What made you 'pull the trigger'? 9 January at 11:00AM in Pensions, annuities & retirement planning 289 replies 71.1K views

otb666

we both were made redundant after Covid 55 and 56, done the uni costs with our kids but our time now is taken up with elderly relative. If we have had big plans for retirement we would have had to put them on hold. Luckily we did not.  It was a very weird end for us both with the last 1-2 years homeworking then finished.  Looking back if i had known the march 20 time in the office was going to be my last would have said a few good byes.  We are both happy we dont have the stress anymore and still getting used to it all The money side has worked out well.

trevjl

Was it:
I have enough money
I am fed up with my job
I want more spare time
a significant birthday (60 etc)
health

I would imagine for most people it is a combination of the above

For me it is all of them, although I have not pulled the trigger yet.

Fortunate to have a decent DC and DB (65) along with full SP (67) so can afford to finish.

Since we were taken over 12 years ago it's been slowly downhill, Main overseas head office and also the one in the UK are clueless, more interested in whether you have a piece of paper signed or box ticked than whether the job worked or not. This along with the corporate BS  and the 'elf n safety brigade makes the job nigh on impossible. The only part I will miss unlike many others is the travelling overseas.

I have outside interests which keep me busy and don't have time to do as fully as I would like. I am sure the old saying "I don't know how I found time for work" will apply to me.

Had always said I was going at 60, which seemed a lifetime away but after 43 working and the last 36 at the same company it crept up on me and arrived 6 weeks ago.

Had a diagnosis 3 years ago and have been on a watch and wait since. Then in September I was told they were starting treatment In November, so that was retirement out the window as I was being signed off sick. Silver lining is that I am now on a sort of trial retirement whilst still employed. 

I would add another related reason to that list - an event - eg death of a close friend or work colleague of a similar age.

Not quite the same age but I attended the funeral of a retired work colleague last week. He was 76 and had been retired 11 years. Things like this and my health scare have changed my outlook somewhat. Having said that, I am due back at work in a couple of months or so. Will I go back ?? I really have no idea !!! 

Somebody

Packed it in after (i) the wife resigned; (ii) being mortgage and debt free; and (iii) the kids all finishing uni and getting decent jobs.

I'm one year in.  Retired Jan 2022, although didn't start drawing DB pensions until 1 May.

green.lander_2

This is very interesting. I am 63 later this year and decided to go next year at 64. The reasons are varied. My job involved travelling to work at client sites but over the last two years i have been working at home. There is no structure to my days and miss office life and feel my health is now really suffering. In fact i am working longer hours i a job that i do not enjoy with increasing corporate oversight. The money is good and although i will not have lots of money in retirement i can take a small hit on my DB scheme and hopefully my DC Pot will have recovered a bit to take a local part time post and work on my health position 

Silverbullet036

Looks like i'm one of the few who had to retire for ill health reasons on here. Unbeknown to me at the time I had inherited heart issues which came to the fore at age 48 (2017) with angina presenting itself. Two heart surgeries and seven stents later my work said no way you can do this anymore so off you go (fair enough it involved intense physical extremes at times). By then I was 49 and that was it , I didnt want to work again in a less arduous job and I have a decent db pension (for my lifestyle). Mortgage was paid off at 38 and have a really nice savings amount built up for capital expenditure and drawdown purposes. I still have 13 years until SP age but im not bothered as thats so far off as to not be a factor in any thinking

I must say it took me about a year to come to terms with not finishing work on my terms. It also took me about the same time to process all the things i'd had to do and see (spent the first summer sitting in the garden crying most days as I cleansed) Even though I considered myself fit despite having the undiagnosed heart issues , I am now in the best shape of my life at 54. My body and soul now has a simple routine it can follow everyday (the simple act of eating at the same time everyday is such a godsend)

I am a man of simple pleasures and one of them is just waking up and letting the day come to me in my own time (opening the window in the mornings and listening to the birds singing their hearts out)

sevenhills

chubsta said:

To say I am 'planning' my retirement is a bit of an understatement - I have multiple spreadsheets dealing with historical and future outgoings, projected pension income, inflation rates etc. To be fair, I often have a bit of spare time in the morning so often spend an hour or so adjusting figures and making small changes to prospective dates so it doesn't get in the way, and whatever happens I want to be able to say that at least I covered all the bases when I make my final decision on when to leave work.

I dislike the place I am working at but have been there for over 38 years(!), the job has changed a huge amount recently though so I just want to leave, the plan is to then get a part-time, minimum wage job for a few years just to keep me busy for the two days a week I will have spare.

But as my prospective date gets closer and closer it is actually becoming quite scary - I have had the safety net of doing a job for decades that I can do easily so the idea of not doing it any more, as much as I dislike it, is very unsettling. But I am definitely going to leave in the next year or so, so my question to others is, what made you settle on a date to retire?

Was it:
I have enough money
I am fed up with my job
I want more spare time
a significant birthday (60 etc)
health

I would imagine for most people it is a combination of the above, but which was the actual one that made you think the time is right? I am at the point where I am working out whether I should go on X date, or 5 weeks later but perhaps I am going into it in such detail as a form of delaying tactic, as I can always think of a reason why I should go slightly later, then I work out that actually, sod it, I may as well go a month or two earlier!

I am guessing this sort of anxiety is recognisable to a few of you?

People that I know that retired early were people that disliked their job, but the money for them to retire must be there too.
I am hoping to have more money in retirement than I have whilst in work, so I cannot retire yet.

sheslookinhot

Ainsty said:

SouthCoastBoy said:

michaels said:

For those who have been same employer for a long time and have a big DC pot, consider working for the civil service for a year or so as you can import a lot of your DC into the govt gold plated DB at generous rates which reduces SOR risk and lifetime allowance issues.

That's interesting didn't know you could do that, how does it work?

I've moved between the public and private sectors more than once. I don't think most people who have worked the majority of their lives in the private sector could make it in the public sector. The public sector is much more efficient and the performance expected is much higher. Just my experience of course.

Not sure if serious 🧐 

MalMonroe

Hello, I'm a woman who just squeezed into the age bracket where I could retire at 60, so I did. I've had a few jobs - mostly in the NHS and Higher Education (and have small pensions from both) but also lived and worked overseas and had some great experiences. However, I still want more (and now I've been retired 12 years)(eeek!) Just launched my online business which fortunately I can do from home so I'm retired, self-employed and registered to pay tax - although I still have to earn enough to do so. 

Having a divorce, becoming a single parent and studying for an undergraduate degree all meant that I wasn't as well off as I could have been. I did get into quite a financial pickle a few years ago but now I'm out of it and debt free and ready to start over. 

I didn't particularly like my last job which was in the private sector but when I told my boss I wanted to retire he tried to get me to have a rethink and stay on. Which I could have done and postponed my state pension. But I wanted freedom and that's what I love. I've never, ever regretted retiring. I may not be the richest person around but I am happy. And that's worth a lot. Now I'm hoping to earn an extra few bob by working for myself but if it doesn't work out it won't be a disaster. I sold my own home years ago, still do regret that sometimes and am now in social housing but it's in a rural location with good neighbours. I can also afford to run a car - a lifeline in a location like ours. 

I'm also the only carer for my adult daughter who lives with me and I don't really have much time to have any regrets about retiring as there's always so much to do and there's also my social life (although still conducted online for the time being).

Best thing I ever did and never felt anxious about it at all. I just felt it was time to go and thought that if I wanted to work, I could do so, for myself, in the future (i.e. now). Not everyone can do that, I know but I just felt that retirement was right for me. 

billy2shots

sheslookinhot said:

Ainsty said:

SouthCoastBoy said:

michaels said:

For those who have been same employer for a long time and have a big DC pot, consider working for the civil service for a year or so as you can import a lot of your DC into the govt gold plated DB at generous rates which reduces SOR risk and lifetime allowance issues.

That's interesting didn't know you could do that, how does it work?

I've moved between the public and private sectors more than once. I don't think most people who have worked the majority of their lives in the private sector could make it in the public sector. The public sector is much more efficient and the performance expected is much higher. Just my experience of course.

Not sure if serious 🧐 

I chuckled when I read that. It's either great sarcasm or a minority viewpoint. 

horsewithnoname

billy2shots said:

sheslookinhot said:

Ainsty said:

SouthCoastBoy said:

michaels said:

For those who have been same employer for a long time and have a big DC pot, consider working for the civil service for a year or so as you can import a lot of your DC into the govt gold plated DB at generous rates which reduces SOR risk and lifetime allowance issues.

That's interesting didn't know you could do that, how does it work?

I've moved between the public and private sectors more than once. I don't think most people who have worked the majority of their lives in the private sector could make it in the public sector. The public sector is much more efficient and the performance expected is much higher. Just my experience of course.

Not sure if serious 🧐 

I chuckled when I read that. It's either great sarcasm or a minority viewpoint. 

Yeah, slag off the under resourced public service where pay has gone down, trading is virtually non existent and you’re a political punch bag. 

Or, don’t fall for divisive propaganda and look to where the actual problem lies, which apparently you can’t mention on this site, so I’ll leave it there.