Slow Living - Doing It Old Style!

Christianne1957

Newly retired @ 67 - I reduced my working hours when I reached retirement age from 37pw to 30 but still struggled with fatigue so reduced to 15pw
Ended up giving notice  because although hours reduced, the work load didn't & I was more worn out & stressed on reduced hours than full time! 

Tight budget but manageable and life is much more relaxed

Cherryfudge

I'm finding all these retirement views really interesting. I'm 60: went off sick from my long-term job just before my 60th birthday and after about nine months of sick leave, handed in my notice. In place of it I have two very different relief posts. I wasn't highly paid in my previous job (though thankfully had good sick pay) and I earn a lot less now. Getting used to two relief posts is a bit stressful but I'm putting that down to the initial learning curve.

My husband is a similar age to me: he gave up his professional post due to stress, just before lockdown, and was supposed to start with an organisation that unfortunately then couldn't take him on due to Covid. He had about six months unemployed then found a lower paid job three days a week, which he loves. He also does voluntary work. He's been offered more paid hours but won't take it.

At the moment we're basically living off his three days a week. I supplement it with money I inherited for one-off spending and Christmas (which I know isn't really a one-off). In other words, despite being quite low maintenance, post-mortgage, no dependents, we don't really have enough income in the longer term. DH has considered taking his pension but while there's a buffer in the current account, which may last a few more months, I'd rather he continued to accumulate it.

I'm not sure I could manage more hours, and I'm not prepared to go back to my old job (I often see the equivalent post advertised). However, there are just so many benefits to these shorter working hours: time together and with grandchildren, time for exercise and hobbies, even time and mental energy for things like DIY! It's so nice having enough energy to cook from scratch, so there are some savings to be had because of the reduced working hours.

So there's not really enough money but it's a lot more enjoyable and our health has benefitted. It was never in the plan, though. In many ways I loved my job and planned to work till retirement age, take a month off then go back as relief. Suddenly coming into a semi-retired state is a shock, and I've made myself go on and earn what I can as I know my personal pension is minimal. I was counting on seven years of contributions which are now unlikely to happen, so I'm working on a back-up plan to gain skills for something I can do when my physical health may no longer hold up to physical work. I know I need social contact and something to give structure to my days, so those are factors to consider, too.

mrs_slapshot

I'm feeling a bit guilty for hijacking your thread with retirement talk @leftatthetrafficlights - apologies! But it's so interesting reading all these views and hearing about your lives. I think I'm knackered and could do with a few months off but then start working again on a smaller scale. I know I won't be able to retire fully probably until 67 as my pensions aren't really big enough, but I definitely want to scale back from a stressful corporate career. I would be happy to do some work in retirement - and what @zcrat41 said about hiring people in my (hopefully) future position was interesting - do you mind me asking what sort of jobs they are (if that's not too 'outing' for you to say)?

I listened to a bit of Jurgen Klopp talking about leaving Liverpool and it made me think of me - in that he's a good sports car, but only he can see the fuel gauge going down! Or something like that.

And thanks for the tip about calculating your possible death date and working your figures out on that @CRANKY40 - I'm definitely going to do that!

Can't remember if I've already mentioned it but I very recently listened to an audiobook of 'Die with zero' by Bill Perkins. It's about enjoying your money while you're alive, and the aim is to leave nothing when you die (obvs very tricky! And doesn't mean not leaving any to family - just giving while you're alive if you can). It's changed my previous perspective and was an excellent listen - on Spotify. I'm trying to find a reasonably priced second hand version of the printed book (I do prefer hard copy books!)

On the slow living front, I had a wonderful walk with my best friend this morning, together with her dog and my son's cocker spaniel puppy. We do it every week (have done since lockdown) and it's something I absolutely treasure - it's like weekly therapy! And we generally see at least one robin while we're out too.

Plans today to do some decluttering, then I'm putting up a narrow bookcase tomorrow for my bedroom - it's quite small and I need somewhere for my shoes to be stored. Am sadly quite excited about that!

Another thing I've realised recently is that I'd like to change from being a night owl to an early bird - those early mornings are absolute gems; can't remember who mentioned earlier about the beautiful sunrise/sky, but it's just a magical time of day. Plus I was awake at 5am again - completely unplanned though and it makes me realise how much of the day we can waste by lying in bed scrolling, or trying in vain to get back to sleep.

Floss

Wednesday2000 said:

My husband is off work sick at the moment and may be retiring this year if he gets medical retirement and if not will return to his job until 2026 and retire then. It is worrying thinking about running out of money. I have read a lot of posts on here about retirement and I have read financial articles, but I think we won't know what life will be like until we are in the situation of being work-free and retired.l.. 

I would repeat the recommendation to book a call with Pensionwise if your husband is over 50:
https://www.moneyhelper.org.uk/en/pensions-and-retirement/pension-wise

Floss

Christianne1957 said:

Newly retired @ 67 - I reduced my working hours when I reached retirement age from 37pw to 30 but still struggled with fatigue so reduced to 15pw
Ended up giving notice  because although hours reduced, the work load didn't & I was more worn out & stressed on reduced hours than full time! 

Tight budget but manageable and life is much more relaxed.

This is my concern - I am planning to drop half a day a week to a 9-day fortnight and ideally would like to drop to a 4-day week, but I don't think my role would accommodate it. Luckily it's not patient facing but can still be quite pressured at times.

Katiehound

@mrs-slapshot
cheapest I can find 'your' book is on ebay- £7.30 with free postage- https://www.ebay.co.uk/p/5049056200

Amazon £9.99- suspect you need to pay postage unless you know a friend with A. prime

if you are in the right area (guess that is the south) watch out for stunning sunsets soon-ish as there is a cloud of Sahara sand heading our way which will affect the air quality. Guess if you find dust on your car you are in the area!!

Wednesday2000

My husband was told he can't get advice from Pensionwise as his is a final salary pension.

I went down to the beach to blow the cobwebs away. It is a lovely day and the beach was busy. I actually walked past that Bluetit group (I assume it was them) and a few people were swimming in the sea. The tide was in for once.🥰

Brie

Wednesday2000 said:

My husband was told he can't get advice from Pensionwise as his is a final salary pension.

I went down to the beach to blow the cobwebs away. It is a lovely day and the beach was busy. I actually walked past that Bluetit group (I assume it was them) and a few people were swimming in the sea. The tide was in for once.🥰

I was surprised at your comment about pensionwise so checked to be sure.  The website seems to say they can still help but just that he can't have an appointment.  Does the scheme itself have anyone that might be able to talk him through his options?  Otherwise the pension forum here can be very helpful.  I do know that no one will be willing to move a DB pension into a personal pension or SIPP of any sort due to the probability of losing valuable benefits.  

If you’re under 50 or only have a defined benefit pension, you won’t be able to have a Pension Wise appointment, but we can still help you

Call us free on 0800 011 3797 or use our webchatOpens in a new window One of our pension specialists will be happy to help. 

Opening times: Monday to Friday: 9am to 5pm (helpline) 9am to 5pm (webchat). Closed on bank holidays.

zaxdog

Our slow living journey continued today with:                                                                                                             Whilst Mr Z tinkered with the malfunctioning vacuum I brushed the carpets and vinyl floors by hand with a stiff brush. Managed to gather a few days worth of kindling whilst I walked the mad hound. Slow cooked venison sausage casserole for dinner. We don't eat much meat and what we do is local and wild. There are about six portions there including the mandatory bowl for the dog 🐶 Now time for crochet and chai tea. 

dND

Regarding affording the slower living, one thing I've found is that I have time to think and explore my options. 

For example, I need some new clothes pegs having ditched all my old ones in France.  I've looked around but not found the quality/price I wanted.  However, I spotted that L4keland had reduced the price of theirs - still expensive but hopefully good quality -  but if I called in Friday morning I could buy them and I would get a gift of 3 washing nets, which I also need to replace. 

The nets currently retail for £9.99 on the site and the pegs were £4.99.  By my reckoning I'm £5 up. 🤣

This is just the latest example but slowing down and seeing what's available is what I'm hoping will see me through.

My health slow down was to go to the National Botanic Gardens here in Wales on Friday.  I'd taken out a membership a few months ago and I've already got my moneys-worth from that.  It was glorious, lots of sunshine and the spring bulbs are starting their flowering.  To top it all, I took along some mealworms and for the first time ever I had a robin take some from my hand. 😁😁.  It was magical.