Bold leap into retirement

MeteredOut

Cus said:

My employer chosen health insurance company kindly said they would offer me a special follow on employee rate to take it private when I left...it was 10 times more than I got through a private broker.  Look around..

Similar story here, though that was 8 years ago. And it was on lesser terms too.

HedgehogRulez

dont people just rely on free nhs treatment?

MeteredOut

HedgehogRulez said:

dont people just rely on free nhs treatment?

Some people don't want to wait 3 years.

MallyGirl

HedgehogRulez said:

dont people just rely on free nhs treatment?

it depends what for - and how long you are prepared to wait.
My cataract was dealt with via private health in 3 weeks from diagnosis to surgery - only that long due to the surgeon's skiing holiday. I can currently see an MSK physio as soon as I can find an appointment slot. Both of those would have waiting lists of many months.
Bigger things would be NHS

Phossy

MeteredOut said:

Some people don't want to wait 3 years.

If you are really interested in the wait times and backlog, try this NHS backlog data analysis.

Pat38493

MallyGirl said:

HedgehogRulez said:

dont people just rely on free nhs treatment?

it depends what for - and how long you are prepared to wait.
My cataract was dealt with via private health in 3 weeks from diagnosis to surgery - only that long due to the surgeon's skiing holiday. I can currently see an MSK physio as soon as I can find an appointment slot. Both of those would have waiting lists of many months.
Bigger things would be NHS

Funnily enough I recently had cataract surgery on the NHS and I only had to wait 3.5 weeks from diagnosis to first eye being done, and the second eye will be done this week.

However my optician told me it's a postcode lottery - in other areas of the country I might have had to wait a year or more.

I actually have private medical from my employer but it didn't seem worth claiming in this instance.

Ibrahim5

If you pay a few £k you can get it done .5 weeks faster I suppose.

cfw1994

HedgehogRulez said:

dont people just rely on free nhs treatment?

We looked at the cost of keeping BUPA or maybe cutting down the Beneden Health, & decided we felt the NHS will deal wi the urgent stuff….& I didn’t fancy working years longer to have a private policy, so yes, we are “relying” broadly on the NHS.  

Spend the money saved on healthy things 😉
Our only direct experience with it has been pretty decent, tbh.  Last thing I had was emergency laser surgery after a volleyball-to-the-face incident a few years back.  
We do have dental cover & 6 monthly check/scrape/polish.

ex-pat_scot

Ibrahim5 said:

If you pay a few £k you can get it done .5 weeks faster I suppose.

I paid for my v elderly father in law's cataract op last year. £2,400.
He would be waiting about 18 months for NHS, and that's a very long time when you are in your 90s.

ex-pat_scot

My bold leap into retirement...

...


... has been an almighty rebound!

I feel like MarineLife and others, who talk a good game but struggle to see it through.

I've been planning for a very long time, with lots of like-minded travellers (I see you @michaels @cfw1994 @MallyGirl and many others).

I hit 55 and access to DC last Easter.
I quickly settled on the plan to leave full time employment, and dabble in a bit of consulting in my (very well-paid) specialism. 
I decided not to hold out for VR, but open conversation with bosses. They persuaded me to stay on to the end of the year (2024) to see out the financial year with clients, and allow time for recruiting and training a replacement.
Completely to no-one's surprise, nothing really happened until I gave my 3m notice end Sept.
Completely to no-one's surprise, little then happened until about a few days before I left.
The promises of picking and choosing some ad hoc consulting work also vanished at the same time.

So far, so good, and on-message for this thread.

But - long story short - I've been fully occupied ever since, and likely to be busier from end of next month.
I'm still enjoying not having a boss, utilisation targets, being pestered about forecasts, margins, bookings, client updates and where all the reports are.
I'm doing lots of guilt - free things, like spontaneous lunchtime bike rides when the weather is nice and friends are free. Or naps in the sunshine.
Working as and when I want. Early and late. Or not.

The work is still getting done, because my old clients and colleagues want me.
I'm charging them handsomely for my output.
It's hard to turn the work down at the moment, and Mrs XPS is still hard at work for the moment. The XPSlets are nearing the end of secondary / tertiary education, and certainly not fully off the payroll, but I can earn in a few days sufficient to cover their needs.

I've sort of got the retirement I want, for now. 
None of the previous pressures.
Most of my time is mine to devote as I wish
I've got the freedom to mostly potter and accept opportunities when they pop up.
As a personal service company, I have full control over how much and when I take income, navigating the vagarities of the tax system to my best effect. I no longer have to steer around the loss of personal allowance, pension limits, NI etc.

In theory, I can scale back as and when I wish, but frankly I've not tried very hard at all to find work, and will soon have to learn how to say "no" a bit more forcefully.

Sorry this is rather long - an ode or salutary lesson in how not to leap into retirement.

I am still with you all in spirit, and in my general direction of travel.