Bold leap into retirement

FIREDreamer

arthur_fowler said:

I handed my notice in today. Will be officially retired from 1st May. I think the time will go very slowly?

As someone who gave 6 months notice of retirement on 1 Jan last year, I can confirm that the time goes by very slowly indeed. The next six months flew by though!

Moonwolf

FIREDreamer said:

arthur_fowler said:

I handed my notice in today. Will be officially retired from 1st May. I think the time will go very slowly?

As someone who gave 6 months notice of retirement on 1 Jan last year, I can confirm that the time goes by very slowly indeed. The next six months flew by though!

I downloaded an app for my phone called working days. For about £2 it let me put in my holidays and bank holidays and now gives me two figures, working days to retirement and actual days (37 and 59 respectively as I type). 

I've got to the point where we are agreeing what projects I finish, what I hand over and apart from that I'm picking simple tickets for the sprints, ones which anyone could do (If you don't do JIRA and agile this will mean nothing and you aren't missing anything)

BrilliantButScary

The last few posts have really resonated with me.
I retired in June 2023. 

I had decided in the February that I was going, put a countdown app on my phone, gave 6 weeks mandatory notice prior to retirement date.

Full state pension acquired by end of financial year 2022/23 after 42 years of NI contributions. Some occupational pensions taken without any actuarial reduction 

I worked out the savings I would be making by not going to work:
No NI contributions.
No tax to pay atm, less tax for partner to pay, due to marriage allowance.
No professional fees to pay.
No trade union fees to pay.
These were just some of the financial benefits, there were a lot more personal ones.


My manager asked me if there was any flexibility with my retirement date, the answer was no!

Don't know if anyone has seen the t-shirts?
Retired! I don't have to, I don't want to and you can't make me!
I don't miss work at all, when it is time to go, I think you know.

pterri

BrilliantButScary said:

The last few posts have really resonated with me.
I retired in June 2023. 

I had decided in the February that I was going, put a countdown app on my phone, gave 6 weeks mandatory notice prior to retirement date.

Full state pension acquired by end of financial year 2022/23 after 42 years of NI contributions. Some occupational pensions taken without any actuarial reduction 

I worked out the savings I would be making by not going to work:
No NI contributions.
No tax to pay atm, less tax for partner to pay, due to marriage allowance.
No professional fees to pay.
No trade union fees to pay.
These were just some of the financial benefits, there were a lot more personal ones.


My manager asked me if there was any flexibility with my retirement date, the answer was no!

Don't know if anyone has seen the t-shirts?
Retired! I don't have to, I don't want to and you can't make me!
I don't miss work at all, when it is time to go, I think you know.

I’ve mentally checked out, just trying not to get the sack!

arthur_fowler

Moonwolf said:

FIREDreamer said:

arthur_fowler said:

I handed my notice in today. Will be officially retired from 1st May. I think the time will go very slowly?

As someone who gave 6 months notice of retirement on 1 Jan last year, I can confirm that the time goes by very slowly indeed. The next six months flew by though!

I downloaded an app for my phone called working days. For about £2 it let me put in my holidays and bank holidays and now gives me two figures, working days to retirement and actual days (37 and 59 respectively as I type). 

I've got to the point where we are agreeing what projects I finish, what I hand over and apart from that I'm picking simple tickets for the sprints, ones which anyone could do (If you don't do JIRA and agile this will mean nothing and you aren't missing anything)

Haha, very much know about Jira and agile! That is so the heart of the world I will be leaving behind. 

I have a free countdown app (87 elapsed days) plus an excel on my phone that does the working days calculation (50 days).

kipsterno1

I think I might have started my countdown planner a little early judging by what others have. In fairness I had a fixed retirement date so I set up a 30 square in excel that just filled the monitor screen and ticked off my last 900 days.

Itsme01x

Pat38493 said:

I am sorely tempted to make my last day 16th April as it’s one day after the annual bonus is paid!  I verbally told them I would try to give 6 months notice, but contractually I only have to give one.  Plus I guess if I am not planning to work anymore in that type of job or role, I don’t need a reference anyway!

As others have commented, be careful, as my organisation has a clause that if you hand in your notice up to three months before the month that you are entitled to the salary increase, bonus (in my case each year in April) then that increase or bonus will not be paid.

If you only have a month's notice, then leave it a month until everything is paid.  By waiting until then you will have also accrued 1 or 2 days holiday to reduce the notice period, plus you would have the May Bank Holidays not working ;o)

Pat38493

Itsme01x said:

Pat38493 said:

I am sorely tempted to make my last day 16th April as it’s one day after the annual bonus is paid!  I verbally told them I would try to give 6 months notice, but contractually I only have to give one.  Plus I guess if I am not planning to work anymore in that type of job or role, I don’t need a reference anyway!

As others have commented, be careful, as my organisation has a clause that if you hand in your notice up to three months before the month that you are entitled to the salary increase, bonus (in my case each year in April) then that increase or bonus will not be paid.

If you only have a month's notice, then leave it a month until everything is paid.  By waiting until then you will have also accrued 1 or 2 days holiday to reduce the notice period, plus you would have the May Bank Holidays not working ;o)

This is actually my plan as I am not going to risk it, even though they told me it's fine.  Strictly speaking to be totally safe, if I decide to pay the entire bonus into the pension, I should wait until the money hits the pension before handing in my notice.

pterri

Right, I’m going to speak to (one of my) bosses TODAY about a glide path to July. I want to hand over what I’m doing ideally well before that and have something less stressful. Need to do this! it’s not a very mercenary organisation so I expect it will go ok…..

pterri

pterri said:

Right, I’m going to speak to (one of my) bosses TODAY about a glide path to July. I want to hand over what I’m doing ideally well before that and have something less stressful. Need to do this! it’s not a very mercenary organisation so I expect it will go ok…..

…things are happening, fairly informally. They will find a replacement for me and possibly
move me onto something where I can leave with minimal impact. I want to drag out july as I want the additional money, although it’s just buffer. Not essential.