MDW1954 wrote:
That said, if I were living entirely off my dividends (I'm not, and am still building), then I might devote more time to HYP management. Possibly.
MDW1954
I'm building my HYP whilst still in employment, and think the opposite way.
If I were currently living off my dividends, presumably not in HYP-build-mode, then there would actually be little I could do with most of the investigative work I might carry out on my HYP processes at that stage.
But whilst I'm still working and building my HYP, I can plan appropriately based on past-records and long-term trends in both income and capital. I don't think I'd have any sensible retirement-planning process without the ability to do this.
So I'm the other way around. I'll track my income and capital quite methodically now, with a view to using that information to best plan my future.
Given that once I actually decide to finish work and live off my HYP, I'll have all those records from many previous years, I don't actually think there'd be any good reason to carry on micro-managing my income and capital records at the level I do now, as I think the 'trigger' will only be pulled once I'm content that the HYP is likely to continue doing what I want it to do anyway.
Each to their own, of course, and I wouldn't want anyone thinking I spend any great amount of time recording my HYP progress. Any actual work was done in setting up the process itself, and all it needs now is a regular yearly update that really only takes minutes. I just don't think I'd personally have any sort of viable 'plan' for finishing work if I didn't have my HYP income and capital records to actually base the plan on, is my thinking....
Cheers,
Itsallaguess