Facing retirement.
Discussion
Do you really enjoy your job?
I'm sure lots on here are thinking "what's the problem?" :-)
I would love to be able to retire at 55 and would see it as a new chapter in my life.
Time to concentrate on things I don't gave time to do now.
You're still young enough and hopefully fit enough to lead an active life.
Embrace it!
Buy a cheap 3 classic and do a restro.
If you come back here explore areas you've never visited before.
Walk the coast to coast path.
Cycle LEJOG
(These are the things I would do)
I'm sure lots on here are thinking "what's the problem?" :-)
I would love to be able to retire at 55 and would see it as a new chapter in my life.
Time to concentrate on things I don't gave time to do now.
You're still young enough and hopefully fit enough to lead an active life.
Embrace it!
Buy a cheap 3 classic and do a restro.
If you come back here explore areas you've never visited before.
Walk the coast to coast path.
Cycle LEJOG
(These are the things I would do)
Also agree with the 2 year settle down rule. My parents took a while to settle. Now they have no time between shopping, mowing the lawn, walking the dog, doctors, vets, opticians, weddings, funerals, 18ths/21sts, holidays, car MOT, car service, new tyres on the car, going to see films / shows...
Stuff that used to take an hour, now takes them 4. Soon uses the day! It took them about a week to buy a new sofa! They must have spent more in fuel driving round than the cost of the sofa!
Stuff that used to take an hour, now takes them 4. Soon uses the day! It took them about a week to buy a new sofa! They must have spent more in fuel driving round than the cost of the sofa!
My plans are to tick a few big ticket items off early on:
Do a season of one make racing, probably Caterhams.
Travel to the US and spend the full 90 days going cost to coast. Probably do that a couple of times.
Spend a year following the F1 to as many races as possible, certainly all the EU races.
Visit Japan for as long as possible - maybe even get a student visa.
Buy and sell a few nice cars. Probably do a few resto projects.
Try and see as many old friends as possible - we are all spread out now from Oz to South America etc.
See the far north, up into the artic circle.
Most of this is expensive stuff so we plan to get a lot of this out of the way in the first few years of retirement whilst we are still fit - for example to follow the F1 I intend to buy a motorhome rather than flying and staying in hotels. Likewise for trips to the US. Buy an RV and park it for a few months between visits. Sell at the end. Try and stay with friends etc where poss.
Do a season of one make racing, probably Caterhams.
Travel to the US and spend the full 90 days going cost to coast. Probably do that a couple of times.
Spend a year following the F1 to as many races as possible, certainly all the EU races.
Visit Japan for as long as possible - maybe even get a student visa.
Buy and sell a few nice cars. Probably do a few resto projects.
Try and see as many old friends as possible - we are all spread out now from Oz to South America etc.
See the far north, up into the artic circle.
Most of this is expensive stuff so we plan to get a lot of this out of the way in the first few years of retirement whilst we are still fit - for example to follow the F1 I intend to buy a motorhome rather than flying and staying in hotels. Likewise for trips to the US. Buy an RV and park it for a few months between visits. Sell at the end. Try and stay with friends etc where poss.
embrace it if its forced on you , do not volunteer for retirement if it can be avoided would be my advice.
I'm a similar age and employed in the oil game since 1984 , but want to keep going until I'm 60.(most likely will do another year or two after that as well)
The way I see it is, we're semi retired anyway (with our rotas) so should slip into the retirement lifestyle quite readily , but sad as it seems I will miss the banter at work and the job I do is very well paid for what I put in to it.
good luck whatever you decide/happens.
ps you do realise that factory job in the uk is most likely not available to you at OUR age don't you
I'm a similar age and employed in the oil game since 1984 , but want to keep going until I'm 60.(most likely will do another year or two after that as well)
The way I see it is, we're semi retired anyway (with our rotas) so should slip into the retirement lifestyle quite readily , but sad as it seems I will miss the banter at work and the job I do is very well paid for what I put in to it.
good luck whatever you decide/happens.
ps you do realise that factory job in the uk is most likely not available to you at OUR age don't you
I can't wait to "retire" and am currently figuring out how quickly I can do it! (Prob not for another 10 years 
)
I've dropped down to a part-time role though and I honestly don't think I'd be bored not working at all. I have stacks of people to visit, lots of walking with the dog to do, loads of places I've yet to see, I'm learning to sail, maybe take that yacht I haven't bought round the Med, who knows!
Life is what you make it!
)I've dropped down to a part-time role though and I honestly don't think I'd be bored not working at all. I have stacks of people to visit, lots of walking with the dog to do, loads of places I've yet to see, I'm learning to sail, maybe take that yacht I haven't bought round the Med, who knows!
Life is what you make it!
My dad is retired.
He says he does not know how he had time for work!
He is on the go non stop.
Restores classic cars and land rovers, comes to military vehcile shows with me and sleeps in a tent.
Built a train set in his dining room.
Buys old dinky cars and trains off ebay and restores them.
Reads loads of books(VIP status at the library!)
If anything breaks in the family, toaster/washing machine/hairdryer, fixes it.
You MUST have something to do.
He says he does not know how he had time for work!
He is on the go non stop.
Restores classic cars and land rovers, comes to military vehcile shows with me and sleeps in a tent.
Built a train set in his dining room.
Buys old dinky cars and trains off ebay and restores them.
Reads loads of books(VIP status at the library!)
If anything breaks in the family, toaster/washing machine/hairdryer, fixes it.
You MUST have something to do.
I'm coming up to 62, and planned to retire at 65...(Started work at 15), but am now coming round to thinking I might do another two or three years, probably part time (Health permitting) but also because I enjoy my job.
One thing I have learned in life is you don't have to spend a fortune to enjoy life, if you live simply.
I have been to many faraway places in the world on holiday, but my favourite most memorable one was tramping the length of the Pennine way for a fortnight (twice) staying in Youth hostels for a fiver a night.
Sir Alex Ferguson, Richard Branson, Warren Buffett etc, could have retired many many years ago but they preferred to work, everyone is different.
Good luck, KH, you are an intelligent bloke, everything will work out fine I'm sure..
One thing I have learned in life is you don't have to spend a fortune to enjoy life, if you live simply.
I have been to many faraway places in the world on holiday, but my favourite most memorable one was tramping the length of the Pennine way for a fortnight (twice) staying in Youth hostels for a fiver a night.
Sir Alex Ferguson, Richard Branson, Warren Buffett etc, could have retired many many years ago but they preferred to work, everyone is different.
Good luck, KH, you are an intelligent bloke, everything will work out fine I'm sure..
Lots of good advice here.
I retired at 60 from full time work, and then spent five years doing quite lucrative technology consulting around the world. At this point ( am 66) those opportunities are fewer. I have no financial worries and have lived life to the full since youth, so none of that bucket list stuff for me.
Still, like KH I do feel a certain level of uncertainty for the future. of course there are places to do, things to do, and have a good car on order, but I realize that I am unlikely to be able to buy another one as raw at (say) 75. it is a dilemma in terms of useful things to do ,not finding new hobbies. I have seen a huge amount of the world and will continue to travel , but not in terms of some huge desire to catch up. Part of the reality is that I have no horrible disease, on no medication , and ,like many these days, might live longer than we historically used to.
In the short term there is nothing of substance I cannot physically do that I could to at 40,but of course, age is natural, and things will go awry, and all of those popular myths of graceful ageing and a happy old death in the bosom of the family after a brief illness are of course, nonsense. Most of us will get sick and have progressive disablement as we age, if we live long enough.
Thus, living to some heroic age seems nuts to me. At this stage I have taken some modest investments in startup companies so as to keep my hand in. That keeps me current.
The good news. KH, is that you have avoided the worst problem,going into penury in your advancing years. That gives you choices as to what to do int he future. Take your time, and it will come to you.
I retired at 60 from full time work, and then spent five years doing quite lucrative technology consulting around the world. At this point ( am 66) those opportunities are fewer. I have no financial worries and have lived life to the full since youth, so none of that bucket list stuff for me.
Still, like KH I do feel a certain level of uncertainty for the future. of course there are places to do, things to do, and have a good car on order, but I realize that I am unlikely to be able to buy another one as raw at (say) 75. it is a dilemma in terms of useful things to do ,not finding new hobbies. I have seen a huge amount of the world and will continue to travel , but not in terms of some huge desire to catch up. Part of the reality is that I have no horrible disease, on no medication , and ,like many these days, might live longer than we historically used to.
In the short term there is nothing of substance I cannot physically do that I could to at 40,but of course, age is natural, and things will go awry, and all of those popular myths of graceful ageing and a happy old death in the bosom of the family after a brief illness are of course, nonsense. Most of us will get sick and have progressive disablement as we age, if we live long enough.
Thus, living to some heroic age seems nuts to me. At this stage I have taken some modest investments in startup companies so as to keep my hand in. That keeps me current.
The good news. KH, is that you have avoided the worst problem,going into penury in your advancing years. That gives you choices as to what to do int he future. Take your time, and it will come to you.
My dad took voluntary redundancy and early retirement in his mid/late fifties. He'd worked hard and absolutely loved his job. Even despite being thoroughly under appreciated my his employer and being demoted/sidelined for daring not to arse lick the senior management. We'd been telling him for years to take VR each time it came up, but he carried on while he enjoyed it. Then one day he surprised us all, just took the VR - a very substantial payout due to his service length, and a fantastic pension.
Anyway, he did a bit of consulting work, full time at first, but wound it down after a couple of years, now he just takes the odd project/day here and there (not sure he even does that any more). He didn't need to do any of that, and could easily have retired even earlier. It's bound to take some adjustment, and there's no reason why you couldn't do a bit of lower stress/light/part time/voluntary/charity work whilst you wind down.
He's late 60's now and still very active and healthy for his age, but he's definitely aged substantially since he retired, partly a by product of 'lifting off the gas' and slowing down I think.
Most people would love to be able to retire by 60, but for the vast majority that luxury has passed - private/corporate and public pensions aren't so generous, and we have an aging population so the nations cost of looking after the old uns means working later and less to go around.
Anyway, he did a bit of consulting work, full time at first, but wound it down after a couple of years, now he just takes the odd project/day here and there (not sure he even does that any more). He didn't need to do any of that, and could easily have retired even earlier. It's bound to take some adjustment, and there's no reason why you couldn't do a bit of lower stress/light/part time/voluntary/charity work whilst you wind down.
He's late 60's now and still very active and healthy for his age, but he's definitely aged substantially since he retired, partly a by product of 'lifting off the gas' and slowing down I think.
Most people would love to be able to retire by 60, but for the vast majority that luxury has passed - private/corporate and public pensions aren't so generous, and we have an aging population so the nations cost of looking after the old uns means working later and less to go around.
I did this @ 53
My thought process was if I run short of money go back to work, my only proviso was something I enjoy.
If I get bored (I haven't yet 3 yrs on) do some voluntary work.
I started with a long "things to do list" and thought, that'll keep me busy for the first six months while I figure things out. I've hardly touched it.
I enjoy the simple things and taking time doing stuff. I never really noticed seasons change before. Holidays are brilliant, plenty of time to plan and do. None of the "I'm too stressed/busy at work to go" and none of the blues for the last couple of days, worrying about what you'll find when you go back. If you're holiday takes a few days extra who cares. If you finish you're holiday early you can always take another one. I get to spend more time with wife, family, friends which I really enjoy.
Life doesn't cost as much, I think I was spending money out of gratification. No commute, no suits, less eating out/takeaways/booze, time to enjoy growing things, cooking, dog walking.
I agree it takes time to settle into it. In the early days if I had a pub lunch on a Friday for instance I'd feel guilty, like I was skiving off or something.
My thought process was if I run short of money go back to work, my only proviso was something I enjoy.
If I get bored (I haven't yet 3 yrs on) do some voluntary work.
I started with a long "things to do list" and thought, that'll keep me busy for the first six months while I figure things out. I've hardly touched it.
I enjoy the simple things and taking time doing stuff. I never really noticed seasons change before. Holidays are brilliant, plenty of time to plan and do. None of the "I'm too stressed/busy at work to go" and none of the blues for the last couple of days, worrying about what you'll find when you go back. If you're holiday takes a few days extra who cares. If you finish you're holiday early you can always take another one. I get to spend more time with wife, family, friends which I really enjoy.
Life doesn't cost as much, I think I was spending money out of gratification. No commute, no suits, less eating out/takeaways/booze, time to enjoy growing things, cooking, dog walking.
I agree it takes time to settle into it. In the early days if I had a pub lunch on a Friday for instance I'd feel guilty, like I was skiving off or something.
Edited by PositronicRay on Tuesday 20th January 07:43
When I started work I planned to retire at 50 and do a few casual jobs I'd enjoy. I went so far as to actually pay into a private pension to fund this.
A few short years later they changed the game on me. Now private pensions can only be taken at 55. It seemed unfair, but I figured just 5 more years wouldn't hurt.
Now, it's gone up again to 57, with future rises likely. I'm 40 now and my retirement is just as far away as when I was 33, in terms of years left to work against the original plan.
So it's unlikely I'll be allowed to retire until 60. I say go now if you have the chance, you could be dead tomorrow, and you can still have the banter with mates over hobbies or a beer.
I'm now forced to look into BTL as a means of funding the time gap between when I can afford to retire, and when I'll be allowed to.
A few short years later they changed the game on me. Now private pensions can only be taken at 55. It seemed unfair, but I figured just 5 more years wouldn't hurt.
Now, it's gone up again to 57, with future rises likely. I'm 40 now and my retirement is just as far away as when I was 33, in terms of years left to work against the original plan.
So it's unlikely I'll be allowed to retire until 60. I say go now if you have the chance, you could be dead tomorrow, and you can still have the banter with mates over hobbies or a beer.
I'm now forced to look into BTL as a means of funding the time gap between when I can afford to retire, and when I'll be allowed to.
King Herald said:
12 years ago I joined a company that actually had a pension scheme, but for the small amount I can pay in I knew it could never amount to much, come the big day.
I finally decided to look into the figures I could expect were I to stop working at 55, which is in two months. I was pleasantly surprised to find I would take just a 50% drop in income,
So you've paid in a small amount for just 12 yrs, and they are going to pay you 50% of finally salary from 55 until death.I finally decided to look into the figures I could expect were I to stop working at 55, which is in two months. I was pleasantly surprised to find I would take just a 50% drop in income,
3 possibilities. Either you've misunderstood, or they've got it wrong, or you currently earn £10 a week.
Seriously, check this out and get it in writing. When things sound too good to be true, they usually are.
I was made redundant 5 years ago age 50. I was fortunate that I'd paid off my mortgage and had a reasonable amount in savings. I made a half-hearted attempt to try and find another job but soon realised that being 50 is considered too old by employers when they have so many job applicants to choose from.
I went the self-employed route and set up a pet sitter/dog walking business as I've always loved animals and saw it as my ideal job. It brings in a small amount of income, and I have the joy of being an 'auntie' to various owners' pets.
It seems I've drifted into a life of continual semi-retirement. I learnt to play golf 5 years ago and I enjoy a regular game with some retired friends I learnt with. I go to flower arranging and art classes - and am just about to start archery classes.
I live a very simple life and am quite content with it
Embrace retirement - it's a time for you to do whatever you want to do.
I went the self-employed route and set up a pet sitter/dog walking business as I've always loved animals and saw it as my ideal job. It brings in a small amount of income, and I have the joy of being an 'auntie' to various owners' pets.
It seems I've drifted into a life of continual semi-retirement. I learnt to play golf 5 years ago and I enjoy a regular game with some retired friends I learnt with. I go to flower arranging and art classes - and am just about to start archery classes.
I live a very simple life and am quite content with it
Embrace retirement - it's a time for you to do whatever you want to do.
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