If in retirement what do you wish you’d known before taking retirement

SarahB16

cfw1994 said:

SarahB16 said:

I'm anywhere from 11 to 18 years away from retirement and at 49 am already considering my retirement.  Not that I don’t enjoy my job but I don’t wish to look back at the age of 60 or 67 and think I wish I’d known that when I was say 50. 

I work full time and am satisfied with my pension provision but there are also other non-financial aspects to consider regarding how to spend your time when retired.  I volunteer in my local community and also have many friends that live nearby and as I get older I think having friends that live near to me will become more important because as I get older it may be harder to travel longer distances.     

I would love to hear from people who are in retirement or are approaching retirement but are actively doing something now to improve their retirement.  This may be something financial but ideally I’m looking for non-financial responses.  If anybody could kindly share their advice perhaps how they enjoy spending their time and what they wish they had done differently with hindsight or perhaps just share their tips for having an enjoyable retirement. 

A bit ahead of you, and retired from the day job 15 months.
If you are a high rate taxpayer, chuck money into that pension!
Also put some aside to give you flexibility to jump ship before you can access pensions….
Nurture those friends & local community things: they are precisely what you want flourishing when you chose to give up the day job and retire!
Unclear on your personal circumstances: to some (incl me), family is important, and time spare to help those can be precious. 

All wonderful advice there @cfw1994 thank you. 

I am a higher rate tax payer and that is what I’ll do: extra pension contributions and I'll put money aside/have savings too in order to, as you say, jump ship before I can access my pensions.  I’ll be coming back on here with another post when it comes to paying extra pension contributions (I have a 1/49th career average (LGPS) pension scheme) but before making any extra contributions will seek the wonderful advice that is available on this forum. 

At the moment I can’t make those extra pension contributions as I’m saving as much as I can as I will likely move house in approximately four years and am unsure how much the house will cost so my priority is to make sure I can afford the house.  I think it will be more expensive than my current mortgage free house (c.£425k) and could be up to c.£550k.  The development is the most community focused housing scheme I have ever seen hence my interest in it as I really do wish to have as active a retirement as possible and not feel lonely either.  

SarahB16

I’m really enjoying reading the ‘What made you pull the trigger’ thread. 

I would love to read more stories about what you wish you'd known (if of course you're happy to share) before taking retirement as it’s really helpful for me and fellow posters who have not yet retired or perhaps even for ones in early retirement.  

bigfer

Don't get a dog

GunJack

bigfer said:

Don't get a dog

This will be a big question for us when I retire....we've always had dogs, but with more time to just get up & go, having a dog will inevitably cut down the opportunity to do so. Our current little woofer is 3, she'll probably get to 14-15 and so past my retirement...we'll have to see how the early years of retirement go to see if having another one when she passes will be viable or not...

MallyGirl

GunJack said:

bigfer said:

Don't get a dog

This will be a big question for us when I retire....we've always had dogs, but with more time to just get up & go, having a dog will inevitably cut down the opportunity to do so. Our current little woofer is 3, she'll probably get to 14-15 and so past my retirement...we'll have to see how the early years of retirement go to see if having another one when she passes will be viable or not...

We have large dogs - one is 12 1/2 so this will very likely be her last year. The other is  9 1/2 and we will have to have a serious think about whether we get another and if so then what size. It will depend on how he feels as an only dog. We have a camper van and it is a bit of a squeeze with 2 of them and us on a bad weather day!

ex-pat_scot

We have one dog - will be 10 when I hit 55.
Mrs XPS is not keen on another, when first one departs.
I'd be quite happy borrowing neighbours' dogs to take them out for runs etc.
The actual ownership is pretty restricting.

Albermarle

I retired mid 2022, and our dog died 3 months later, ( 13.5 years old)  We have reluctantly decided not to get another one. We already have some family restrictions, so another one in the shape of another  dog, would seriously restrict any retirement freedoms.

As above quite happy for anybody else to bring a dog around, take them for a walk etc

trevjl

Another thing to push me to do it, mine are 8, same litter and I want to spend as much time with them in their final years as I can having worked for all those 8 years so only enjoying time in the forest at weekends

barnstar2077

I don't have a dog, but have wanted one for a few years now.  Current plan (once retired, and in my fifties) is to enjoy a few years of doing whatever I like before getting an older rescue dog.  I figure this is the best of both worlds, and is giving a dog a home that wouldn't have had one otherwise.

ex-pat_scot

barnstar2077 said:

I don't have a dog, but have wanted one for a few years now.  Current plan (once retired, and in my fifties) is to enjoy a few years of doing whatever I like before getting an older rescue dog.  I figure this is the best of both worlds, and is giving a dog a home that wouldn't have had one otherwise.

Suggest you "try before you commit" - fostering or borrowing perhaps?
It's a big commitment and has certainly curtailed a lot of our flexibility