but very few US employers offer that option. Irrelevant comment for many.
Congratulations on your retirement Barry! You are so right about saving for a pension from an early age. My very first f/t job (back in 1990) didn’t offer a pension, but my Mum being a Pensions Adviser contracted out my Serps and also rolled in a v small pension from when I worked as a Saturday assistant at M&S. That very small sum over 40 years has grown significantly. I also have 2 other private pensions (one from working 18 years at one job) and my current job (which will be 25 years by the time I plan to retire). Fortunately my husband also has similar, so we are hoping to retire long before 67. One of my bucket list wishes is to live in Florida for a year, so 🤞! Congratulations again to you & Maxine - here’s wishing you both a long & healthy retirement.
Very inspiring video my husband and I are late 40’s hoping to retire by 60 and you have given me a kick up the bum to get organised, in Florida in September hoping to bump into you and the lodge guys. Big congratulations enjoy every rollercoaster when you can 🎉🎉
Congratulations I am planning on retiring next June at 58. I have done fairly good planning. I feel the hardest part of it will be to switch my mindset from saving, to spending without an incoming income.
Congratulation on retirement! Great age to retire and enjoy life together. Im 37 and this is great food for thought. Time goes fast and u cant buy it back. But in-retirement goals and getting their with a plan is as important as enjoying the now. So u can continue to do so into older age. Happy Retirement bazzas. Gav (Cumbria UK)
Congratulations on your retirement. Great vlog. Everything you said makes so much sense. We both had Lucas pensions at 16, like you seemed pointless, but now in our early 60s, we have continued with pensions all through. I retired at 60. Loving it. I will make sure I watch the ads and not skip lol.
Congratulations, on your retirement, I retired at 55, 3 weeks ago after 27 years in the UK Royal Navy and 10 years in the security sector in Canada. I would never completely pay my mortgage off, I have invested for the past 25 years and made way more money doing that, than paying interest on the mortgage. Mortgage is the cheapest money you can get. Credit rating is not affected by retirement as you must have income to retire, credit rating only gets a hit when you default, not retire. Always have an independent financial planner. I now day trade the stock market and Crypto outside of my main investments . My wife is still working as a school teacher, but she likes it and not interested in retirement yet. I liked your presentation, especially the “No unsecured debt” so many people fail to realize this. If it works for you great, I’m just peeling the orange a different way. Enjoy 😎🥃
Wishing you all the best in your retirement. I have said it before you give us back in the UK all the latest information about our favourite place on earth and now that you have retired hopefully even more fun. Alice and I wish you all the best and would love to bump into you both in September when we’re over with our granddaughter for two weeks.
Congrats! Your Vid showed up in my feed this AM. We are in Orlando also and are 4 yrs out from retirement. Enjoyed your Vid. Will be checking out your channel.
Happy retirement! So glad you can enjoy life after all your hard work and planning. Great tips by the way. Me and hubby are in early fifties and working with a financial adviser as to when we can take the leap and give up work. The sooner the better 😂
I am a 43yo single no kids guy and mortgage free no debt in London. I am planning to retire at 50-55 probably in south east asia. I am now contributing 38% of my salary, my bonus to private pension and work contributes 12% on top. Thanks for all the advise.
Congratulations on your retirement Barry, enjoy making lots more memories with Maxine along the way. Looking forward to following along with you both on your next vlogs 🎉🍾🥂
Green with envy, 64 and still travelling up and down many motorways working still in many operating theatres but school will close in 18 months. Good luck for the future and keep the vlogs coming.
Hi I just found your videos and loved your message. Hubby/I retired 1.5yr ago at 58/59 following exactly the same financial regiment as you followed except that we are not sure if we should sell our house or just wait a bit longer…we will stay local as we have rental that we can move in but just love our home but it’s a bit too large for us🙂 HAPPY RETIREMENT!!
Congrats on your retirement looks like you had your pool done at the right time. I’m so jealous of the charmed life you are leading I love Orlando sadly it will be a while before I can visit it as I’ve just had knee replacement still in hospital but really enjoying your videos thanks for cheering me up
Congratulations Bazza.. very interesting vlog. You beat me by 5 years, and I had some of your 5 things, currently living on a golf course in the Philippines, hope to get to Orlando soon !!!!
Over the Span of 26yrs we have moved back and forth to Australia 3 times, third time lucky have now been here for 10yrs . Through circumstances we had to move back twice, each time losing money through buying and selling,and moving expenses. Just as we were a year into retirement and finally settling here, my husband had an accident and passed away. All our plans for retirement together never evolved, you can’t base your life on retirement to the extent you miss out on doing things when you are young and with your children. You have to live for today, retirement isn’t always possible or the plans you make whether through ill health or circumstances. It is good obviously to have money behind you but for some they base all their lives on retiring and miss out on the lives they are now living, I never thought for one minute I would be spending my retirement without my husband we planned so much it hurts. So yes be wise but not to the extent of missing out doing things together now and not waiting for the future, it isn’t always possible.
congratulations on retirement barry, you’re both living the dream out there in the states! all the best going forward, and don’t stop riding those coasters!
I also retired at 58 but in the UK, that was two years ago. We managed ten holidays in twelve months. It is a bit more straightforward in the UK as we can draw from personal pensions from 55. I agree with building up your money during your working life and simplify and get debt free. People would be surprised how low our fixed costs are living in the UK. We came to Florida in 2013 and enjoyed it including the Disney parks. We visited California in 2023 and were shocked how much more expensive the US has become. The local wine was very cheap in California however. Good luck and all the best on your retirement.
Congratulations on your early retirement. We prepared for retirement by paying off the house and selling a car. I wish we would have fixed up the house and landscaped the back yard before I retired. The money has only been sitting there for 10 years!
Hi Maxine & Barry, Congrats on your retirement! We really enjoy watching your vlogs. Thank you for giving us so many insights of your life in Orlando. We are a family of 3 from Germany and are spending our vacations in the Orlando area regularly (1-2 times per year). Our next visit will be in August. Your meet up at Stargazers is already set in our calendar. Your last vlog was very interesting for us (in particular your basic living expenses), because it is our plan to move to the Orlando area in the next 5-10 years. We have arlready started to prepare our financial situation to achieve this goal as it was also your advice. Could you maybe name some companies for water, power supply, internet, insurances for the house, cars etc.? It is very difficult for us to find some reliable information online. Thank you so much in advance, Svea & Konstantin with 10-year old Carlotta
The companies you use for power , water and internet are dictated to you by where you live . We have no choice in the supplier, there tends to be only one option at each house we have stayed in here.
Got to admire you both it moving home and jobs and agree that it is a Northern (and certain age)thing " if you can't afford it don't buy it". Hope your retirement brings you happiness and good health, you have certainly worked for it. We last went to Disney in 1992 so I would think things have changed a lot. Curious as to how you met the Disney wives and the lodge guys? Am going to watch all your videos now. Have subscribed. Best wishes.
Thank you ! We used to watch the Lodge Guys from 2019 before we started our channel. Once we started vlogging, Leigh reached out to me to meet up. The Disney Wives we met last Christmas at tbe Lodge Guys Christmas party in the UK .
Can only fully endorse what you say about pensions and savings. Mrs B and I have had a parallel existence in starting pensions from the start and we were able to pay the mortgage off early. Make the most of your retirement and enjoy everything life now has to offer ❤️❤️
Congrats on finishing Barry, you’re quite right in what you say. My plan was 58 but cancer came and got me at 50 so my world changed overnight. Plan for tomorrow but live it as soon as you can, you don’t know what’s round the corner.
Exactly, you never know what tomorrow will bring !
My thoughts go out to you and your family. I hope that you return to good health soon.
Happy retirement both of you enjoy and make the most of it. I retired at 55 and am now 83 and it was the best thing i ever did. And still enjoying my Florida holidays.
That is awesome!
Congrats! I also just retired a few days ago at 58. Starting to de-clutter and purge all of the junk I don’t need anymore from my life. It’s an amazing feeling!
That is awesome! It is a good feeling
Me in 16 days.
Fair play to you Bazza & for being so transparent about your lifestyle going forward. Quite refreshing when so many other vloggers hide behind smoke & mirrors or use deflection to avoid uncomfortable questions about their day to day lives. Enjoy your retirement, you’ve earned it 🥂
Thanks so much 😊
Found your video at 26 and I am saving a good amount to retirement so I can retire early like yourself. It's nice to hear advice from people who have lived life and gone through the emotions of retirement. Wishing you both all the best!
Starting early puts you in a great position
Congratulations! I'm 58, planned on retiring at 60 but the recent death of my mom led me to reconsider. I've moved my timeline up to possibly the end of this year. I don't mind work, per se, it's the waste of precious time that is leading me to this decision. Forty years of selling my time for dollars is enough!
I understand. As I said, you can not get more time, so enjoy the time you have
Enjoy your retirement. We retired around 57 the best decision we ever made.You made a lot of a very good points,it’s takes years of planning to retire.So enjoy it ,you deserve it🎉🎉
Right on!
Many congratulations, Barry - absolutely the right thing to do! Nobody knows what's around the corner so go out and enjoy life while you still can. Hope you both enjoy a long and happy retirement 🍻
Thanks so much!
Thanks so much!
Welcome to retirement! I retired about 2 years ago and was living in Lakeland Florida. My husband and I moved to East Tennessee near Gatlinburg after 42 years in the Sunshine State. That was always our dream at retirement, and we, like you, had to plan. I'm glad we did.
We don't miss the Florida heat!!!!
Enjoy the fruits of working hard and saving for this time in your lives. Say hello to Mickey for me....
We will do !
I am 41 in the UK with zero savings and zero knowledge but I am hoping to learn all these lessons as I want to semi-retire at 55. Thank you for these tips you seem like such a lovely wholesome couple 💕
Hope our experience helps you
Great video and congratulations on your retirement Bazza. My story is a little bit different in that I didn’t have a lot of time to plan. I’m up north in the UK and started work at 17. Up until I was 25 , I was only in one company pension plan and which I was in for just over 2 years before been made redundant. At 25 started working in telecoms where it was mandatory to join company pension scheme. I had been paying a small amount for about 3 years into free standing AVC’s which i eventually had transferred into my company pension. Rented council property until I was 37 when I decided to buy my own house. Had sufficient savings to put down a 25% deposit. Fast forward to January 2018, my employer was asking for voluntary redundancies. At that time I had done 31 years and was 56 yrs old. The agreement was, had to leave on 31 March which was less than 3 months away. I had previously been to a few pension seminars organised by my employer but done by an external investments company so I had some ideas in my head. They accepted my application for the redundancy and at the same time I also applied to take my company pension too as I was over 55 and therefore could now access it. So I’ve now been finished work for approximately 6 and a half years but don’t regret it even though I have had to adjust things as I have gone along. I’ve got to wait until May 2028 to get my state pension but in the meantime I get a monthly company pension and still have quite a bit of the lump sum that I got when I finished which is made up of the redundancy amount and approximately 20% of my pension pot whjch was tax free. Obviously the cost of things have gone up a lot since 2018 because of the pandemic etc which I did not originally account for but with a bit of moving money around i’m still not putting my hand in my lump sum for my day to day living expenses or bills. First thing I did when I finished was pay the balance on my mortgage so no one can take the house from me and despite having had credit cards for about 40 years I have always paid the full amount off every month to avoid paying interest. Ideally like you say in your video planning a few years ahead is preferable but I only had myself to think about and fortunately wasn’t in debt like many people are. Best wishes for your retirement 😎
You did amazingly well in a short space of time, and did your research
Excellent tips!!!! Learned a lot! Just turned 50 and am now paying for a small build after flipping my third home. I have about 10 years to go but all of it will be going into retirement. Having a paid off home, being car debt free and credit card debt is the key!
Yes, that’s correct, so important
‘It’s a marathon, not a sprint’. 👌 Exactly this, and kudos to you for playing the long game. Super happy for you - but gutted you got shonky financial advice. Glad it got resolved but how frustrating and draining. Some great advice in here - thanks for sharing. X
And now I can eat at 4 pm for my senior specials at a diner x
@@ThemeParkBazza 😂
Great listen! Congrats on your journey and success in meeting your goals. I’m 58 as well, 4 weeks from full retirement (following my wife who pulled the plug with her defined benefit pension in hand 6 months ago). We did many similar things in the last 3-5 years including selling our home, building a new smaller one with little maintenance for the next few years, and getting all financial affairs in good order. We could not agree with you folks more 👍. When we built the house we planned for it to be as operationally inexpensive to run as possible so we could enjoy our $ doing what we want to instead of paying big bills to keep it going. We installed a full solar array to drop our total annual heat/ac/light cost to less than $500/yr….and other things like that such as high efficiency water heater, high quality windows and insulation, etc. With all that in place, we are excited to both be in retirement in 4 weeks. No looking back now!
Sounds smart, that's why we did the same:-)
Congratulations to you both. I was fortunate enough to retire at 54 and now 18 months in. Live in the UK and spend 6 months of the year in Spain which is great. It takes a bit of adjustment going from saving to spending. Important to remain flexible and point 5 is key. You can’t buy more time 👍🏻
Spot on. Congrats
I would like to do 5 months during nicer weather and rest of the time somewhere warmer
Nice one Bazza... Goodluck with your retirement mate.. I beat you I did it last week at 51.. But I don't have a swimming pool. Lol..u deserve it.. Hope u have plenty of hobbies. 😊
Ps great advice about pensions.. I was in the military then a manager for bt.. So always a good pension. Bt put in 3x everything I paid in. So great.. Hopefully we can meet for a pint one day. We are over in Orlando in October.
Congrats to you, 51 that's amazing
Congratulations on your retirement. I am 50 this year and am definitely starting to plan my retirement. I’m a teacher and can’t imagine doing that till I’m 68!
Never too early to plan
Wishing you a very long and happy retirement, my brother retired at 53, if you can then why not! Enjoy every minute 🥰
Oh wow!, thats young
@@ThemeParkBazza worked on the railway in management,
Ahh good for you Bazza ! Lots of time now to enjoy your beautiful house and pool as well as unlimited theme park visits ❤️ xx
Thanks so much 😊
Congradulations Barry on your retirement. You truly deserve it, embrace this time with Maxine xx
Thank you, I will
Congratulations and enjoy every moment!! ☀️
We will!
Well done 👏 just watched your video. i retired at 53 in the uk near Cambridge. Your 5 points are very helpful to people planning to retire early. From my personal experience, i would advocate for people to have streams of income as it's really necessary to be comfortable retiring early . In your case, fortunately, you don't have to wait that long 🙂
Glad it was helpful!
Thanks for doing this video, really interesting! You have made me realise that we don’t have a plan! I’m 50, my husband has already retired from the police but is currently working full time in a new role. Our children are only just starting to become more independent, so it has only been the past year where we have started to think what we would like to do, where we want to live. It’s funny we were literally saying yesterday how this next stage of life has taken us by surprise. Thank goodness we do have good pensions plans, a home that’s paid for and no debt; we just haven’t figured out yet when we’d like to retire, what we’d like to do and whether we can fund the gap until other pensions kick in. It definitely involves theme parks, travel and camper vans! Enjoy the next stage of life, excited to follow your journey! 😊
A good financial planner can help you craft a plan
Congratulations Barry and Max. We are so happy for you both.
Thank you both xx
Enjoy it mate, so, can we expect more frequent vlogs?
I must say I agree completely with the plan, we sold our stupidly expensive house in Surrey to move to the countryside, my wife quit work at 40 and I keep things ticking over till I retire in a couple of years. Planning and preparation is key.
Well done Bazza!!
Just one a week, I am retired 😊
Congratulations, we’re just planning our retirement, I’m 53, hubby 55 in July & can take his local government pension, which he’ll get a large lump sum tax free & about £400 a week. He’s going to keep working so will be taxed 40% . We own our house, no debt at all & both going to keep working another 5 years, keep saving, & iv had a private pension from 20 years old, being self employed. So it’s 5 years banking plenty for, fingers crossed a fabulous retirement to travel & enjoy our twilight years, wishing you both a happy retirement, we’ve bloody earned it 😊
Sounds like you will have a good one as well
Congratulations on your retirement Barry - now time to enjoy your time with your lovely wife in your home which is looking amazing after the renovations 🎉
Aww thank you xx
I really want to retire and move to Florida! It’s my dream. We visit every January and I basically have the blues till I get back 😊
Congratulations on your retirement
Never give up on your dreams. It took us 15 years to make it happen
@@ThemeParkBazzaI’m in a stage in my life where I’m starting to think what I want to do at the end of my life. And for me visiting the parks is just the best feeling. I’m a singer in a band and it’s going great but I know it will come to an end one day. I’m very thankful for you guys making an informative vlog about these things. Big love from Glasgow
Follow your heart !
Enjoy your retirement Maxine and Barry you have worked hard and now time to reap the rewards especially as you are still young and have your health. I have just taken the same leap of faith at 57 due to my husband's illness and time I needed to take and spend with him. You are spot on we can always go back to work and get some more money if needed. However one thing that money cannot buy us is time with our loved ones.. both of us really enjoy your vlogs and look forward to watching your new adventures together. Enjoy xx
Thank you xxx
Congrats to you both! I’m the same age as Barry, I’ve got a couple of years left as a nurse in the NHS. Reasonable pension is one of the last ‘perks’ of my job. Very jealous of you both, you have worked hard , enjoy your retirement. ❤
That is awesome!
I am a nurse I was on the old pension scheme, started 1982, and I semi left at 55, went back on the bank doing a few nights a week, used money for holidays.You are right the only good thing left is the pension
Congratulations to you both. I'm in Orlando currently and know that you are going to have a happy retirement here in the lovely sunshine...enjoy. Xx
Thank you so much!
So glad you did the proper intro after the very formal one 😂😂. Happy Retirement, you and Maxine have earned it 🎉🎉
Yay! Thank you!
My thoughts on retirement have changed quite a bit. I don’t think a transition from full time work to full time retirement is the best for me. I would prefer to gradually go part time so I could still have the social connection with fellow workers and have some additional money coming from my job so I could have more discretionary spending money to take more extensive trips. Everyone has to make the right decision for themselves. Congratulations on your retirement!
Yes, it was easy for me as I have worked from a home office alone for the past 5 years without daily interaction with the same people , only video meetings
@@kennethpreston9813 I worked full time but quite a few people who were in the office with me did 3-4 days a week because some had kids or other commitments. I went straight from 5 day week to early retirement which wasn’t ideal at first but I found new interests to fill my time. I now don’t regret it especially since I know people who were the same age as me or thereabouts who won’t get a chance at retirement as they are no longer here
fair play to you, fully agree with the pensions advice and the cant have it if you cant afford it attitude, we work to live before retirement and then when we get there we should enjoy it-good for you for getting out of the rat race early good luck to you both look forward to seeing more blogs
Thank you so much
Happy Retirement Bazza! Loved watching this, we’re looking towards our early retirement hopefully in the next 5 years. Hopefully Max will be able to put up with you under her feet 24/7 now 🤣
Enjoy your weekend and your lay-ins!
I hope so too! :-)
I hope so too!
Congratulations on your retirement. I can definitely recommend it. Enjoy! 🥂
Thanks so much! 😊
Many congratulations! I retired last year at 55 and my partner retires in 2 months...its the best feeling in the world! Wishing you both a long and happy retirement!
Thank you! You too!
Yayyy 🎉🎊 Many Congratulations Barry on your well deserved retirement , enjoy it.
Wishing you both health and happiness.
Thank you
Many congratulations on your retirement bet Max is happy to have you home full time! Look forward to watching your retirement adventures for many years. Thank you also for being so transparent thats why I love your vlogs, so open and honest xx
Thanks so much!
At 64 now 71 light at the end of tunnel came and hit me ,a heart attack and triple heart bypass that throws all the plans out the window so enjoy life I’ve had house in Florida the stock market and the big financial crash took care of that ,but life carries on enjoy your house and the pool,if you have your health your a millionaire.
That's the key , your health
We to retired and now doing the same, plus healing all our medical issues on carnivore losing 50+ pounds and my husband lost 85+ pounds in 6 months and ketovore we found on UA-cam Dr. Philip Ovadia M.D. & Dr. Ken Berry M.D. health is wealth and enjoy your retirement.
Health is wealth!
Inspired by your story and well done for being so organised and planned with your life. You both look very comfortable, relaxed and stress free and that's what it is all about at our age [I am 58 also!]. Wish you all the best guys.
Thanks so much! 😊
Thank you for the channel, and you're help and guidance enabled me to have a great Florida return with my daughters in May. Good luck with the retirement, and try not to get under Maxine's feet! Between you and The Lodge Guys you make my week
Aww, thank you. I've never heard of those other guys, but I am sure they are nice :-)
Fabulous, such a lovely honest discussion and what a lovely plan you have both made.
Well we thought it was a good plan, but as you will see soon in an upcoming vlog , we have already come across our first problem
Congratulations on your retirement I hope it is long and happy.I was lucky to retire at 56 I'm 60 now and have loved every minute 👍♥️
Wonderful!
Congratulations on your retirement 🎉. Enjoy every minute. Great vlog 👌
Thank you! Will do!
This video popped up on my algorithm today and I’m glad it did!
I relocated from the UK to the US last year. Great to hear your views on transferring pensions over.
Most recent advice I received was to keep them in the UK until retirement age. Sounds like I got the right advice judging by your experience!
We were advised to move ours off shore, which was a bad move. What has worked for us is getting them all in USA pension accounts where our financial advisors can help us manage the investment portfolio together rather than rely on tbevlension companies managing it. If you want to speak to our advisors to get their input, you can DM me on our socials, and I can give you their details. They only focus on Brits that have relocated to the USA
Sounds like the big theme is communicate with each other so you are on the same page. ❤
Very true
Congratulations to you both. We are 3 years away and will be retiring at 58. I'm hoping you can share your journey, and we can learn from your advice. As a fellow Yorkshire man,
you fear the worst putting the money in the stock market 😀
That's where the financial advisors help by running lots of scenarios on market performance
For some reason I thought this was going to be a ‘wouldn’t you love to be us’ type bragging video but in fairness you seem like a decent, hard working sensible, straight down the line couple and I enjoyed your video. Thank you.
Nope,what you see is what you get with us. Thanks for giving us the benefit of the doubt
Well done with the planning Barry wishing you and Maxine many happy and healthy years ahead.
Thank you so much !
Congratulations 🎉 enjoy every moment my husband and I are retiring this year at 55
That is awesome!
So happy for you. Like you we made a point of saving hard when we came to America. We maxed on all allowable contributions and were very fortunate with our financial planner. I retired at age 63 and the plan was for the husband to retire two years later as we had 2 expensive projects (one of which was refurbishing the pool). But life DID throw us a curve ball as literally 2 weeks after I retired he had a biopsy and was diagnosed with throat cancer. He came through it, returned to work but his heart wasn’t in it. Like you he traveled a lot, and could be bothered with it anymore so he retired a year earlier than planned. But due to very judicial planning we could financially do that. No-one knows what’s ahead of us. Wishing you a wonderful, fun filled, well deserved retirement
That is so true you never know what curved balls are around the corner , live each day to the full
You are a natural Baz and 14k subscribers. Must be your youthful good looks and Northern charm. I scanned the RR photo but didn’t spot myself. Good luck in your early retirement ( you’ve been around a bit by the looks of it). 60 for me. Take care. Pete
Cheers Pete
Great video, looks like the hard work has paid off for you and now you can enjoy life without the daily grind.
I bet you won’t miss all that travelling which definitely gets old after a while.
Definetly not !
Thoroughly enjoyed your talk. We did the exact same plans in our life and enabled us to retire in Australia. We cannot get a government pension, but our savings are working hard for us. A good financial planner is a must. Ours is amazing.
It makes a big difference
Great Vlog! Solid advice, I just retired early too this past December and the bridge savings fund until I reach Social Security full retirement age which is when I will draw it, was key in making this happen. Enjoy your retirement !
You have a big bridge, 20 years ?? Xx
Congratulations Baz on retirement, felt like I was at work with all the pension talk 😁
Some great advice xxx
Cheers G x
Yes Congrats to the retiree... but not so much on retirement recommendation to "pay your pension" -perhaps there was option in UK for this but very few US employers offer that option. Irrelevant comment for many.
Wishing you both a very long, happy and healthy retirement 😊
Thank you
A great honest and open vlog with some valuable advice. Enjoy your time together x
Thank you! Will do!
Congratulations on your retirement Barry! You are so right about saving for a pension from an early age. My very first f/t job (back in 1990) didn’t offer a pension, but my Mum being a Pensions Adviser contracted out my Serps and also rolled in a v small pension from when I worked as a Saturday assistant at M&S. That very small sum over 40 years has grown significantly. I also have 2 other private pensions (one from working 18 years at one job) and my current job (which will be 25 years by the time I plan to retire). Fortunately my husband also has similar, so we are hoping to retire long before 67. One of my bucket list wishes is to live in Florida for a year, so 🤞! Congratulations again to you & Maxine - here’s wishing you both a long & healthy retirement.
Tis true the earlier you start with a pension the earlier you can retire
Congratulations on your retirement, and I wish you both many happy, healthy years of fun x
Cheers
Congratulations on your retirement Barry! Enjoy! 🎉🇬🇧
Thanks so much!
Very inspiring video my husband and I are late 40’s hoping to retire by 60 and you have given me a kick up the bum to get organised, in Florida in September hoping to bump into you and the lodge guys. Big congratulations enjoy every rollercoaster when you can 🎉🎉
Never too early to start
Congratulations I am planning on retiring next June at 58. I have done fairly good planning. I feel the hardest part of it will be to switch my mindset from saving, to spending without an incoming income.
Yes that is quite hard to do
Congratulation on retirement! Great age to retire and enjoy life together. Im 37 and this is great food for thought. Time goes fast and u cant buy it back. But in-retirement goals and getting their with a plan is as important as enjoying the now. So u can continue to do so into older age. Happy Retirement bazzas. Gav (Cumbria UK)
Well said! You can’t start early enough
Happy retirement Barry.
Our northern background has paid off.
We're not at the same stage in life yet but can relate to everything you're doing.
Cheers
Congratulations on retirement, always great content, thanks for sharing
Thanks for watching!
Congratulations on retirement! Did it ourselves 4 weeks ago, I’m 57, missus is 53.
Whoop, you will have a great time
Very good sound advice. Thank you for sharing your personal journey. Now enjoy!!
Thank you! Will do!
Congratulations on your retirement. Great vlog. Everything you said makes so much sense. We both had Lucas pensions at 16, like you seemed pointless, but now in our early 60s, we have continued with pensions all through. I retired at 60. Loving it. I will make sure I watch the ads and not skip lol.
That is awesome!
Congratulations, on your retirement, I retired at 55, 3 weeks ago after 27 years in the UK Royal Navy and 10 years in the security sector in Canada. I would never completely pay my mortgage off, I have invested for the past 25 years and made way more money doing that, than paying interest on the mortgage. Mortgage is the cheapest money you can get. Credit rating is not affected by retirement as you must have income to retire, credit rating only gets a hit when you default, not retire.
Always have an independent financial planner.
I now day trade the stock market and Crypto outside of my main investments . My wife is still working as a school teacher, but she likes it and not interested in retirement yet. I liked your presentation, especially the “No unsecured debt” so many people fail to realize this. If it works for you great, I’m just peeling the orange a different way. Enjoy 😎🥃
As long as it gets us all to where we want to be, that's all that matters
Congratulations Barry! You’re still looking good and obviously doing well in life. I enjoyed the UA-cam! Tom Holcombe
Cheers Tom
Wishing you all the best in your retirement.
I have said it before you give us back in the UK all the latest information about our favourite place on earth and now that you have retired hopefully even more fun.
Alice and I wish you all the best and would love to bump into you both in September when we’re over with our granddaughter for two weeks.
Thanks so much, come to one of our meets ups. Details in our Facebook group
Living the dream👏
Do both your children live in the UK?
Our daughter lives in the USA, and our son in the UK
Congrats! Your Vid showed up in my feed this AM. We are in Orlando also and are 4 yrs out from retirement. Enjoyed your Vid. Will be checking out your channel.
Thank you
Congratulations 🥂. May you have a very long and very happy retirement. Enjoy every moment. I look forward to seeing lots of fun vlogs ❤
Thank you so much!
Happy retirement! So glad you can enjoy life after all your hard work and planning. Great tips by the way. Me and hubby are in early fifties and working with a financial adviser as to when we can take the leap and give up work. The sooner the better 😂
That is awesome!
I am a 43yo single no kids guy and mortgage free no debt in London. I am planning to retire at 50-55 probably in south east asia. I am now contributing 38% of my salary, my bonus to private pension and work contributes 12% on top. Thanks for all the advise.
That’s sounds like a great plan and you have started planning early enough . Good luck
Congratulations on your retirement Barry, enjoy making lots more memories with Maxine along the way. Looking forward to following along with you both on your next vlogs 🎉🍾🥂
Thanks 👍
Congratulations & welcome to the early retirement club. I paid in from 18 & its paid off!
That is awesome!
Green with envy, 64 and still travelling up and down many motorways working still in many operating theatres but school will close in 18 months. Good luck for the future and keep the vlogs coming.
I also started an apprenticeship in mechanical engineering craft studies at Rolls Royce at 16, next year I get my Rolls Royce pension.
Thank you
Hi I just found your videos and loved your message. Hubby/I retired 1.5yr ago at 58/59 following exactly the same financial regiment as you followed except that we are not sure if we should sell our house or just wait a bit longer…we will stay local as we have rental that we can move in but just love our home but it’s a bit too large for us🙂 HAPPY RETIREMENT!!
That is awesome!
Congratulations on your retirement, both my husband and i are retired, we absolutely love it! Xx
Wonderful!
HI from England. I really appreciate the honesty and openness's. Enjoy the retirement, you deserve it.
Hi Dave from England :-) , thank you !
So pleased for you Bazza, you’re a big inspiration to me, love your videos, I don’t know how you’ve both managed to keep your accents
We were too old when we came here to lose them :-)
Congrats on your retirement looks like you had your pool done at the right time. I’m so jealous of the charmed life you are leading I love Orlando sadly it will be a while before I can visit it as I’ve just had knee replacement still in hospital but really enjoying your videos thanks for cheering me up
Thank you, we hope your recovery is swift so you can come back over
Congratulations on your retirement. With sound planning and advice you guys have a wonderful home and a wonderful country to spend it in. All the best
Thank you so much!
Great vlog, I'll let the adverts run now! Happy retirement guys 🎉😊
Thank you
Congratulations Bazza.. very interesting vlog. You beat me by 5 years, and I had some of your 5 things, currently living on a golf course in the Philippines, hope to get to Orlando soon !!!!
That sounds amazing, we have been watching a lot of retirement vlog from Brit’s in the Philippines
Over the Span of 26yrs we have moved back and forth to Australia 3 times, third time lucky have now been here for 10yrs . Through circumstances we had to move back twice, each time losing money through buying and selling,and moving expenses. Just as we were a year into retirement and finally settling here, my husband had an accident and passed away.
All our plans for retirement together never evolved, you can’t base your life on retirement to the extent you miss out on doing things when you are young and with your children.
You have to live for today, retirement isn’t always possible or the plans you make whether through ill health or circumstances. It is good obviously to have money behind you but for some they base all their lives on retiring and miss out on the lives they are now living, I never thought for one minute I would be spending my retirement without my husband we planned so much it hurts. So yes be wise but not to the extent of missing out doing things together now and not waiting for the future, it isn’t always possible.
We had a similar event in our family in 2022, which was the catalyst for us to push ahead and go for early retirement
congratulations on retirement barry, you’re both living the dream out there in the states! all the best going forward, and don’t stop riding those coasters!
We definitely will be riding more coasters
I also retired at 58 but in the UK, that was two years ago. We managed ten holidays in twelve months. It is a bit more straightforward in the UK as we can draw from personal pensions from 55.
I agree with building up your money during your working life and simplify and get debt free. People would be surprised how low our fixed costs are living in the UK. We came to Florida in 2013 and enjoyed it including the Disney parks. We visited California in 2023 and were shocked how much more expensive the US has become. The local wine was very cheap in California however.
Good luck and all the best on your retirement.
We filled out a planner for our financial advisor recording our annual spend, and it was a lot less than you might think
Well done 👏 Congratulations to you both 🤗🤗 enjoy your memories together ❤️ Such a lovely couple xx
Thanks so much! 😊
Well done to both of you, we are doing exactly the same 11 June 2024 I will retire at 55. 🎉 Great advice and channel.👍
Awesome! Thank you!
Love this….may you both have the life you’ve dreamed of x
Thank you x
Congratulations on your early retirement. We prepared for retirement by paying off the house and selling a car. I wish we would have fixed up the house and landscaped the back yard before I retired. The money has only been sitting there for 10 years!
Oh wow!
Congratulations and well done. Enjoying retirement while still young and in good health is absolutely fabulous.
We hope so !
Hi Maxine & Barry,
Congrats on your retirement!
We really enjoy watching your vlogs. Thank you for giving us so many insights of your life in Orlando. We are a family of 3 from Germany and are spending our vacations in the Orlando area regularly (1-2 times per year).
Our next visit will be in August. Your meet up at Stargazers is already set in our calendar.
Your last vlog was very interesting for us (in particular your basic living expenses), because it is our plan to move to the Orlando area in the next 5-10 years. We have arlready started to prepare our financial situation to achieve this goal as it was also your advice.
Could you maybe name some companies for water, power supply, internet, insurances for the house, cars etc.? It is very difficult for us to find some reliable information online.
Thank you so much in advance,
Svea & Konstantin with 10-year old Carlotta
The companies you use for power , water and internet are dictated to you by where you live . We have no choice in the supplier, there tends to be only one option at each house we have stayed in here.
Thank you
Got to admire you both it moving home and jobs and agree that it is a Northern (and certain age)thing " if you can't afford it don't buy it". Hope your retirement brings you happiness and good health, you have certainly worked for it. We last went to Disney in 1992 so I would think things have changed a lot. Curious as to how you met the Disney wives and the lodge guys? Am going to watch all your videos now. Have subscribed. Best wishes.
Thank you ! We used to watch the Lodge Guys from 2019 before we started our channel. Once we started vlogging, Leigh reached out to me to meet up. The Disney Wives we met last Christmas at tbe Lodge Guys Christmas party in the UK .
Can only fully endorse what you say about pensions and savings. Mrs B and I have had a parallel existence in starting pensions from the start and we were able to pay the mortgage off early.
Make the most of your retirement and enjoy everything life now has to offer ❤️❤️
Wonderful!