First year of retirement

zagubov

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82113119#Comment_82113119

Using undubbed films/tv series is very good. In addition to the old Asterix and Tintin books of yesteryear, if you can find graphic novels (DC/Marvel etc.) in your language of choice these can also be helpful.

katejo

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82113119#Comment_82113119

I am very into learning and practising languages. I did German and French at Uni. Later I started Italian and did lots of language holidays in Italy. I have just registered to start Portuguese at City Lit in September and I am now doing Duolingo to get a headstart.

indiasign

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82105887#Comment_82105887

Oddly, my experience is the opposite - me and my wife retired in mid-May and, in comparison to when we were working, time seems to be on a go slow! 😃

All in a good way, of course, in that previously, the weeks seemed to rush by (especially in the last few months counting down to retirement), but now the pace of life, determined entirely by us, seems much more relaxed, and therefore is just drifting along

daveshep26

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82113246#Comment_82113246

@indiasign - Have you done any holidaying/ travelling over the (unusually glorious British) Summer or just really enjoyed having hassle free time? We (OH & I) will finish December this year and will dash for Winter sun for probably 5-6 weeks in later January - but our plan is to be significantly home based next Summer to enjoy the home and garden and host lots of family & friends (as we've not really been able to do before with all the bringing up family stuff going on..)

I have an idea of some of the new things I'd like to do more of- along with some definite commitments, but have given myself ~ 2 years to 'substantially' complete the transition, so there'll be a bit of experimenting here and there I think

indiasign

Because our retirement coincided with Mrs I’s 60th birthday, we already had a Maldives holiday booked for the end of May, but since then we’ve mostly been exploring places in our local area that we’ve never got round to visiting before, and working in/making plans for the garden.

We’ve taken out a Joint Senior National Trust membership (through National Trust Scotland, because it’s cheaper 😃), and are working our way through their properties in ever-expanding circles 😂. In the run up to retirement, I’d also taken some photography courses, to try to improve my skills, but I haven’t actually put them into practice much.

Yorkie1

I like the idea of allowing a decent time for the transition @daveshep26 It allows you to recognise that decompressing might take a while!

daveyjp

Watching with interest and will dip in with my experience as and when. Only 12 minutes into retirement but it appears OK!

jamesperrett

I'm now 9 years into early retirement although I'm pursuing a hobby as a part time business. While there have been one or two large personal upheavals in that time, I'm now enjoying life as much, if not more, than in my 20s. I do a fair bit of walking and cycling around the local area and have discovered places that I never knew existed. I've also been rediscovering the joys of playing music and have found quite a few retired people who are doing the same.

glass_half_full

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82112429#Comment_82112429

@jimi_man thanks for this.

Regarding the numbers. I appreciate everyone’s circumstances will be different and our needs / wants etc will all differ. This is just our take on this. For a long time I was very numbers focused. Then I reached the point where the decision had been made. So from now on we will cut our cloth as it were. We are mortgage free. Full transparency, we have a total of £30k of debt to repay on a loan (£20k home improvement) and credit card (£10k).

Income side

Both of us are retiring, myself at 59 and OH and 58. We are both receiving DB pensions, mine will be £10k and OH’s will be £14k so combined will be £24K. OH is in the Teachers Pension Scheme (TPS) which is a combination of final salary and career average. Mine is from the Universities Pension Scheme (USS). At 65 I will then also receive a further DB pension of £11.5K from a previous employer. We will both be eligible for state pensions at 67.

We are receiving lump sums, OH’s will be £35k and mine will be £75k. Then I also have £475k in the USS Investment Builder which is the USS DC fund. This was built up over the last 10 years and was very much seen as the ‘freedom fund’ to allow this to happen.

So the plan is to bridge the period from now until state pension age with a combination of DB pensions, lump sums and drawdown from the DC fund.

Spending

I have been using YNAB for several years. Based on this I forecast that our spend will be approximately £3200 per month so around £38,400 per year. Then I forecast around £10-15k per year on holidays. We will also be doing some home improvements around £5-10k per year. So a total of £55-£65K per year. I anticipate spending may be more in the early years than later.

I used a free tool, http://guide.co.uk to model all of this.

glass_half_full

Just back from a few days at a seaside town with OH, DS and father in law. Exactly the kind of break that would have been difficult before. It was great to just relax and spend time together as a family.

Some great suggestions above about learning languages. My DS has been working on a cruise ship for the last several months. He is learning Spanish as he is meeting a lot of people for whom Spanish is their first language. OH has a background as a language teacher, so they are learning together which is nice.

For myself, I have been taking piano lessons every week for several years. I am going to take the opportunity to increase this so I am going to have an extra lesson every two weeks. Currently working towards Rock School Grade 5.