Finding that balance

bugslet

chiefie wrote: »

All very interesting views thank you. For me the balance also includes the impact on health and stress. I find work more and more stressful, not finding the time to exercise enough and I drink far less when on holiday which in itself tells a story. But i do know that after 6 months maximum I will miss the high levels of social interaction and opportunities to solve issues. I won't miss the early morning get ups though ! Darn this dilemma - I can see part time or voluntary on my path.

As marlot says, it's about choices.

If you can retire early, you can then choose to take a part time job in an area that interests you. Or volunteer. Either way you still get that social interaction and time to do go to the gym/hike ten miles.

As I said, I still plan to work in a different field and less hours, but I can be really choosy.:D

robin61

marlot wrote: »

I'm now able to have that most wonderful thing - choices. I could stop work tomorrow if I really wanted to. But the financial picture looks better if I work another year or two. Will I be one of those people who always say 'just another year'? Maybe - but at least its through choice.

I can definitely relate to this. Last year I was finding work very stressful and had pretty much decided that if an early retirement scheme was offered in March 2017 then I was going to grab it.
However since then there has been a reorganisation and now my job is less stressful. I don't know how long that will last but as long as it does then I will probably just stick with it for another year at least. Unless of course I get an offer I just can't refuse.
In fact working a bit longer will mean I don't neceserally have to wait for an early retirement scheme to be offered. Although I'd obviously prefer to get this working a bit longer means I will be able to choose my time to go on my own terms if necessary depending on my health and well being.
I have been offered more responsibilities and it's been suggested that my job will be more secure if I take these on. However I know I will not enjoy this and that it will most likely be very stressful so I have said that I would rather just stick with my current role and if they decide they don't want me then fair enough.
As you say it is nice to have some choices. If I hadn't been putting extra into my pensions I would have felt under pressure to take the new role.

Triumph13

Kynthia wrote: »

The other issue is having children later. Those of us having children in our late 30s or early 40s will have children still finishing university and not yet on the property ladder as we enter our 60s. If you plan to assist with fees, deposits, weddings, etc then retiring before paying for any of it seems unlikely.

That's not the only impact of having your kids late. If we didn't have kids, we'd probably retire now - in line with the points made earlier about enjoying your best years rather than having more money but less healthy years to spend it. Our youngest has only just turned 11 though and as the main thing we want to do with our lives is travel, that completely changes the equation. We can't travel for another 8 years anyway until he finishes school, so it makes more sense to keep working for a few more years now, to have the funds to travel more when we are free to travel (and of course to help out the kids). Makes for a very tricky decision on when the call it a day.

ex-pat_scot

There's a natural caution in making sure that you will be OK.
£20,000 per year sounds fine, but then £21,000 would be a bit more comfortable etc... So you work another year. Repeat.

Then something comes along to shake you out of your rut.
It could be an internal opportunity: redundancy perhaps, or a restructure with a new weak manager.
It could be personal - the sudden loss of a friend or family member, or care responsibilities. (my uncle worked his socks off for early retirement, only to keel over aged 49. That was the siren call for all my uncles and aunts to reassess their own circumstances and most went early retirement soon thereafter).
It might be the call of the empty nest. My youngest will be 18 and off to university when I turn 56.

I suspect many hang on for fear that the decision to stop is a one-way door. It will for some, but then again if things turn financially difficult, there's always something to do to earn enough to top up your meagre retirement funds. I am lucky enough that I could go part -time contracting/consulting in my field, and earn enough in a couple of months to cover us for the year. Even if that's not an option, there'd be something low-stress and sociable I could hopefully do, as long as i retained sufficient health and didn't have care responsibilities.

I would split people into three groups:

- those with non-pension savings, who #can# stop any time, once they consider they have sufficient.
- those with savings built up in DC pensions, who can do the same but with a minimum access at 55 (at the moment...)
- those with DB schemes who cannot access earlier than scheme retirement age, or who cannot transfer (eg govt unfunded schemes). (These people might have AVC schemes alongside, which could be perhaps released ahead of scheme retirement age).

Depending on your own arrangements (marginal tax rates, company matching schemes etc etc), you may have a mix of the above, or have all your funds in one of three above groups.

The sensible approach would be a mix of all three if possible, to give max flexibility. Then it's down to your own risk appetite: how much you want, and how flexible you are willing to be in retirement, before you decide to go.