If you are wearing my shoes.

Dazza1902

To up and go to anywhere suggests you do not have any strong family, friend or community ties. Certainly living within the M25 will put a huge dent in your wealth.
Sounds like if you move to another part of the country you will have to make an effort socially. 
 You are fortunate to have the means to do whatever you wish ..if you can work out what that is.

Savvy_Sue

Dazza1902 said:

To up and go to anywhere suggests you do not have any strong family, friend or community ties. Certainly living within the M25 will put a huge dent in your wealth.
Sounds like if you move to another part of the country you will have to make an effort socially. 
 You are fortunate to have the means to do whatever you wish ..if you can work out what that is.

Hence my earlier suggestion: 

Savvy_Sue said:

Stop dreaming, join a local walking group!

The OP has said rambling rings their bell. It's a quick, easy interest to get into. For example:

https://www.ramblers.org.uk/go-walking/group-finder.aspx if already fit and capable of walking 5 miles plus (although some walks may be shorter)

https://www.walkingforhealth.org.uk/walkfinder if not really fit - certainly in my area (outside the M25) these walks have been really brilliant for a number of friends, with easy, more challenging and challenging walks offered all over the city, allowing progress to be made

Or just google walking groups in your area. 

If you're keen to really get fit, look for Nordic Walking in your area. 

My experience: I knew I liked walking, and I knew I needed to do more of it after a period of time off work left me unfit and isolated. Someone found a local walking group for me: I got in touch and started turning up for walks. I still only do the 'short walks with a pub lunch' (Covid permitting), but I now have a bunch of friends, male and female. 

Then I took up Nordic Walking (which is huge in my area!) and I now have another bunch of friends, mostly female. I go out for an hour twice a week, regardless of the weather (unless it's horizontal hail, I draw the line at horizontal hail) and often for coffee afterwards. 

In both groups, we talk as we walk. With one person, I swap suggestions for TV shows we might both enjoy. With another, we'll talk books. In one group, many of the members are also members of the local Scottish dancing club / the Bridge club / the Local History society, so when I joined the latter for online meetings I already recognised a few people. 

Another suggestion I'd make is to consider whether you've got anything to share as a volunteer. You never know where that will lead you! 

Keep_pedalling

I think you could do with some professional financial advice. Far too much cash being eaten away by inflation, and a couple of high risk individual shares and no funds.

Thumbs_Up

Agree, too much cash but will be looking for a home to purchase some time in the future. For the record I won’t be waiting for a so called property market crash, or the interest saving rate to shoot up anytime this year, neither will be the case in my opinion.

Inflation? What about my own personal inflation rate? Would this not negate inflation itself.

Without sounding to sad, I don’t drink, I don’t smoke, I don’t drive, no immediate out going cost so no VAT, and no income tax. Guess I’m treading water at moment in time.

Agree I need to look at investing in income funds.

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Thank you for that post Savvy_Sue.

PennyForThem_2

either go to the pensions board or to over 50's board with 'how much to live on' thread

Depends on your risk profile too and your age and your dependents and your life plan - over 50's is more gentle and encourages holistic life style whereas pensions forum is much more statistical and encouraging investing, maximising and being transparent so can give appropriate advice - pension form has some really qualified ppl on it.

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Post now on Pensions forum...

Murphybear

If you retire early you need to plan what you are going to do with your life.  You don’t want to end up at home twiddling you’re thumbs or watch tv all day

I retired early because of health issues but got better.  We moved to Devon and lived there for 14 years, we’re  now in our final place in Dorset.  This part of the country is fabulous, we’ve spent years exploring Devon, Somerset and Cornwall and are now exploring Dorset and Hampshire.  I grew up in the latter so am excited to revisit it.

We don’t have foreign holidays but there are so many beautiful  places in the U.K.

In terms of house prices Devon is a lot cheaper than Dorset or Hants particularly if you don’t want to live near the coast.  Same for Cornwall.  Inland can be relatively cheap


We joined U3A years ago and made friends and learnt new things.  My 2 favourites are Mah Jong and croquet.  We belong to a lunch club and visit one of the many gorgeous country pubs every month.  

marycanary

In your shoes, I would move somewhere like Skipton, Louth or Barnard Castle. Big enough to have a good range of services but not too expensive. I would probably rent for 6 months before buying. In that way, I would hope to get a good feel for the local housing market. While doing this I would join a walking club and look on meetup for a suitable social group or two. I would also join a gym and swim regularly. I would invite my brother (and any other family and friends) to stay for a few days or a week. I might look for a part-time job or volunteer a few hours a week.

I would make a timed plan with activities like - research, construct a long list, visit, reduce to shortlist, stay a week in each town to get a better feel for the place etc.  I would commit to the plan and stick to the timescales as far as possible.

I have no idea if any of that would suit you, but I know I would need a plan with target dates to stop me drifting on and on without actually doing anything.

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marycanary said:

In your shoes, I would move somewhere like Skipton, Louth or Barnard Castle. Big enough to have a good range of services but not too expensive.

Thank you for your comments. The thing is, one of my criteria is a new build bungalow.