Should I retire early?

fatbeetle

For me the question has never been; "should I", but "how soon can I", life's too short.

OldMusicGuy

Simple. Ask yourself what you want to do with the rest of your life. Do you want to spend it working or would you rather do other things? If you have health issues, do you want to spend what time you have left working (which might make things worse) or spend what time you have enjoying yourself? BTW, I don't necessarily mean you are going to die any time soon but we all have limited time on this earth so we have to decide wisely what we are going to do with it. Too many people keep working without questioning why they are doing it.

I am 60 this year. I realise I may have 15 to 20 years of being pretty active if my health stays good. I do not want to waste any more of that limited time working, so I am, retiring February next year. But I have a lot of hobbies and interests outside work and I am looking forward to entering a new phase of my life. However, I spoke with a colleague last week who is 61 and in a similar job. He is fed up with work, doesn't enjoy it any more and can't see much point in continuing but he doesn't really know what he will do when he is retired. So he is hesitating.

So if you can afford to stop working (and that's an important question to answer first), ask yourself what you really want to do with the rest of your life. Some people miss work, others can't wait to be done with it. Which are you? Or maybe you can find some work that doesn't pay much but is something you really enjoy doing and you can pursue as a low stress "hobby job".