Retirement is great!

trevjl

Funnily enough, I had HR confirm today. Given the go ahead for 3 days. It wasn't a surprise, my local boss just has to agree to it and considering it was his idea in the first place it's a goer.
They don't have much choice TBH, I said 3 days or I chuck it in. I've been there 37 years and they can't get anyone with no experience let alone and old codger with loads so I guess they think 3 days is better than none

katejo

trevjl said:

Funnily enough, I had HR confirm today. Given the go ahead for 3 days. It wasn't a surprise, my local boss just has to agree to it and considering it was his idea in the first place it's a goer.
They don't have much choice TBH, I said 3 days or I chuck it in. I've been there 37 years and they can't get anyone with no experience let alone and old codger with loads so I guess they think 3 days is better than none

I have been in my post for 33 years and my manager has  told me more than once  that she will leave if I go. 

Johnnyy_Boy

Albermarle said:

sgx2000 said:

I never understood the attitude
'I will carry on working'
What! 
Wait until you start becoming weaker / unwell and can no longer do the things you would like to do in retirement???

For me the only fear I have of retiring is that the money could run out...
I think I just need to somehow get over that...

I think the point being made is that some people would just prefer to keep working . That is what they actually want to do 'in retirement'
Some people love their jobs and/or do not have many outside interests. So for them carrying on is the preferred option.

Everybody is different !

Absolutely. I have friends retired who some tell me to retire whilst others say work as long as I can.

I still enjoy doing what I do, get on really well with my colleagues and even though I’m coming up to 68 it would feel very strange not going to work.

Will look at reducing my working week at some point and perhaps build up to retirement over the next couple of years. 

Sarahspangles

Rich1976 said:

For those that have requested to reduce their working hours or number of days they work a week, how amenable did you find your employer?

Many employers are finding they don’t have the hold over employees they used to. I’m in a role that’s difficult to recruit to. ‘Loss of key staff’ is on every project risk register. Nobody is irreplaceable but the disruption from turnover would be significant.

dealyboy

@katejo said:

I have been in my post for 33 years and my manager has  told me more than once  that she will leave if I go. 

... hide round the corner and go back in when she leaves ... about time you were the boss eh? 

Nebulous2

katejo said:

Nebulous2 said:

Our finances are sound, but the psychological adjustment from committed employee who felt there was a sense of worth in what I was doing, to being cut loose, was much more difficult than I expected.  

It is this last part which makes me nervous. Probably fine if I am fit, active and involved in things. Not so good if I were in poor health and isolated at home with no purpose in life. 

I'd say have a plan. Don't get too hung up on sticking to it, be prepared to adjust it, but have one. I still haven't cleared out my garage, and am not beating myself up about it. 

I exercised a lot, but had a health scare last year which curtailed it. I still do more than most people of my age, but not as much as I used to.

Think about lockdown / the pandemic. Every body had plans, to bake, learn foreign languages, exercise, lose weight and get fitter. Some of them even followed through and achieved it. For most people however they sat around more, ate comfort food and drank too much. There are similarities between suddenly being expected to work from home and not being able to go out so much and retirement. 

Think about:- What are your motivations? What will keep you going?

I worked with a lot of health care staff who had retired and came back to help out during the pandemic. They all appreciated being back, and said they got a lot from it, even for one 6 hour shift a week. The phrase I heard most from them about their retirement was that they had been 'drifting.' 

I didn't see this coming - I thought the main issue for retirement was finances, and gave no consideration to dealing with change. Two years in I'm now getting there, but it could have been better with more preparation.  

Albermarle

Pat38493 said:

It probably also depends partly on how much your employer perceives that they need your experience, and how worried they are that you might just retire completely - after all their workload issues will be even worse if you retire completely or find another job that will let you work 3 or 4 days.

Also of course some jobs do not lend themselves easily to reduced days, and you can just end up doing the same amount of work for less money. 
Before retiring,  I could get a call ( from employer or customers) at basically any time in normal working hours. This included days off, holidays etc . Plus I needed to check and even send e mails when on holiday. I accepted it as part of the job that was otherwise very flexible and quite well paid
So reducing from 5 days to 4 was pointless and a clean break, after training a replacement, was the only option. 

RangeRat

I retired at 58. At age 55 I put in for reduction in hours to a 3 day week. 

Had lots of resistance and they made it as difficult as possible thru the process without saying no. It took 6 months of arguing before they made a decision. 

The only card I could play was to say I would leave if they didn’t allow it. But at that stage I couldn’t so it was bluff.

I was in IT and had a lot of legacy knowledge that they knew they would lose. Eventually they agreed but it soured the relationship and I eventually quit. Had they made it easier I would have continued a bit longer.

barnstar2077

When I applied to drop down in days I stated that it was to help with my mental health and that I would use the extra time off to work on my well being and personal life.  They approved it the same day.  I'm not exactly vital to the organisation though! :  )

It was one of the best decisions I've ever made, as it has been like a weight lifted (especially on Sunday afternoons), which in turn has allowed me to get so much more out of life.  Which includes having the time to meet and woo my girlfriend, and days out exploring new places with friends and family.

I think we all just accept that we will be worker drones for the majority of our lives, but honestly, if you can afford to, then reduce your hours if you can, it is life changing!

swampduck

I'm coming up for a year since being made redundant and as I worked for a local college was fortunate enough to get my pension when I left. I did enjoy my job but the hardest thing I have found since has been the lack of interaction which I enjoyed with my colleagues even though to help out family I'm looking after grandchildren now and do get out to mix with other grandparents who are also doing childcare. 

This lack of interaction has severely affected my mood far more than I expected that it would and I'm now looking at volunteering and mindfulness things to lift my mood and get me out more. Both himself and I are at home now but for him much of his work was solitary so the lack of interaction isn't such a big deal and he is loving retirement. We are struggling to get one of his pensions paid due to LPPA's constant ineptitude we are 22 months and counting since he first applied. As one of our neighbours said with similar issues - she is hungry now and all the platitudes of - it will be backdated and you won't lose out don't mean a thing when you have bills to pay and food to buy!!

I think much of peoples mindset is - are you actually ready for retirement? Some are! due to their work situation - good or bad and others can't wait due to health issues and others have simply had enough of working. Me? I would have been happy to carry on for a little while longer.