Regret retiring too early with not enough money?

bigadaj

Triumph13 wrote: »

It can become trickier as you get more advanced in your career if the problem is with the career rather than the particular employer. When the choice is to suck it up for a few more years, or to take a massive pay cut by changing completely to something you hope will be better, then the devil you know can be much more attractive.
The people who are really shafted in that position are the ones who have allowed their lifestyles to inflate along with their salaries and now have a complete dependence on the job they hate.

Yes it amazes me how many people live at if not slightly beyond their means, to me that's just added pressure for a few shiny baubles that are supposed to impress people you don't like, and you rapidly become sick of.

I have huge sympathy for people struggling by, particularly with excessive rents and associated living costs, but so many people take having money in their bank account as a target to spend before the end of the month.

I opened a regular saver with nottingha building society early last year, and the guy processing it said he hadn't been there long. I asked what he'd done before and he said he'd been made redundant from a payday lender. When I said the new job was better and it must have been depressing working for the sub prime lender he laughed and said that the majority of their lending was to medium and high income people, with a new build executive home and beemer in the drive, who just didn't control their finances but got by without savings.

michaels

Triumph13 wrote: »

It can become trickier as you get more advanced in your career if the problem is with the career rather than the particular employer. When the choice is to suck it up for a few more years, or to take a massive pay cut by changing completely to something you hope will be better, then the devil you know can be much more attractive.
The people who are really shafted in that position are the ones who have allowed their lifestyles to inflate along with their salaries and now have a complete dependence on the job they hate.

It is not that simple. I could try a different job on half the salary which is what we live on and then I would have to work another 20 years before retirement rather than 9-10.

Perhaps it would be worth it if I knew I would be spending 20 years enjoying every day rather than 10 years not but suppose it was just a change to 20 years doing something I didn't enjoy much how would that be a win?

badmemory

Doesn't it depend on whether it is actually the job you hate or the people you are forced to interact with? For me, apart from less than a year, it was always the people who could make the whole thing miserable. It was usually people whose home life was miserable, usually with a lack of power over their own personal lives, who needed to find someone to dominate or make unhappy too.

Once I realised that life got a lot easier!

silverwhistle

atush wrote: »

Not to pick on you, but having re read that- you are picking on them.

Well, perhaps I should have said those without kids like myself, as I appreciate that with them all bets are off.

I don't find the South coast particularly cheap, and again I have assumed that people have sorted out their accommodation. Do you want a complete list of my assumptions if it helps make the general point I was making more acceptable?

I'll paraphrase: you can have a comfortable life with a lot less than some people on here are worrying about. You may have missed my acknowledgement that many have even less and survive quite well.

silverwhistle

Wenlock wrote: »

I do struggle to understand what on earth some people on this board could possibly spend such vast sums of money on.

Careful! I made a similar comment and somebody pounced on it.
Then again I'd say that your income is a bit less than I'd like to have to manage on but could. I think perhaps that the issue is some people genuinely couldn't adapt.

I'm not sure I ever chose not to have kids, but was never in a suitable situation, and my assumption that an Immaculate Conception would not occur proved correct...

Part time work might help you, although I'm not sure the daily discipline of dog walking which somebody suggested would be one I chose! I do occasional language lessons (and even more occasional translations) from the comfort of my desk at home via Skype. One of them is from someone from the place where I'm going on holiday, so that should save some foreign exchange costs. You have to make savings where you can!

atush

Thrugelmir wrote: »

Life is what you make it. Your personal objectives seems way above a pure subsistence level. This in itself adds stress and worry.

I disagree- living at subsistence level would make me stressed out.

suescott4321

My dad was 51 when he died suddenly & unexpectedly from a heart attack, I was 18 years old. He never got the chance to retire, which made me determined to save up to be able to retire at 50, if I wanted to. In 2015 I had enough money to retire at 48 1/4 which I did. I will get my work's pension at 60, so I worked out how much I would roughly need. The last year has been tough with unexpected family problems and I would have struggled to find time to work. I have not been bored and am looking forward to some me time this year although I have improved my health by losing 2 stone ☺. No one knows what the future holds, but if you really want to retire and you have a think about what you want to do and think you can afford it - then why not. Worse case scenario you might need to do a bit of volunteering if you get bored (I doubt you will), or find yourself a little job if your money doesn't go as far as you planned. Good Luck.

loops298

I took early retirement last year aged 53. It's the best decision ever. I was hating being in my workplace as politics (small p) was destroying what had been an enjoyable job.

I have now survived a year on my pension which was considerably less than I earned and have finished the year a couple of hundred pounds better off than when I retired, and I have not stopped doing anything I did before. I decided I wanted to try and continue as before to see if it was possible to manage and it was. By not working by default I save on petrol costs (daily commute of 22 miles), coffee and lunches in the office and no longer have to spend my time with people I can't stand. I now have a choice of who I spend my time with. :j

Don't forget that once you start receiving your pension there are no NI payments on it, plus now, the majority of my pay is outside tax. So although my annual pension is a about 1/3 of what I earned, my take home is just under half.

I have two (very) part time Zero hours contract jobs on minimum wage, that suit me down to the ground. I vowed that I would only do work that I wanted to do. I invigilate at a local school and I do event marshalling, both I would probably do for nothing, being paid is a bonus! I am now in charge of my life and can do what I want to do and I can honestly say I have still not been bored. My plan on retiring was to decorate the house - oh well, there's always tomorrow!

I do have a savings account as a holiday fund which was built up prior to retiring, funded by money that had previously gone to pay for my mortgage before I paid it off. I have still had two holidays and a few weekends away. Once you are retired you have the time to search for the holiday deals which you didn't before :T

Teacher2

I had to retire early from teaching due to stress and lost a quarter of my pension by so doing. I was lucky to be encouraged to do so by a spouse who was still earning and I cut down my expenditure drastically to live on next to nothing.

Many of my friends were retiring teachers and senior school management who retired on full and very generous final salary pensions of £thousands more than I left with and they 'live the dream' often going for exotic cruises two or three times a year while I stay quietly at home.

I can't say I have regretted leaving early for one minute. My life is filled with dull, cheap and free occupations like walking, reading, cooking and looking after the house and garden and I am very happy. In fact I feel like a different person now that the pressure and stress have been 'detoxed' by a calm and demand-free life. Now, I OFSTED myself and I never aim, like before, for a 'good' to 'outstanding' grading but instead am happy with a 'satisfactory'.

Yesterday I reprised Christmas dinner with the last of the turkey and made some Rocky Road confectionary with some knock-down chocolate to the delight of my dear husband and such small pleasures are, indeed, 'satisfactory'.

I certainly do not miss the travelling and holiday-ing lifestyles of my peers. It seems to me that they are often stressed by the exigencies of foreign travel and dwell on delays, customs, food and sun allergies, viral and bacterial infections, expenses, odd food and so on. They seem often to drop their good friends in favour of 'new best friend' shipboard acquaintances which seems a shame to me.

I think you will enjoy retirement and I think, from what you write, that you can live without the luxury lifestyle. However, I'd say the biggest danger is in running through your money too quickly. You will need a good emergency fund, not for cruises, but for if the car or the boiler breaks down or you need some urgent health or dental treatment.

If my husband is made redundant or forced to cut his hours we will be in a bit of a pickle for the six years before our state pensions kick in.

It's always about the money in the end!

[Deleted User]

Last two posts are excellent :j Thank you to the posters (thanks button not working for me)