Four working days to go before early retirement! How did you feel at this stage?

jim8888

I posted earlier in this thread in January, just after I had been made redundant. I was in a state of mild euphoria then at the prospect of never having to work again. Since that point, as other posters noted, there has been quite a bit of adjustment (mostly for my darling other half!) but all in all I've been enjoying it. The time has absolutely flown by with never (or hardly) a dull moment. The biggest pressure I've found is feeling that I should be "doing something" work wise. Headhunters call, friends ask what I'm doing with my time and I constantly ask myself if some sort of retirement is the "right" choice. Ideally I'll find some part time work and settle down but, if I'm honest with myself, I think I'd prefer to be retired! All the same, it seems that I can't quite get comfortable with that notion yet...:)

gfplux

Hello Jim,
I certainly felt the same. It is because we are defined by what we do. Hang in there, resist the headhunter, resist the lure of work. In time you will get used to enjoying retirement and that nagging feeling of guilt will disappear.
For me now 17 years later of very enjoyable retirement I look back at those early months and am so glad I just stayed 100% retired.

brewerdave

@jim8888 - the annoying thing that I found after being forced into early retirement (thru redundancy & no jobs available at 59), was that the "head hunters" only phoned AFTER I had made irrevocable decisions about my largest pension:rotfl:

melanzana

jim8888 wrote: »

I posted earlier in this thread in January, just after I had been made redundant. I was in a state of mild euphoria then at the prospect of never having to work again. Since that point, as other posters noted, there has been quite a bit of adjustment (mostly for my darling other half!) but all in all I've been enjoying it. The time has absolutely flown by with never (or hardly) a dull moment. The biggest pressure I've found is feeling that I should be "doing something" work wise. Headhunters call, friends ask what I'm doing with my time and I constantly ask myself if some sort of retirement is the "right" choice. Ideally I'll find some part time work and settle down but, if I'm honest with myself, I think I'd prefer to be retired! All the same, it seems that I can't quite get comfortable with that notion yet...:)

Best of luck Jim!

As I am now very nearly a year into early retirement, I can only say that it is still fantastic!

The transition for me was seamless, much to my surprise, and like yourself, I have been bombarded with offers of this and that kind of consultancy associated with my former job.

But I said at the outset that I would do absolutely NOTHING for a year and relax and get the old job out of my system.

That has been the best decision ever. I will not do any more "work" related stuff. Been there, done that. I won't say never again, but it is highly unlikely at this stage anyway!

I am amazed at how the time has flown. I really don't know how I ever worked! How did I get things done at all?

But I think time flattens a bit when you are retired. You have all the time in the world to do things, so time flies. That sounds ridiculous, but if we think about that word "procrastination", that might explain how time flies. "Ah, I will do that tomorrow, I have all day, then tomorrow is busy, and then it's the next day and so on!

And travel. Do not get me started. I am grounded for a few weeks. My choice. But mid May I can see a few bargains, so off I will go, mostly "staycations" but that is great, I was so busy going here there and everywhere abroad, that I now realise there is so much to be explored at home!

Sit back, relax, enjoy. This is what you worked for for all those years.

I wish you health and happiness in abundance. You deserve it.

atush

Good to hear how it is going.