Retirement....is it all it's cracked up to be ?

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Tuearts right boot

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Halfway up a mountain,bumfuck nowhere,Snowdonia.
For the last year or so I've been toying with the idea, I'm coming up to 66 and the world is a big place......I've not had a holiday for years and get bored very easily and really enjoy my job, the people, obviously the money and the hours are more part time than full. I'm finacially stable and my state pension kicks in next year. So what's the problem....I mentioned this to one of my clients who runs a similar business, joking apart he picked up on the idea and ran with it, so I ran with him so to speak....figures, turnover, costs, profits, I even spoke to my accountant. Now he's seeing his bank manager on monday to sort out his finances and quite frankly the penny has just dropped and I'm quietly crapping myself....what am I going to do, I'll miss so much customer, suppliers and clients interaction and dont fancy sitting around the house watching Lorraine Kelly and listening to the wife. I know folks on here have done it but would be interested to hear how it's gone.
 
Best thing ever….do all the things you never had time for, reading, walking, socialising and whatever you enjoy doing…..nobody on their death bed says they’d wished they’d spent more time at work, you only live once, it’s not a rehearsal.
You’re a long time dead ENJOY whilst you’re fit enough
 
Everyone deserves their rewards for contributions to society and should be allowed to make the best of it.

The late capitalism system were in now where everyone is seem as a resource that can be discarded when they aren't productive will probably turn on pensions and a decent retirement eventually. I doubt I will will get the opportunity to have a proper retirement.
 
Tuearts right boot said:
For the last year or so I've been toying with the idea, I'm coming up to 66 and the world is a big place......I've not had a holiday for years and get bored very easily and really enjoy my job, the people, obviously the money and the hours are more part time than full. I'm finacially stable and my state pension kicks in next year. So what's the problem....I mentioned this to one of my clients who runs a similar business, joking apart he picked up on the idea and ran with it, so I ran with him so to speak....figures, turnover, costs, profits, I even spoke to my accountant. Now he's seeing his bank manager on monday to sort out his finances and quite frankly the penny has just dropped and I'm quietly crapping myself....what am I going to do, I'll miss so much customer, suppliers and clients interaction and dont fancy sitting around the house watching Lorraine Kelly and listening to the wife. I know folks on here have done it but would be interested to hear how it's gone.
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Do you have to retire ?
 
I took early retirement at 58. Best thing I have done. I had a very good teachers' pension to rely upon, one of the best schemes around. OK, so I was in a very senior position, which hugely increased the pension multiples, so obviously not everyone has that bonus.

Day 1, no more emails, no phone calls, no crisis management, no reporting to committees, no underhand planning and scheming, no stress, and no worries. Nothing, just time for anything I fancy.

Now, I don't know how I had time to work.

I did write a book though. Just saying. Lol.
 
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There is no panacea for the human condition, but those who are busy and productive, who have purpose in life, tend to be much happier than those that do not. If you love your job, why would you consider retiring?
 
Tuearts right boot said:
For the last year or so I've been toying with the idea, I'm coming up to 66 and the world is a big place......I've not had a holiday for years and get bored very easily and really enjoy my job, the people, obviously the money and the hours are more part time than full. I'm finacially stable and my state pension kicks in next year. So what's the problem....I mentioned this to one of my clients who runs a similar business, joking apart he picked up on the idea and ran with it, so I ran with him so to speak....figures, turnover, costs, profits, I even spoke to my accountant. Now he's seeing his bank manager on monday to sort out his finances and quite frankly the penny has just dropped and I'm quietly crapping myself....what am I going to do, I'll miss so much customer, suppliers and clients interaction and dont fancy sitting around the house watching Lorraine Kelly and listening to the wife. I know folks on here have done it but would be interested to hear how it's gone.
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If you don't have a consuming hobby, interest or travel plans then I think retirement can be a bad thing. You need to replace the dive / passion you have for work with something you love so you can avoid mornings with Lorraine Kelly.
 
Tuearts right boot said:
For the last year or so I've been toying with the idea, I'm coming up to 66 and the world is a big place......I've not had a holiday for years and get bored very easily and really enjoy my job, the people, obviously the money and the hours are more part time than full. I'm finacially stable and my state pension kicks in next year. So what's the problem....I mentioned this to one of my clients who runs a similar business, joking apart he picked up on the idea and ran with it, so I ran with him so to speak....figures, turnover, costs, profits, I even spoke to my accountant. Now he's seeing his bank manager on monday to sort out his finances and quite frankly the penny has just dropped and I'm quietly crapping myself....what am I going to do, I'll miss so much customer, suppliers and clients interaction and dont fancy sitting around the house watching Lorraine Kelly and listening to the wife. I know folks on here have done it but would be interested to hear how it's gone.
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I guess it’s different for everyone. I retired at 56, 12 years ago. Occasionally I have small regrets; I miss the teams and relationships I built at work and I also wish I had stayed on a couple of years more and made more money but putting that against the stuff I have done since retirement it’s small beer. The time I was able to spend with my grandkids as they grow up, the holidays, the fishing, I became a season ticket holder- something I could never have done when I worked. I easily fill each day with good stuff. I have always been a big believer that having short term goals, longer term ambitions and taking time to smell the roses was a good plan for relative happiness and I have maintained that throughout retirement.
The other thing is health. If you are fit and healthy now, there are no guarantees. Five years is a long time between late 60s and early 70’s.
 
I'm 73.
This year we went to Barbados, Rome, Kos, Venice, Nice, the Amalfi coast, Kendal, York, Whitby, Edinburgh for the fringe, Buxton for the festival, Manchester jazz festival, Ronnie Scott's in London, seen every national theatre production shown in cinemas and likewise every Met opera production. I go to many rock gigs and classical concerts a year. I play golf once a week, though the weather has curtailed that recently, I did a MoMA course on post war modern American abstract impressionism and daub a bit myself. I have written travel articles for magazines and am just about finishing writing a book I started twenty years ago about my experiences in France. I read voraciously and love cooking.

Retirement has been an absolute ball so far.
Never missed my job in the slightest.

I admit it gets a little harder each year which is why I am cramming as much in as I can while I still can.
 
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BlueHammer85 said:
How about reducing your days or hours instead of outright retirement, basically ease your way to full retirement
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I already do part time hours and they are basically time consuming, It's my business and I dont seem to be able to let go, it just seems to get in the way......so maybe if / when this potential buyer comes up with the goods I'll be forced into it.
 
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