it seems possible to retire - do you do it?

I've just found myself in a position where I might retire. I'm 54 and just left a job which was well paid but was not serving my physical or mental health well. I was grinding and dwindling in motivation. I always had a plan to retire early and have been saving to try and create a bridging fund that can take me to the point where a DB scheme kicks in and SP arrives 2 years later. In the last few years I've found full time work, leadership roles and workplace politics harder to deal with. Fortunately, I've been fairly cautious and frugal with our finances. Our biggest indulgences are 1 child at Uni and another about to go.

For the first time in my working life I don't have a salary and that is a weird feeling and not without it's stresses. Fortunately my wife does work albeit part time in the NHS so not highly paid but it covers our essential expenses, just about. We've probably got enough wealth to live the live we lead now but it's really hard to move from a saving mentality to a spending one when you realise that your pot will be going down. I am quite well adjusted to being a house husband, trying to get fitter and lay the foundations for a number of years of good health. You always think that you don't have enough but that has to be balanced with the time you gain by not working and that is wonderful.

None of us know what is ahead of us. The news this week of Chris Hoy was a well timed reminder of what can happen, Imagine being given 3/4 years to live at 48? Would you wish you had ground out another few years for a a few quid more? I don't know if I'll work again but I do know that I won't be doing a stressful job where I dread Sunday night rolling around. I won't we rolling in it but I'll be a bit better off than my old man who did 35 years as a teacher and a lot better off than my grandparents who lived a long and happy life on manual labour pay rates, state pension while living in a council house.

It's an adventure and one I'm looking forward to embarking on.
 
My brother retired the day he turned 40. Incidentally it was during lockdown. He was able to due to a run of incredibly good fortune of inheriting houses in London and large holdings in Bitcoin he bought on a whim. They bought a place in a small village in Dorset and there's where they while away the days. No children either.

He went back to work the beginning of this year due to boredom. His wife is a teacher, and she does 1-2 days a week at a local school.

I'm not sure it's all that it's cracked up to be, for him anyway.

I could probably do it in the next 2-3 years if I so wish (I'll be 46 then), but no way, I can barely handle the Christmas holidays, nevermind not ever going back to work. I enjoy what I do too much. I don't see it as work
 
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What happens to accomplishments in life, improving society rather than just kicking back and doing as little as possible to get through your four score years for as little effort as you can.

I expect that you intend to use all the advantage of the country around you.
 
delta0 said:
FIRE shouldn’t be a nightmare if you are retiring to something. The idea of having full freedom to do what you want is at least for me hugely important. If your life revolves around work then sure but that may not always be the case. Being at least financially independent is very liberating and you could choose to keep working and live quite an incredible lifestyle as a result.
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I would love to not work. But I'm not going ot miss out on holidays etc for a future that might never come.

There's no way I can retire materially early without a huge loss of time now.
 
Do it.
Make a YouTube channel about it.
Document your free life.
Get lots of views.
Give me the ad revenue because you don't need the stress of it. x
Calpol said:
I've just found myself in a position where I might retire. I'm 54 and just left a job which was well paid but was not serving my physical or mental health well. I was grinding and dwindling in motivation. I always had a plan to retire early and have been saving to try and create a bridging fund that can take me to the point where a DB scheme kicks in and SP arrives 2 years later. In the last few years I've found full time work, leadership roles and workplace politics harder to deal with. Fortunately, I've been fairly cautious and frugal with our finances. Our biggest indulgences are 1 child at Uni and another about to go.

For the first time in my working life I don't have a salary and that is a weird feeling and not without it's stresses. Fortunately my wife does work albeit part time in the NHS so not highly paid but it covers our essential expenses, just about. We've probably got enough wealth to live the live we lead now but it's really hard to move from a saving mentality to a spending one when you realise that your pot will be going down. I am quite well adjusted to being a house husband, trying to get fitter and lay the foundations for a number of years of good health. You always think that you don't have enough but that has to be balanced with the time you gain by not working and that is wonderful.

None of us know what is ahead of us. The news this week of Chris Hoy was a well timed reminder of what can happen, Imagine being given 3/4 years to live at 48? Would you wish you had ground out another few years for a a few quid more? I don't know if I'll work again but I do know that I won't be doing a stressful job where I dread Sunday night rolling around. I won't we rolling in it but I'll be a bit better off than my old man who did 35 years as a teacher and a lot better off than my grandparents who lived a long and happy life on manual labour pay rates, state pension while living in a council house.

It's an adventure and one I'm looking forward to embarking on.
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I love this so much. Good for you. Your username is very nice by the way.
 
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413x said:
I would love to not work. But I'm not going ot miss out on holidays etc for a future that might never come.

There's no way I can retire materially early without a huge loss of time now.
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Fully agree. Retirement needs to be to the life you want not a compromise.
 
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I would at least try and find a job that you could do 2 days a week.

Everyone sees work as some kind of evil but if you can find something you enjoy then it isn't work at all and you get paid for it!

I only work 3.5 days a week and my issue is finding the money to do the things I want to do as my hobbies are very expensive!

I was in the rat race in middle/senior management and I hated it but it paid well. I have taken a pay cut and become a lorry driver but the past 3 years have been the best working years of my life. I am not saying it is a job for you but when I get to my late 60's I would quite happily do holiday cover for some company a couple of days a week.

That would still net me £300-400 a week minimum and I still have 5 days a week to do what I want which is plenty.
 
Only work if home life sucks or you have to to pay the bills. I must be unique, but I just can’t stand the thought of living to a timetable or doing what someone else says.
My old job paid well, I knew what I was doing, but it caused me massive anxiety and just took all my time. I couldn’t stop thinking about problems at work even when I was at home or on holiday.
It’s taken me three years to begin to get over that constant anxiety and it’s completely changed my attitude to everything. I’m so much more chilled.
I’m relatively old compared to some on here so probably have a different perspective, I look at people who are 30 years younger than me and realise they are fitter, sharper and have much more motivation and energy than me, so I think good luck and let them get on with it.
Good news though, much as we would love the world to improve and everything to get better, it really doesn’t. Basically you are only working for the money no what self worth you kid yourself you have. The sooner you realise that the better, I like the finger in a bucket of water analogy, I’m sure there are plenty of others.

I’ve also seen a fair few colleagues pass away way to early over the years.
 
Hagar said:
I think that the Victorian era and peak colonialism before, will be seen as the summit of western achievements. A large number of people opting out if doing anything in their life is symptomatic of decline.
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Opting out of work doesn't necessarily mean opting out of doing anything with your life.

The type of work was also very different back then and was an absolute necessity for survival.

This thread is also about retirement, i.e. people who have probably worked for a significant part of their lives, not people who are NEET etc and never look for work.
 
regulus said:
My brother retired the day he turned 40. Incidentally it was during lockdown. He was able to due to a run of incredibly good fortune of inheriting houses in London and large holdings in Bitcoin he bought on a whim. They bought a place in a small village in Dorset and there's where they while away the days. No children either.

He went back to work the beginning of this year due to boredom. His wife is a teacher, and she does 1-2 days a week at a local school.

I'm not sure it's all that it's cracked up to be, for him anyway.

I could probably do it in the next 2-3 years if I so wish (I'll be 46 then), but no way, I can barely handle the Christmas holidays, nevermind not ever going back to work. I enjoy what I do too much. I don't see it as work
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This is where it kinda comes back to what do you want to do in your retirement. Sitting at home and watching TV all day will eventually get boring - even depressing in the winter months when daylight is short and it's cold and wet outside.
 
I have known people to go abit stir crazy when they retire early, wishing they were still working and missing the "routine"
 
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Semple said:
This is where it kinda comes back to what do you want to do in your retirement. Sitting at home and watching TV all day will eventually get boring - even depressing in the winter months when daylight is short and it's cold and wet outside.
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I retired at 65 and a bit and that was soon enough. This morning i trimmed the lawn edge for the last time this year, raked up some leaves, the first this year and bagged for leaf mulch next year. But first I cycled to M and S for some groceries. Exciting.
 
413x said:
Kind of agree.
Its a tad scary retirement.

I actually don't know how I'll manage it mentally. Right now I work obviously and really value my weekends.
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An acquaintance of mine left his job and basically is default retired in his mid 50s although I don't think that was his intention. Everyday turned into a friday, so he was doing a lot of drinking etc. His health has declined massively.

What to do to "fill you time" is a big big issue for me. I'm basically just ticking along in my current job, I'm basically doing very little, but it keeps a routine and more importantly it keeps the money coming in. It's going to come to a head in a year or so. Without the metronome of work, and the things that come with it (i.e. going to certain places for lunch, seeing familiar faces, bumping into folks the odd time), I don't know how I'm going to pass the time. Retirement should be more that just existing. I don't have any family, so no kids/grandkids that seem to be the focus of many people when they get to a certain age.

I think people should not underestimate the importance of having a plan about what you actually what to do with the new time you will have. Simply eating/sleeping/watching TV or whatever isn't really going to cut-it long term (at least for me).

Back more onto the OP's question. 11K a years sounds like a terribly small amount, nevermind inflation reducing it's buying power. Absolutely everyone is different in terms of their needs, but that sounds very much at the bottom end of of any graph.
 
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