Everyday Ordinary Man Approaching Full Retirement at 59.

DairyQueen

Paul,

I have been following your thread intermittently so I'm not sure if the suggestions below are of interest (or have been mentioned).

I am a little younger than you but have been an involuntary early retiree for some years. Boredom hit very quickly, and so did the need for more social/mental stimulation, so I returned to higher education and did a full-time masters. It was an excellent experience and one that I highly recommend. The cost may seem steep but it was a sound social and intellectual investment for me. There are all kinds of educational opportunities available and age is no barrier.

I also began volunteering three years ago. This has been a win-win as I have met many great people, and my social life has been further enriched whilst doing my bit for the community.

I am now pondering whether to join U3A and/or do something else educational.

Good luck with the job quest.

pollypenny

Join U3A! It’s great!

I did supply for my first year of retirement, but by the second year I was involved with so many U3A groups that I didn’t have time. We have made loads of friends.

Good excuse to turn down a maternity leave cover, with an inspection pending! The money would have been good, but there’s more to life.

crv1963

I'm still following the thread, still pondering if I should retire and do agency, find another role with my employer or try something completely different.


Looking forward to Easter weekend and going somewhere abroad with my youngest son for his 21st, quietly pleased he'd rather have a week with me than a party with his mates. Mind he has gone away to Amsterdam with them this weekend to celebrate! Still plan to just go to the Travel Agents on Thursday and see where we can go, simple rules- has to be hot (well hotter than UK), twin room and somewhere he hasn't been before!

BoxerfanUK

Hello everyone, hope you don 't mind me joining in this interesting thread, and thanks to excelpaul for starting it and being so open with your situation and thoughts.

A little about me. Just turned 59 and I will be retiring for good at the end of July after 35 years of public service, not in teaching I might add. Mrs Boxer is three years younger than me and although she has a responsible and stressful job at times, she feels she is not quite ready to put her feet up just yet, so I am going as the advance party to see what it 's like

I sort of retired once before, but didn 't, as due to the nature of my job I was fortunate enough to have the right to retire with an unreduced DB pension and 3x lump sum @ 55, which I did in early 2014.

With 41/80ths, I was 4 years short of my maximum attainable pension of 45/80 but the management role I was in was becoming increasingly stressful and I just wasn 't enjoying it anymore, so I took what was called formal retirement and was immediately re-employed with the same employer full time, but in a much lower grade and different job with ZERO stress.

My DB pension will be re-calculated at the end of July to add the extra 4/80ths, as well as some additional service payments. An added bonus is that due to reserved rights the extra 4 years will be calculated on my old salary before i took formal retirement in 2014, which was considerably more than my current salary, so win win. :j

Although I really do enjoy my current job, there just doesn 't seem to be enough hours left in the day to get everything done outside of work. In 2016 we moved house (last time hopefully) so I have plenty to do decorating, DIY and garden wise, plus we have two very lively dogs to walk which means that we take it in turns to get up at the crack of dawn to walk them before starting work, which is tiring for both of us at times. Me quitting work will relieve Mrs B of this duty and turn what at times can be a chore into a pleasure, especially with summer drawing closer.

So, as I really don 't need my salaried income I felt it was time to call it a day. Also, psychologically, for years I 've had it in my head that I was going to retire in my fifties, so it looks like I 'm just going to just scrape through :rotfl:

Financially we are in a good situation, no debts other than a mortgage which we are overpaying and is on target to be paid at the end of March 2020.

Even after I finish work, with Mrs B still working we will be able to save a considerable (for us) sum each month. She also contributes to a company DC pension, for which she is currently salary sacrificing. With her employer contribution she is paying in the maximum allowable per year at the moment and we are aiming for her pot to be worth around 250-300K in three or so years. When Mrs B comes to retire we do not plan to take an annuity, instead she will take the 25% TFLS and go into drawdown, drawing down just enough each month to stay within her tax free allowance.

I have to agree with some of the things excelpaul said at the start of his thread about some posters on the pensions board. When you read some of the numbers that some band around on there it can at times leave one feeling somewhat envious and inadequate, which, as Paul says is totally irrational. We have worked hard all our lives and struggled at times in the past but now thankfully it 's finally coming together so as said, we are thankful for what we have.

Because I 've worked shifts for years I 've tended to be the one that does the shopping, tidies the house and does most of the household chores, although I draw the line at ironing, and my toilet cleaning regime lacks some discipline as Mrs B keeps reminding me, so I will soon be getting in plenty of practice.

I have also decided to start playing Golf again. I used to play at least twice a week but have played very little over the last few years. Some of my current and former colleagues play quite regularly, so it will be nice to catch up with retired ex workmates and also hear the gossip from work from those still walking the Hamster wheel

We enjoy our holidays and have a holiday home in Northern (Turkish) Cyprus which we currently go to around 3 times per year, which is not really enough but one day for longer God willing. We are also hoping to go to Sri-Lanka next year for my 60th. We love Cyprus but it 's also nice to go somewhere different sometimes.

TBH, I was going to retire a little earlier in 2018 but I have been contracted out for most of my working life so if I want to achieve the maximum on the new state pension (66 for me) then I have to either work and pay NI or pay voluntary class 3 NI until 2022. Extending working until the end of July will credit me another full year NI stamp for the 2018/19 tax year, so I won 't have to start voluntary contributions until April 2019.

Although 31st July is my last official day, I will actually finish on 30th May due to the amount of hours and Annual leave I am owed, so I shall just sit at home while they continue to pay my salary for the last 9 weeks. HAPPY DAYS.

I 've enjoyed reading everyone 's thoughts, ideas and aspirations and although I will admit to having had one or two reservations at times as to whether i 'm doing the right thing, deep down I know that I am, as i 've never been the type to sit around and mope about.

There 's a new life ahead and I intend to grasp what I have left of it.
Right, that 's the end of my ramble [FONT=&quot]:beer: to all of you and keep your thoughts and ideas coming.[/FONT]

System

Hi Boxerfanuk
Welcome to the thread and many thanks for your informative and thoughtful post!

Savvy_Sue

crv1963 wrote: »

Still plan to just go to the Travel Agents on Thursday and see where we can go, simple rules- has to be hot (well hotter than UK), twin room and somewhere he hasn't been before!

If he hasn't been to any or all of the Canary Islands, may I commend them to your attention ...

Newly_retired

It is a few months since I posted on here. My position has not changed at all in the past year I.e I am still not managing to cross anything off my bucket list.
Last year I was involved in a local project which took up a lot of time, but is finished now. Over the winter I have not done much, and been quite content to spend time in the house. I have progressed with my family history.
But this weekend we had some decent weather at last and I am feeling cross with myself that I didn’t make the most of it. DH has not been very well so was not up to going out, as well as it being the first weekend of Formula One, which took care of Sat and Sun afternoons.
Maybe I am going to have to just do my own thing and leave him to do his. I can foresee a time when I may have to curtail my activities to look after him, so perhaps I need to do more now whilst I can.
I have booked a summer trip for us both and another one for myself later on, at least. I wish I had a friend to go with.

bugslet

Hello Boxerfan, good post. I hope it works out well for you and I do think starting retirement in the summer months ( whatever summer is!), must be a better introduction into retirement.

exelpaul, are there any interests that you could turn into a small paying hobby? As I've said before I think, I've wanted to do garden design for some time and always thought that as a small side business it would be enjoyable.

I did a retiring early thread on a womans forum I am on, mostly ladies that are older than me and the word that came up again and again, was structure. I think you are in the gap between finishing work and finding your retirement feet - I expect what you are going through to happen to me if/when I retire.

It's also quite interesting to see how many people in the FIRE community who do finish early, then end up going back to work in some shape or format.

LinBWales

Really fascinating thread, thank you. Reading through it has confirmed my decision to take early retirement in May next year, when I will be a few months off 57. I want to travel while I am still young enough to enjoy it and get around solo, but I also have arthritis which makes walking quite painful, and it is only getting worse. So I am making plans to spend some of my lump sum on paying off my mortgage and on a mammoth trip to Australia. I am lucky that this will still leave me with a reasonable pension that will cover my living expenses and still have enough left over.

I do want to work part time when I come back from my Australian trip, but not sure what I want to do. Any ideas welcome :-) I don't have to work but I think I may need a reason to get up at least a couple of mornings a week. I have lost both my parents in the last few years, and after dad died, I signed mum up to U3A which she really enjoyed. So I am also planning on exploring what they offer in my area.

I am also thinking about downsizing to release some more capital when I reach my 60s, as I am rattling round in a house that is really too big for one person.

Anyway all your very positive stories have given me hope that I am making the right decision. Spurred on by the deaths of several friends, all taken before their time, who never got to enjoy their retirements.

crv1963

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

If he hasn't been to any or all of the Canary Islands, may I commend them to your attention ...

Well I went down and we're booked for our holiday- flying from our local airport tomorrow, so no long drive before we go. We are off to Tenerife for a week.


There wasn't much choice- nor did I really expect there to be with it being the Easter weekend and the snow still coming down here. The travel agent explained to me probably the best deals are either book really early or 6-8 weeks before you fly.


Our choices were Turkey all inclusive or Tenerife self catering, being of the generation that needs mobile devices surgically removed my son chose Tenerife because there are no additional charges for using phones and it has free wifi! Not that I'm upset at going there at all, a chance to catch up with family out there and if we weren't going away I'd have to buy food anyway. All told including a 2 day pass each to a waterpark it's come in at a shade over £1700, but £100 in fees for designated seats and luggage and £90 for park tickets so not too bad, then a shade under £200 for Mrs CRV flights.


Looking forward to leaving the snow behind, and he's already planning our next jaunt abroad, he fancies taking a couple of long weekend city breaks between July and November. Mrs CRV is booked for a 5 night break at the end of April to visit her Dad in Tenerife so all round so far everyone is happy. Mind she did point out we've a 40kg luggage allowance as opposed to her 6kg allowance, but she wont have to wait for hers to be unloaded from the plane!


With all these trips I'm going to start my Christmas shopping, going to buy a couple of bottles of duty free and put them away. I nearly had another heart attack at the price of T-shirts and shorts, so a quick trawl of the charity shops locally meant that I now have a new holiday wardrobe for under £40, all designer labels, not that I am tight but really who pays £35 for a T-shirt?


Edit: Two phone calls from work offering overtime at double rates today and tomorrow! It could only happen to me, turned down so I can do my ironing and packing!