Having problems deciding whether to press that resignation button....

michaels

jimi_man said:

I've just had my part time application accepted for three days a week (Tuesday - Thursday) from January 4th. 2022 will probably be my last year so I'm looking at it as a wind down. 

I'm in the Civil Service so we don't tend to get five days work to do in three, at least not in the area that I'm in. 

<joke>So only three days to do three days work rather than five</joke>

I am supposed to work 70% hours chosen to reduce stress and get a better work life balance.  How it has worked out is that I will have to be off between xmas and the end of March because I have failed to take any non working days and hardly any leave up to now because billable work has been available, which whilst excellent news for my employer makes zero difference to my remuneration.  So basically a fail.

pensionpawn

michaels said:

jimi_man said:

I've just had my part time application accepted for three days a week (Tuesday - Thursday) from January 4th. 2022 will probably be my last year so I'm looking at it as a wind down. 

I'm in the Civil Service so we don't tend to get five days work to do in three, at least not in the area that I'm in. 

<joke>So only three days to do three days work rather than five</joke>

I am supposed to work 70% hours chosen to reduce stress and get a better work life balance.  How it has worked out is that I will have to be off between xmas and the end of March because I have failed to take any non working days and hardly any leave up to now because billable work has been available, which whilst excellent news for my employer makes zero difference to my remuneration.  So basically a fail.

...and this is exactly what I am trying to avoid in my role. I have 6-8 weeks of intense activity then a week or two of admin / cover training etc that isn't too critical. What my employer wants me to do is take the odd days / week off here and there, when convenient for them (effectively a wage reduction scheme) and inconvenient for me (winter months, not overlapping with wife's leave / reduced hours etc). So I'm getting them to look at my request from a different perspective: they retain 70% of me at times agreed to be beneficial to them and me, or they retain 0% of me in an employees job market. I hope common sense prevails however we're led by muppets who can't see beyond the next sketch!

cfw1994

SouthCoastBoy said:

Anonymous101 said:

Some people also seem much better at managing the transitions than others. Similarly with the new time. There really seems to be those that are able to handle the additional time very well, (I don't know how I ever found time to work) and those that need something external to provide structure. Its really interesting to observe and does make me think about my own aspirations of retiring early and how I will best manage that.

I think the key is to have interests other than work before you retire. I have plenty, mainly sport related, but both my brothers have next to no interests outside of work and both work long hours, therefore for them to retire would be a big adjustment, for me it will just mean more time for me to enjoy the interests I already have before I am too old.

Spot on!
Helps to have a bucket list of things, however small, that you want to do. 
Maybe it is more gardening, more reading, more <insert activity here> - doesn't need to be a major thing (although it could be, of course!).
  
Then the ability to organise your time well to take advantage of the time you gave yourself.  Including the morning to read the internet, if so inclined 😉  

I now know a few retirees.....& the only one I know who is having trouble "filling his time" (only a couple of months in!) had few interests outside work, it appears.  Plan ahead to avoid disappointment 😎👍

mat1964

uss_tish said:

I think it depends how stressful your job is and whether or not you can truly switch off enough after your three days to enjoy your free time. 

Yes this is an issue for me.  I find it hard to switch off - I am working at my desk from 8am every morning and with an average of 3 days a week I suspect I might be up and checking emails on the non working days.

This has been a very interesting thread and has given me a lot to think about.  I really don't know what I am going to do - it may come down to what the IFA has to say.  

jimi_man

michaels said:

jimi_man said:

I've just had my part time application accepted for three days a week (Tuesday - Thursday) from January 4th. 2022 will probably be my last year so I'm looking at it as a wind down. 

I'm in the Civil Service so we don't tend to get five days work to do in three, at least not in the area that I'm in. 

<joke>So only three days to do three days work rather than five</joke>

I am supposed to work 70% hours chosen to reduce stress and get a better work life balance.  How it has worked out is that I will have to be off between xmas and the end of March because I have failed to take any non working days and hardly any leave up to now because billable work has been available, which whilst excellent news for my employer makes zero difference to my remuneration.  So basically a fail.

Ha ha, yes. Instead of three days crammed into five, I'll drop to two days crammed into three. Hey, that's effectively more work? I need to look at this.....! 

Of course it does affect the pension. I'm in the Partnership rather than Alpha, so less pot in the end.  

MallyGirl

mat1964 said:

uss_tish said:

I think it depends how stressful your job is and whether or not you can truly switch off enough after your three days to enjoy your free time. 

Yes this is an issue for me.  I find it hard to switch off - I am working at my desk from 8am every morning and with an average of 3 days a week I suspect I might be up and checking emails on the non working days.

This has been a very interesting thread and has given me a lot to think about.  I really don't know what I am going to do - it may come down to what the IFA has to say.  

I used to work part time when daughter was small and, because I was grateful for the flexibility, I did used to check emails in the evening and such. One day I gave myself a good talking to and just stopped.
I have been full time for the past 10 years and a homeworker for far longer. I work in an office at the bottom of the garden. My laptop stays down there when I come back to the house at the end of the day, as does my work phone. I have not explored accessing work from home tech. One senior person, a good friend, has my personal mobile number and knows he could call in the case of a disaster. It has never happened.
My line manager has recently changed to compressed hours so he has every Friday off and is absolute on it not being a work day. He has actually been very canny as I am sure I work the same hours per day as him on his working days - he just gets paid for all of them. Still, that is my choice.
I might explore reduced hours at some point but it doesn't really give me what I want in terms of flexibility. I'd love to have been able to hack up to Cumbria to see the Northern Lights yesterday but just not an option right now.

squirrelpie

stoplurking said:

I really want to retire April/May  22 when I will be 64, but I’m just not sure if it is feasible as my means seem low in comparison to others on here. 

It might be a bit squeaky but I really am desperate to make the jump.  Am I being unrealistic to think I can do it?

You might want to start your own thread rather than 'hijack' this one?

But on the face of it you should be OK. You only have two years to bridge until you've got your stated income guaranteed.

Try living on £15k now and see if it works. Does that include your flights etc? You need a total number.

Do try to have a conversation with your partner and find out what their position is. Partnership is all about compromise, giving and taking, so they shouldn't be too uncomfortable to share the information so you can make a sensible plan together.

Dazza1902

stoplurking said:

I really want to retire April/May  22 when I will be 64, but I’m just not sure if it is feasible as my means seem low in comparison to others on here. 

Have a DB pension deferred from age 60, this will be around 8k pa. Lump sum around £23k plus the arrears will be paid, say another £24k after tax. This pension is a Civil Service pension, I left CS in 2000. 

I also have around £130k in a flexible benefit pension with Aviva. 

State pension forecast is saying that a full state pension will be payable age 66, this is the bottom line figure, I have read through the full forecast. 

No other investments, a few thousand in savings is all. 

Hindsight being the wonderful thing it is, I realise I could have put myself in a better position by, for example, taking the CS pension when due and dropping it into Aviva via a salary sacrifice, saving  tax and a bit of NIC.  Employer passes on the nic savings. 

Mortgage will be paid off in 2 months and after that I estimate I need 15k net pa to cover costs for me and partner.  We live quite frugally, extra spends at the moment are on things that we don’t need to spend as much on going forward. There are also a few areas that can be cut back on eg TV package. We don’t go in for much in the way of travelling but I will have transatlantic flights to pay for, maybe annually, with free accommodation at the other end. If necessary I will draw on Aviva to fund this but will shop around for deals. 

Partner is 56 and not worked for 7 years.  Not sure if they have any pension from former employers as they don’t seem to want to look into it at all.  We could be putting in the minimum in order to get the tax benefits but I can’t force that.  Also, the gap in state pension could be addressed to some degree but again no willingness to look into the current position to identify missing years. The thought process is they will die before me anyway so no need to worry. Hmmm. 

So it looks like I would have some cash with savings/lump sums to add to the DB to see us through the first year. I would have used my personal tax allowance with the salary received April/May plus the DB pension. 

 Year 2 I would drawdown on Aviva sufficient to use tax allowance and make up the rest from the lump sums.
 Year 3 onwards SP would be payable. 

Will need to replace the car, nothing fancy required. 

It might be a bit squeaky but I really am desperate to make the jump.  Am I being unrealistic to think I can do it?

You will have 17.5 k in gaurenteed income, plus a sustainable 4 k from your sipp. 

stoplurking

Sorry squirrel pie, there was no intention of appearing to hijack this thread.  Thanks for letting me know.  I’ve deleted it now. 

Dazza1902 thanks for your comments.  

Sunnylifeover50plan

Exciting times for the OP. For me the things I miss from my working days are; conversations, the sense of achievement and the mental stimulation. I was in an IT junior'ish leadership role. What each person misses is a very individual thing but worth considering.

We encouraged people to think about their work life balance and had people on compressed hours, reduced hours and flexible hours. Sometimes both in terms of work assignment and for individual delivery non standard hours proved difficult. 

Much of the decision, as others have said, will be down to how much your role is "handle turning" - when you're at work you work and when you clock off you stop. You will likely know if your role fits into that kind of box.

I certainly don't miss the; new delivery themes from up high, politics, careerists or the monday morning meetings.

Spending wise we have adjusted well, now on roughly 30% net of what was coming in when working though there was a lot of waste, this will be an important consideration when making your decision. That said I know of at least one ex-colleague who after retirement took a few hours in the local co-op and this is always an option.

Good luck