Bold leap into retirement

LeafGreen

I guess everyone has their own threshold of how ill they need to be before going off sick, and I think mine is relatively high, however I do think there is a wide range of severity when it comes to a cold - mild ones I would not take time off but sometimes I get absolute stinkers where I feel horrendous, coughing all the time, barely able to speak, constantly running nose, headaches, just wanting to lie in bed and sleep. On those occasions I would not feel guilty taking a couple of days off.

cloud_dog

Just a financial update / comment...

As per my previous post (a little while ago), my DB scheme administrators were changed at the back end of 2025 to LCP, and with my intention to put my DB pension into payment in May this year, I was a tad anxious (re possible interpretations of the calculations etc, and or no knowledge of LCP as an administrator), but suffice to say everything went swimmingly; the PCLS arrived on the day they said and today was my first payday. All in order. So a very happy chappy sat in the garden with a beer 😁

bjorn_toby_wilde

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82013341#Comment_82013341

That’s the way to spend payday 😁

GenX0212

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82013341#Comment_82013341

How much time have you spent so far trying to workout how many beers you can get with your lump sum? :-)

katejo

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82013328#Comment_82013328

That's how I felt when I got back from holiday. Thought I had had the worst of it by Tuesday but it returned on Wednesday. Just about back to normal now except the cough.

MetaPhysical

If I had a bad throat and cold I was off sick even if I was WFH. No way am I suffering for a large company that makes millions in profit.

MetaPhysical

I often get a cold after being on a plane. I started to wear a covid-era mask whilst on the plane and stopped getting them.

huw01

I will have been retired two years come next month. Now 53, and in the last two years I don't recall getting a cold or sore throat.

Might be luck but I'm also convinced that no stress means I've not had one since getting off that hamster wheel

kipsterno1

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82013371#Comment_82013371

I prefer to call it, 'Free money day.'

crv1963

I have returned to these forums after a long gap of just dipping in and out, mainly to see how old names have got on.

I pulled the plug in April 2020 as Covid struck, and as I was (am) NHS Staff I returned after 24 hours to my old job and worked throughout. I have only ever had medically certified sickness and indeed am currently off with Cancer but plan returning in November.

I really enjoy my job and I also enjoy the time off work so when I return I intend going back part time, I am not ready to pill the plug completely and I am building up additional pension in the NHS 2015 scheme having taken the 1995 section and saved money into a SIPP to reduce HRT.

We have put most of our monies into my wife SIPP, her workplace (NEST) pension and cash savings. We haven't made the most of tax reduction as we needed to build a balance between pensions for us both and to be honest as foolish as it may seem my life has been saved several times by the NHS so I don't object to contributing my few thousand additional tax per year, sentimental tosh probably but there we are!

My bold leap lasted 24 hours, my wife has now aged 59 years retired 3 times and each time returns to the workplace- also a Nurse and a sucker for "It's only a couple of shifts/ weeks/ months".

I would suggest that the most important thing to get right is the mindset, my next attempt at retirement will be in a couple of years time, I am going part time with the mindset that this is a stepping stone to stopping work, I intend to stop at the end of spring 2029, I will have a big enough savings pot for holidays, will have another 7.5k of DB pension on top of the current 23k and be 18 months from SPA.

For us going knowing full well we can return on the hours we want is actually a block on going.

Good luck to everyone who manages to go!