Early-retirement wannabe

stephennt

bigadaj wrote: »

Socialism has been a pejorative term for several decades I would have said, just look at privatisation. It also presumes a high tax economy to pay for the high levels of provision, like Scandinavia for example, and that doesn't apply to the uk.

Unfortunately I think policies from both major parties are only moving the country further away from the Scandanavian model - i.e. a bit less austerity whilst increasing taxes on the top few percent further.

Ultimately I think this model is going to break at some point, where you have a narrow spectrum of society paying most of the tax for a system that they can't claim (child benefit, etc) or don't use (ie private health & schools), and thus to an extent don't really care about.

In most of Europe they tend to have a reasonably high, but flatter, tax system and where state services can be topped up with private contributions for an enhanced service.

Marine_life

I am no longer the wannabe.

I am done (or rather we are done).

Friday was my last day of full time work and after 31 years of work I am now hoping for at least 31 years of retirement.

I'm not sure how I feel yet.

But after almost seven years (since starting this thread) its time to put the plan into action.

jungle_jane

OMG. I've been following this thread for years (we are about 6 months behind you). I have a lump in my throat reading this - good luck Marine Life and thank you so much for starting this thread. I've not contributed to it at all but its been a huge help and influence in my own plans. I wish you every success and happiness xx

jamesd

Congratulations!

I expect a fair bit of self-doubt over whether it was the right time, at least initially.

ermine

Marine_life wrote: »

Friday was my last day of full time work and after 31 years of work I am now hoping for at least 31 years of retirement.

That's not a bad innings, only a year more than mine I raise a glass to your long and happy retirement whatever that may mean to you - all the best!

atush

Cheers! And let us know what you get on with, and come back here when your blog is live.

Thrugelmir

DancingBadger wrote: »

Maybe not, and I have no wish denigrate anybody who indulges in cigarettes and alcohol, but a relative of mine who is a GP and has conducted her own (unofficial) survey of patients who miss appointments would say there is a correlation. Missed appointments are becoming a real problem in some areas of the country where recruitment and retention of GPs is a challenge.

Our local hospital has a rate of around 20% for non attendance at appointments. Isn't just cigarettes and alcohol. Often just the common courtesy to ring up and let someone know.

Gers

Marine_life wrote: »

I am no longer the wannabe.

I am done (or rather we are done).

Friday was my last day of full time work and after 31 years of work I am now hoping for at least 31 years of retirement.

I'm not sure how I feel yet.

But after almost seven years (since starting this thread) its time to put the plan into action.

Congratulations! Welcome to your well deserved retirement and all it's pleasures.

Snakey

Well done, Marine. I am aiming for about the same - started full time work at nineteen and hope to retire at 50 if all goes according to plan.

I may do "just one more year", but on the assumption Labour will be in power in time to raise taxes for the 2023/24 fiscal year that gives me a convenient hard deadline of "just turned 51" and removes the temptation to keep extending it.

I think you should start a new thread now, for the post-retirement updates, a lot of us will be keen to see how it works out.

Karmacat

Marine_life wrote: »

I am no longer the wannabe.

I am done (or rather we are done).

Friday was my last day of full time work and after 31 years of work I am now hoping for at least 31 years of retirement.

I'm not sure how I feel yet.

But after almost seven years (since starting this thread) its time to put the plan into action.

:j:j:j Congratulations!

After working for 31 years, and working towards retirement for almost 7 years, I think its pretty healthy to say you're not sure how you feel. Take your time - I know you've posted your blog title up here (because I asked you to ) but do let us know when it goes live.

Lovely news.