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Original poster

If you could afford to retire comfortably at 55, would you?

201 replies

QuickGuide · 05/05/2023 18:55

There's nothing wrong with my job, I quite like it. I certainly don't feel the dread on Sunday nights.

I sometimes feel it would be nice to have more time but I don't really have any burning desires to spend it on.

I'm widowed, which I think is relevant on 2 counts. 1. I am aware how short life can be. 2. I don't have anyone to do things with. All the travel/ gardening etc that people usually cite can be done alone, but it's not the same as having someone to share it with. E.g I used to.love the garden but there doesn't seem a lot of point when it's just me in it, it was something we did together.

My friends would mostly still be working.

So, I could retire, I'm not desperate to give up my job, but I feel like there should be more to life than work.

OP posts:
SirChenjins · 06/05/2023 08:29

I can now imagine all these people whose friends just watch tv and wait to die and go on about how they would be bored in retirement and plan to work until the day after they drop dead will no doubt say our plan is exhausting

Doesn’t seem at all exhausting - you’re basically doing a lot of travelling with some hobbies.

JandalsAlways · 06/05/2023 08:37

QuickGuide · 06/05/2023 08:02

My Dad retired at 53, he's now almost 80. Has had some health problems in the last year so has slowed down a bit, but is still mentally sharp. He's still my first port of call for any thing financial, legal or technical, including IT!

He isn't particularly sociable but he manages his share portfolio and until recently was very unto his golf, so he had clear structure and objectives. I think that's probably key. Having something to achieve, rather than just filling the time.

I could easily fill the time, but I'm not sure what my goals would be.

Currently I enjoy my work, but as PP I don't work excessive hours and enjoy my time off.

Show quote history

If you enjoy your work, why don't you go part time. My aunt does three days soon to go to two, because she enjoys the social aspect (she is single, no kids), so it gives her some money, not that she needs it and loads of time to spend on holidays with friends and family, and basically living her best life. I think she's almost 65 so is going to properly retire soon.

Giselletheunicorn · 06/05/2023 08:38

I'd probably cut hours and go part-time - to give me the flexibility to have more trips away etc. But I'd still work. (But I enjoy my job and it's not a source of stress - I might feel differently if I had a tough job.)

rookiemere · 06/05/2023 08:43

My 89 year old DF retired around age 60 with an enhanced package. In their early retirement they did lots of traveling to New Zealand etc.. Now he still runs a small enterprise moving video recordings to memory sticks and 84 DM "looks after" an older lady most days. People can find purpose outside their main job when they retire.

midgemadgemodge · 06/05/2023 08:48

You don't need to think about retiring

I would be thinking a little about what I wanted out of life, and things that I would want to be able to do once I slowed down and age started to hit ( which could be 30 years away or tomorrow )

That could be your career , but it sounds like something else is needed / a new hobby or interest for the next stage of life

Perhaps look what groups operate locally and give them all a go?
Or did you have a childhood ambition?

I sort of think we all need
Something exercise and something brain taxing and something artistic and something social ( they can overlap) ( work can be your brain taxer and social for example )

Amboseli · 06/05/2023 08:49

@MeanderingOnTheNorfolkBroads yes it's a minority who do OU degrees etc.

His experience scares me and it's one of the reasons I'm going to work as long as possible, even if only part time. And take extended leave so I can travel but still have a job to go back to.

XBealtaine · 06/05/2023 08:49

The closest I'll get to early retirement is going 4 days a week at 60 which I plan to do til I'm 68 or 88 or whatever the retirement age is then. The work /life balance goes from 71:29 to 57 :43
I'm hoping that that feels like 50:50

CheeseDreamsTonight · 06/05/2023 08:57

Yes, and I would study and read and volunteer and take my dog on epic walks and forage and grow veg. Ooh yes.

CheeseDreamsTonight · 06/05/2023 08:59

Keeping the brain busy would be key. My partners grandmother got very involved in the church cans flower arranged well into her nineties which kept her sharp.

ElmTree22 · 06/05/2023 09:00

Absofuckinglutely. Excuse the obscenity.

orangegato · 06/05/2023 09:03

My job is desk based but my word it’s mentally draining, solid difficult mental work. Think unrealistic short deadlines and murky/changing briefs. I enjoy it, but I physically can’t be doing this when I’m 68. I’d retire early.

bigTillyMint · 06/05/2023 09:31

@QuickGuide, at 55 I thought I was nowhere near retiring, but now at 58 I am constantly dreaming of it!
I am a teacher and exhausted working 5 days a week (partly because of chronic understaffing for months) - I am looking to retire to work 3days a week ASAP.

I think some jobs are way easier to do for much longer - my friend is an academic and intends to work till she is 70. Jobs like teaching, nursing, etc are just too tiring, not helped by massive underfunding and so staffing.

rattymol · 06/05/2023 09:47

I will be working until 67. I would only retire if I had something to retire into. Everyone I have seen retire early becomes old before their time except for one woman who does lots of challenging volunteering

whenindoubtgotothelibrary · 06/05/2023 09:58

I used to think I would like a shot, but I'm out the other side of the childcare years now and into my early 50s with only one dc still at home. Although financially I could, frankly I'm not sure what I'd do with myself on my own. If DH retired I'd do the same but he's still very much into his (well paid) career, and all my friends are still working. Mine is far less well paid and I find it mentally and emotionally draining, but it's local and with a great team. I've gone down to 4 days for now, and thinking about a sideways move into research.

BinturongsSmellOfPopcorn · 06/05/2023 10:03

I love the structure (and income) that comes with working, setting goals for myself, being accountable and stretching my brain.

If you like setting goals for yourself and stretching you brain, why would you stop doing that just because nobody is paying you for it? Retirement just means you can choose those goals.

My DM retired at 60 and took up bowls - which sounds like a cliche. But she became a county level player, a national level umpire, coached youth teams (including some players in the England squad), and became a fully qualified and award-winning groundskeeper.

My DDad retired at 55 and became a motoring and travel writer, doing intensive research into the history of his niche subject and travelling the world.

You don't have to just watch daytime TV and potter round garden centres.

NuNameNuMe · 06/05/2023 10:14

Many people mentioning the "stimulation of work". After 35+ years there's little stimulation.

You'll have been around the cycles of management fads several times, the FFS that greets an email with some chuffing nonsense you have to sort out, the shit sandwich that is middle management. Yes to retirement and getting stimulation from something different.

I'm sorry that the OP didn't get to enjoy her retirement with her late husband as expected, I hope you find joy on this next stage of your life.

Hoolihan · 06/05/2023 10:14

I've just got a new, very different job at 48 and feel like I've got a new lease of life! I hope I've got many years at work left.

The thought of retirement actually scares me a bit because I'm not a get up and go active type, left to my own devices I loaf around the house and take a lot of naps. I need the structure of work to keep me focused!

MeanderingOnTheNorfolkBroads · 06/05/2023 10:16

BinturongsSmellOfPopcorn · 06/05/2023 10:03

I love the structure (and income) that comes with working, setting goals for myself, being accountable and stretching my brain.

If you like setting goals for yourself and stretching you brain, why would you stop doing that just because nobody is paying you for it? Retirement just means you can choose those goals.

My DM retired at 60 and took up bowls - which sounds like a cliche. But she became a county level player, a national level umpire, coached youth teams (including some players in the England squad), and became a fully qualified and award-winning groundskeeper.

My DDad retired at 55 and became a motoring and travel writer, doing intensive research into the history of his niche subject and travelling the world.

You don't have to just watch daytime TV and potter round garden centres.

I'm a driven person now, so set myself goals in my personal life already. But 40 hours a week's worth? No.

rattymol · 06/05/2023 10:17

Everyone except one woman I know has retired into walking the dog, gardening, gym, and coffee with friends. They all seem much older now

99victoria · 06/05/2023 10:18

I retired at 58 after receiving a small inheritance when my parents died. Lots of people said to me 'won't you be bored, not working?' My reply 'work is the most boring part of my life' 😂

Zipps · 06/05/2023 10:36

All these comments about people getting old, brain dead and boring the minute anyone retires sounds like sour grapes.
Anyone I know in real life retires the minute they have the means to be financially comfortable.

God bless MN where posters earn £150k a year with amazing pension benefits, live as frugally as possible and work until they drop dead in a job that they absolutely adore 😁

whenindoubtgotothelibrary · 06/05/2023 10:37

You'll have been around the cycles of management fads several times, the FFS that greets an email with some chuffing nonsense you have to sort out, the shit sandwich that is middle management.

So true!

GlassHeart1 · 06/05/2023 10:39

Do it OP, there must be things you have always wanted to do and keep postponing?

You dont have to do them alone, it's easy enough to find like-minded clubs, groups or associations.
That's what i have been doing and I hope I don't run out of time/life to do it all.

DRS1970 · 06/05/2023 10:40

I retired early at 50, mainly due to poor health. It was the best thing I did.

Hamserfan · 06/05/2023 11:12

55 last month and not yet. My husband has retired because of mental health difficulties but we still have secondary school term time dates so couldn’t travel far as yet anyway. I love my core job but the management nonsense and pressures to do more and more with less and less are becoming more wearing as time goes on (NHS) Financially I could go now but feel I can still contribute meaningfully in work so will probably consider it in earnest at 58, because of the way the pension scheme is set up I would be losing out considerable income if I continued beyond 60.