Can O/h and I afford early retirement ?

NAR

What about your second property, would selling it bring you a big profit? If so that may be a better option to allow you to have a good lifestyle while the two of you are able. You will still own your current property.

How many stories have we all heard of people working to pension age and then dying within the first 5 years. What good is the money to you then?
Remember this is money you have worked for and should enjoy, not for others to enjoy when you have gone!

nearlyrich

I am sort of in the opposite position, my DH has been retired for almost 5 years and I have over 20 years to go officially. I am currently planning to retire at 55 but it might be earlier if my wealth building plan goes well.

You can never tell how long your health will last and there are lots of exciting things to do apart from work. I hope you enjoy your trip to Oz, it might just help to persuade him to retire.

balmaiden

Well 12 months down the line and what on earth was I worrying about?

Everything is working out so well, O/h finished work three months ago and is as happy as Larry. I have just reviewed our budget and we are coming in at £150 a month under estimate, so plenty of room to accomodate the predicted fuel increases.

What do we do with our time? I have no idea but we seem to be as busy as ever, but busy doing what we enjoy doing. One of the reason that we are under budget is the fact that we have made our garden far more productive. At the moment we are eating potatos, peas, french beans, spinach, khol rabi,carrots courgettes, lettuce, spring onions and rasberries all from the garden. The greenhouse toms are nearly ready as are the cucumbers and peppers.

We are going for many long walks in and around where we live. We are very fortunate that we live in such a beautiful area. My wonderful husbands health is improving all the time.( Despite being a life time non smoker he has been diagnosed as having c.o.p.d.)

Catching up with all the books that I have been wanting to read for such a long time ( from the library, of course) Visiting friends for a leisurely coffee and a chat. Time to go to all of the school plays/sports days/ fetes at my Granchildrens' school. Hmmm perhaps I do know what I do with my time!

In short just an update to say that if anyone is contemplating early retirement on a much reduced income( in our case we are living on one third of what we were living on three years ago ) go for it, life is wonderful.

[Deleted User]

Ahh I know you`re not joking bogof, I did lots of spreadsheets and the nitty gritty is that it is a lot cheaper than appears on the spreadsheets. We are having a day out tomorrow and looked up train tickets but too expensive at £28 return each so we`ll be using our bus passes and having a nice day out in abergavenny as we have all day. Another Ahhhh this is the life. Lol I am still in dressing gown, about to have a coffee, outside on the patio in the sun,then a leisurely shower

missile

Thanks for the up date. It is so nice to hear your good news

lilac_lady

Isn't retirement great? Here I am on my PC instead of doing other stuff but IT'S MY CHOICE! The best thing about retirement is that you decide what you want to do, no-one else. I do a bit of voluntary work, look after my DGS one day a week and the rest of my time is mine. I've become a lady who lunches and it's fabulous. Mind you, the secret is no mortgage and no debt and as other posters have said "cutting your cloth". To those who put off retiring because they think they'll not be able to cope without working - try it - you'll be too busy to think about work.

[Deleted User]

Oh yes lilac lady, you hit the nail on the head. No mortgage and no debt and I`ll add my pennyworth, savings in the bank. It was hard in the early days but by golly it was worth it. No-one thinks about post 60 when they are 35 but some of us had our heads screwed on.

missile

I always envied those who claimed to enjoy working. For sure, I miss the challege but not the office politics.

dwileflunker

missile wrote: »

I always envied those who claimed to enjoy working. For sure, I miss the challege but not the office politics.

A bad days retirement is better than a good day at work anytime! Don't let anyone tell you different.

Barnabysue

Early retirement is something that my Husband and I have discussed recently too. He is 61 and always dreaded the thought of retirement but a recent heart attack followed by a triple bypass has changed everything. Thankfully he is well on the road to recovery and will shortly be returning to work, but retirement seems a lot more compelling now. He is 7 years older than me and I fall into the changeover from 60 - 65 for women, so cannot officially retire until I am 63 and 7 months. I would like to retire when he reaches 65, I will then be 58, hopefully it will be possible. A health scare certainly makes you rethink your priorities.