Post-retirement struggles?

JoeEngland

OldMusicGuy wrote: »

I retired 18 months ago from a high pressure, full on IT job. The only thing I missed was regular paycheques, the lack of those does take some getting used to it but I can cope with it now.

I don't miss anything about the job. I achieved a lot while working but the one thing I realised was that as soon as you leave you are replaced by someone else and that world carries on quite happily without you.

Nothing I miss at all, I hated the long hours, excessive travel, deadlines and silly objectives I had to meet. The only thing I wish is that I had made better investment decisions in my 30s and 40s so that I could have retired even earlier.

Like shinytop we are moving. That was always our plan in retirement as we need to realise equity from our current house. So we have been planning for that prior to retirement and we are now putting our plans into action. It's a new phase of our lives and we are really excited.

I too wish I'd done things differently in the past in relation to financial planning. The problem is that money stuff bored me. While I wasn't stupid with money I could have put more away for the future and potentially been able to retire a little earlier than has worked out. Either that or we could have had more money behind us as contingency.

nickcc

Took early retirement at 50 with company pension so no need to look for work again. Also found I missed the work environment so after 3 years and helping build large extension to house started full time work again, changed to part time then full time again then fully retired when I reached 59. Certainly don't envy the people who will have to continue working into their late sixties but really believe that retiring at 50 was too early.

cfw1994

Thanks again for the comments.

nickcc wrote: »

Took early retirement at 50 with company pension so no need to look for work again. Also found I missed the work environment so after 3 years and helping build large extension to house started full time work again, changed to part time then full time again then fully retired when I reached 59. Certainly don't envy the people who will have to continue working into their late sixties but really believe that retiring at 50 was too early.

I’ve seen one good friend who retired, only to later go back to work....didn’t sound like the best decision they made, reckon they will stop soon!

Nice to have the choice, but I would agree 55-60 feels (for me!) a nice time to step back.
Also very aware I attended multiple funerals last year, 2 of whom were good friends my age: that focuses the mind :sad:

Lincoln_Imp wrote: »

The only thing i miss are my work mates some of whom i have been friends with since 1980 but a few of them retired at the same time as me and we meet up once a month for a liquid lunch which is great

I can easily imagine this being the thing I would miss the most (being mostly home-based, I make very sure “email banter” is a positive part of my work-life!).
I know not everyone does “social medial, but at least the ability is there nowadays to keep in touch easier.

Browntoa wrote: »

I don't miss work at all. As our job ended we all went at the same time and meet up from time to time for lunch.

I've given myself some sort or purpose by doing part time invigilator work ( sparodic so gives me periods when I can choose to do nothing ) a regular volunteer slot so I meet other people and socialise .

I think the biggest mistake is just stopping work and doing nothing

I know a few friends who do some invigilating: keeps them busy enough, some spare “beer money”, although two have commented on how boring it is!
Another one is getting involved in polling days.....less frequent, but a decent sum for a day!

Sea_Shell

I think it's all about having the choice about whether to work or not, at a time of your choosing. So even if you do stop, you can always look for something else, even if charity/volunteering if you later find you need something more stimulating to do. As long as you don't need to do it for the money.