Get a grip woman!

Busy_Mee1

Happy Retirement Suffolk Lass, I imagine that it will take a while to feel "real".

It is a shame that it has started with you being ill but at least you haven't had to phone in sick or worry about work. You will actually get the chance to recover properly, rather than feeling under pressure to get back to work.

I am rather jealous that you get to be retired on your own for a bit before Mr Suffolk retires...it will be the other way around for us and of course once Mr Mee has retired there will be no cheeky days off on my own anymore.

I would imagine booking your holidays outside of school holidays will be a lot cheaper...we avoid school holidays like the plague. Prices are generally better in June and from September onwards.

Busy_Mee1

PS I will be interested to hear about your experience with CS Pensions...how efficient are they and have you got what you were expecting.

Karmacat

Busy_Mee1 wrote: »

It is a shame that it has started with you being ill but at least you haven't had to phone in sick or worry about work. You will actually get the chance to recover properly, rather than feeling under pressure to get back to work.

Absolutely, and that shouldn't be underestimated

I would imagine booking your holidays outside of school holidays will be a lot cheaper...we avoid school holidays like the plague. Prices are generally better in June and from September onwards.

Agree with this too - though now, of course, you have options :j
Maybe you could have a fairly small break immediately after retirement - an airbnb apartment somewhere comparatively local to you - and then do the holiday you'd normally do in September - the two might only cost the price of the one you normally take in the month you normally take it!

enthusiasticsaver

Shame you spent the first week of your retirement convalescing but at least you did not have to worry about phoning in sick or catching up with work etc. Hopefully you will soon be on the mend.

As your DH retires in July I think I would book a holiday for September or October after the schools have gone back. It will be cheaper and quieter. Mine was a LGPS and I got my first pension payment and the lump sum at the end of my first month of retirement. I had taken all my leave though so if you are on leave now and your official retirement is a few weeks off I would think you will have to wait until a month after that. They cannot officially crystallize the pension until you actually reach your retirement date. You will also probably be due a tax rebate.

Suffolk_lass

Thanks all, I think there are a couple of other things to consider regarding the holiday. We use a particular Villa - the same one every year, and the owner no longer rents it out. I know he spends most of September there himself, along with his children and grandchildren - so the question of availability is thereabouts to fit in with others.

Then we have a camping trip planned when DH first finishes, the timing of which is people's birthdays and wedding anniversaries, so that won't be moving.

And then there is the blues festival where we would like to meet up with friends. They don't live too far from us but we meet them in Italy, more than locally. Maybe we will try to accommodate those dates too. You know, this might be our last big school holidays trip after all!

I will let you know re the pension BusyMee1 - so far they have responded exactly when I expected and with exactly the figures I expected. I took the precaution of sending through my quote acceptance paperwork by recorded delivery so I am hopeful all will go smoothly. I put my paperwork in at the end of August but then heard nothing beyond the HR Department confirmations until the first week of December - so exactly 2 months before. I was following a friend and colleague who was finishing on 31st Dec (early) (- I tried to talk her into tweaking her dates so she got paid for the Bank Holiday but she just wanted out) - anyway mine tracked hers almost exactly to the day. We shall see if I also get the remaining paperwork and payments as she did. Only just over a week left to R-day.

Suffolk_lass

Well time for a bit of an update!

We (well Mr Suffolk!) repaired the door of the Tumble Dryer after the replacement parts came from Whitegoods.co.uk. I like them. They are quick to respond to questions and take the trouble to explain. I bit of old-fashioned customer care from an on-line provider in the UK. Total cost £65 for the parts, versus £85 for a whole replacement door and £306 if I had replaced the whole item. I am happy with that.

Thing 2 - DH ordered a replacement part for the "disposable" LED light in the sitting room. We have had these for about 3-4 years and it appalled me that they seemed to be deemed as disposable. Mr Suffolk did the business and for a £10 part it is back and working - much more satisfying than finding a replacement. I did a fair bit of research in the meantime and I really think the lighting industry needs to be a lot more innovative and less disposable!

Then at the weekend, a warning light came on in my car. No indication of what that was, it did not seem to be listed in the manual. We stopped on the way home from town, to set up a regular egg order with my neighbour who now has 65 laying hens in the woods behind the field at the back of our garden. Lovely local free-range girls. Anyway, the car would not start. One of my neighbours was walking her dog and said she would despatch her DH to help but then the neighbour with the chickens got back and immediately offered his jump-leads. That worked. I am so lucky with neighbours. Both of them. So kind. Then DH put my battery on charge. It started fine on Monday but I have not been out yet. Today is the day to test it!

I will do more of a financial update later. Ahead of my last pay packet I have been rather frugal this month and very much making up dinners with what is on hand.

Busy_Mee1

Thanks for the update on your pension Suffolk Lass, that is really helpful. I will be watching with interest to see how you get on both financially and personally with retirement.

We are not far behind you and any tips would be most welcome. I have already clocked the bank holiday advice, as my Birthday falls in April so potentially Easter, and the two May Bank Holidays to think about.

It sounds like Mr Suffolk has been earning his keep :T

Karmacat

Lots of repairs happening together! I'm loving the mending and the co-operating, that sounds so positive.

Suffolk_lass

A further update. My car behaved itself immaculately today, with a 100 mile round trip. I also refuelled it - shocking price of diesel! Never mind, it is quite economical and I enjoy driving.

I received my Pension benefits statement today, confirming my slightly reduced pension and my slightly increased lump sum. Who knows if it was the right thing to do, but the extra lump sum is there when we need it to pay off the mortgage, and if the income cash flow proves to be too tight, we can free up £500 a month by paying it out.

I have also just been paid back by DS after his financial emergency so when the credit card clears on 10th Feb it will all be done and dusted. It does mean the CC bill is a bit too close to £2500 for my liking but my motor insurance, his motor insurance, and his skiing holiday are all in that total. At least our bit of help has avoided him paying any interest and he does appear to be being particularly responsible at the moment!

I decided not to leave the money lying around so I paid another £1300 or so off the mortgage. It is under £59k now. Little steps.

Suffolk_lass

Payday for me today. The last one. Slightly lower than normal because my last big travel claim was taxable and this has been taken off (at 40% :eek:).

Anyway, there feels like an air of finality about the whole thing and Monday is my actual last day, despite finishing over two weeks ago, it has been hols since then.

I talked through hols plans for this year with DH and we hope to go to Italy in the summer, and France in the Autumn. In addition he has half-term ambitions with his Motorcycle that is him on his own. I will sort out some separate bits with girlfriends and plan to see my Mum in Scotland too. Providing no major health issues she will be 90 this year and it deserves a low-key celebration!

We plan to replace the Fridge-freezer in DS's house, replacing a rather inefficient integrated appliance that constantly ices up (the legacy of a bodged kitchen fitter where the door failed to close properly for so long that even fixing it has not remedied the symptoms). The "boys" living there have grown up enough now to look after a decent bit of kit and I am looking at a fridge on top with two separate freezer drawers underneath. I just need to coordinate with DS to get this sorted. He is working for the next three days so likely to be Sunday now, I think.