Post-retirement struggles?

cfw1994

I know a lot of us are figuring out the figures for our retirement plans/hopes/aspirations: plenty of very helpful threads here!

As I ‘secretly’ plan my withdrawal from a fairly busy career (in IT, in my case)....I’m curious: those who have taken that step: I’m sure there are some initial challenges and joys.....but with hindsight, are there any things you seriously miss, or perhaps wish you had done a bit differently?
Not necessarily financial....maybe things you miss....

k6chris

I miss the regular social contact with the people I got on with well.



Pretty much, that's it.

MK62

k6chris wrote: »

I miss the regular social contact with the people I got on with well.

Pretty much, that's it.

Apart from that salary landing in your bank like clockwork every month.....;)

saver_ali

My husband retired a few weeks ago and it's all positive so far. No boredom yet! He has done a bit of golf and fishing, and generally getting much more exercise. Sunday nights are much happier knowing you haven't got work the next day. ����

jaybeetoo

I planned for my retirement. I attended pre-retirement workshops which I found helpful (just make sure they are not run by financial advisors).

I knew exactly what I was going to do from the day I left work. It has turned out that way apart from I haven’t done much from the list of jobs I set myself - I haven’t had time!

I do miss the social interaction with colleagues and clients but I certainly don’t miss the stress and company politics.

ColdIron

MK62 wrote: »

Apart from that salary landing in your bank like clockwork every month.....;)

I went down to 4 days a week and spent the last couple of years maxing my annual pension allowance via salary sacrifice. The few hundred pounds per month that remained was easy to leave behind

One tip: retire in spring or summer and not the dismal months surrounding xmas

Terron

k6chris wrote: »

I miss the regular social contact with the people I got on with well.

I was missing that before I lost my job, due to everyone else in my group working from home or being based in another country.

ex-pat_scot

from what I can gather, the key is not retiring "from" but retiring "to".
i am a few years from that fateful day yet.
i have a long list (I am not going to call it a bucket list) of things I plan on doing. Some don't need to be retired to achieve, but that's more a function of the family life cycle and stages of the children (when they are grown older, then there will be fewer activities, lessons and dad-taxi commitments).


My father has been retired 25 years, and his favourite time in the week is Monday 7am, when he wakes, turns over and goes back to sleep.
When I asked him what he missed most about work, his response was "it's the little things - pencils and staplers mostly".


(it was his own company at least).

MallyGirl

Terron wrote: »

I was missing that before I lost my job, due to everyone else in my group working from home or being based in another country.

I work from home so don't get much of that anyway

lollynerd

a) I miss the camaraderie of working in a team, but that has been replaced with new friends at the golf club, gym, etc.

b) Mostly, I miss earning money. I don't need more money, but I spent 40 years growing the pot, accumulating some wealth and I really enjoyed that feeling, rather than taking from the pot. I now get some satisfaction from watching investments grow, but it's not quite the same as bringing in a few quid.

bugslett

Terron wrote: »

I was missing that before I lost my job, due to everyone else in my group working from home or being based in another country.

I work in an office with one other person, we get on but would never be friends, so that aspect I don't think will bother me.

ex-pat_scot wrote: »

from what I can gather, the key is not retiring "from" but retiring "to".
i am a few years from that fateful day yet.
i have a long list (I am not going to call it a bucket list) of things I plan on doing. Some don't need to be retired to achieve, but that's more a function of the family life cycle and stages of the children (when they are grown older, then there will be fewer activities, lessons and dad-taxi commitments).


My father has been retired 25 years, and his favourite time in the week is Monday 7am, when he wakes, turns over and goes back to sleep.
When I asked him what he missed most about work, his response was "it's the little things - pencils and staplers mostly".


(it was his own company at least).

I've done the same ex-pat. Made a list of things that I either wanted to do more of, take up again and the biggest section, things that I had always fancied doing, but never had the chance to do. Some I'll never get round to I suspect, but there are plenty.



I used to be 'someone' in my niche part of the world, lot of knowledge, one of only four people that do what I did, built up my own business, so I think my ego may miss that bit, being 'someone'.