Bold leap into retirement

bluenose1

FIREDreamer said:

Now into my final week - roll on!

Oh congratulations.
I am fast approaching 6 months of retirement and loving the freedom of not having to work and no longer having work related anxiety.
Hot day here so went to a Garden Centre for a mooch, did a bit of deadheading roses, read a book, fell asleep in the shade for an hour, did some meditation and made a healthy evening meal.
Not my typical day as most days involve a long walk in morning, visit to gym to do stretching and strength training, meditation, minimal housework and reading. Oh and I started learning French on Duo-lingo, though that only takes 10 minutes a day, did French at school so hopefully my brain has retained some of the information.  

I still feel like retirement is not real and I am on holiday from work. Went out with some ex work friends last week and due to financial shortfalls staff are not being replaced so sounds even more pressurised than when I was there……

Have kept within our planned monthly spend for all budgets, apart from for food, need to start being more savvy where we shop to try and combat increase in food prices.

huw01

That's it, laptop closed for the final time. Everything packaged up now to be picked up by a courier tomorrow. That is it. 51 years old and now retired. Lets see how this goes, now to start planning the rest of my life

MallyGirl

huw01 said:

That's it, laptop closed for the final time. Everything packaged up now to be picked up by a courier tomorrow. That is it. 51 years old and now retired. Lets see how this goes, now to start planning the rest of my life

Congratulations

Smudgeismydog

Congrats @huw01, please keep posting so we know how you are getting on.

@FIREDreamer, I was wondering how you were feeling about it being your last day tomorrow?

barnstar2077

huw01 said:

That's it, laptop closed for the final time. Everything packaged up now to be picked up by a courier tomorrow. That is it. 51 years old and now retired. Lets see how this goes, now to start planning the rest of my life

Wow, that is quite an achievement!  Let us know how you are feeling about it (and how the finances are going) on a regular basis please.

I cannot wait to join you, don't think I will manage to do so by 51 though unfortunately! :  )

barnstar2077

huw01 said:

That's it, laptop closed for the final time. Everything packaged up now to be picked up by a courier tomorrow. That is it. 51 years old and now retired. Lets see how this goes, now to start planning the rest of my life

Also, my apologies if I have missed it, but could you please give a quick breakdown of how you plan on funding this new found freedom, how much you plan on spending etc?

I am still planning to go sometime after my 55 birthday, which is about eight years away.

FIREDreamer

Smudgeismydog said:

Congrats @huw01, please keep posting so we know how you are getting on.

@FIREDreamer, I was wondering how you were feeling about it being your last day tomorrow?

A mixture of relief and excitement. No regrets. Going to the pub at lunchtime for a leaving do / drinks. Not sure of the turnout as we are all mostly WFH but I have to return the kit myself.

No luxury of a courier here - though a courier delivered it at the start of the first lockdown.

WFH extended my working life my 3 years as it was easy to plod on filling the pension which exceeded LTA a couple of years ago.

Shame I crystallised unnecessarily and paid an LTA charge of 25% in 2020 as I feared an increase in the LTA charge. At least I got a transitional tax free certificate to be able to take some extra tax free cash - some DB was taken without taking tax free cash on it. Probably saved the same again in LTA charge as what I actually paid in the end. Thank you Jeremy Hunt for abolishing it. I know its a first world problem. Protected my retirement by partial annuitisation to labour-proof my retirement as best i can.

huw01

barnstar2077 said:

huw01 said:

That's it, laptop closed for the final time. Everything packaged up now to be picked up by a courier tomorrow. That is it. 51 years old and now retired. Lets see how this goes, now to start planning the rest of my life

Also, my apologies if I have missed it, but could you please give a quick breakdown of how you plan on funding this new found freedom, how much you plan on spending etc?

I am still planning to go sometime after my 55 birthday, which is about eight years away.

Yes, of course, here it is 

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/80757436/#Comment_80757436

katejo

FIREDreamer said:

Smudgeismydog said:

Congrats @huw01, please keep posting so we know how you are getting on.

@FIREDreamer, I was wondering how you were feeling about it being your last day tomorrow?

A mixture of relief and excitement. No regrets. Going to the pub at lunchtime for a leaving do / drinks. Not sure of the turnout as we are all mostly WFH but I have to return the kit myself.

No luxury of a courier here - though a courier delivered it at the start of the first lockdown.

WFH extended my working life my 3 years as it was easy to plod on filling the pension which exceeded LTA a couple of years ago.

Shame I crystallised unnecessarily and paid an LTA charge of 25% in 2020 as I feared an increase in the LTA charge. At least I got a transitional tax free certificate to be able to take some extra tax free cash - some DB was taken without taking tax free cash on it. Probably saved the same again in LTA charge as what I actually paid in the end. Thank you Jeremy Hunt for abolishing it. I know its a first world problem. Protected my retirement by partial annuitisation to labour-proof my retirement as best i can.

I will have to return the laptop myself too. Had to collect it at the beginning of lockdown too as we were days from closing. I would also have retired before now if WFH had been discontinued completely. However, hybrid working was much better than 5 days a week (occasionally 6). Thinking of finishing next summer if my pension review at the end of this year is ok. My drop to 3 days a week first. I swing from really wanting to go to having doubts (regarding loneliness/not remaining active enough rather than money issues).

Sarahspangles

It’s a toss up whether my laptop will last long enough to hand in!