Everyday Ordinary Man Approaching Full Retirement at 59.

savingpennies

jh1407 wrote: »

I took early retirement 3 years ago at 55 after 30 years teaching.
And while it is generally frowned upon by 'experts', my simple calculations led me to having drawn my pension 5 years earlier than expected, the amount received over that time meant even with the reduction I would be 73 years old before I was out of pocket. I wasn't seeking mega financial gain, rather comfortably being able to afford life and maximise enjoyment of it while I could.


With the SP kicking in at 66 on top of the TP, and strengthening my position further, it would for me anyway have been madness not to take the opportunity to go.

OH and I did a similar calculation and I will start to 'lose out' around 77. With the SP at 66 and his, much larger FS pension, there didn't seem much point in waiting.

I certainly don't regret retiring but it does seem to bother other people. Colleagues always ask if I miss it. I never have, even when I pop in to say hello, I feel no regret. Friends and family ask what I do all day, yet, I constantly wonder how I found time to go to work, as I'm so busy doing things I want to do rather than have to do.

I do, however, think you have to plan your retirement, and I don't mean financially (though it is important). My OH and I talked a lot about what we wanted to do when we retired: how we would spend out time, holidays, personal ambitions, improvements to our home. One thing I did do before I finally finished work, was attend a pre-retirement day, courtesy of my employer, and I found it really imformative. Two of the sessions focused on financial planning, wills and trusts. But the first and for me the best session looked at the question of what are you going to do with yourself in retirement and will you be able to cope with being with your OH 24/7? Unnervingly, one lady in the audience declared that the first thing she was going to do was find a divorce lawyer! I still don't know whether she was serious or not.

fatbeetle

11 weeks work left!!!

More prezactly, 58 working days.

(The last 5 of which will be spent score settling and abusing those who deserve it, not working!)

skid112

Inspired me to begin my own countdown alas a few more days than 58. 507 to go

dunroving

Three days to go here. My last day of employment is September 30th, but my effective last day in the office is next Wednesday, as I have unused annual leave.

I wasn't planning on going this early, in fact the plan was to go 0.6 FTE part-time from this year for at least one more year. When I met with my line manager, she suggested I speak with the Dean as the university was running a small-scale voluntary severance programme. Bottom line was that VS put me in pretty much the same position financially as if I had worked one year part-time, so I decided to take the plunge.

It's 40+ years since I first stepped into a classroom and although the sudden end to my career leaves me with some sadness, I am overall taking a sanguine approach. Male members of my family rarely make it past 55 and in the end, I just decided to make the most of what I have left.

I'm off to Arran for a 4-day cycling trip after Wednesday, then on my first day of retirement, I'll be participating in a 68-mile cross-country cycling event. It wasn't originally planned that way but I think it is a fitting way to spend the first day of the rest of my life. ;-)

System

Well I have been 'retired' 11 weeks. I have spent quite a lot of that time sorting the house and garden. By sorting I mean tidying, throwing away and organising. To be honest I have always been organised and neat but it has been good to do things properly.


I have had a few lunches out and dinners with friends in the evenings. I have also booked 2 holidays next year, one to Gibraltar for four days in March and a longer one back to Cyprus next June. Booking in advance and out of school holidays really is so much cheaper. In fact we have booked Club Europe with BA rather than economy for less than we paid in economy last August!


I haven't been as free as expected owing to he fact that my mother is waiting for her knee replacement operation in October and my grandmother being 102 now needs a lot of care. We did investigate one or two residential placements but the costs are prohibitive. We have compromised by putting in place one or two week respite placements for the coming year in very nice places. Although you read in many forums about the freedoms to do as you want Family responsibilities do not simply disappear when you retire!


To be honest I found not going back to school in September quite difficult. I felt something was missing. I miss the staff and students very much. However, I can't say I missed the two INSET Days and all the other school politics. I also rather strangely do not like to say I am retired! I feel there is a bit more to do yet professionally. I am mulling that over at the moment.


I did attend results days which was great. I managed a 100% pass rate with good grades for Year 12 and Year 13 groups and my two GCSE groups also achieved some very good results. That gave me a big boost. I also enjoyed some farewell lunches with students off to university.


The Teachers Pensions Agency also have contacted me with a revised upwards pension, which was a bonus, place a small addition to my lump sum. They are doing a final check for me. To be honest they are very helpful and keep you informed!


I expect to be asked to do some occasional supply in the next couple of months plus some examination invigilation. Quite looking forward to that. I will also see if anyone contacts me for one to one tutoring from October.


I have also been busy with a few family visitors and as always the extended family don't allow me to rest on my laurels!
Today is a fairly quiet day having dropped off some weekend visitors at the ferry and just plan to walk the dogs this afternoon.


I have bought about 20 or so books recently to be read in the coming months. Some are just good old detective novels and others cover English History. I am also increasing my collection of some of the classics. Also plan to read some George Eliot, Flora Thompson and Elizabeth Gaskell!


Financial situation seems fine at the moment. I didn't quite hit my original savings/investment target but feel pretty secure. I will also earn some extra in the coming months. HMRC was very efficient at sorting out my tax code and putting the tax allowance on my pension. I have also received a rebate of about £300 which was another bonus.


Many thanks to all who have contributed recently despite my lack of entries! I always particularly enjoy reading the stories of others similar to myself in terms of situation and finance.


Hopefully the thread will continue to evolve. I want to challenge the dominance of the 'Self help thread. I am a widow. Coping, getting on with it' in a friendly way!! That is an amazing read!!!




Good day to you all.

pollypenny

I still miss the September buzz after 10 years. You're very lucky with your tax, Paul. HMRC had me earning my salary and a teacher's pension.

fatbeetle

Sometimes lady luck just smiles on you.

Last week;

I had lost the password to a small superannuation account I had paid into for a year, one which has been left alone unremarked on as it only had a very small sum in it. I asked for a new password; the nice young lady said; "Oh Mr Fatbeetle, do you know you have two accounts with us?" I didn't know that, I thought I only had the one, which had about £5,100 in it. She duly gave me the details of the other, and on opening it, I found it had another £3,360 in it. (I've had the two rolled into one, and will keep it maturing as a "emergency fund.)

Then, we paid our annual visit to our accountant, something which I've been doing over here, I just relied on PAYE in Blighty. He worked his magic, tossed figures about willy-nilly while we just sat and nodded and pretended we knew what he was going on about. He showed us the final workings, a tasty rebate of £5300.

Good things come in threes?

Our UK tenant gave her notice in, but when I logged onto my Lloyds account, I found we had one more month's rent than we had anticipated, plus some deposit money back; another £700.

How good is all that?

Plus; 9 week of work left to go!!

System

Evening everybody!
Would be great to have some updates from previous contributors. Fresh blood, ideas and comments always welcome. I will post another update myself later this month. Looking forward to hearing from you!!

dunroving

I have now been retired for two weeks and have spent the whole time flat on my back. Ironically I completely blew my back moving out of my office and transporting everything to my attic. I won't go into the medical details but for two weeks I have been unable to sit, and standing and walking are very uncomfortable.

The good news is that I have subscribed to Amazon Prime, have purchased a Fire stick, a Kindle Fire tablet, and an electronic subscription to the Times!

The blown back has just been bad timing but despite that, I am already appreciating the new time flexibility I have and occasionally have to remind myself what day it is! I think when I am back on my feet I will enjoy retirement.

fatbeetle

excelpaul wrote: »

Evening everybody!
Would be great to have some updates from previous contributors.

Suffice to say "6 weeks on Sunday".