Retirement is great!

fly-catchers

Been free of work for over 2 and half years now. No more battles with the boss or infighting with fellow colleagues! No more needing to check before I book a concert, theatre etc to see if I can get the day off or by luck it’s on my day off! I can start late and carry on in my garden to whatever time not thinking it’s time to make supper, have a bath and get to bed. Go for long countryside walks when most people are at work so nice and peaceful! All the time knowing that my old place of work has got a million times worse since I left! With others leaving or off with stress for months at a time! Only real downside is I lost my beloved cat last year and really must give another a good home…
 

L9XSS

Great to here. I managed to “downsize” my 38 year career and glad I too know that’s step. It feels like a glide path to retirement and I’m pleased I made that decision as the free time and headspace I’ve achieved is excellent. I oft remember the corporate BS etc and the stress it caused, however it was a means to an end and not all days were bad by any means. The freedom of longer weekends (I work PT) and more time to do things is the real win for me.

dealyboy

fly-catchers said:

Been free of work for over 2 and half years now. No more battles with the boss or infighting with fellow colleagues! No more needing to check before I book a concert, theatre etc to see if I can get the day off or by luck it’s on my day off! I can start late and carry on in my garden to whatever time not thinking it’s time to make supper, have a bath and get to bed. Go for long countryside walks when most people are at work so nice and peaceful! All the time knowing that my old place of work has got a million times worse since I left! With others leaving or off with stress for months at a time! Only real downside is I lost my beloved cat last year and really must give another a good home…
 

me too ...
me too
I did (a local stray) 

lisyloo

Sounds like some jobs are a lot better than others.
I'm lucky that my job is a lot better than that.
yeah sure there’s still frustrations and restrictions but generally it’s fun.
puts a different spin on it.

Sea_Shell

Coming up on 4 years for me.

Can honestly say I haven't missed working 😎

Rich1976

Sounds idyllic. Only another 16 years to go for me ( fingers crossed ) if everything goes to plan and without wanting to wish my life away I can’t wait to be rid of the office politics, the constant grumbling, the cynicism whenever a new process is implemented, the air conditioning, having to book holidays between set dates each month. The list is endless.

I can only dream but one day it will be reality hopefully 

Somebody

Rich1976 said:

Sounds idyllic. Only another 16 years to go for me ( fingers crossed ) if everything goes to plan and without wanting to wish my life away I can’t wait to be rid of the office politics, the constant grumbling, the cynicism whenever a new process is implemented, the air conditioning, having to book holidays between set dates each month. The list is endless.

I can only dream but one day it will be reality hopefully 

Air con at someone else’s expense is the only thing I miss.  I suppose Company Car too as someone else was keeping me mobile, apart from the fuel.

RetiredTaz

I've now been free of work for 3 whole months. Loving the freedom to wake up and do whatever I like. Having worked shifts most of my 44 years working life, really takes its toll. I can highly recommend retiring at the earliest opportunity, just wish I had found this forum a few years ago though 😁.
I am lucky though I have a bank contract with my old employer (NHS) and this allows me to to up my savings should I need it. 

chubsta

I leave next April at 57 - can't wait. Bumped into an old colleague just yesterday who retired early about 5 years ago, I asked him if he had ever been tempted to get a little job, he said he didn't have the time to fit one in... That is exactly how I feel my retirement will go, I will be far too busy to even think about working again!

Cus

Thanks for squeezing in the time during your amazing busy retired schedule to let us poor workers who are looking at this board dreaming of the same that's it's going well for you. 😁

drummersdale

I took partial retirement at 59 and a bit last August - now do a Tuesday, Wednesday & a Thursday morning (yes I know the acronym) - waiting for my wife to do a few more years before she can take partial too. Had the benefit (albeit can be viewed as a negative due to the reason for it) of a 7% increase last year - it’s a CS DB pension - and looking increasingly likely to be around that next year, depending on this Septembers CPI rate, which would be nice. Agree with many of the other comments - difficult to see any downsides to retirement (partial or full).