A house by the beach and sunny trips abroad sound like the retirement dream for so many in their later years. Christopher D’Souza, a 58-year-old from London who works for a local council, wants to make this dream a reality – but in a very short space of time.

“I’d like to retire early, ideally in two years when I turn 60,” he said. “My partner and I want to travel a lot, fly business class and stay in nice hotels. We have no children so just want to focus on enjoying ourselves.

“Our goal is to sell our home in London and buy a modern house somewhere along the south-east coast.”

Mr D’Souza earns £65,000 a year and he and his partner own a three-bedroom home in Brixton, worth around £900,000. They expect to finish paying off the remaining £21,000 on their five-year fixed-rate mortgage when it expires in January 2023. 

He has £177,000 in cash savings, the bulk of which he inherited in 2020, as well as £50,000 in Premium Bonds – which he wants to keep untouched as his rainy-day fund.

There’s a £19,400 stocks and shares Isa with wealth manager Nutmeg, which has spread his money across a variety of cheap “tracker” funds investing in global shares.

“I took full advantage of my Isa last tax year,” he said. “Most of my savings are losing value to inflation and while interest rates are so low, I know this money can work harder elsewhere.” 

Mr D’Souza has a local government “defined benefit” pension that should pay him £32,000 a year, but only if he keeps working until he’s 67. He would then also be able to withdraw a tax-free lump sum of £214,000. He has also been making “additional voluntary contributions” worth around £140,000.

“I’d like to know how to plan and if I can achieve an income of between £30,000 and £40,000 a year in two years’ time,” he added.