Man shares plan to retire at 45 with £30,000 a year - key details

Need to know Man shares plan to retire at 45 with £30,000 a year - key details Sean Leith, 30, is an actuarial consultant working in pensions and knows a thing or two about the issue Need to know: man plans early retirement with bold investment strategy - A pension expert has ditched his retirement plan to pursue an ambitious bid to quit work at 45 with £700,000 in the bank. - Sean Leith, 30, from Edinburgh, slashed his pension contributions and is now pumping up to £1,000 a month into a stocks and shares ISA instead. The actuarial consultant has already doubled his ISA pot from £29,500 to £67,000 through what he calls "lucky" investments. - "The plan is to retire at 45, 50 at the latest," Sean said. "I think I will need just around £700,000 in today's money." - Sean previously paid 25% of his £62,000 salary into his pension but cut this to just 5% after realising traditional retirement planning wouldn't help him quit early. He now focuses on ETFs and aims to live on £30,000 a year once retired. - The finance worker's wake-up call came during lockdown when anxiety forced him off work for six months. "I had no savings so paying bills was impossible," he admitted. - Sean plans to spend his early retirement travelling and playing golf and padel - though he worries none of his friends are following the same path. "My only worry is none of my friends are really doing this," he said. - Experts warn ETF investments can fall as well as rise, and people should seek proper financial advice before making such drastic changes to their retirement plans. - READ THE FULL STORY: Man explains scheme to retire at 45 after tearing up pension plans