Bold leap into retirement

MetaPhysical

Do others think similarly to me that when you know you are on a glide-slope countdown to retirement - in my case ideally another 12-16 months - I have just lost all interest in work?  I work in IT and I remain professional as I can, but I just can't help but keep thinking what's the point in learning a ton of new stuff if I'm finishing soon anyway. Do others feel this way?

MallyGirl

MetaPhysical said:

Do others think similarly to me that when you know you are on a glide-slope countdown to retirement - in my case ideally another 12-16 months - I have just lost all interest in work?  I work in IT and I remain professional as I can, but I just can't help but keep thinking what's the point in learning a ton of new stuff if I'm finishing soon anyway. Do others feel this way?

I have felt this way for some time - sadly I am a bit further out at 2.5 years. A colleague with a very dry wit was recently asked to do empower yellow belt training as it is always good to work on improvement. His comment was that he was 60 years old and there was a limit to how much more improvement was wanted/needed, or even possible. So true.

Sarahspangles

MetaPhysical said:

Do others think similarly to me that when you know you are on a glide-slope countdown to retirement - in my case ideally another 12-16 months - I have just lost all interest in work?  I work in IT and I remain professional as I can, but I just can't help but keep thinking what's the point in learning a ton of new stuff if I'm finishing soon anyway. Do others feel this way?

Yes, and I didn’t expect this. I’m trying to have a mindset that I’m retiring to something rather than from, but I’m finding work stressful and I’m increasingly disinclined to put in the energy or hours. I don’t want to go out on a low.

If I wake at 2 am worrying about work, I try to daydream about what the first day, week, year of retirement will be like. To give me something positive to focus on. As a result I’ve just replaced some craft stuff I gave away during lockdown, but now I’m wishing I could start using it immediately.

MetaPhysical

I am seriously lacking in motivation these days.  I ensure my job gets done, yes.  But in terms of reading and fathoming out stuff out of work hours that at one time I was so happy to do, these days I've quiet quitted. 

Smudgeismydog

I know exactly how you feel @MetaPhysical, I’m conscientiously doing everything that’s expected of me, but I’ve stepped back from all the additional jobs I somehow took on. I’ve also exited most of the work groups on WhatsApp and Teams, which has really helped with the amount of ‘noise’ I was receiving. 

I am aiming to be in a position where I will just check my emails first thing, lunchtime and at the end of the day for the last 2 months (May & June).

@handful, it’s so good to hear from you from out the other side. I’m so pleased to hear that you are having such a great time. It won’t be long before I’ll be joining you!

Daffodil1234

I do enjoy this thread, very interesting to see other people's comments in similar versions / situations.

I'm now counting in weeks rather than months as I'm finishing end of May.  There are still moments of the "will this be ok" but overall I'm very calm and feel it is the right thing for me to do.  

I've seen the occasional article in the press about "You must have £XXXXXX to retire" and have had to remind myself that the journalist's figure is an average, or maybe invented, and actually I will need less than that.  Heading towards the final payday / final bonus etc does feel a bit odd at times though !

While I've got some ideas about what to do with my time once I stop work, I'm purposefully giving myself 3 months off - that is, 3 months after I finish work, where I don't want to book up any definite / regular commitments, or take on any form of work (even volunteering).  I feel I need some time to decompress and regain energy, before deciding what new areas to take on.

FIREDreamer

MetaPhysical said:

Do others think similarly to me that when you know you are on a glide-slope countdown to retirement - in my case ideally another 12-16 months - I have just lost all interest in work?  I work in IT and I remain professional as I can, but I just can't help but keep thinking what's the point in learning a ton of new stuff if I'm finishing soon anyway. Do others feel this way?

Absolutely!

Roger175

Daffodil1234 said:

I've seen the occasional article in the press about "You must have £XXXXXX to retire" and have had to remind myself that the journalist's figure is an average, or maybe invented, and actually I will need less than that.  Heading towards the final payday / final bonus etc does feel a bit odd at times though !

Daffodil1234, if you're referring to the much quote PLSA standards, these are total nonsense! The sample number is ridiculously small and they are just published to frighten people into contributing more into their pension (no surprises there, given the organisation's background). We live very comfortably on around £32k PA, which is an accurate figure having monitored our spending for a number of years. OK, that figure has risen from around £28k only a few years ago, but as I say that's a very comfortable standard of life for us living in a large isolated rural property with a separate self contained annex, we run 3 cars and take several holidays a year (typically one week foreign and a couple of UK self catering breaks). We are otherwise fairly frugal (by choice not necessity). Obviously, everyone's 'number' is different, but we've never actually earnt the sort of figures the PLSA quote and that was during the accumulation stage whilst paying a mortgage and bringing up 3 kids. 

MetaPhysical

I'm hoping to be at a retirement income around the £45-50k mark at age 58 taken from roughly from 50% indexed linked DB and 50% DC funds (£600k-ish).  No mortgage and some cash to draw on in market downturns where I might want to go lightly on the DC fund.
Again, I want to continue to be professional in what I do but my heart is no longer at the workplace in a way it once was.  I've been at work for over 40 years now, have had many personal issues to contend with and a new chapter awaits me.

SouthCoastBoy

I can totally relate to your post MetaPhysical. Mentally I think I am in a similar position to you, financially I'm not as have no DB pension, so I'm trying to keep going for a little longer, however I'm finding it challenging, for a number of different reasons.