Early-retirement wannabe

Snakey

I may have already posted on this subject but I moved in to my "forever home" in my early forties! It's an ex-council flat which means good layout, decent-sized rooms and plenty of natural light. The only step in the vicinity is my front door step, and presumably I can turn that into a ramp if I need to. It's literally over the road/round the corner from: supermarkets (plural), Superdrug/Boots, doctors, opticians, post office, library, pub, even a serviced launderette should things get really dire in the self-sufficiency stakes.

What makes the above a bit of a nonsense is that I hope it will be 30-40 years before things like the existence of a step causes me a problem, and a) who knows what the area could be like by then (as people have already said), but more importantly b) who knows what technology will be able to do for us by then?

35 years ago we were all just buying our first microwave, video recorder, ZX Spectrum, and getting used to the breathtaking excitement of breakfast television, a fourth TV channel, and *gasp* this newfangled continental quilt or "doo-vay" which would replace our top sheet, blankets and bedspread! Compact discs were being spread with strawberry jam on Tomorrow's World to demonstrate their advantages over vinyl records and we were being reassured that although the process of playing one involved a laser we weren't in any danger. (I may be a couple of years out in my memory of all this, but not much.) If you transported back to 1983 and showed somebody a smartphone with video-calls and the internet, they'd be astounded. Even internet shopping, which we completely take for granted. Heck, even self-service tills and contactless payments!

In that timescale in the future I don't think things like robo-carers, remote monitoring, meaningful artificial intelligence etc are as far-fetched as they seem at first shout. So, even if I'm not the spry, sprightly, fully-marbled old dear that I fondly assume I will become but in fact end up needing help getting out of bed or moving further than a shuffle or remembering to drink enough water, it might not be that limiting.

If I were 66 today rather than 46 I'd be planning based more on "today's technology" mind you.

I will update my POA in about twenty years' time to nominate whichever of my nieces and nephews appears the best bet to advocate for me should things go downhill. And because there's only me, the instant I go in to a home my flat can be sold to pay for it, so that's OK. Should fund 7-10 years' worth of something nice, and if I need any more than that then I'd probably have been stuffed no matter how long I'd carried on working.

(If anybody wants to look after me at home in return for being able to inherit what I would have spent on nursing care, that'll be fine too. But I am absolutely not expecting it. I am also under no illusions about the ability of a well-meaning amateur to care for an elderly person with, potentially, complex needs and the massive drop in their own quality of life that it would entail.)

DairyQueen

Snakey wrote: »

I
35 years ago ...

In that timescale in the future I don't think things like robo-carers, remote monitoring, meaningful artificial intelligence etc are as far-fetched

35 years ago my grandmother died peacefully after a long stay in what was then known as the 'geriatric ward' of her local hospital. This is now known as 'bed-blocking'. Her stay was preceded by a couple of years in sheltered accommodation, and that was preceded by several years of full-on family support in her home.

I suspect that her end-life care would now be provided in an LA-funded care home. Otherwise, spot the difference.

Yep, we've come a long way.;)

Enjoyed your post but could you envisage childcare progressing in the same way?

TARDIS

DairyQueen wrote: »

The experience of our ageing parents has ensured that Mr DQ and I have a laundry list a mile long of requirements for our final home and we will move there long before Mr DQ's 75th birthday.

Many of these requirements are not considered until you need them. Anyone care to add to my laundry list? Currently:

- No steps/stairs
- Ground floor with parking as close as possible to the front door
- Large wet room
- A loo close to the living areas
- Wide doorways and halls, no cills
- Large kitchen and living room (separate as we hate open-plan living areas)
- Size of rooms more important than number
- No garden other than a large, private terrace/balcony and no house maintenance
- En suite loo minimum
- Eye level oven
- Separate utility with top-loader washer and drier (do such things exist in the UK?)
- Lots of storage
- Daily 'check' visit from caregiver
- 24/7 emergency response provided by (very) local service
- All levels of self-funded care and support available very locally.

We are considering something like this.

Anyone have any experience of this kind of retirement village? Expensive and not a great investment other than, possibly, in quality of life, but that's our priority.

I live just round the corner from one of the retirement villages you've linked to and work in this area so know people who have lived there.

The difficulty is you can't plan for every eventuality. In general these places are geared to supporting people with physical disabilities and predictable needs. If you are unlucky enough to develop severe cognitive disabilities or mental health problems it might not be the right place.

Also they tend to be out of town so you need to factor taxis into your costs and if you need a wheelchair taxi book this well in advance as there is a shortage in most areas and are often not reliable time wise.

That said, I wish everyone put as much thought into their potential future needs as you as it would make my job much easier. In my experience your parents decision making methods are more the norm.

TARDIS

And I'd also add living reasonably close to your POA to your list. I've seen people struggle to do it at a distance.

LHW99

If you transported back to 1983 and showed somebody a smartphone with video-calls and the internet, they'd be astounded.

Thunderbirds had iWatches back in the mid-60's! :rotfl:

Nebulous2

We've been thinking a lot about retirement recently. There is a feeling that any decisions made now need to be right. When you're younger it is easier to row back and change your mind, but it is more difficult now.

I had an acquaintance who retired, did part-time work, then retired completely. He sold the big house, bought a retirement flat and a mobile home near the seaside and his favourite golf course. He also sold his big car and bought a small one. I was impressed with the level of thought he put in and the lack of sentimentality attached to his decisions.

We stay in a place where house prices are very compressed, a lot of people want to stay there, but affordability tails off for many people. Families also often move out to a nearby commuter town. A 3-4 bedroom house can be £250-300k but a modern 2 bedroom flat can be £220k. So downsizing doesn't seem sensible. We could lose a lot of amenity and space and free up very little cash.

We've just bought a second home around an hour's drive away which is a much cheaper area. It is in a market town which has succeeded in keeping most of its facilities, where smaller surrounding villages have lost a lot of shops, banks, GPs etc. We're testing it out on holidays and weekends to make sure we enjoy living there with a view to retiring there. The plan would be to sell our main home at that point, buy a motorhome and spend most of the winter touring in France, Spain, Portugal, with summers here.

OldMusicGuy

DairyQueen wrote: »

I am seeking ways to incentivise him into retirement but have (so far) spectacularly failed. If I suggested any kind of retirement (DIY) project he would batten down the employment hatches. He works very hard but, after 40 years, his job/career are so much a part of his identity and lifestyle hat he is struggling to imagine life after work, let alone plan for the inevitable. So much so that he has recently been offered the chance to supplement his 3-day working week with consultancy. He grabbed the opportunity.

If the markets keep rising it won't be long before he hits his LTA

As you are a recent retiree from a similar (I think) employment background any suggestions on how I can help prepare him?

This is the key to the whole "early retirement" conundrum. I think Mr DQ may sound more like Marine Life, who started this thread, rather than me. It's back to the whole question about what you want to do with your life.

I fell into the corporate world and IT industry by luck more than judgement. As my online name implies, I originally wanted to be a musician. So my personality in my 20s was focused on music and making a career in the music biz. I was rather "alternative" in my outlook and the job was literally just a job to earn money to finance playing in a band. However, that failed and gradually the day job became my career and as I fell into the IT software industry, I found out I liked that world and made a good career in it, ending up in a well-paid but high pressure job.

I became increasingly disillusioned with work about 2 to 3 years ago and that was the point at which I decided on early retirement. I could have changed jobs but instead I decided to stick it out where I was (for some financial reasons) and then give it up completely. Although I was a bit of a "name" in my industry, I never felt fully defined by my work, because (as the song goes), music was my first love. Also my wife is not a "corporate" wife so doesn't enjoy mixing with high-powered corporate types and was feeling increasingly that I was becoming "one of them". Finally, as our only son has just moved out, we are now empty-nesters and I think we both felt that me carrying on working would create an increasing divide between us.

All of these things made early retirement a no-brainer for me, but that's because of my personality and our circumstances. I have many other interests as well that are nothing to do with the IT world. So I have made a complete break and left it all behind with no regrets, but I wanted to make that break. I have several colleagues that have not, I know a number that just love the high-flying corporate life, and others that would find being retired too boring. One ex-colleague started a "lifestyle" consulting business and plans to keep doing that as long as he possibly can.

So I think unless Mr DQ reaches his own realization that he needs to give it up, it will be hard to convince him otherwise. Marine Life found he gave it all up too early. All I can suggest is that maybe create some joint plans that you can work toward at some point that will encourage him to wind work down. Maybe encourage him to focus just on the consulting side of things as a lifestyle business (ie do as much or as little as he wants).

crv1963

I think there is not a huge amount that you can do to get Mr DQ to look at retirement, maybe try to re-package the idea? I had an uncle who had a fear of retiring, thought he'd end up dead very quickly. My Aunt suggested he/ they buy a bigger house in a town he liked visiting and refurbish it, as an ongoing project, join the Parish Council and put his energies into that.


He did so much volunteering he filled most of his week, but she did get to see him of an evening as he wasn't flying all over the world anymore, but her thoughts of long holidays and days out never materialised.


My own Dad retired, went back to work until he was 73. Sadly he didn't get a long retirement nor did my uncle. Maybe their examples are what drives me to try to go before I'm 60?

LeadFarmer

I'm lucky I guess in that my employment gives me the option of early retirement at age 50 (i'm age 46), but with a much reduced pension. I will take this option as I really hate my job and it isn't doing my health any good. Four years isn't a long time to wait is it, but when you're in a job you hate its an eternity. I envy those who love their job.

Ive been overpaying on my mortgage for the last 10yrs so that early retirement should coincide with my mortgage being paid off.

I aim to get some comparatively stress free part time work to top up my reduced pension. With my mortgage paid I won't have to earn as much to be in a similar financial position to what I'm in now.

Thats the plan anyway! But life has a habit of getting in the way doesn't it!

atush

A DC pension alongside the mtg overpaying wouldnt go amiss.