Aibu Retiring at 55 - 30 years of idleness?

I retired early (57) and 3yrs on, am still loving every minute.
My OH is 3yrs younger than me and although he went PT when I retired (2-days) he is now retiring completely and having had a "trial-run" he is really looking forward to it.

We find plenty to do and are never bored, we have Ddogs which keep us busy, get away most weeks in the MoHo and spend a lot of time in the garden.
Being financially secure makes it a lot easier.

Each to their own, what suits some would not suit everybody.

I agree (I also don’t think the OP’s name helps).
Smug.

Of course some of the people you know who have retired may have done so because their health now prevents them working full time. No-one knows what they will be capable of it 5 years time. See some of your colleagues die before they got to retire and you may see life differently.

Yes - a former colleague died of liver cancer just after I retired at just 40 leaving two small children, so very sad.

My parents never got to have any retirement together. DF retired at 60 from teaching and died at 67. My mum was 12 years younger than him. DH and I have a similar age gap and that was a big factor in my wanting to retire at 58 when I got the chance. DH is 75 now but still fit and well and still doing some academic work and we’ve had some fantastic holidays all over the world since I retired.

You sound utterly insufferable. I’ve been in a sort of forced early retirement, in that I followed my DH to another country where working was not fiscally beneficial. Before that, I was a SAHM after the birth of my son. I filled my time whilst DS was little volunteering for multiple charities, spreading myself actually too thin.

I started work at 16, albeit part time whilst I was still at school, but racked up enough contributions for the full state pension. When I was working FT, I used to start at 6am, and often do a 12 hour day (City). I’ve done my time, and feel no guilt about not working.

I enjoy my time. I dedicate myself to my son and his learning a new language. I love my coffees and lunches with friends. I walk, and visit galleries and museums. I garden. I’m rinsing the city I currently live in. I’m part of a voluntary organisation that welcomes newcomers. In short, I keep busy.

Having lost two family friends last year, way before their time, I know that life is short. I’m lucky enough to be able to afford not to work. I intend to fully enjoy the years that I have been allotted, because you never know when they’re going to be snatched away from you.

Oh god there's nothing more boring than people who bang on about their jobs all the time. So no I don't think they'll become boring - they'll actually have time to engage in the stuff that they find interesting.

There's more to life than being interesting. Being content for example. I will be so happy to retire when I can and I will NEVER be bored - how can you be, with media to consume, books to read, instruments to learn, plants to grow, food to make, etc etc etc? You don't even need a lot of money to have a full and happy life. Just because other people don't find it/you interesting is no reason not to do what you love. This is life, not a performance.

We like art exhibitions. Fabulous to be able to go to something at 10 on a Tuesday and then go somewhere nice for lunch. It's not crowded, you can see everything/ take your time. Absolutely wonderful.

It’s all very well if you have an interesting and fulfilling job however many haven’t. I always read these posts and think people aren’t very imaginative if they think they’d be bored. Life for many isn’t about filling every second, perhaps some people are happy puttering whilst others want to play every golf course in the country.

You sound a bit superior to be honest and that you find them uninteresting and uninterested. I’m sure they’re very happy doing what they want!

If your life revolves around your work and that is all you talk about then you could find the loss of status very difficult when you retire. However there are many opportunities to. e,g, be a magistrate, prison visitor, sit on various disciplinary panels, volunteer for your local food bank, national trust property and so on. https://www.doit.life/volunteer Or get yourself a different sort of job - become a gardener, handywoman, learn a trade, take free courses https://skillshub.online/ou-free-courses-on-openlearn/ Some people say they dont know how they ever found time to do their previous work.

Of course some of the people you know who have retired may have done so because their health now prevents them working full time. No-one knows what they will be capable of it 5 years time. See some of your colleagues die before they got to retire and you may see life differently.

I think we’ve become too used to the concept of work defining us. I personally intend to retire as soon as I possibly can. I’ve always been of the mind set that I work to live and not the other way around, but we’re all different! Do as you please.

My husband is retiring this year at 55, I am retiring in 2 years I will be 51. We have hobbies, a bit of land and my horses at home, we will get a camper and do lots of UK mini breaks, last minute weeks abroad in the winter. Mostly we will just slow down , I am sure we will have some days in the depth of winter where it’s a bit boring but that’s fine. We have worked hard to be able to self fund early retirement and leave our children with a good inheritance, in short we will do what we want when we want for as long as our health allows and I can’t wait.

I often wonder this. It’s like there is a need to justify having time to yourself by giving something back. No thanks. I’ve spent my life caring for others. I’m not doing any of that in my retirement.

Minimum age for getting a pension will be 57 in 2028 ... just for info.

The meetings to decide on meetings about other meetings. " Am I actually needed at this meeting" " Good for you to sit in I think" . Pointless ,pointless shite 99% of the time.
My son works at a university in Wales. Endless meetings about the new building toilets and what they should have on the door ( indiviual ,totally self contained, corridor opening facilities). After 4 meetings it was decided 'toilet',with the same word in Welsh, was the best option. Two further meetings to agree whether the English or Welsh word goes at the top.

Yes it is absolutely wonderful to be able to go away whenever, wherever and for as long as we want, to be able to book a last minute mid week break.

TLDR: I move in elevated circles and am a BIG FUCKING SUCCESS. I'm so great and impressive I can't imagine doing anything other than great and impressive things. Tell me how brilliant I am.

I retired at 57, last year we spent more time out of the UK than in it ... great to have the time to travel.

But what if you have no kids yourself? Surely using that money to have a nice life is what your parents would want? Eise the money is just wasted by going to charity or distant family when you die?

I can't really imagine not working, although I am training on the side at the moment for another job that I think I will find more doable in my later years. I don't think giving up work will necessarily make people more boring, though, it really depends what they do with their time and what you and they have in common.

I love this thread
I retired from the corporate world (80 hour weeks) at Christmas. I had turned 60.
I had been given two years to live in January but the diagnosis was wrong. I wasn't working for anymore fuckwit narcissistic company owners. I was going out saying no.

We are planning our retirement for two years time and selling our too big house to make things easier. I just don't want all the stuff anymore. I don't want extra rooms that never get used.
We've been married since we were kids and we're happy watching countdown and going to the shops etc. My DH still plays sport and golf with our son.
We'll have over £1500 a week on retirement plus shares which is enough for us. We've had all the cars, houses and toys and we're knackered.
We are church goers and will build a garden at our final house if we get the one we want. There are few plants in it.
We aim to travel a bit but although I'm still here I have hugely reduced mobility. I'm certainly not spending it on commutes for ungrateful millennials!

The technological shift?

We put the systems in, by hand, in the 90s, using actual wires and hiding cables in the floors or the suspended ceilings, or coded the systems by hand to do what we wanted them to do in the first place. If anything it got slower as these so called 'technologies' came in and forced ways of working that were cumbersome and clunky.

The 'Enshittification of everything' and the hoops to go through just to get one bloody invoice paid and the number of people involved in getting one purchase order. Oh my days.

And lets not talk about the HR processes which were imposed on us that were 'simple' but HR needed to go through and discuss at their own team meetings because they didn't know the answer, before they could come back to us on how we could tag the person we wanted to make an offer to. 2-3 weeks after we had made a decision.

No thanks, it isn't the Technological Shifts it is the UnTechnological Shit that tipped many of us over the edge.

Just out of interest why is there always the assumption that us oldies all want /need to volunteer to have a fulfilling retirement? I have no interest in volunteering with homeless people precisely because I spent nearly all my working life dealing with homeless people! If you want to that's fine, but leave those of us who don't want to do that to our own interests.

I think some people just kind of 'run out of steam' with their job. Certainly I was unable to do mine, became physically disabled and mentally exhausted. (Was 60). DD at uni, elderly mum needing visits.

I got a part time job to top up my pension, then COVID stopped everything. I suspect I'm not alone. Are you sure your friends don't study? Would they mention an on-line French class or an evening class learning to play bridge?

The U3A wherever you go is busy and bustling.

I'm approaching that age rapidly, and there is no way on God's green earth that I could even dream of retiring. I don't know about executive boards and suchlike, I don't move in those circles.

All I can say is that, people are entitled to do what is right for them without nebby parkers butting in and questioning "why" they aren't doing what others think they should be doing.

I'm also kind of surprised that the OP knows so many people of a wealth category to retire in early 50's who don't still have dependent children at home. Kind of hard to go backpacking for 6 months when you're kids are doing their GCSE's.......