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

I retired in my 40's, the joys of no kids, A wife who carried on working and a mortgage paid off. Within a few months I was bored shitless. Went back to work, but part time, and had a 8 years or so on 20 odd hours a week. Loved it. Illness then meant giving up work and I had a couple of really shit years telling cancer to fuck off.

Now it's gone I've gone back to doing what I did in my 20's, archaeology, and volunteering at my local Roman site. This had led to paid work when I want it, a stint on Time Team, other digs and learning about Roman coin conservation/ identification. All at my own pace and when I want. It's been fascinating. Next up is planning for next years dig including research. The research involves finding archival evidence. In the New Year I'll be travelling between my site, Leicester Uni and the Archives in that there London. The sort of stuff I love. Don't get me wrong, digging is fun but I was always a researcher/ archivist.

The free expert help I'm getting from the professors at Leicester Uni has been tremendous. They are in partnership with my local site but are in hand whenever we need them. I'm loving it.

My advice...go part time. That way you are not sitting at home fancying a pint when everyone else is working. Also do it with the missus. That way you can fuck off and travel if that's your bag. Or just do things together.

if that thought horrifies you then let her work and find a hobby.
 
Tuearts right boot said:
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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The single most important thing for you is to establish a crystal clear sense of purpose for when you are retired.

Without this, I fear that you would risk just being a rudderless boat bobbing-around at sea.
 
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I am about six months in after retiring at age 60. I don’t miss getting up at 4 am, commuting, working 10-12 hour days and a morning on the weekend, traveling all the time and stressing out about work deadlines. I do miss some of the people. The biggest beneficiary so far has been my marriage. I’m spending so much more quality time with my wife and we’re traveling for fun. I’m learning to cook, exercising more (I’ve lost 15 pounds so far), playing more golf, reading more (and for fun) and actually sleeping 8 hours. I’ll start trying some new things in 26 — more non-profit work, get re-engaged with my field of expertise on a part-time basis and travel even more for fun. I’m not bored in the least but probably still in the “honeymoon” phase.
 
Reading this thread I realise I am bloody lucky.
I’ve worked now for 40 years, and whilst I’ve never had a glamorous or high-powered job I am in the position whereby I am going to three days a week in two years, and retiring fully in three years.
I’ll have no mortgage, no car loan or any other debt, £100k in the bank and an annual income from my three pensions combined of about 75% of my current salary.

I’ve never been rich and won’t be rich in retirement but I’ll have enough coming in to pay the bills and have a holiday once a year, and savings enough to cope with any big bills (replacing a car every five years, and mrs Deyna is insisting on a new bathroom and new bedroom furniture).
I’m happy with that.

The point of my post is to say that in my 20’s and 30’s (and into my 40’s if I’m totally honest) I earned less than pretty much all my mates and had a chip on my shoulder (which I kept very much to myself) about the career choices I’d made as a younger man and was envious of my friends and contemporaries. It wasn’t until I hit 50 that I realised it’s not about having a tonne of money coming in, it’s about having good people to share your life with. Thankfully, I took my dads advice 30 odd years ago and always paid as much as possible into my pension(s), along with buying a house as soon as I could and that’s what’ll give me a pretty decent and stress free life as I get older.

My advice to anyone wanting it is to not kill your self Chasing a lifestyle that is unrealistic but be thankful for what you’ve got and make the most of that.

I’ve looked forward to retiring since I was 16 and am now starting hobbies that’ll keep me occupied when I do finally fuck work off for good.
Can’t wait.
 
Phil1 said:
Sold majority of my stakes in various things last year, including a couple of properties. Kept a base in Spain and one in Scotland and bought a place in Mexico which had been plan for a while.
I'm still not sure if I'm officially retired tbf as this last month has proved!!
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House swap? Canadian winters are the dogs.
 
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Retired three years ago at 60, I’ve not regretted a minute of it. There’s always something to fill your time if you’re bored. I spend plenty of time in the garden, doing a bit of cooking, going for long walks. I’ve been lucky in that I have a few pensions to tide me over, I’m not well off by any stretch, but you cut your cloth to suit and as somebody else has already mentioned, they don’t make pockets in shrouds.
I’m also very fortunate that myself and Mrs Earl don’t have any dependents, this wasn’t intentional, just the hand we were dealt.
Recent events with Mrs Earls health has also brought home to me how life is so fragile, it’s definitely not a rehearsal, so if you think you can retire and take things easy, do not hesitate, JUST DO IT.
 
My Dad had the chance to retire. He decided not to and kept working. My Mum was fuming with him, they had the money to go and travel and had the health too. Then my Mum got ill, died and he is now on his own and whilst he can travel he doesn't have the companion to go and do it with now.

If you love your job that's fine, but sounds like it's people you love and the interactions. Just look to have some way of maintaining that whether though part time work, volunteering or joining a club or two.

Go live your life. Those experiences out of work are worth so much.
 
Mazzarelli's Swiss Cheese said:
BM going to the dogs. 7 pages in and no one has suggested the op gets himself a Thai bride less than half his age.
I honestly wonder what's happened to this place at times.
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Is it because even at less than half the average age of this place the Thai brides might already be grandmothers?
 
BimboBob said:
I retired in my 40's, the joys of no kids, A wife who carried on working and a mortgage paid off. Within a few months I was bored shitless. Went back to work, but part time, and had a 8 years or so on 20 odd hours a week. Loved it. Illness then meant giving up work and I had a couple of really shit years telling cancer to fuck off.

Now it's gone I've gone back to doing what I did in my 20's, archaeology, and volunteering at my local Roman site. This had led to paid work when I want it, a stint on Time Team, other digs and learning about Roman coin conservation/ identification. All at my own pace and when I want. It's been fascinating. Next up is planning for next years dig including research. The research involves finding archival evidence. In the New Year I'll be travelling between my site, Leicester Uni and the Archives in that there London. The sort of stuff I love. Don't get me wrong, digging is fun but I was always a researcher/ archivist.

The free expert help I'm getting from the professors at Leicester Uni has been tremendous. They are in partnership with my local site but are in hand whenever we need them. I'm loving it.

My advice...go part time. That way you are not sitting at home fancying a pint when everyone else is working. Also do it with the missus. That way you can fuck off and travel if that's your bag. Or just do things together.

if that thought horrifies you then let her work and find a hobby.
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Retired in your 40's ? Did you not feel a bit of a flake/lazy fucker ? Nothing personal but 40's is way too young even if you can
P.S i note that you were bored shitless & now it sounds as though you have the perfect life :)
 
Kazzydeyna said:
Reading this thread I realise I am bloody lucky.
I’ve worked now for 40 years, and whilst I’ve never had a glamorous or high-powered job I am in the position whereby I am going to three days a week in two years, and retiring fully in three years.
I’ll have no mortgage, no car loan or any other debt, £100k in the bank and an annual income from my three pensions combined of about 75% of my current salary.

I’ve never been rich and won’t be rich in retirement but I’ll have enough coming in to pay the bills and have a holiday once a year, and savings enough to cope with any big bills (replacing a car every five years, and mrs Deyna is insisting on a new bathroom and new bedroom furniture).
I’m happy with that.

The point of my post is to say that in my 20’s and 30’s (and into my 40’s if I’m totally honest) I earned less than pretty much all my mates and had a chip on my shoulder (which I kept very much to myself) about the career choices I’d made as a younger man and was envious of my friends and contemporaries. It wasn’t until I hit 50 that I realised it’s not about having a tonne of money coming in, it’s about having good people to share your life with. Thankfully, I took my dads advice 30 odd years ago and always paid as much as possible into my pension(s), along with buying a house as soon as I could and that’s what’ll give me a pretty decent and stress free life as I get older.

My advice to anyone wanting it is to not kill your self Chasing a lifestyle that is unrealistic but be thankful for what you’ve got and make the most of that.

I’ve looked forward to retiring since I was 16 and am now starting hobbies that’ll keep me occupied when I do finally fuck work off for good.
Can’t wait.
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100 k in the bank with no debts is rich mate :)
 
pride in battle said:
Retired in your 40's ? Did you not feel a bit of a flake/lazy fucker ? Nothing personal but 40's is way too young even if you can
P.S i note that you were bored shitless & now it sounds as though you have the perfect life :)
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You work to pay for things. I was lucky I had a quite high paying job, as does my Wife still. We hardly saw each other due to my long hours and trips so I effectively became a house husband so we could spend more time together. I was close to 50 anyway. I still did this when I went back part time and still do now. Luckily I love to cook. The housework is piss easy. The dog goes into day care when I need free time but a lot of research is done at home so walking him is a nice break. I've not got long until proper retirement so I consider this a trial run!
 
BimboBob said:
You work to pay for things. I was lucky I had a quite high paying job, as does my Wife still. We hardly saw each other due to my long hours and trips so I effectively became a house husband so we could spend more time together. I was close to 50 anyway. I still did this when I went back part time and still do now. Luckily I love to cook. The housework is piss easy. The dog goes into day care when I need free time but a lot of research is done at home so walking him is a nice break. I've not got long until proper retirement so I consider this a trial run!
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My dog has also been a big beneficiary of my retirement — two walks every day, right after breakfast (always me) and just before dinner (me if I’m not cooking). We all get more exercise!
 
roubaixtuesday said:
We'll see; predictions are hard, especially those about the future.

From what I see, there are some very useful applications, but the most talked about, LLMs, seem to be untrustworthy sycophantic bullshit generators. Kind of "Boris ex machina".
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AI won’t replace people but people who know AI will replace those that don’t.
 
A few simple questions:

1) Do you have the financial independence needed to retire?

If YES, why are you still working?
If NO, why are you thinking of retiring?

2) Do you work to live or live to work?

If the former, then maybe it’s time to start living?
If it’s the latter, why are you thinking of retiring?

Retirement can be a silent killer, but it can be the pause that refreshes. It’s different for everyone.

Personally, I could have retired years ago, but I didn’t feel I wanted to. I have a great job that pays well and affords me significant time away from work. As I have aged, I have been fortunate enough to put more money away, making future retirement even more accessible, and I have no choice but to retire on my 65th birthday…so that makes for an easy future decision.

At 62 (this weekend), I have a 3 yr countdown to mandatory retirement and a financial plan that looks better with each passing month BUT if I die at 65 + 1 day, then what was it all for?

It’s a quandary, even though I have answered the above questions for myself and probably should be walking away and enjoying it all…but I, too, enjoy the work, the camaraderie and the dynamic nature of the business I’m in, and the economic rewards are very difficult to give up for what is essentially a part-time job every month, with about 3 of those months off every year.

I have friends who are big FIRE advocates and I have others who state they’ll be plenty fit enough at 65 to do whatever they want from a fuller pension! 6 of one and half a dozen of the other!

At the end of the day, it’s a personal choice. You can run the numbers, retire early but die tomorrow or feel the urge to stay and never draw a penny of your pension because you die happy at a desk in 20 yrs!

No-one knows the future, which begs one final question:

Are you feelin’ lucky, punk?

Good luck with your decision!
 
ChicagoBlue said:
A few simple questions:

1) Do you have the financial independence needed to retire?

If YES, why are you still working?
If NO, why are you thinking of retiring?

2) Do you work to live or live to work?

If the former, then maybe it’s time to start living?
If it’s the latter, why are you thinking of retiring?

Retirement can be a silent killer, but it can be the pause that refreshes. It’s different for everyone.

Personally, I could have retired years ago, but I didn’t feel I wanted to. I have a great job that pays well and affords me significant time away from work. As I have aged, I have been fortunate enough to put more money away, making future retirement even more accessible, and I have no choice but to retire on my 65th birthday…so that makes for an easy future decision.

At 62 (this weekend), I have a 3 yr countdown to mandatory retirement and a financial plan that looks better with each passing month BUT if I die at 65 + 1 day, then what was it all for?

It’s a quandary, even though I have answered the above questions for myself and probably should be walking away and enjoying it all…but I, too, enjoy the work, the camaraderie and the dynamic nature of the business I’m in, and the economic rewards are very difficult to give up for what is essentially a part-time job every month, with about 3 of those months off every year.

I have friends who are big FIRE advocates and I have others who state they’ll be plenty fit enough at 65 to do whatever they want from a fuller pension! 6 of one and half a dozen of the other!

At the end of the day, it’s a personal choice. You can run the numbers, retire early but die tomorrow or feel the urge to stay and never draw a penny of your pension because you die happy at a desk in 20 yrs!

No-one knows the future, which begs one final question:

Are you feelin’ lucky, punk?

Good luck with your decision!
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At least you’re a decent sagittarian , maybe I’ll fly United again :)
 
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