Early-retirement wannabe

gallygirl · 20 August 2015 at 6:46PM

atush wrote: »

In my 40's I was unstoppable (if I wanted to be lol)

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Early retired in Spain and dutifully learning the language

. They have two verbs for 'To Be' - Ser and Estar - you choose which one based on permanence, amongst other things. Fellow student said 'soy cansado' - I am tired. Young teacher said 'no, it should be 'estoy cansado' as it's only temporary'. Whole class (we're all of a certain age

) piped up 'no it's not' :rotfl:.

If in doubt, retire to Spain. 'Nanna naps' have an official name of siestas here

Nationwide8 · 23 August 2015 at 5:18PM

Such an interesting thread,have only just touched the surface of reading everyone's stories,will add mine to the pot.
I took early retirement at nearly 54 a couple of mths ago,have been planning and saving for early retirement seriously since the age of 40 but saved even before then.Had a health issue a few yrs ago which is long term and which affects what I can do physically.As others have said health issues involving yourself or loved ones REALLY concentrate the mind that life is short and do you really want to spend it at work if you don't have to ?
But nobody except yourself can decide when is the right time to go,towards the end of my working life I was up to saving half of my salary to retire early.My pension is less than half my salary and I get interest off my savings.I no longer run a car and live in a small flat with little outgoings but it's in a fairly good area.Everyone is different and it all depends on what you are prepared to live on after retirement and what you are prepared to give up to take early retirement.
I savour EVERY single second I do not have to get up woken by the alarm at stupidoclock,battle with traffic and suffer the stress and "politics" of a Thankless job,no amount of money could tempt me back to that life The value in the freedom to do what you want when you want cannot be calculated in monetary terms.

BUT everyone is different.Someone still works where I did and is older and complains every single day that they "cannot" retire,they made my last few weeks a trial,BUT they are not prepared to live off what I do now and they are not even planning what they could live off or even living off that as a sort of trial run,so to my mind they are not really serious about taking retirement if not now then even in a year or two years,people can make a lot of noise about early retirement but if you do not seriously plan for it then you are NOT really serious and can be very annoying about it.

Interesting someone was saying that you can be "pushed" I hung around longer than I wanted until my pension pot got to the level that I could live off ( without relying on interest from savings )but if a redundancy payment had come along I would have gone earlier and obs been in a much better position financially than just living off my basic pension.State pension will not kick in for 13 yrs and who knows if I'll be around to get that.
But something did happen that "pushed" me to retire in a little way and not hang around a few mths more,some unfairness at work and I'll tell you there is nothing sweeter than knowing you are financially secure enough to tell them to basically stuff their job when that happens.

You do just reach the point that whatever you're earning is just not worth what you're giving up/putting up with to get it.....and that can hit you at 50,60,70.

Yes just as an aside,obviously I could have lived it up from the age of 40 and spent what I was saving but I knew I did not want to work until I was 65 and probably would not be physically capable of it so you are giving up the present for the hope of the future...again whether you do that or not is a very individual decision and not an easy one to balance.

plumduff55 · 23 August 2015 at 6:53PM

I am mostly a lurker but after reading Nationwide's post I felt I had to tell my unfolding story.

With help from the mortgage free boards I paid off my mortgage nearly 8 years ago. As I then had no motgage to pay I was able to complete some home repairs and have some savings in the bank.

I have worked for 25 years in a job I used to love but over the last few years office politics and an increasing workload have made me look forward to the day I could reduce my hours.

I will be 60 in October and my employers verbally agreed that I could take my works pension and continue working 2 days a week. I was happy with this as my pension and part time wages would only be slightly less than my full time wages.

With 12 weeks warning my company were taken over (TUPE) and I then had new employers who said if If I took my pension I would have to resign or alternatively keep working as normal. So, in May I took the difficult decidion to retire completely. A step I would never have taken if I had not been forced into it.

I have worked out my budget repeatedly to make sure that I can afford to do this. My savings will be safe and I will have to use nearly half of my pension lump sum to supplement my pension income till I am 66.

At first I was so stressed about it all but as the time gets nearer I am just so happy that i am able to afford to do this. I have always lived a frugal life and get lots of enjoyment sewing, knitting, quilting and and stretching every penny.

The money I use from my lump sum will be the best money ever spent as it will allow me to enjoy life doing the hobbies that I love.

Karmacat · 23 August 2015 at 7:07PM

Nationwide, plumduff, thanks for sharing!

I'm a fraction over plumduff's age - paid the mortgage off 5 years ago after a dowsize, I'm just finishing a euro mortgage on an investment property, savings are good but nowhere near where they need to be for me to retire. And nor is my income, taken a hit through illness and my business sector becoming obsolete.

But I'm going to retire anyway

in a year's time, true - I'll almost certainly have to downsize to a flat, and thats okay now, though I'd have hated it any earlier. I'll carry on trying to raise income online, but the actual self employed work will stop in a year's time - in fact, tomorrow begins week 52 in the countdown, so *exactly* one year. I'm really, really looking forward to it!

Nationwide8 · 23 August 2015 at 9:28PM

Thanks plumduff and Karmacat

as I say it's such a personal choice,people do have different financial pressures but many ARE by choice even if ppl will not admit to it.Years ago I could have bought a house but what stopped me was houses need maintaining and the more rooms you have,more heating,council tax etc ( the former work colleague who moans constantly has a house,and always seems to be doing something to it but not nec always adding value ) so I made the decision to stay in a small flat as the thought of working longer to pay off a house mortgage or to have money to maintain one was not something I wanted to be tied to.The only thing with a flat is you are stung with the "maintenance charge" every month but have budgeted for that.Other than that the car was a bit sad to let go but I don't regret it even slightly,no way was I going to work longer to maintain a car I only used mainly to go to work anyway !!

After a few mths am still getting used to being retired and not HAVING to do anything,Sunday's now are a pleasure and not a precurs or to yet another spirit breaking tedious week.I found the last couple of months VERY difficult at work as had mentally switched off and keeping your mouth shut as regards the everyday crap to do with other work colleagues and the "politics" is very hard when you have nothing to loose..but anyway the point is I have only just started looking at what I CAN do with the time I now have after decades of not looking,because what's the point if you don't have the time or more importantly energy to do any of it !

I now walk to the supermarket every day and enjoy looking for the reduced stuff,there are 3 within a 10 min walk so will also check which is the cheapest for whatever I need so I get exercise every day instead of being stuck In a car for 1-2 hours a day ( obs small commute compared with some but still a pain as it was bumper to bumper traffic jams for most of it ) and doing the one main weekly shop.

I think of retirement as a Marathon not a Sprint,it's an adjustment to get used to when you've been sprinting all your life !! :rotfl:
Only thing I find is that friends etc think you are now available for various trips,outings or whatever,everyone is different but I just want to be unavailable for a while !! So am working on saying No without feeling i should be saying Yes.

Plumduff,you're nearly there,and Karmacat,I can't tell you it goes quickly BUT it's easier to cope with as you have an end point,you can plan and you can tell yourself nothing really matters as you're going anyway ( which is true ! )

P.S.If people see others retiring "early" maybe think...what sacrifices have they made to enable themselves to do that ? and would you be willing to do the same.

gallygirl · 24 August 2015 at 7:51AM

Nationwide8 wrote: »

P.S.If people see others retiring "early" maybe think...what sacrifices have they made to enable themselves to do that ? and would you be willing to do the same.

In my experience that doesn't happen - you are just considered 'lucky'. Even amongst otherwise intelligent people there seems to be a total disconnect between what they spend and being able to retire early. In the same conversation they can say how much they envy you, then go on to talk about their latest big night out or purchase, with no recognition of the consequences of their choices

.

itm2 · 24 August 2015 at 10:48AM

gallygirl wrote: »

In my experience that doesn't happen - you are just considered 'lucky'. Even amongst otherwise intelligent people there seems to be a total disconnect between what they spend and being able to retire early. In the same conversation they can say how much they envy you, then go on to talk about their latest big night out or purchase, with no recognition of the consequences of their choices .

That is so true - I've seen this alot

missyrichards · 24 August 2015 at 11:11AM

gallygirl wrote: »

In my experience that doesn't happen - you are just considered 'lucky'. Even amongst otherwise intelligent people there seems to be a total disconnect between what they spend and being able to retire early. In the same conversation they can say how much they envy you, then go on to talk about their latest big night out or purchase, with no recognition of the consequences of their choices .

I find it strange that so few people seem interested in retiring early. I think the YOLO mindset is firmly entrenched with some people.

kidmugsy · 24 August 2015 at 11:33AM

A friend asked me to talk to his well paid, thirtyish son about money. My conclusion: "You should be saving £20k per annum." His reply: "Oh, I do. And then I spend it."

Nationwide8 · 24 August 2015 at 3:33PM

gallygirl wrote: »

In my experience that doesn't happen - you are just considered 'lucky'. Even amongst otherwise intelligent people there seems to be a total disconnect between what they spend and being able to retire early. In the same conversation they can say how much they envy you, then go on to talk about their latest big night out or purchase, with no recognition of the consequences of their choices .

Yep you are right,its certainly true of my older former work colleague who "cannot" retire and never ceases to tell you so.

Early-retirement wannabe

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