Re: If only
" [...] I'll never have anything near £1 million to retire with."
You probably will - except that it won't buy you very much.
I bought my house in 1977 for GBP15K on a mortgage. I saved hard towards buying a retirement bungalow. Now that moment has arrived the house is free of its mortgage and apparently has a selling price circa GBP300K. Unfortunately my apparently large nest egg doesn't fill the gap for a bungalow now costing near enough £600K.
What was once a 2.5 x salary gearing for a mortgage is now nearer 5 x salary.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
