Bold leap into retirement

eastcorkram

cloud_dog said:

Well, well, well, I am a little surprised by the foresight shown by my employer, I am now interviewing for my replacement.

Three months to go (well 20 December).

My notice is in, and 20th December is also my last day. 

pterri

Not that I’m counting the seconds

MetaPhysical

3 April 2026 is my date by which time I'll be 58 and 8 months.  If it all got unbearable I can afford to pull the chute on work at anytime however,  would rather wait for a potential work redundancy payout if possible worth about 50-60k.  However, if that does not come I will deffo finish Apr'26.

pterri

MetaPhysical said:

3 April 2026 is my date by which time I'll be 58 and 8 months.  If it all got unbearable I can afford to pull the chute on work at anytime however,  would rather wait for a potential work redundancy payout if possible worth about 50-60k.  However, if that does not come I will deffo finish Apr'26.

Redundancy is the dream, not likely in my case. There was a round of that a few years ago but too early to be of use to me. 

michaels

Sadly the change in government has probably scuppered any chance of a vol scheme for me.

I have not put my notice in but my working plan is 287 calendar days, but may be effectively sooner if I make judicious use of annual leave and flex time.

Smudgeismydog

So great to hear all of your retirement plans. I honestly don’t miss a thing about work and have no regrets.

Our new house needs more work than we originally thought. The plumber finished the new boiler yesterday, and the scaffolders were around this morning, ready for work to start on replacing the roof on Monday. Total cost of £40k 😬

Despite this, we are still very happy with our decision to buy this house, and feel like we are on holiday living here. The village is friendly, with 2 pubs, a thriving shop, and there is an active social environment with clubs, groups and volunteering activities (if that’s your thing).

We lose track of the days, and decide which jobs we want to focus on depending on the weather and what we feel like, or if we fancy a day out instead. The kids are thriving, and we are able to offer them so much support as they continue to gain more and more independence.

I don’t have any concerns about the money side of things, yes, there are some bucket list destinations we would like to go to, but we don’t feel in any rush, they can wait until we are able to access the SIPPs. In the meantime, we plan to spend our cash and ISAs enjoying this house and our new lifestyle, I figure that we worked hard and saved, so now is the time to spend it!

I will provide financial updates so you can see how the finances are holding up.

Best wishes to you all
x

Billy-no-Money

Well my retirement hasn't quite turned out how I planned, but not in a bad way - I reduced my hours for a couple of years, then retired in May a few months before turning sixty. All looked good, two decent DB pensions and a lump sum not far off the lifetime limit (much to my surprise).

Something I'd always wanted to do was learn to drive a bus - just to tick that box - so I paid for training out of my lump sum and thought that would be it, until I spoke to a local coach company. Now I'm working every term-time morning and with other ad-hoc runs I'm earning five or six hundred a month - but here's the thing, I'm loving it! Gets me out of bed, I do something useful with my time and I've still got the rest of the day to do my own thing. 

I'm better off than I ever was while I was working and I feel ten years younger now that I'm not chained to Microsoft Teams.

Smudgeismydog

Hi Billy,
Your post is wonderful, good for you.

None of us know how retirement will turn out, but I think that’s what makes it so interesting 

pterri

Billy-no-Money said:

Well my retirement hasn't quite turned out how I planned, but not in a bad way - I reduced my hours for a couple of years, then retired in May a few months before turning sixty. All looked good, two decent DB pensions and a lump sum not far off the lifetime limit (much to my surprise).

Something I'd always wanted to do was learn to drive a bus - just to tick that box - so I paid for training out of my lump sum and thought that would be it, until I spoke to a local coach company. Now I'm working every term-time morning and with other ad-hoc runs I'm earning five or six hundred a month - but here's the thing, I'm loving it! Gets me out of bed, I do something useful with my time and I've still got the rest of the day to do my own thing. 

I'm better off than I ever was while I was working and I feel ten years younger now that I'm not chained to Microsoft Teams.

A local artisan bakery near me in London does delivery by e-cargo bike and employ people for a few hours early morning for deliveries. Lots of students and few old gits. I may give that a go. 

nicknameless

Hey folks - thread resurrection.

Currently contemplating our bold leap which is a real possibility next year.  Comments and suggestions very welcome.

Situation I am 53 and my long term partner is 54.  We've been planning towards financial independence for quite some time.  She would leave work tomorrow if able to and is insistent that there would be no negatives for her in doing so.  I am a little more hesitant about pulling the plug - partly financially, but partly because I think some of my identity is tied up in work and wonder if I will be successful in the transition mentally.  However, presently I am just drifting in my job and doing the bare minimum to get by in it.  That in itself is indicative and not a great place to be in for me tbh.  Have had dips in motivation over the years, but presently it is a longer term thing.

Planning wise I have spreadsheets, a legacy test account with timeline planning, and have just been using the voyant planning free month trial to check everything in triplicate.  Voyant is telling me we have all spending at current levels covered going forward and running monte carlo simulations in both voyant and timeline estimates our overall probability of success without the need for plan adjustments of between 85% and 95% depending on timing of retirement next year (summer for both, or me continuing till the end of the year) and whether we take into account a likely very small inheritance.

Don't have major plans for what we would be doing in retirement.  We are both really into health and fitness and it would release more time to focus there and perhaps achieve a few things.  I also expect to volunteer at something, but don't yet know what.

Have already suggested partner plan to go at end of June next year and I'll make up my mind in the meantime.  Got to say the thought of a June finish has given me a pang of excitement a couple of times ........... or is it trepidation?

Would really welcome thoughts.

Should I stay or should I go?  Happy to divulge any more info.