it seems possible to retire - do you do it?

[regulus]

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.

Yep.

My dad is going through something similar. Retired earlier this year due to a medical event, had heart bypass surgery that basically forced him into retirement. Started with massive energy attacking the garden and decorating work, lasted about 3 months and then had a month in his chair in front of the TV. He is now looking at getting a part time job to keep busy.

I tell you, it's an incredibly valuable lesson for me observing all this in real time. Especially in my brother's case. He used to send me pictures from Singapore, NYC, Japan, Sydney, Brazil, and everywhere they travelled. I just thought to myself, keep running away from that boredom my boy. It'll get you eventually though. I used to be quite vocal on here about the upsides of FIRE, but seeing these examples, I don't know anymore. I'd rather just do a job I like, work with some cool people doing interesting stuff, with the money being a side benefit. Sitting at home with millions of shekels trying to figure out what to do day after day, seems like hell to me.

 

[MichaelAwkward]

Sounds like your dad needs a hobby rather than a job again. Lots of people just don’t have any hobbies or interests to fill their time. Lots of them are low cost/free.

Volunteering is another option if working isn’t actually necessary and is just being used as a way to fill the time.

 

[Azza]

Buy a caravan holiday home - make mega £££ for your retirement.

Holiday caravan buyers left without life savings and pension

Families who lost tens of thousands of pounds buying holiday caravans want the industry to change.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[200sols]

Buy a caravan holiday home - make mega £££ for your retirement.

Holiday caravan buyers left without life savings and pension

Families who lost tens of thousands of pounds buying holiday caravans want the industry to change.

www.bbc.co.uk

These people must do no research beforehand.

 

[Chuk_Chuk]

a recent video by how money works discussing retirement.


One thing he mentions is the difficulty some people face in finding jobs once in their 50s.

 

[throwaway4372]

One thing he mentions is the difficulty some people face in finding jobs once in their 50s.

Never mind 50, it's happening to me now at 38.

Frustrating that I'm not going to inherit boomer wealth, it would be completely different story if I had two motivated parents (1 estranged, 1 minimum wage career). Worked my nuts off getting a good career and doing well, and I'll still end up no better off than my parents in retirement.

 

[Semple]

Sounds like your dad needs a hobby rather than a job again. Lots of people just don’t have any hobbies or interests to fill their time. Lots of them are low cost/free.

Volunteering is another option if working isn’t actually necessary and is just being used as a way to fill the time.

Yeah hobby or job, the problem is if you've not had a hobby in 10+ years it's pretty daunting starting with one. Especially one that involves some sort of team etc.

 

[Mr Badger]

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

I don't know whether the same advice is still given out these days, but pre-retirement courses used to warn people not to move away somewhere quiet on retiring. A lot of men in particular struggle to adapt to the loss of routine and identity that comes with finishing a long career and this is exacerbated by moving away from friends and family to live somewhere with even less going on. Too easy to just give up or turn to all day drinking.

I have known people to go abit stir crazy when they retire early, wishing they were still working and missing the "routine"

As above. I suppose it depends how much of your identity is based on your job and the routine it brings to your life. Personally I have always struggled to fit in my other interests around work and certainly hope to be able to retire before hitting 60. I know a lot of retired people in their sixties and seventies and none of them seem to regret giving up work.

 

[moon man]

I don't know whether the same advice is still given out these days, but pre-retirement courses used to warn people not to move away somewhere quiet on retiring. A lot of men in particular struggle to adapt to the loss of routine and identity that comes with finishing a long career and this is exacerbated by moving away from friends and family to live somewhere with even less going on. Too easy to just give up or turn to all day drinking.

I can relate to this as where i live is the definition of quiet , i had 6 months on sick then 6 months post redundancy , i had amazing days doing things i love but the lack of social contact and structure negatively effected me and also the red wine intake did creep up

 

[Mr Blonde]

Sounds like your dad needs a hobby rather than a job again. Lots of people just don’t have any hobbies or interests to fill their time. Lots of them are low cost/free.

Volunteering is another option if working isn’t actually necessary and is just being used as a way to fill the time.

Equally there's paid work out there too. I retired at 40 as I was completely bored of IT work - admittedly, I was fortunate in the dot com boom so was never going to starve and could do it. Since then I've been doing paid house sitting and dog walking for various people and it's been great. I take an easel and a couple of canvases round to the places I go to and slap some paint down - I'm crap at it but it's both soothing and fun for me. Plenty of chats and conversations to be had while dog walking if that's a side of things that's needed too. People ask me to check out their PCs and Apple gear too while I'm there and they pay for that as well. The rest of my time is taken up with golf, tennis, skiing, city breaks around Europe and visiting friends who moved away from London in the main - we see great places, eat out, drink and have a laugh. The other half does tennis and gym classes - zumba, spinning, aqua something or other lol and has made some extra friends as a consequence. She's now doing piano lessons with Borat (I've been told to never call him that to his face on pain of death) - she's crap at it but she loves it.

Other than my back giving me jip occasionally I wish I could have skipped straight to retirement to be honest.

 

[adidan]

We'd struggle to survive on 40k/year with eveything paid off with current "expectations".

Dude, you either need how to learn to find bargains or sack some staff.

 

[UTmaniac]

While working part time for ~15 years before I had to take ill health retirement due to long covid last year reduced income, it got me used to living on a fairly tight budget.

It also gave me time and energy away from being a postie (far more physical than many realise, at least 75% of all new starters quit within three months) to have hobbies, including cycling for fitness as well as getting out into the countryside.

I'd take early retirement in a heartbeat, if I had some savings to tide me over until I could draw on my private pension and state pension.

 

[Raymond Lin]

Different people are used to different lifestyle and don’t really know how little a person actually NEEDS. Someone on a financial group on FB posted last week he is planning to retire with £57k income from his private pension at 59, with 400k cash sloshfund and £250k investments and no mortgage.

He wanted to ask the group if it’s enough to live on.

I bet he doesn’t even know the price of milk and have a private chef cook for him currently.

 

[bigmike20vt]

Different people are used to different lifestyle and don’t really know how little a person actually NEEDS. Someone on a financial group on FB posted last week he is planning to retire with £57k income from his private pension at 59, with 400k cash sloshfund and £250k investments and no mortgage.

He wanted to ask the group if it’s enough to live on.

I bet he doesn’t even know the price of milk and have a private chef cook for him currently.

I dunno ..... are you sure that wasnt just a (not very) subtle brag post?

 

[Dis86]

Doing the maths on that he has more money in investments, savings and property value (Assuming average house price) than the average person will have earned in their lives.
I honestly don't get how someone can be that wealthy and so dense so yeah, probs just bragging.

 

[bigmike20vt]

I have never been a one for getting bored..... also in general (I mean I do have a few things I want to do which are expensive) but in general my hobbies are quite cheap.

I would go back to fishing again, fancy taking up golf (but not fancy posh courses) and definitely would just a pub crown green bowels teal (not only for the beer )

but also I have a hankering to take up metal detecting as well.

but with work I just don't have time .

 

[Raymond Lin]

I dunno ..... are you sure that wasnt just a (not very) subtle brag post?

I did consider that but the interaction in the thread he sounds serious.

 

[DarrenM343]

Some stats I came across recently on Mortality Ages.
15-20% die before the age of 65.
20-25% die between the ages 65-74
30-35% die between 75-85
25-30% die from 85 and over.
And while we might be living longer, the age at which people generally have at least one chronic condition hasn't really changed. I didn't note the stat, and it was for the USA, where as the above was for the UK, but I think it's was 74.

Might help people decide when they want to retire and if they should start making sacrifices to make it happen sooner.

 

[LeeUK]

I la la love my retirement.

 

[platinum87]

Worked my nuts off getting a good career and doing well, and I'll still end up no better off than my parents in retirement.

From your OP the money you have currently in pensions is extremely high for your age, you will have a very comfortable retirement just from that, excluding your non-pension investments and home equity and state pension.

I don't know how you can write that post tbh, in my mind your parents are extremely well off with the best retirement package you can get.

I would not sell the house i would keep working, look for lower paid jobs maybe.

Mainly i would
1) set maximum cash to 28k based on 2 years expenses.

2) pension to 100% equity (global index)

3) non-pension to 100% equity

4) approaching retirement you stay in 100% equity as your investments will pass critical mass