Eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow.....

downshifter

I know it's a bit of an urban myth that so many people drop dead shortly after retiring but this was really brought home to me watching Escape to the Country yesterday. The couple (looked to be in their early? maybe 50s) had just retired from the police force in London and were looking to move to the country with lots of ideas for keeping animals and spending time on their hobbies of crafts and classic cars and starting a new lifestyle. It was filmed last Autumn. They were really looking forward to it. At the end, where it usually tells you what they decided to do, there was a little 'in memory' notice instead and the husband had obviously died earlier this year. It was just so sad and I can't stop thinking about how important it is to do what you want now because who knows what might happen. People wait and save and wait and plan and wait and look forward to retirement, but in this couple's case, it's never going to happen for them now.

So unutterably sad.

seven-day-weekend

A friend of ours, ten years older than us, retired early and went to live on the Isle of Skye. After five years she had to return to the Midlands due to health reasons. When I comiserated with her about this, she said 'oh well, we had five years of living our dream, some people never have that'.

And do you know, her words stuck with me, so a few years later in our mid-50s, my husband and I took early retirement and went to live up a mountain in rural southern Spain. We did it as soon as we could, because no-one knows how much time they have left.

We have now been there nearly six years, but from last year are doing half UK and half Spain.

We might have done none of it if we'd carried on working, who knows?

We also persuaded a couple we know to do the same, they sold their business and went to Portugal. The man died two years later at the relatively early age of 61...but at least he'd had his two years of living in the sun, , which was what he always wanted.

Living in the sun or the country won't be everybody's dream, but whatever your dream is, try to make it come true if you possibly can, as soon as you can.

Prudent

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

A friend of ours, ten years older than us, retired early and went to live on the Isle of Skye. After five years she had to return to the Midlands due to health reasons. When I comiserated with her about this, she said 'oh well, we had five years of living our dream, some people never have that'.

My mother is disabled and has very poor health. My dad took retirement slightly early and they moved out to Cyprus and they had wonderful five years. Eventually medical costs and health problems meant they had to sell up and return to the uk. It was very costly, but they have no regrets. My daughter was 10 when they moved out. I was able to take her out there for some lovely holidays. They have done a huge amount of travel, had a farm for fun etc and packed in loads to their lives. From her late sixties/early seventies my mum has been severly disabled yet had so much fun while she could do so.

I have huge respect for people who down shift to get a better quality of life. My greatest pleasures are in simple things - a walk in the woods, a picnic, baking bread and being with friends. The drive for money is lost on me. Last summer I won a fanatstic holiday to an upmarket spa hotel in France for two weeks. It came with flights, insurance, £1000 spends and a hire car. My greatest pleasures on it were a swim in a lake at the top of a volcano and a walk in some pine woods.

sagalout1954

This is one of the reasons I wonder why some people are eager to work until they've practically got one foot in the grave, such a shame for 'work' to be their lives when there's so much else out there.

Personally, I resent now being forced to work until I'm 64 1/2 before I can get my state pension. I want to do and see things while I'm still mobile with my own hips!!!***

Errata

Nobody ever laid on their death bed wishing they'd spent more time at work ! Whatever your age - carpe diem.

downshifter

Just back from work and been reading this in tandem with the thread on single pensioners - which I am too. While it would be great not to have to go to work, I always will have to as otherwise I can't feed myself (or the dog or the cat or the hens!), but I think the main thing about it is to exercise your choice. I chose a few years ago to downshift from a well paid job in the public sector and live in a funny little rented cottage in the middle of the best scenery in the world, or actually, nearly the best (just need a bit of sea to be perfect!) - I calculated the minimum I could exist on (£800 month incl rent) and aimed to get enough work just to make that - no more, no less - which on the whole, apart from the last few months when it dropped to below 700, I've managed to do. To quote Mr Micawber: "Annual income £20, annual expenditure £19 19 shillings and sixpence, result happiness. Annual income £20, annual expenditure £20 and sixpence, result misery". And the constant expectation that something will turn up - which it always does. My mother however, really doesn't understand and I still get quite a bit of 'if only you'd stayed with your lovely husband...' type of conversations from her. He lives in a town with a smart house, good salary, good pension to come - the traditional setup, but he doesn't open the door in the morning and look out over a landscape that hasn't changed over the years, with rolling hills, some still with snow on them, and where my grandchildren can still run free in the fields with muddy wellies and fish for tadpoles in the brook. Worth all the pensions in the world and every day I thank that decision I took not to wait until I was of pensionable age but instead pack it in when I was in my early 50s to follow the dream. The stories on here, as well as that of Charles Sturman on that tv programme, only confirm more and more that it was the right thing to do.

Have a lovely evening everyone, my door is wide open even though it's freeeeeeeezing but I love to hear the birds settling down for the night and must off to lock up my hens.

DS

Fire_Fox

My parents are in their mid-sixties having retired at 51. This is what they do now ...
http://www.xor.org.uk/silkroute/
One of their on-off travelling companions is a single retired lady who sold up here in the UK to buy her van, staying with family when home: others let their main property for additional income whilst they travel. According to my parents the motorhome is your only real outlay, other than that it is cheaper to travel around many countries than it is to remain at home! :money:

Newly_retired

I am trusting my DH makes it to retirement! We both retired from teaching 2 1/2 yrs ago but he started another job straightaway which is all-consuming. I can't remember when he last had a day off. I am hoping he is not planning on working tomorrow- but why should we only be able to go out on a Bank Holiday at our age?
His father died within 6 months of retirement, so the writing is on the wall. What is it with these workaholics?

Prudent

Fire_Fox wrote: »

My parents are in their mid-sixties having retired at 51. This is what they do now ...
http://www.xor.org.uk/silkroute/
One of their on-off travelling companions is a single retired lady who sold up here in the UK to buy her van, staying with family when home: others let their main property for additional income whilst they travel. According to my parents the motorhome is your only real outlay, other than that it is cheaper to travel around many countries than it is to remain at home! :money:

These pages make very interesting reading. I shall send the link to my nearly retired brother who is off touring in Europe in his camper van just now.

lilac_lady

I love to read about people our age who are happy, especially if they've managed to change their lives for the better as they became older. I've not travelled round the world in a camper van but have seen a lot of places that I could only dream about since living on my own after deciding to leave a poor (understatement!) marriage 10 years ago.

I love my life now and am so glad that I had the courage to change it.

hethmar

Strangely enough I noticed last night when I caught the end of the Restoration Man, another couple whose dreams were to do up a windmill. At the end of that programme there was an in memorium to the wife, who had died aged 52. Very sad.