Regret retiring too early with not enough money?

susiem67

I carried on doing part time child-minding after I started getting my pension so we could save up for my husband to retire at 63 years and 9 months instead of 65. I retired altogether at 67. We don't have loads of money but can afford one nice holiday a year abroad and one in this country. If you think you'll be able to pay the bills and have a bit over, I'd go for it. My husband finds it much better to have the time and not be stressed travelling to work in long traffic jams and then trying to get his head round the ever-changing telecom industry. We are never bored - never!

Triumph13

Teacher2 wrote: »

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'.

That sounds more like a VSI grading - Very Satisfactory Indeed! Congratulations on attaining enlightenment.

dartmoorpete

No regrets. My father, his brother and their father all died in their mid 60s (of varying causes) and that was a clear sign for me that I should retire as soon as I could afford it. I retired at 56 with an employer's DB pension and decided to run down savings until a second DB pension from a past employer kicked in at 60. Did my sums very carefully. Worked out my outgoings, worked out how they would reduce when I stopped work (principally because we gave up the 2nd car) and worked out our joint net income after I'd stopped, and worked out the rate at which savings would be run down until the other pension kicked in. Got the figures right! I am now 61, and my wife has just stopped work having reached 60. Once retired I put more time into reducing bills like water (we switched to metered), gas, electricity and insurance. We also eat out less, but don't miss it. Spending the same on holidays as before.
But here's the thing. I owe my health to my early retirement. I wanted to lose weight and get fit, so I did a 'couch to 5k' programme and got fit, and at 59 went for a Well Man check at the GP surgery and as well as their routine tests (all fine) I asked for a PSA test and lo and behold I had prostate cancer (no symptoms) and have since had the op and I'm now all clear. If I'd still been working I wouldn't have been on the health kick, and wouldn't have discovered I had cancer until much later - and might well have died in my 60s like my father and his father.

sleepymans

k6chris wrote: »

I have been reading this forum for a few months now and finding it really useful. My personal circumstance is that I find myself increasingly wanting more time, with enough of a pension to comfortably survive, but not to go on the world boasting tours that many of my slightly older aquaintances appear to indulging in on a frequent basis. If I worked a little longer, I would have a few hundreds of pounds a month more, but still nothing that would get me into the premier league of droning on about what a great time I am having. I have plenty of dull and unintersting things I want to do, like walking, cycling, running and yellow sticker hunting at ASDA, but very few of these activities would allow me to post exotic photos on Facebook..... The received wisdom is I will be bored if I retire early (with not enough to boast about) and there is a part of me that thinks that there may be an element of truth in this! So (serious question) before I pull the plug and accept a retirement full of discount meals and knitting my own Tofu, does anyone regret not working those few extra years so they can afford M&S meal deals twice a week??

I looked at it that I was "paying" for more of my life to do what I wanted with...and found a balance which which I was comfortable
....Time or Money....thats really what it boils down to, No??

Kevin_Draper

Retired at 57, made redundant and decided to take the plunge and start to draw my DBS pension. Spent a lot of time calculating income/spends over the 9 years till my stat pension. The calculation isn't hard but you have to question your assumptions about essentials and luxuries. I would say don't get stuck in comparisons with other people's aspirations, be clear what YOU want.
For me it was a good decision, after 40 years committment to work it was time to put my family first. We discovered caravanning before i finished, and now we really enjoy it over the season, we've seen loads of places in uk. Winter is harder, had to find some indoor hobbies/work but that's ok.
Hope that helps.

atush

suescott4321 wrote: »

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.

Fantastic for you and I mean that!

But my father died in his 50's too (just after retiring early with a reduced pension). but had smoked like a chimney and i dont? He had lots of stress too.

Do you carry your father's lifestyle problems? Probably not, as you have increased your LE by losing 2 stone?

My MIL died at 95. Living 45 years on a pension, having worked less than 40 years is a huge ask if you live that long.

stellagazelle

Very interesting posts thank you. I am lucky because I enjoy my job. I thought I had retired two years ago as left what I thought would be my last job (60 this year) so I had a trial run at retirement. It was very easy to fill the time. But in my opinion I squandered it - nothing to show after 6 months. I find when I am working I'm more careful in valuing my time. The money wasn't a problem as I lived on savings. Still managed a 2 week trip to India plus skiing as the rest of the year was lived very frugally. It's nice not being at anyone's beck and call. But when I got this job I was thrilled. Sad isn't it how some people like to work in an office? But each to his own. If you do retire you could always try for another job if you got bored.

tcb-05

My husband and I retired early and have no regrets. We used our savings and had to be careful with our money until we were eligible for our state and company pensions. Now with our mortgage paid and a regular pension income we are lucky and have no financial worries. We make the most of our time and enjoy our family, our hobbies/interests and several holidays a year with our touring caravan.

Retire as early as you can and enjoy your free time to do what you want.

Your interests are not dull or uninteresting - they are very positive and will keep you fit.

If you work longer and earn more money, the taxman will gladly take even more off you.

When you retire it’s important to: keep active; keep your mind busy and have a social life. So why not join your local U3A (University of the Third Age) which is a co-operative run by its members to share their skills and life experiences. If you haven’t got a local one then why not start one? Visit the National U3A website for more details about the organisation and its aims and principles. (The link is not allowed here so I suggest you type U3A in your search box and then look for “University of the Third Age - Homepage” in the results and go to that). You will have the opportunity to join interest groups which provide a mix of educational and social activities and above all you will make friends. Once you join and get involved you will wonder how you ever had the time to go to work.

Holidays? Every day can be a holiday when you retire. Holidays abroad are a magnet for some and, as already mentioned by some contributors, a topic for bragging - yawn! Doing a world tour or travelling to exotic locations are not compulsory - the UK is a wonderful place to holiday in with its varied and beautiful scenery and locations. Granted the weather sometimes lets us down but keep an umbrella or a waterproof handy and you will be fine.

Don’t worry about money as you really do not need a lot to have a good retirement - time is far more precious. Give up the rat race and enjoy a long, happy and fulfilled retirement. Turn your back on the boasters and instead celebrate enjoying each and every day

Murphybear

I retired early at 57 because of health issues. Nearly 8 years ago. I don't have expensive hobbies such as cigarettes, drinking or expensive mobile phones . and between state pensions and works pensions we have a reasonable income.

We don't go abroad but do like holidaying in the UK, so many fabulous things to see. We live in a lovely part of the country, mid Devon, so it's a bit like being on holiday all the time.

Like the previous poster we are active members of U3A, 2 different groups, and have made some good friends. Unfortunately can't do a lot of walking but lots of cerebral activities such as bridge, scrabble, mah Jong etc and I play croquet in the summer.

Because of health issues I don't expect to live to my 80s but make the most of my time and like a lot of others have said, wonder how I ever found the time to work:p

michaels

Thanks for all those giving their success stories. What would help if not too personal would be ballpark numbers for the annual income that supports each model of retirement and even how this and the lifestyle compared to that enjoyed whilst working. Thanks.