Non financial - how to prepare for retirement

mark55man

You must be a boring workaholic - join the club

SMcGill

I’m not expecting retirement to be a state of permanent holiday, I don’t have a plan for every waking moment or an activity list that would take two lifetimes to complete. I do expect there to be times when I miss working and earning an income. 

And I’m still looking forward to it.

bluenose1

Now I am the grand old age of 55 just think I am tired of work mentally plus fed up of the Corporate BS. Financially we will be OK but if I did another year or two would make a big difference to the pension pot and mean I could consider helping kids on property ladder etc. 

Each to their own re what age/ amount we want to retire with, we are all part of life’s rich tapestry. 

Think the important thing  is to have enough that no matter what happens employment wise at least financially you will be ok. Then working is a life choice rather than a requirement.

pensionpawn

Me and my wife have a list of activities, places to visit etc that we just don't have time for / the energy to do after work. She recently moved to 80% and will go to 60% in 12 months, I plan to move to 80% for next April. Two daughters have bought houses with boyfriends and moved out over the last 16 months with one remaining with two years of uni to go, hence "retirement"* is planned for 2 years time (just in case any nasty bills crop up). My pension is currently 'earning' more than I am so fingers crossed we're on track.
* one way to look at this transition is the phrase 'Life 2', or financially independent. I see it as Life 3 (Life 1 is when you don't need a full time job as you're at school / uni which moves into Life 2 where you need all the money you can earn / generate). We don't consider ourselves as retirees (too young to be called pensioners) as we'll just be free to pursue what we want to do (within reason) when we want to do it. That may involve some part time work (because we enjoy it), or just sitting in the garden, in the sun, reading a book and enjoying a Malbec. One thing we never want to experience again is the bureaucratic bo{}ock$ of being an employee. Good luck everyone. 

jim8888

I do like these threads! Always interesting. I was made redundant at fifty and was a big fan of FIRE (Financial Independence Retire Early) so decided I'd retire because I was FI. The first 3 months were awesome, like a big holiday. The next 3 months I drifted, wondering if I should "do" something on my own business, and I started seriously looking into franchises. That fell through when I decided the franchise I was pursuing would be too stressful, but it did underline that I felt I was too young to retire and that I wanted to work. By months 9 to 12 I was actively seeking work and landed a job by month 12.
That job lasted 5 years, until I was made redundant again back in March this year. I'm currently still in "holiday mode" and trying not to give myself a hard time about it! I'm telling myself that this time I'm going to really commit mentally to retirement and actually approach it like I would a job. So I'll need a structure, a routine, specific goals that I want to do - but, if a day or two drifts by, so be it. In terms of trying to work out "what makes me happy", I used to ask myself what did I do on holiday because I always enjoyed those? That was reading, writing my journal, cooking, cycling, walking, a bit or travel and sightseeing, the odd glass of wine with lunch if I fancied it, a game of golf, catching up with friends, spending time with my DOH. That's what I'm doing at the moment, and I have to say, I am enjoying "retirement" more this time around because I'm not giving myself a hard time about not working and "earning a living". Seldom a day goes by though, that I don't thank my lucky stars that I achieved the "FI" part of FIRE, because I think that underpins the psychological approach to a positive retirement. I grudgingly admit that five years ago I wasn't quite financially prepared for the lifestyle I wanted, and I think that's what partly drove my return to work. I don't like to think that life's all about money but I feel that there's no argument that it's what gives you choices one way or another.

Albermarle

bluenose1 said:

Now I am the grand old age of 55 just think I am tired of work mentally plus fed up of the Corporate BS. Financially we will be OK but if I did another year or two would make a big difference to the pension pot and mean I could consider helping kids on property ladder etc. 

Each to their own re what age/ amount we want to retire with, we are all part of life’s rich tapestry. 

Think the important thing  is to have enough that no matter what happens employment wise at least financially you will be ok. Then working is a life choice rather than a requirement.

I have done probably another three years than I needed to, so to make a big difference to the pension pot , as you say .
Clearly it is now bigger and of course three less years of retirement to fund. This has meant that I am much more relaxed about retiring financially and will not feel the need to watch the expenditure too closely .
Also for various other  reasons it did not feel the right time to retire and I am glad I stayed on a bit longer .

mark55man

Thank you all - very interesting.  I'm keen on going but for me as a bit of a "f e c k l e s s" soul in my thirties I still have a little mortgage left, and still have a CC balance (3 months to go) mainly from subsidising 4xDC who are nearly but not quite settled into adult life. 2xDC just in new jobs/houses and 2xDC just leaving Uni and hampered by the pandemic in finding their feet.  My timeline is 2-3 years with a fair wind

I think my list of pre retirement planning/checklists are kind of about the money but largely about being ready - acceptance of change and assessment of risk:
* Have a matched cautiously invested "pot" in my pension savings that covers my mortgage so I can rest easy about that
* Being flexible about lifestyle choices in the bridging period between Retiring and OAPdem
* Have a good spending spreadsheet that categorises spends so costs I won't have in retirement can be separated - my early retirement moment was when I realised quite how much of my money I wouldn't need to spend in retirement and with the costs of work housing and pensions removed, I was actually a lot less needy than I had thought, so I can rest easy about that
* Have a blend of potential income streams 67+ between OH and myself across, State, DB, DC (I know we are lucky in that respect) so the long term is risk free

Non financially - significant reading of this forum has allowed me to get my thinking straight, both of the wisdom of a bit of a safety margin to allow caution so I won't need to "risk what I can't afford to lose on wealth I don't really need" but that said don't play the "one more year" card if you don't really need it)  - so for me the non financial elements are confidence its doable, and a slight risk aversion to going too early, and realising I am happy with my work/life balance becoming a life/life balance
* I like my job and I'm good at it, and I'm beyond worrying about the corporate BS - I'm a greybeard and know my place
* During the pandemic I have WFH a lot, and for posture reasons the most comfortable place for me is my armchair (pipe and slippers are for after work) with laptop on lap.  TBH, and this is really comforting, I can see myself in that chair not working just as much as I can working, except I will be doing different things, reading, music, investment, shouting at the BBC. EXCEPT - I do have a list of things I want to do out of the chair as well - walks, keeping fit, DIY, decluttering!! - Not ambitious but restful
* Also during the pandemic, I realised I loved where I lived and the wider UK, and the lure of foreign adventure is definitely waning

Not profound as much as realising I am happy in my own skin.  I will keep this thread bookmarked as some of the hints and tips will be helpful, but I think the key thing is just being ready to go and confident you can afford to let go of work mentally and financially

GunJack

I think most of my pre-retirement planning will be finding suitable timetables for quiet-time swimming, tai-chi and possibly yoga classes!! Already got one knee replacement and need the other doing, so those activities will deffo help once I have the time to do them (i.e. once retired). I will also be trying to persuade Mrs. G-J to join me as much as poss to help her back.

We are already working on a list of places to go and see, and I expect that to keep changing between now & retirement - and the activities above will make going to them far more enjoyable as I'll be able to walk further/for longer by we get there

Financially I'm a bit hamstrung as I've got 1 deferred and 1 currently-building DB pensions and a mortgage for a few years yet, so can't go too early due to early retirement factors...in some ways quite jealous of you lot with DC you can take anytime without reductions....

mark55man

@gunjack (nice to see you again, we obviously don't frequent the same boards as much as we used to - I remember you supporting me as I was playing (and winning $2000) an on line poker tourney early into the morning - I haven't played in ages, I might tinker with it and become a bandit taking money of time-poor & reckless/drunk  youth, or is that a bit cynical - probably will end up losing to some silicon valley auto-bot)

However, completely agreed about DC flexibility, my company closed the DB a decade ago, and ever since then my DC has been building and this ha provided me some options to bridge the gap - just a blend of how cautious to be with the investments, how frugal to be with my spends and bucket list, and how much help/legacy I want to set aside for the kids. Both OH and I will be comfortable in retirement once all pensions including SP kick in (even the survivor) so for me its dancing to "shall I stay or shall I go for next 2-3 years  

GunJack

mark55man said:

@gunjack (nice to see you again, we obviously don't frequent the same boards as much as we used to   

We're both older now lol