First year of retirement

daveyjp

Now into the first week of retirement. Techincally I am not yet retired as I have leave to use.

Both me and my wife left work for the last time on 26th August.

Retirement did come about sooner than we planned by 2-3 years and planning started after my wife received her pension statement earlier this year. She saw the balance and wondered if it was enough, worked out our monthly spend over the last year and her pension is more than enough to cover household spending. I have a DB with AVCs. We also have ISA investments.

Plan is to defer the DB for a couple of years, leave the AVCs invested then probably use the AVCs to buy more DB years which will offset the early retirement reduction. Until then we can live on DC and ISA income.

Plans so far are a holiday in a few weeks (booked before we decided to retire), a weekend away in November (also booked months ago), a week in the sun in late November and a holiday in late February next year.

As for other activities. More family visits as we have elderly parents who are some distance away. We are both involved in volunteering at the local rugby club and with the season starting soon there will be jobs to do, games to watch, first aid to provide etc

I have been approached to be a governor at daughter's old school, something which I was surprised, but felt privileged to be asked to do, so that is under consideration.

My previous role included some projects with voluntary organisations and I may continue working on the projects, but on the other side of the fence. I've also kept my professional qualification membership live as its only a few quid a year and worth having should it be needed.

Yorkie1

Congratulations @glass_half_full 😁

And continue enjoying your first week off @daveyjp

thriftytracey

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82122054#Comment_82122054

It took about 6 months. Then Covid came along and all my plans were scuppered! And of course after the pandemic a lot of things never started up again. The Monday after I retired we went away for six weeks on a caravan touring holiday of France so that was a relaxing introduction. I think all the stress of 40 years of working builds up inside you and it takes several months to let it go.

The best thing about retirement for me is never having that dreadful Sunday evening feeling and not having to get up at 6am and then the 1.5 hour commute 3 days a week. Don't get me wrong I didn't hate my job but found the politics, performance targets, reviews and deadlines mentally and psychologially exhausting.

Albermarle

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82121705#Comment_82121705

Most of the bigger current account providers, have premium accounts of various types. Usually it includes travel insurance, but often also breakdown insurance and a few other perks, On the banking forum I am sure these are discussed regularly.

katejo

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82123417#Comment_82123417

Yes I am aware of these but assumed that the travel insurance had restrictions for anyone with pre existing conditions to declare. Plus I don't drive so can't benefit from break down services.

cloud_dog

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82122784#Comment_82122784

The best thing about retirement for me is never having that dreadful Sunday evening feeling…

I remember that, it took about 3 months after finishing before I realised I wasn't having that usual Sunday evening 'feeling'. Heaven.

Silvertabby

We'd always intended to retire at 60. Mr S actually went at 58, because the CS made him a redundancy offer he couldn't refuse, and I went part time for my last couple of years, so not really a shock to either of us.

Where we seem to differ from many on these boards is that we don't have a penny of DC benefits between us (unless you count my LGPS AVCs, taken as tax free cash), so we never had that uncertainty of what the stock markets would or wouldn't do.

To us, retirement is the luxury to do what we want to do when we want to do it - be it our hobbies or housework, and being able to change our minds at the last minute. But it didn't happen overnight - I didn't really feel retired until I could go shopping, and not think "that blouse will be nice for work". Took the best part of 2 years!

katejo

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82125513#Comment_82125513

I am not finding it any easier to motivate myself to do housework (particularly tasks like cleaning). I should be cleaning the kitchen now.

ali_bear

It can be tiring to have complete freedom to do what you want, when you want. Because this freedom leaves you having to continually make decisions about what to do now, and the nagging doubt that maybe you aren't "doing retirement right".

You can do yourself a huge favour by introducing some structure into your week. In the weekdays, have a starting point of your productive time, perhaps around ten in the morning, by when you will have breakfasted, got washed, dressed and are ready for action. Then another point in the day, perhaps late afternoon, when you stop being productive and simply do whatever you like, such as pick up your book, turn on the telly or take a nap. Obviously you make it work for you - the point is to have a regular structure. You can of course break the structure and have days off from this. And being productive doesn't mean only doing chores, it can also mean doing new things or things you love to do. How about doing the things you dislike first such as cleaning or chores, and the more fun things once those are out of the way?

Additionally, make a third breakpoint at the end of the productive week, probably Friday evening (or Saturday lunchtime?), when you do different things to mark the beginning of the weekend.

What you do in the here and now doesn't matter so much, as long as the vital things get done in time. Having a regular structure makes it easier for you to not worry about the rest of it.

Silvertabby

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82126138#Comment_82126138

Again, perhaps a little different for us - with over 50 years combined service in the RAF we are now making the most of our unregimented time!