Bold leap into retirement

pensionpawn

Rich1976 said:

On the subject of reducing hours in the rundown to retirement and as someone who would potentially want to do this in about 8 years or so, how easy are people finding it to have their requests for reduced hours accepted?

My current employer is not one that entertains such requests and 2 colleagues in other teams have had their requests declined this year with Business Needs cited as the reason for the requests being declined. My employer is tight on recruitment anyway and I get someone reducing their hours impacts the rest of their team, but is somewhat concerning  that with the growth of people having to work longer until retirement that employers can just turndown flexible working requests just so deadlines can still be met and the consideration of the employee requesting it isn’t even considered .

Fortunately the precedent had already been set by two colleagues reducing their hours to 80% and 60%. I therefore asked (initially) for 70%. I was also 56 and made it perfectly clear, though without being overly pushy, that I had a good private pension and that effectively their option was 70% or 0%. My manager's manager was in the meeting and having seen reduced hours work successfully (and by that he meant retain staff) elsewhere in the business was happy to endorse my request. I've subsequently reduced my hours a final time. Finally, the nature of my work is intense for 6-8 weeks then fallow for 2-4 weeks which lends itself to banking / taking days / weeks worth of hours rather than working a 4 or 3 day week. That works for both me and my employer. Nobody is indispensable to an organisation however if you know that you're valued and they know that you will quit, occasionally sense prevails.

trevjl

I definitely want to do it gradually. Have already dropped to 4 days but think I need to drop to 3 before stopping completely. 1 day isn't enough to plan a regular activity (to continue once I have stopped completely). My anxiety is about cutting myself off suddenly from all the people with whom I have worked for many years (and the place/environment too). Some aspects I won't miss but others I will.

I went to 3 days last August, although returned yesterday from 10 days working in the US !! I am lucky that although I do Mon Tue Wed by choice but it is very flexible and I can basically tell them what days I want to do next week.

I had the same feeling about missing colleagues of up to 38 years but after recent retirements there is only one left my age and some of the youngsters that are now not youngsters are fine, but the "new youngsters" I wont miss in the slightest.

trevjl

Rich1976 said:

On the subject of reducing hours in the rundown to retirement and as someone who would potentially want to do this in about 8 years or so, how easy are people finding it to have their requests for reduced hours accepted?

My current employer is not one that entertains such requests and 2 colleagues in other teams have had their requests declined this year with Business Needs cited as the reason for the requests being declined. My employer is tight on recruitment anyway and I get someone reducing their hours impacts the rest of their team, but is somewhat concerning  that with the growth of people having to work longer until retirement that employers can just turndown flexible working requests just so deadlines can still be met and the consideration of the employee requesting it isn’t even considered .

I was lucky in that the company just can not get people with the experience or background in the industry I am in, youngsters just don't want to get their hands dirty it seems. I just said, let me do 3 days or I go completely. That seemed to do the trick, they knew I didn't have to work so wasn't bluffing.  

jaypers

I loved where I worked, so much so I was there for 41 years. My plan was to retire after exactly 40 years, but it turned out to be a couple of months after the first lockdown. Had to decide whether to be stuck indoors miserable working from home or having nothing to do so I carried on working. Turned out extremely fortunately for me, and a few colleagues in similar positions, as I ended up being given the opportunity to take redundancy so a very nice bonus to leave on. I think mentally this was a blessing in disguise as had I left under my own volition I would have been wondering if it had been the right decision. This was a no brainer. Was still a wrench and felt very weird for many months. Still have loads of old friends I see regularly, have also found a great cause to do volunteer work for once or twice a week, which uses my brain. No way in a million years I would want to return now to paid work, plus all of the political games and ultimately stress that comes with it. 

katejo

trevjl said:

I definitely want to do it gradually. Have already dropped to 4 days but think I need to drop to 3 before stopping completely. 1 day isn't enough to plan a regular activity (to continue once I have stopped completely). My anxiety is about cutting myself off suddenly from all the people with whom I have worked for many years (and the place/environment too). Some aspects I won't miss but others I will.

I went to 3 days last August, although returned yesterday from 10 days working in the US !! I am lucky that although I do Mon Tue Wed by choice but it is very flexible and I can basically tell them what days I want to do next week.

I had the same feeling about missing colleagues of up to 38 years but after recent retirements there is only one left my age and some of the youngsters that are now not youngsters are fine, but the "new youngsters" I wont miss in the slightest.

There are 3 of us who are much the same age and we have all talked about pensions and retirement. If they left, that might speed me up. I can think of one other with whom I'd like to stay in touch. I currently have Tuesday off and am on site on wed and Friday but can move them around if needed except Wednesday when I am on evening duty and have to find a swap..
 

katejo

jaypers said:

I loved where I worked, so much so I was there for 41 years. My plan was to retire after exactly 40 years, but it turned out to be a couple of months after the first lockdown. Had to decide whether to be stuck indoors miserable working from home or having nothing to do so I carried on working. Turned out extremely fortunately for me, and a few colleagues in similar positions, as I ended up being given the opportunity to take redundancy so a very nice bonus to leave on. I think mentally this was a blessing in disguise as had I left under my own volition I would have been wondering if it had been the right decision. This was a no brainer. Was still a wrench and felt very weird for many months. Still have loads of old friends I see regularly, have also found a great cause to do volunteer work for once or twice a week, which uses my brain. No way in a million years I would want to return now to paid work, plus all of the political games and ultimately stress that comes with it. 

I am glad that I wasn't due to retire just as lockdown started. I was fed up with some aspects but working at home renewed my motivation (since I couldn't go out or away anywhere). The initial good weather and the fact that I had just spent money on a garden makeover helped. 

WYSPECIAL

Rich1976 said:

On the subject of reducing hours in the rundown to retirement and as someone who would potentially want to do this in about 8 years or so, how easy are people finding it to have their requests for reduced hours accepted?

My current employer is not one that entertains such requests and 2 colleagues in other teams have had their requests declined this year with Business Needs cited as the reason for the requests being declined. My employer is tight on recruitment anyway and I get someone reducing their hours impacts the rest of their team, but is somewhat concerning  that with the growth of people having to work longer until retirement that employers can just turndown flexible working requests just so deadlines can still be met and the consideration of the employee requesting it isn’t even considered .

The good old "Business Needs" line. When you put your request in go through the list of all the reasons they could reject your request and try to cover them with a potential solution. 

If they reject it just stating "Business Needs" ask them to record in writing exactly what these needs are and appeal the decision or suggest a trial period to see if it works.

FIREmenow

Couple of things that help at our place with flexible working requests: 
-Highlighting other part-time staff at same level and potential to offer them increased hours (no recruitment costs) 
-highlight potential for hours to be offered to someone on next grade down - either more hours for same money, or same hours and a cost saving in their staff budget (they like this and did this with me).
-highlight any benefits of working your preferred remaining days. This helps if you still work either a Monday or Friday and these tend to be short staffing days. Being in on different days to another manager or equally experienced colleague is good for cover.

Depends how your workplace is set up, but these things work at my place.

Main things they don't like is anyone working one day a week (just about get up to speed then the day is over), and anyone reducing by one day (as above, don't want to recruit someone for one day, and few applicants).

Sunsh1ne54

Smudgeismydog said:

Morning all, I hope you have managed to find some time for yourself in what can be a busy period. We have enjoyed spending time with family over the last 3 days, it’s a quiet one today, then off to visit more family tomorrow.
I’m not planning anything wild for NYE, but have been really starting to think about what I want 2024 to be like for me.

I turned 50 in September, and whilst there are aspects of my job I really enjoy, I’ve been feeling exhausted and burned out (peri-menopause is probably partly to blame).
I have 2 teenagers (DS is 18, and DD is 16), and was widowed in 2010 when they were 2 and 4. I have worked hard and juggled everything and I’m really proud of how far we have come.

I have an outstanding financial commitment which is due to finish in July, I have paid off my mortgage, do not have any debts, and have saved hard into my ISA and pension. I am also in receipt of a dependents pension, which is enough for me to pay my household bills.

I have made the decision to hand in my notice in the new year, to leave work at the end of June, so that my last pay check in July will cover the last financial payment. I plan to top up my income from drawing from savings, (ISA until 57, and then I can access my SIPP post 57). I have checked and double checked my figures, stress tested and asked a trusted friend to check my thought process and analysis. 

It all looks like it will stack up, I suppose I am just cautious as I have felt such a huge financial responsibility for the kids. I am very aware I could take on a consultancy/part-time/contract position, but I want that to be on my terms, if it’s something that interests me. I don’t want it to be finances driving it.
For me, this is why I have worked so hard, to have now achieved financial independence, which allows me to make this decision, it just feels like a bold leap.

I will share my figures and intend to post regularly with updates on how my finances are holding up.  I would love it if you want to join me on my journey.
x

Hi @smudgeismydog - congratulations! Everything going to plan?

Smudgeismydog

Hi @Sunsh1ne54, thanks for dropping by.

Everything is going to plan thanks. My partner and I went on a tour of a beaver enclosure this morning, which we found to be really interesting. We are also volunteering for dry stone walling on Thursday this week. We have a trip to New York with the kids in 2 weeks, which we are all excited about, then hoping to move house mid August.

The new house needs some tlc, so loads of projects both indoors and outdoors to keep us busy, along with exploring the area on foot, bikes as well as kayaking and paddle boarding along the river. We both want to volunteer locally, but will carefully select what put our hands up for when we are ready.

I’ve moved some money from my SS ISA to cash ready for the house move, but other than that nothing much to report on the finances front. Since finishing work we have both lost track of days a little, as it’s felt like we’ve have a really long weekend, but no Sunday evening feeling of dread, and our sleep patterns have definitely improved.