Enjoying Retirement
Discussion
CAH706 said:
I retired last year at 49. A year earlier than I’d planned due to securing a redundancy payoff (my choice to go).
I didn’t particularly love or hate my job. I was well paid and could have carried on for a few more years but for me I thought that on balance I’d rather have more time to do other things
A few things that stand out for me;
I am far more relaxed that I ever was - No thoughts of work on a Sunday
. This must be good for my stress levels but more importantly I have far more time and patience to do things with my son. Im keen to enjoy the time with him before he leaves on his own life journey.
I used to barely tolerate DIY as it felt like it was taking away my family time and time to unwind. As a result, I’d usually get trades people in. I’m currently fitting new bedroom units to 2 bedrooms and redecorating both bedrooms. With the extra time I have I’m thoroughly enjoying doing this - the added bonus being the lack of cost.
Financially there is a drop in income coming into the household each month but after tax and reduced outlay on various things the difference isn’t enough to change my lifestyle at all.
A year on from retirement I don’t regret it all.
49 wow good for you . I didn’t particularly love or hate my job. I was well paid and could have carried on for a few more years but for me I thought that on balance I’d rather have more time to do other things
A few things that stand out for me;
I am far more relaxed that I ever was - No thoughts of work on a Sunday
. This must be good for my stress levels but more importantly I have far more time and patience to do things with my son. Im keen to enjoy the time with him before he leaves on his own life journey.I used to barely tolerate DIY as it felt like it was taking away my family time and time to unwind. As a result, I’d usually get trades people in. I’m currently fitting new bedroom units to 2 bedrooms and redecorating both bedrooms. With the extra time I have I’m thoroughly enjoying doing this - the added bonus being the lack of cost.
Financially there is a drop in income coming into the household each month but after tax and reduced outlay on various things the difference isn’t enough to change my lifestyle at all.
A year on from retirement I don’t regret it all.
I see myself feeling very much the same come Sundays & stress levels .
DIY i do the same as just no time to allocate to it plus as weekends I want to be doing ‘me’ stuff.
Won’t miss work in the least although I’m likely to do a part time job with a family member but very much part time which will suit .
Providing the hum drum of my Monday to Friday current existence has changed then all good
GT03ROB said:
I keep going for the money!
For me ,while the money is nice as a marker, the adrenalin is what matters. I have always hated boredom or the feeling of being unproductive. Today I have a board meeting to close in a transformative deal. In the last five years have sold or merged four other companies. I love the strategizing and planning as to how to save a company. It is completely different from the routine of repetitive work. Every job I had from the age of 21 had travel so I saw the world. Lived in 6 countries in my life.
So,work has always been a hobby. I take interesting (for’me) leisure trips, inevitably driving in most places. I have abided driving in China,Russia, Japan , and strangely enough in the UK. Typically I go to London which is clearly not a place to drive in.
Otherwise it’s the open road. Remain passionate about cars as I have since seeing the odd beautiful car drive by when I was a child. New Cayenne GTS is just being unloaded
off the boat today,more of a working vehicle for me
Still,I expect to get the 992RS as the final addition to my little garage which I will run as usual on some European tracks,the usual suspects.
After that I will just be too old to get whatever shoes up in the next gen after the 992. At some point I will be too old to work. Also after about 80 virtually everyone I know has some kind of ailment or deterioration.
I will deal with this when it happens assuming I last that long
. Have never taken a cruise,spent a day on a beach,been to a resort,been a member of a club,joined a political party. I will ultimately sell the cars and probably make money on the sports cars at the point where I can no longer drive them safely. I am well aware that this is not for everyone. For me,I love high pressure stressful situations when there is a lot in the balance. I think I am basically lazy and need the pressure to Keep on running. Same as track days. I have had lots of edgy cars for the same reason.
It’s 05:45 here and time to rock’n’roll. Should be a fun day.
Phooey said:
PF62 said:
The £60k figure comes from The Telegraph, which is not known for diligent and accurate reporting - https://www.telegraph.co.uk/financial-services/pen... (perhaps too concerned with ensuring its readers are frothing at the latest ‘woke’ stories, anti-BBC stories, anti-electric cars and smart meters stories, and hankering for the 1950’s).
They have taken data from the FCA about pension plans being accessed for the first time - www.fca.org.uk/data/retirement-income-market-data - and drawn unwarranted conclusions from the data, ignoring that people might have multiple pension pots and only be cashing in the small ones. And even worse, they haven’t bothered to update their numbers when they republish the story each year, but keep quoting the old and incorrect figure.
It would be interesting to know what the average SIPP pot isThey have taken data from the FCA about pension plans being accessed for the first time - www.fca.org.uk/data/retirement-income-market-data - and drawn unwarranted conclusions from the data, ignoring that people might have multiple pension pots and only be cashing in the small ones. And even worse, they haven’t bothered to update their numbers when they republish the story each year, but keep quoting the old and incorrect figure.
CAH706 said:
I used to barely tolerate DIY as it felt like it was taking away my family time and time to unwind. As a result, I’d usually get trades people in. I’m currently fitting new bedroom units to 2 bedrooms and redecorating both bedrooms. With the extra time I have I’m thoroughly enjoying doing this - the added bonus being the lack of cost.
As I sit here looking at PH when I really should be finishing a bit of DIY (re-painting some wrought-iron railings), I can say that I still barely tolerate DIY, but I don't resent the time spent doing so as much as I used to. If I become frustrated with the task, I'll just do something more interesting and then carry on tomorrow. Or maybe the next day (unless the weather is too cold). Time is such a luxury.Carbon Sasquatch said:
Always hard to know what averages mean…..
So the average couple have 400k between them ? Plus state pensions plus any DB pensions they may have ?
I’d say the vast majority looking to retire in the next 5 years won’t have a DB pension. So the average couple have 400k between them ? Plus state pensions plus any DB pensions they may have ?
Back in the early 90’s I joined a major American bank that had just scrapped DB pension schemes
RDMcG said:
GT03ROB said:
I keep going for the money!
For me ,while the money is nice as a marker, the adrenalin is what matters. I have always hated boredom or the feeling of being unproductive. Today I have a board meeting to close in a transformative deal. In the last five years have sold or merged four other companies. I love the strategizing and planning as to how to save a company. It is completely different from the routine of repetitive work. Every job I had from the age of 21 had travel so I saw the world. Lived in 6 countries in my life.
So,work has always been a hobby. I take interesting (for’me) leisure trips, inevitably driving in most places. I have abided driving in China,Russia, Japan , and strangely enough in the UK. Typically I go to London which is clearly not a place to drive in.
Otherwise it’s the open road. Remain passionate about cars as I have since seeing the odd beautiful car drive by when I was a child. New Cayenne GTS is just being unloaded
off the boat today,more of a working vehicle for me
Still,I expect to get the 992RS as the final addition to my little garage which I will run as usual on some European tracks,the usual suspects.
After that I will just be too old to get whatever shoes up in the next gen after the 992. At some point I will be too old to work. Also after about 80 virtually everyone I know has some kind of ailment or deterioration.
I will deal with this when it happens assuming I last that long
. Have never taken a cruise,spent a day on a beach,been to a resort,been a member of a club,joined a political party. I will ultimately sell the cars and probably make money on the sports cars at the point where I can no longer drive them safely. I am well aware that this is not for everyone. For me,I love high pressure stressful situations when there is a lot in the balance. I think I am basically lazy and need the pressure to Keep on running. Same as track days. I have had lots of edgy cars for the same reason.
It’s 05:45 here and time to rock’n’roll. Should be a fun day.
We are indeed all very different. At 05:45hrs today, I was dreaming about the amazing ski runs we would do today…. & sure enough, managed a fair few runs, won’t be able to keep this up for too many more years (#GentleBlues&RedsOnly!)
Carbon Sasquatch said:
Always hard to know what averages mean…..
So the average couple have 400k between them ? Plus state pensions plus any DB pensions they may have ?
I suspect that those numbers are the average pension pot for people that have a pension pot. There's no way the average couple have £400K. I think I read that the average pension pot, spread across the whole population, is £16K per person. Or it might have been £16K per couple. Because millions of people have nothing beyond state pension. So the average couple have 400k between them ? Plus state pensions plus any DB pensions they may have ?
This report dices it many ways and makes interesting reading ....
https://www.nimblefins.co.uk/savings-accounts/aver...
https://www.nimblefins.co.uk/savings-accounts/aver...
6 months to go until I am 66 in September.
I have decided to stay on until June following year.
No point retiring as heading into winter.
By June the following year, it will be nice and warm again.
Then finish work for good.
Much younger wife earns really good salary, that coupled with no mortgage, a few small personal pensions, and state pension will see us quids in.
I have decided to stay on until June following year.
No point retiring as heading into winter.
By June the following year, it will be nice and warm again.
Then finish work for good.
Much younger wife earns really good salary, that coupled with no mortgage, a few small personal pensions, and state pension will see us quids in.
Register1 said:
6 months to go until I am 66 in September.
I have decided to stay on until June following year.
No point retiring as heading into winter.
By June the following year, it will be nice and warm again.
Then finish work for good.
Much younger wife earns really good salary, that coupled with no mortgage, a few small personal pensions, and state pension will see us quids in.
66 is a great achievement well done you. I have decided to stay on until June following year.
No point retiring as heading into winter.
By June the following year, it will be nice and warm again.
Then finish work for good.
Much younger wife earns really good salary, that coupled with no mortgage, a few small personal pensions, and state pension will see us quids in.
Enjoy your retirement
TwigtheWonderkid said:
I suspect that those numbers are the average pension pot for people that have a pension pot. There's no way the average couple have £400K. I think I read that the average pension pot, spread across the whole population, is £16K per person. Or it might have been £16K per couple. Because millions of people have nothing beyond state pension.
Scary. Retiring on the state pension alone will be tricky . The next generation of course won’t even get a state pension so even more reason to stop the car leasing deals and invest in a pension from an early age !
okgo said:
One of my family is 64, has 120k pot, owns a property worth probably 450k with no mortgage. Isn't going to get a full state pension for whatever reasons that now can't be rectified - less than ideal, not actually sure if they've thought about a plan yet...
I don’t know the details obviously but surely The state pension is all about previous NI contributions ? GT3Manthey said:
okgo said:
One of my family is 64, has 120k pot, owns a property worth probably 450k with no mortgage. Isn't going to get a full state pension for whatever reasons that now can't be rectified - less than ideal, not actually sure if they've thought about a plan yet...
I don’t know the details obviously but surely The state pension is all about previous NI contributions ? https://www.gov.uk/contracted-out
GT3Manthey said:
Doesn’t seem much in Pensions to me .
Maybe most are looking to live off cash from downsized property as and when the time comes
I suspect a lot of people are going to be in for a rude awakening when it comes to retiring. If those figures are the average and some people on here are talking about living on £3K a month that must mean there are a lot of people who will be getting not much more than £400 a month and they are likely to be the people who won't be in a position to downsize or live off savings.Maybe most are looking to live off cash from downsized property as and when the time comes
So I suppose I'll get a front seat of how life is with what the average person probably ends up with in the UK, though they live in an expensive part of the world, so there isn't much more downsizing they could do property wise without moving somewhere dire. Think many folk are in for a shock if those figures above are to be believed.
Gassing Station | Finance | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff