Bold leap into retirement

arthur_fowler

CruisingSaver said:

I’ve been lurking for a while now and it’s interesting to hear different attitudes to retiring. I work for the NHS and had planned on retiring at 60 but the current situation is the worst I’ve ever known it in my whole career and it feels like work is literally draining the life from me. 

So I’ll be pulling the trigger in December 2026 unless redundancy or MARS is offered and we’ve booked our retirement holiday - 5 weeks in the Caribbean!

Sorry to hear that you have been driven from your career but very exciting for you to have made that decision and cracking way to kick it off!

Simon11

SarahB16 said:

Simon11 said:

I also agree with you.

At the moment, I work five days a week and spend 2-3 days in the office. The reality is that on average, one of the days working from home would be used for errands or spending time with my family. e.g. today I took my son for a hair cut, a nice walk and went swimming during the morning. So prob working 'hard' 75% of the week.

Thus having considered going to 4 days a week to get a better a life-balance with a young family, it doesn't seem worth it apart from knowing that you are not on call. Also, depending on your role, with 4 days, you are likely to still have the same workload but it just takes slightly longer to complete it!

Thus it makes sense for now to stick at 5 days a week, stuff the pension, take advantage of quiet periods at work and retire earlier.

Three days however maybe a game changer if finances permit at a later stage to get proper rest and to ensure that your workload does actually decrease! 

There is absolutely no way I could do that on the days I work from home. What would happen if your line manager telephoned you whilst you were swimming? 

Is there some sort of unwritten rule at your workplace that you can do this on the days you work from home?  

Depends on your role & company culture, but for us we are expected to deliver results and you don't achieve that by just keeping a seat warm between 9-5pm. Sometimes, you could come up with a strategy with a 30 minutes walk which could easily pay-off your salary for the year....!

And if my manager were to give me a call out of the blue, I would just state that I am on an errand and will look at it later that day/ evening if I cannot resolve it on the spot. I work flexible just like my line manager to ensure the work gets done but life is also a priority for well-being purposes and the last thing that my manager would want is to find a replacement when the work is meeting/ exceeding expectation for some thing that doesn't really matter.

It however helps that I have always avoided working in operations and managing people, which can be time consuming and never ending.

Buttercup15

New to the forum and this thread. I have read some of the posts, not all sorry there are so many pages! 
I started a thread, "retiring early with a small pot, can it be done", if anyone fancies having a read and sharing their experience. 
I am desperate to stop work. It's really affecting my physical and sometimes mental health, even though I have never been prone to depression. On a good day I am thinking I can do a few more years. On bad days, I feel like calling it quits there and then. 
I'll try and catch up with more of the posts here ... 

BrilliantButScary

Buttercup15 said:

New to the forum and this thread. I have read some of the posts, not all sorry there are so many pages! 
I started a thread, "retiring early with a small pot, can it be done", if anyone fancies having a read and sharing their experience. 
I am desperate to stop work. It's really affecting my physical and sometimes mental health, even though I have never been prone to depression. On a good day I am thinking I can do a few more years. On bad days, I feel like calling it quits there and then. 
I'll try and catch up with more of the posts here ... 

Hi there,
You may find another thread very informative:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6228191/how-much-to-live-on/p1

Best of luck with your retirement planning, health is far more important than money. If you will have enough income to cover your outgoings, then my advice would be to go for it. I finished work 18 months ago, after 44 years and I don't miss it one bit.

Buttercup15

BrilliantButScary said:

Buttercup15 said:

New to the forum and this thread. I have read some of the posts, not all sorry there are so many pages! 
I started a thread, "retiring early with a small pot, can it be done", if anyone fancies having a read and sharing their experience. 
I am desperate to stop work. It's really affecting my physical and sometimes mental health, even though I have never been prone to depression. On a good day I am thinking I can do a few more years. On bad days, I feel like calling it quits there and then. 
I'll try and catch up with more of the posts here ... 

Hi there,
You may find another thread very informative:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6228191/how-much-to-live-on/p1

Best of luck with your retirement planning, health is far more important than money. If you will have enough income to cover your outgoings, then my advice would be to go for it. I finished work 18 months ago, after 44 years and I don't miss it one but.

Thanks for the link! Enjoy your time off. 

trevjl

bjorn_toby_wilde said:

trevjl said:

pterri said:

It’s 2025, all of a sudden it’s THIS YEAR (July). I really want to leave completely, my current project isn’t the type that could work with part time and I don’t really fancy starting something new. My sums say I can go but 57 feels mad. I’ve stated elsewhere, I’ve got a good DB and AVC at 60 and plenty to bridge  between 57-60, it’s a psychological thing. Plenty of decorating and cycling trips planned, I may look for some other random work or some recreational studying. It’s a bit fuzzy but working in a ‘professional’ role? Nope, I’m done with that 

Most definitely. I had that very much but having a medical issue and going down to 3 days for a year, along with idiot company BS pushed me over the edge last year. Now I find the psychological thing rearing it's head again as I now this month find myself dipping into the ££ I built up over all those years. very disconcerting !!

Definitely disconcerting. It’s that move from accumulation to decumulation that takes some getting used to.

And if by magic, I accepted an offer on my late mums flat yesterday, so wont have to dip into savings or pension before DB kicks in at 65 in 3 years time.
No more Disconcerting for me !!!

cfw1994

SouthCoastBoy said:

cfw1994 said:

Hopefully a relaxing Christmas break will re-energise you: congrats, & all the best for a happy & healthy 2025 😎

On the 48 years….technically I had my first paid job aged 10 at Pontins holiday camp (child labour!)…..so I managed a “working life” that spanned a similar time 🤪
You’ve earned some “you” time.  Maybe some old or even new hobbies will help fill your time 👍

Is that legal working as a 10 year old? When I started a paper round the minimum age was 13

(sorry, missed this reply)

Almost certainly not!  

A mates mum got us in there 🫣
We had a blast…my memories are still pretty strong.   That said, she didn’t work the following year and we didn’t either: it was another 3 before I got a job at another holiday camp (not as a performer 🤣).  

Pretty sure I did a bit of lawn mowing for elderly folk near us before then, but hey, that doesn’t count 🤷‍♂️

cfw1994

MayDogsandCoffee said:

It is a little table 12 columns and 5 years, I tick it at the end of each month that I manage to stay at work, the last year is coloured gold.  I have a little P/T tag for when I want to reduce hours but that moves every time I tot up my savings.  I have my end date that I will be chuffed to reach.  I am pretty much to the point where I will do what I chuffing like at work, so long as I meet the targets they can sod any 'developmental' or 'learning opportunity' tripe.   Sarahspangles said:

MayDogsandCoffee said:

I have my chuff chart that I have been filling in since my last (toxic) line manager in 2022, have a new manager but the corporate stuff just leaves me demotivated and bored. 

Ooh, what’s a chuff chart and do I need one? Is it for when ‘I’ll do what I chuffing well like”?

I’ve only heard Chuff Chart as a military phrase: was that where you used it originally?
I had a taskbar app that counted down, so all my zooms in my final 6 months or so had a number discretely hidden at the bottom.  Don’t think anybody else noticed it!

Smudgeismydog said:

@SouthCoastBoy, we are cheering you on from the sidelines, waiting for when you feel ready to join us

Indeed!
Come on in, the water is warm 😎
It absolutely is a mindset change, but one that affords so much flexibility.
We’ve spent time since Christmas helping a friend who had a hip replacement (gentle walks, nice lunches, chats), & this week we acted as witnesses for a pair of old pals who got a civil partnership (“Secure the Widows/Widowers Pension Day”🤣), & with the sudden warmer weather, I had a great 30-mile bike ride with a mate yesterday, all decided the day before “because we could”.

SouthCoastBoy

cfw1994 said:

MayDogsandCoffee said:

It is a little table 12 columns and 5 years, I tick it at the end of each month that I manage to stay at work, the last year is coloured gold.  I have a little P/T tag for when I want to reduce hours but that moves every time I tot up my savings.  I have my end date that I will be chuffed to reach.  I am pretty much to the point where I will do what I chuffing like at work, so long as I meet the targets they can sod any 'developmental' or 'learning opportunity' tripe.   Sarahspangles said:

MayDogsandCoffee said:

I have my chuff chart that I have been filling in since my last (toxic) line manager in 2022, have a new manager but the corporate stuff just leaves me demotivated and bored. 

Ooh, what’s a chuff chart and do I need one? Is it for when ‘I’ll do what I chuffing well like”?

I’ve only heard Chuff Chart as a military phrase: was that where you used it originally?
I had a taskbar app that counted down, so all my zooms in my final 6 months or so had a number discretely hidden at the bottom.  Don’t think anybody else noticed it!

Smudgeismydog said:

@SouthCoastBoy, we are cheering you on from the sidelines, waiting for when you feel ready to join us

Indeed!
Come on in, the water is warm 😎
It absolutely is a mindset change, but one that affords so much flexibility.
We’ve spent time since Christmas helping a friend who had a hip replacement (gentle walks, nice lunches, chats), & this week we acted as witnesses for a pair of old pals who got a civil partnership (“Secure the Widows/Widowers Pension Day”🤣), & with the sudden warmer weather, I had a great 30-mile bike ride with a mate yesterday, all decided the day before “because we could”.

That's the benefit of retirement, being able to make last minute decisions, and just enjoying life

german_keeper

SouthCoastBoy said:

cfw1994 said:

MayDogsandCoffee said:

It is a little table 12 columns and 5 years, I tick it at the end of each month that I manage to stay at work, the last year is coloured gold.  I have a little P/T tag for when I want to reduce hours but that moves every time I tot up my savings.  I have my end date that I will be chuffed to reach.  I am pretty much to the point where I will do what I chuffing like at work, so long as I meet the targets they can sod any 'developmental' or 'learning opportunity' tripe.   Sarahspangles said:

MayDogsandCoffee said:

I have my chuff chart that I have been filling in since my last (toxic) line manager in 2022, have a new manager but the corporate stuff just leaves me demotivated and bored. 

Ooh, what’s a chuff chart and do I need one? Is it for when ‘I’ll do what I chuffing well like”?

I’ve only heard Chuff Chart as a military phrase: was that where you used it originally?
I had a taskbar app that counted down, so all my zooms in my final 6 months or so had a number discretely hidden at the bottom.  Don’t think anybody else noticed it!

Smudgeismydog said:

@SouthCoastBoy, we are cheering you on from the sidelines, waiting for when you feel ready to join us

Indeed!
Come on in, the water is warm 😎
It absolutely is a mindset change, but one that affords so much flexibility.
We’ve spent time since Christmas helping a friend who had a hip replacement (gentle walks, nice lunches, chats), & this week we acted as witnesses for a pair of old pals who got a civil partnership (“Secure the Widows/Widowers Pension Day”🤣), & with the sudden warmer weather, I had a great 30-mile bike ride with a mate yesterday, all decided the day before “because we could”.

That's the benefit of retirement, being able to make last minute decisions, and just enjoying life

Me and the missus had no real plans for today but have just decided to take advantage of the glorious sunshine and have a little walk. Drive the few miles down to Lytham, a nice stroll through Green Drive, Lytham Hall Grounds and Witch Wood.

Then onto the County for a bite to eat from the £8.25 for a meal and a drink menu, extra quid for alcoholic drink. Good food and decent size portions too. Also extra quid for phillysteak sandwich and chips so as I walk I will muse over my big dilemma of the day. Gammon and chips and a pint of Coors for £9.25 or the phillysteak and chips and a pint at £10.25.

It's tough going this retirement malarkey.