Financially comfortable, health improving, still working – am I solving the wrong problem?

squirrelpie

Healthy life expectancy at birth in the UK is 60.7 years for males and 60.9 years for females.

But that's not really relevant for anybody who hasn't just been born. Life expectancy figures increase as we get older (because we haven't died yet and a fair few do die in childhood or young adulthood). So the figures need to be adjusted upwards a bit - I don't know what the answer is in this case.

LHW99

PS Edit: Retirement doesn’t have to be all about gardening and holidays.
In my case it’s academic study. I even considered going back to
University.

Or charity work, mentoring, looking after grandchildren, taking up woodwork……

BridgetTheCat

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82034996#Comment_82034996

For women born in 1969 (ie OP’s age and mine) it’s 83 for women and 79 for men, according to the Office for National Statistics . But that’s an average so it still doesn’t really mean anything for individuals.

Daniel54

I am 16 years older than you.,age 72.Went part time at the age of 60,when my DB pensions kicked in.I was able to work more days Autumn and Winter.,less in Spring and Summer,Finally retired fully age 67.

I continued working past 60 because I enjoyed and was good at it.

Another reason to continue working was that I had given house deposits to both of my two children.You say your son will soon be financially independent,but you might ask yourself if he could do with some help once he has settled in a job.The bank of mum and dad never closes.

On a wider point,I think some of us are naturally more conservative than others financially.On paper I have ended up with more than I need in retirement.Conversely,living alone with a disability,I know I would have more than enough for a full time live in carer if that were ever to become necessary..

There is no one answer to the questions you ask.I would suggest a lot depends on your own psychology.

sandsy

I'm 60 and always thought I'd be retired by now. I reduced to 3 days a week 2 years ago and enjoy my work more now. I'm currently don't have a date for retiring. My work gives me purpose and I enjoy the intellectual challenge and the social interaction. I have enough funds to retire but without a retirement plan, it seems pointless. I haven't been able to work out what my purpose would be if I retired. Yes, I want to travel but given I can't do it 52 weeks a year, I'd need to know how to fill the rest of my time. I know I don't want to end up watching daytime TV for the lack of nothing better to do! My current work life balance works well for me and, as I keep contributing substantial amounts to my pension, will hopefully enable more trips and more comfortable travelling in due course!

FIREDreamer

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82035061#Comment_82035061

squirrelpie was referring to healthy life expectancy, not like expectancy.

Smudgeismydog

I retired two years ago, age 50, I’ve kept an open mind about returning to work, but this becomes less and less appealing.

My partner and I have built such a lovely lifestyle, we are very present for the kids, we pop into our parents regularly to help out with jobs or go out on day trips with them, and we now have time to pursue our hobbies.

With the changes to DC pensions next year, I’ll be drawing much more from my SIPP than I originally planned (when I’m finally allowed to access it), so will have higher income than I did while working, due to heavily salary sacrificing.

Taking into account your accumulated assets, I think time is the only thing you will run out of.

QrizB

squirrelpie was referring to healthy life expectancy, not like expectancy.

A similar principle applies, though; if you get to 60 without serious health impairments, your health life expectancy is rather longer than it was at birth.

Markdavid1962

Your figures are similar to mine when I went down to 4 days a week at 59, then at 60 I opted for a Voluntary redundancy package,

We keep enough cash as a buffer (invested) and have the pensions invested in Global equities, the cash is just a safety net, for the last 4 years we have lived off £50k pa. The average growth pa over the last 4 years on my pots per year is between £95k to £110k, so even though we are taking £50k, its still growing and we are not touching the capital. We also helped our 3 children and they now have their own properties.

I personally would retire would retire or drop down to 3 or 4 days a week, you never know whats round the corner from a health perspective, best to enjoy life

Albermarle

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82034839#Comment_82034839

One poster mentioned that a few extra years took them from "I think I have enough" to "I know I have enough", and I admit I find that quite appealing. I've spent most of my working life building financial resilience, so it is probably unsurprising that part of me still values additional margin even if the modelling suggests I may not need it.

That was me !

Thinking back, it was more that at 55 ish, my job had gone downhill due to demotion after a takeover. So I was more thinking that at least I had enough money to live off if I walked/got pushed, rather than actually retiring. ( so called FU money)

Following another takeover the job improved a lot, better Boss etc. so after this stroke of good luck and a new challenge, I did not think about retiring for a few more years. During that time I added a lot to my pension and markets were favourable, so when I did retire I had more than enough.

So I can not say it was a detailed planned financial strategy to get to that point, I just did a few more years because it seemed the natural thing to do at the time. Plus probably like you my cautious financial instincts were probably lurking in the background somewhere .