Bold leap into retirement

zagubov

When you're thinking of dropping a day, Thursday can have psychological advantages 
It gives Wednesday a Friday feel and when you come back it's the real Friday and everyojne's in a good mood. Got to say though that four days will start to feel full-time after a while. You need to be on three days a week for ti to feel really different. Monday and Thursday would be good to take off. 

Asimovs_nightfall

pterri said:

HedgehogRulez said:

unsolicited crotch shot

I live to serve

Well camouflaged.

Jimbobdibob

Perhaps not the right place but....

2023 had been paying close attention to funds with a view to retirement because I hated what the job/company had turned into.

Spent a small fortune on Airfix models, paints (expensive), brushes and bits, all part of the plan.

One day off ill since starting work (1990 Jan 2nd) then bam 3 days in hospital and signed off for a month. Promptly retired, Jan 2024.

My pub lunches 5 days a week was not working for Mrs dunnm1 (who refuses to retire) so she found me a job.

Full time (vocational) job, minimum wage ish.
Best (most rewarding) job of my career, put in over 50 hours last week, absolutely love it.

Great to know though the minute I don't love it I can just walk away.

Bit of a cliche but last time I retired from something rather than to something, BIG mistake. Got to work on that, Airfix models, although great, don't fill the week for me.

cfw1994

That last line is so important - don’t retire from work, move on to the next thing 💪

Mind you, I might change my LinkedIn profile to Flâneur - a French term popularized in the 19th century for a type of urban male "stroller", "lounger", "saunterer", or "loafer" 🤣
(& before you ask, yes, I occasionally browse LinkedIn….not for work, I just like to keep up with what former colleagues are up to: many of them became friends, & it is nice to encourage their careers - someone has to keep paying tax!

We do seem to always be busy - I have a spreadsheet for a yearly diary, so we can stay ahead of what’s coming up 🤓
Busy, but nothing is a regular commitment.  Suits us, although I know many prefer a weekly calendar of ‘things’: everyone has to find the way that suits them.

Off to Reeth & Harrogate for the next week, visiting pals 😎

Nebulous2

dunnm1 said:

Perhaps not the right place but....

2023 had been paying close attention to funds with a view to retirement because I hated what the job/company had turned into.

Spent a small fortune on Airfix models, paints (expensive), brushes and bits, all part of the plan.

One day off ill since starting work (1990 Jan 2nd) then bam 3 days in hospital and signed off for a month. Promptly retired, Jan 2024.

My pub lunches 5 days a week was not working for Mrs dunnm1 (who refuses to retire) so she found me a job.

Full time (vocational) job, minimum wage ish.
Best (most rewarding) job of my career, put in over 50 hours last week, absolutely love it.

Great to know though the minute I don't love it I can just walk away.

Bit of a cliche but last time I retired from something rather than to something, BIG mistake. Got to work on that, Airfix models, although great, don't fill the week for me.

I've a similar tale. I've told it repeatedly, so I wont bore people again.  Had two hobbies I intended to expand. Discovered that 5 hours a week for both of them was a stretch, nevermind 40. Quickly took a part-time job. 

Preparation, both psychological and building up activities, is important. One of the finance youtubers said something like, don't regard it as the final chapter, regard it as the beginning of the next chapter. 

In the last few days I've been contemplating giving it another go. 

michaels

So far (week 3) I am really struggling to fit in the must do tasks let alone any of the planned to do. No idea how I would have coped if I had also had to fit in 35 hours a week of work.

QrizB

michaels said:

So far (week 3) I am really struggling to fit in the must do tasks let alone any of the planned to do. No idea how I would have coped if I had also had to fit in 35 hours a week of work.

I feel your pain.
I've dropped back to three days a week as of January, and I still can't fit all my weekend tasks into the weekend even though it's now four days!

eastcorkram

I'm sure this, retire into something is important. Maybe more for some people than others. I stopped at Christmas, and I'm still pretty much doing nothing, and am extremely happy doing it.

I'm sure that might change at some point, but at the moment, I've never been happier.

It was an odd start, as two days after retiring, I was in hospital for 5 days. My first time . Then in again for another 5 days a few weeks later. So all that was completely out of the blue, and not what I was expecting retirement to be like! 

I have zero social life, through choice, and don't really have any hobbies, other than making a bit of music . I don't miss any aspect of working, and wish I'd stopped a year or two earlier. 

MetaPhysical

I've just dropped down to four days   Eleven months now left until "R-day" 😃

MetaPhysical

MetaPhysical said:

I've just dropped down to four days   Eleven months now left until "R-day" 😃

I meant to add, any BS from work and I'll retire.  I continue at work because of a possible handsome VR  and were it not for that I'd have already gone.  I do what is asked of me to fulfil my role, fulfil my professional obligations but no more, I have lost motivation at my age to continually learn new work things these days; I'm not interested in it anymore and have other life priorities.

There are increasing threads on the web about the fact that hard work at your employer is not worth it any more and does not bring in the value to you that you could get by learning about investing or running your own side-gig.