Bold leap into retirement

Peterrr

WYSPECIAL said:

Could you reduce your hours or responsibility to ease your way to the finish line?
I found that doing that really changed my attitude. The stress diminished and I no longer give a toss about the corporate BS. It completely changed my relationship with my manager, for the better, who now uses me for the stuff I am good at to take some pressure off themselves. I now no longer have an Rday in mind, happy to plod on for now.

Perhaps I should consider that... My motto has always been "rush to relax" - whether that means doing the housework first thing before sinking into the sofa, or (in this case) working and saving hard to retire as soon as possible. I'm just not sure pushing Rday back by another year or two would help my mindset 

dharm999

Well, it’s now been a week since going on garden leave.  We went away for a few days which was our first break for years, and it was lovely.  Came back, and it’s rained non stop for two days, which has been depressing. I deleted my work email account from my phone, so no temptation to check emails, which has really helped.  Am off to the modern art museum this morning, as haven’t been for a while now.  Not working is strange, will take a bit of time to get used to it, but so far, the biggest thing has been not having to think about work anymore, which pervaded home life far too much.  Now, just need to sort out plans for drawdowns, accessing pensions and investments for next April.  

Smudgeismydog

Many thanks for all your comments and views on student loans, it’s appreciated. I’m not going to compromise my financial security, but then I’m not looking to preserve my accumulated pots either, you can’t take it with you!
Perhaps there’s an element of overcompensating as I still feel this huge sense of responsibility for the kids after they lost their Dad as such young ages, and I’ve always found it easier to spend money on other people than myself.

My general expenditure is not particularly high, and I already have guaranteed income in place which is enough to pay my living costs, I do appreciate this provides me with a safety net. The kids have ISAs which will be moved into LISAs and they can also contribute to them once they are working, so in terms of house deposits there is already something in place.

Thanks for sharing your observations on your first week of gardening leave @dharm999, I don’t think you can underestimate just how much space in your head work occupies, and it must be a relief now it’s stopped. I hope the rain has now also stopped!

I think when you have the finishing line in sight @Peterrr, you just want it to come sooner. Certainly I’ve felt much less invested, as I know I won’t be there to see the next round of eg projects through. As @WYSPECIAL, noted, perhaps if you reduce your days in work, then this might help?

Mrs_Z

Hello to all, I've been reading this thread with interest and thought I pop in to say Hi. 
I've just handed in my resignation letter, scary but it's done.  My situation is slightly different to many of you in that I've actually stopped working some time ago (unpaid leave) so I've had the chance to test the retirement waters. I have a 3month notice period and was due to report to work come September, so thought I bite the bullet once and for all and resign.
I had always planned to take an early retirement at 55 anyway, but relocation of work to another country following Brexit, brought this on forward.
What I have learned during my time off so far?  
That I absolutely love the freedom. Not having the 'Sunday feeling' on Sunday evening about the week to come, mix of anxiety and tread, no need for an early start to commute but to have my morning coffee in peace and quiet - my god, that is priceless. Not mentioning the pressures of the work itself.
There is plenty to keep me busy, exercise, gardening, pets, culture, volunteering etc so definitely not getting bored.
I still have about 7 years to bridge between now and a pension - and I am financing this from a mixture of savings, sale of BTL property and inheritance. Despite the figures stacking up well in the spreadsheet - I still have anxiety about there being not 'enough' to fell comfortable. However, I've come to realise that this is down to money representing a massive feeling of security to me and it does not matter what the figure is in the spreadsheet, I would still feel the same.
Like many have already mentioned, moving from a life time of a prudent saver to a spender mindset is a challenge in itself. I am still being cautious, living to a budget like I've always done. I pay myself a set amount at the beginning of each month (like a salary) and manage it the same way as if I was earning. The plan is to keep doing this until the pension kicks in, and then take a serious review.  Someone recommended a book called 'Die with Zero' which really resonated with me, so the plan is very much to aim for the last cheque to bounce so to speak.
Looking forward to hearing everyone's stories!

barnstar2077

Mrs_Z said:

Hello to all, I've been reading this thread with interest and thought I pop in to say Hi. 
I've just handed in my resignation letter, scary but it's done.  My situation is slightly different to many of you in that I've actually stopped working some time ago (unpaid leave) so I've had the chance to test the retirement waters. I have a 3month notice period and was due to report to work come September, so thought I bite the bullet once and for all and resign.
I had always planned to take an early retirement at 55 anyway, but relocation of work to another country following Brexit, brought this on forward.
What I have learned during my time off so far?  
That I absolutely love the freedom. Not having the 'Sunday feeling' on Sunday evening about the week to come, mix of anxiety and tread, no need for an early start to commute but to have my morning coffee in peace and quiet - my god, that is priceless. Not mentioning the pressures of the work itself.
There is plenty to keep me busy, exercise, gardening, pets, culture, volunteering etc so definitely not getting bored.
I still have about 7 years to bridge between now and a pension - and I am financing this from a mixture of savings, sale of BTL property and inheritance. Despite the figures stacking up well in the spreadsheet - I still have anxiety about there being not 'enough' to fell comfortable. However, I've come to realise that this is down to money representing a massive feeling of security to me and it does not matter what the figure is in the spreadsheet, I would still feel the same.
Like many have already mentioned, moving from a life time of a prudent saver to a spender mindset is a challenge in itself. I am still being cautious, living to a budget like I've always done. I pay myself a set amount at the beginning of each month (like a salary) and manage it the same way as if I was earning. The plan is to keep doing this until the pension kicks in, and then take a serious review.  Someone recommended a book called 'Die with Zero' which really resonated with me, so the plan is very much to aim for the last cheque to bounce so to speak.
Looking forward to hearing everyone's stories!

Brilliant news!  I know what you mean about your morning coffee, since I dropped Wednesdays, I love just having a slow start to the day.  Some days I don't even set an alarm.  It is soul restoring, compared to the soulless nature of the workplace these days.

LHW99

barnstar2077 said:

Mrs_Z said:

Hello to all, I've been reading this thread with interest and thought I pop in to say Hi. 
I've just handed in my resignation letter, scary but it's done.  My situation is slightly different to many of you in that I've actually stopped working some time ago (unpaid leave) so I've had the chance to test the retirement waters. I have a 3month notice period and was due to report to work come September, so thought I bite the bullet once and for all and resign.
I had always planned to take an early retirement at 55 anyway, but relocation of work to another country following Brexit, brought this on forward.
What I have learned during my time off so far?  
That I absolutely love the freedom. Not having the 'Sunday feeling' on Sunday evening about the week to come, mix of anxiety and tread, no need for an early start to commute but to have my morning coffee in peace and quiet - my god, that is priceless. Not mentioning the pressures of the work itself.
There is plenty to keep me busy, exercise, gardening, pets, culture, volunteering etc so definitely not getting bored.
I still have about 7 years to bridge between now and a pension - and I am financing this from a mixture of savings, sale of BTL property and inheritance. Despite the figures stacking up well in the spreadsheet - I still have anxiety about there being not 'enough' to fell comfortable. However, I've come to realise that this is down to money representing a massive feeling of security to me and it does not matter what the figure is in the spreadsheet, I would still feel the same.
Like many have already mentioned, moving from a life time of a prudent saver to a spender mindset is a challenge in itself. I am still being cautious, living to a budget like I've always done. I pay myself a set amount at the beginning of each month (like a salary) and manage it the same way as if I was earning. The plan is to keep doing this until the pension kicks in, and then take a serious review.  Someone recommended a book called 'Die with Zero' which really resonated with me, so the plan is very much to aim for the last cheque to bounce so to speak.
Looking forward to hearing everyone's stories!

Brilliant news!  I know what you mean about your morning coffee, since I dropped Wednesdays, I love just having a slow start to the day.  Some days I don't even set an alarm.  It is soul restoring, compared to the soulless nature of the workplace these days.

What's an alarm

Smudgeismydog

Thanks for sharing your experience @Mrs_Z, I’ve decided to use the same tactic of paying myself a salary each month, so it was really interesting to hear how this works for you.

Simon11

LHW99 said:

What's an alarm

Snap!

Although mine is due to my two year old waking up early😅

Things to look forward to in retirement!

Smudgeismydog

Morning all,

My partner had his last day in work yesterday, and mine will be on the 20th when I hand back all my equipment. After feeling like everything was going so slowly, it now feels like time has speeded up.

I was awarded some shares a couple of years back through work, which to be honest I had mentally written off. We’ve just had an announcement that they want to buy them back, so I’m going to use this to fund a trip to New York for my partner and I, along with my son and daughter. I’m so excited about it, as it will be after everyone’s exams, and after my partner and I have both retired, but before the house move. 

My partner and I have been discussing how it will feel with no more pay checks after this month, and we are both going to effectively pay ourselves a set amount into our respective current accounts on the same days we were paid. We will then both pay into the joint account (him £750 per month, and me £1,250 per month), which will fund all household bills, our current accounts will fund personal spends. I have my dependents pension, as well as cash and ISAs to fund this until we can access our SIPPs (55 for him and 57 for me).

Hope everyone’s retirement thoughts and plans are on track
x

Daffodil1234

@Smudgeismydog I think you  mentioned your last day is coming up very soon !  hope that goes really well.

My last day is also coming up shortly, there have been occasional moments of "will this be ok" but I think that's to be expected with any big change.