Bold leap into retirement

eastcorkram

squashtraveller said:

There must be something in the air!? I also confirmed to my line manager that I am going this year (end of August). I have been thinking about this for some time (years as my suffering partner would say) and experienced some of the feelings expressed (e.g., worrying if I will have enough money, what will I do etc). Given the balance of where I am, that I dont like what I am doing and we wont be destitute, I decided the time is right for a change. I wish all similar posters the same best of luck for a great 2024.

Is there a reason why you and the OP are giving so much notice? Is it in the contract, or is it just out of courtesy? I'm thinking of finishing in December, but wasn't playing on saying anything until November or possibly October..

Smudgeismydog

It’s my contractual notice period, it might be worth checking yours first

cloud_dog

eastcorkram said:

squashtraveller said:

There must be something in the air!? I also confirmed to my line manager that I am going this year (end of August). I have been thinking about this for some time (years as my suffering partner would say) and experienced some of the feelings expressed (e.g., worrying if I will have enough money, what will I do etc). Given the balance of where I am, that I dont like what I am doing and we wont be destitute, I decided the time is right for a change. I wish all similar posters the same best of luck for a great 2024.

Is there a reason why you and the OP are giving so much notice? Is it in the contract, or is it just out of courtesy? I'm thinking of finishing in December, but wasn't playing on saying anything until November or possibly October..

I was going to ask a similar question 😁

We had a early retirement plan that was set to finish July 2026, but with work becoming increasingly difficult/frustrating, the plan was brought forward to April 2025, and now we are looking at November this year.

Perhaps I'm feeling more petty, but it is not my intention to tell the business until I hand my notice in, and with my contract only requiring a one month notice I am likely to be gone within a matter of a few days.  I will give my.colleagues plenty of notice and aim to schedule time for knowledge sharing / handover.  I just need to make it through the next one or two difficult months.

Just working out how to fund the 5 months until April 2025, e.g. from cash and then commence drawdown from FY25 or just go straight with drawdown.

eastcorkram

Smudgeismydog said:

It’s my contractual notice period, it might be worth checking yours first

Good point. Not sure why I didn't look, I'd just assumed it was a month for some reason! I've checked, and it's actually 12 weeks. 

cfw1994

Ah, as I sit here with the first cuppa of a cold day, tucked up, I congratulate those taking the leap to join the throngs of us, The Unemployables 🎉🤣

It is liberating and exciting at the same time.  

My strongest advice is relax into it.  

At times, you may feel ‘what have I done?’.
Pop on a brew, visit a friend, read a book: those moments will pass 😉

handful

Albermarle said:

@Smudgeismydog
@handful

Congratulations on taking the leap. Feel free to post your plans for comment but I also recommend spending some time  just reading through the forum regularly, as there are lots of informative threads and posts on managing retirement financially and mentally. Plus you will see links to potentially useful websites/you tube tutorials etc 

Thank you Albermarle

I did post a thread recently https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6496035/advice-with-retirement-decision-and-drawdown-strategy-please/p1 here, where I laid my resources out.

I do read the forum regularly and have broadened my knowledge greatly thanks to the many regular posters here and I include you in that. I will have further questions for sue as I plan the best way of funding the period before SPs. I am getting some negative thoughts, usually at night about whether I've been too hasty giving up a £60k job that I don't find too taxing most of the time and don't hate. Then during the day I seem to think differently and remember that time is the most valuable commodity and urge myself not to waste any more of it! Feel free to add your thoughts to my thread.

squashtraveller

eastcorkram said:

squashtraveller said:

There must be something in the air!? I also confirmed to my line manager that I am going this year (end of August). I have been thinking about this for some time (years as my suffering partner would say) and experienced some of the feelings expressed (e.g., worrying if I will have enough money, what will I do etc). Given the balance of where I am, that I dont like what I am doing and we wont be destitute, I decided the time is right for a change. I wish all similar posters the same best of luck for a great 2024.

Is there a reason why you and the OP are giving so much notice? Is it in the contract, or is it just out of courtesy? I'm thinking of finishing in December, but wasn't playing on saying anything until November or possibly October..

My contract says 3 months - however, recruitment in my sector is not easy and my boss/employer has been good to me. Finally, despite what Sun Tzu says, I dont want to burn bridges. You never know!

Albermarle

squashtraveller said:

eastcorkram said:

squashtraveller said:

There must be something in the air!? I also confirmed to my line manager that I am going this year (end of August). I have been thinking about this for some time (years as my suffering partner would say) and experienced some of the feelings expressed (e.g., worrying if I will have enough money, what will I do etc). Given the balance of where I am, that I dont like what I am doing and we wont be destitute, I decided the time is right for a change. I wish all similar posters the same best of luck for a great 2024.

Is there a reason why you and the OP are giving so much notice? Is it in the contract, or is it just out of courtesy? I'm thinking of finishing in December, but wasn't playing on saying anything until November or possibly October..

My contract says 3 months - however, recruitment in my sector is not easy and my boss/employer has been good to me. Finally, despite what Sun Tzu says, I dont want to burn bridges. You never know!

This has been debated on other threads and a lot depends on your type of job and your relationship with colleagues and managers ( and customers in my case) 
I contractually had to give 4 months notice, but knowing it would take longer than that to replace me, especially with Covid still rampant at the time, I informed my ( good) Boss 9 months in advance. With some foot dragging from HR, and the successful candidate needing to give 3 months notice and a few weeks training, the whole process took around 15 months in the end. Ideally it was 3 months too long  but it meant  One more years money in the bank/pension and no loose ends, and everybody happy with the outcome, so no problem.

Daffodil1234

Congratulations and best wishes to all the people who have just made the big decision - definitely something in the air to have so many people's stories on this thread, very encouraging !

On the other question of how long should notice periods be......  as well as checking whatever is stated in the contract, there could be other factors about timings.  In financial services, it's typical that if a person announces they are leaving, prior to the bonus being paid out for the previous whole year of service, then the bonus will be withheld.  This can lead to a crop of resignations happening just after the relevant pay day....

mcc100

handful said:

I am getting some negative thoughts, usually at night about whether I've been too hasty giving up a £60k job that I don't find too taxing most of the time and don't hate. Then during the day I seem to think differently and remember that time is the most valuable commodity and urge myself not to waste any more of it! Feel free to add your thoughts to my thread.

I've always intended to retire on my 60th birthday later this year, but I'm having exactly the same feelings now that we're actually into 2024, and retirement suddenly seems real and relatively imminent.