54, had enough of the daily slog so I'm not going to do it anymore....

[erikbloodaxe]

Well I have plan at least.

1. Sell this house
2. Buy little house
3. Give notice at current job.
4. Find remote PT job
5. Earn enough to cover outgoings (no mortgage thankfully)
6. Spend my time doing what makes me happy.

I'm not spending what time I have left bloody working full time. The time between now and retirement will just be wasted years.

Wish me luck! Adventures here I come

Can I ask what work you do? I tried to do the same at 56 but unfortunately found employers weren’t interested in people over 50.
It’s fine if you are at either end of they pay scale so earning £100k plus or willing to work for minimum wage. However for average office type jobs, they only want young people, despite my years of experience.

I did it at 56 under a package that was too good to refuse, and I was tired of it all. I had reached that stage of cynicism in my job where the place was being colonised with young hip know it alls, sorry now I was probably one of them back in the day myself! But I couldn't hack their energy and tendency to question how and why things were done this way or that, and coming up with ahem, energetic solutions. Nope took the money and ran out the door thank you!

Anyway (this may be a sin on MN) I am a SINK- single income no kids and I have to say it was the best decision I have ever made.

I don't do much (did the daily grind for nearly 40 years having started work young), but I now have TIME and money to do whatever I want at the drop of a hat. Good weather forecast? Off to the coast. Bad weather/winter, off to the sun for a month. Travel, everywhere and anywhere in Europe, long hauls done and dusted when I was a young one.

The freedom is the best thing, to do little or to do lots. I hope you all find your happiness in whatever way you wish for yourselves.

I really wish you luck OP and for what it's worth - I think you're right!

I'm the living proof that life can bring plot twists when we least expect it - in my case diagnosis of a serious and progressive illness. The future I thought I would have is fundamentally altered and I regret the years I have wasted in an unhappy marriage. I'm questioning everything. Questioning everything is a good thing. We don't exist on this earth to make other people rich or fulfilled. Fuck that for a game of soldiers.

Courage, OP!

@erikbloodaxe One bit of advice- make sure you have a good enough pension for when you stop work altogether.

And make sure you find that 2-3 days a week remote work before you chuck in your current job.

I hate to rain on your parade but it's not clear how you will support yourself.
(And don' t rely on 'the man in your life' to do that.)

What's your occupational pension like? When can you access it? 60 or 65/67? State pension won't kick in till you are 67 or 68.

No idea what you do as a career, but you seem pretty certain you can a) work remotely and b) find work that is part time.

Have you started looking for that yet?

I'd caution against selling your house. Why not rent it out? It's likely to appreciate and if your relationship goes belly up, you have some security behind you.

So a poster says you have only been with this man for 5 months? And you're thinking of chucking in your job, selling up and buying with him?

Slow down woman! It's great to want a bit of excitement but there is also being too spontaneous!

What's his work situation? Retired? Loaded? Can also work remotely?

Honestly, not wanting to be a misery guts but this all sounds a bit pie in the sky.

You might have 5-10 years of travelling then run out out money and find yourself badly off for another 25 years.

Your call, but I can see holes in your plan, especially the reliance on finding that perfect job where you can disappear for weeks at a time.

P/t isn't all it's made out to be. You're still committed, but paid less.

What's your line of work?

Good for you, I'm very jealous! I'd love to do the same (am only nearly 48 though), but can't get DH on board.

Congratulations OP and thank you for posting this thread. I'm 60 in six weeks and self employed in a industry I now hate. I had it in my head I had to wait for my state pension but I do have a private pension so I've now idea why. You have fired me up to think differently.

Hmm living off savings isn't as fun as it sounds. I really would recommend finding a job first.

Otherwise it sounds great.

Sounds fantastic op!

Do it

Work winter take summer off . Loads of people do it .

Good for you OP! I'm 56 and planning to do exactly the same thing!

I came to a similar realisation a few years back OP. We are both currently working some ridiculous hours but in 5 years we should be mortgage free and have a significant income from dividends. I can't see me ever wanting to fully retire but I dream of working part time in a bookshop and then spending the rest of my time on hobbies.

DP and I had a 'gap year' that lasted three when we first met. We worked a bit whilst travelling and learned lots of new skills (scuba diving, skiing, teaching English). It was a wonderful experience. We more-or-less broke even at the time.

We're both desperate to quit our jobs and buy a motor home to go off exploring in, and hopefully (if all goes to plan), it'll happen in the next 2 years.

We have MASSIVELY reduced our expectations for our dream/retirement house in order to stop working about 5 years earlier. Life is too short and work is a shitty way to spend it.

Fantastic OP.
Really good to see your plans rather than just moaning about things .

Or, if you live in a busy city, rent your current house as an airbnb and use the money to pay for the mortgage on a smaller house + outgoings. You don't have to work at all.

This sounds amazing!! Go and be free! 🦅

In full support of not working full time at any age . Have you saved enough for your retirement and possible care needs? What about travel and hobbies?

Does your work fit with being self employed?
What do you do?

That's far more do-able than being part time.

If you are self employed you can block out weeks when you aren't available, or have a passive income stream.

This is only going to work out if you make very sound financial plans.
Working p/t sounds all well and good but what if you were made redundant?

If it was all so easy everyone would be doing it!

Have dreams but root them in reality.

Also, you've posted about having adult children still at home- what happens there?

Good plan OP. So many of us spend the bulk of our adult lives slogging in jobs with long hours and low pay and then if we are lucky retire and perhaps get a couple of years of good health before age and illness deprives us of our ability to get put and enjoy life. I would love to retire and still have time to travel and do the things I enjoy.

Do. It. My mum worked so hard all her life to fund a good and adventurous retirement. Cancer took her two years before she got the chance.

Life is for living and if you can afford it, go for it.

I've done a similar thing. Life is short.

Yep , relative one year off collecting a government pension , was going to travel the world had a big stroke at 59 . Go for it O/P life is short and unpredictable.

I'm in a similar position to you at 52.
Adult children have moved on and doing well. I'm moving from outer London to the SE coast. Sold 4bed family home post divorce three years ago and bought a flat in zone 6.
I'm now buying a bigger place which is 10 mins walk from the sea and 15mins walk from high street/supermarket. It's a lovely road, local independent quirky shops plus an out of town shopping/leisure centre, 20min bus ride away. There's great local public transport so I'm selling my car and will also bank £25k by doing this move!
No mortgage as first bought in London zone 3 at 25 which enabled us to move up the property ladder.
It's only 1.5hrs away from my home town (and most of my family and friends) by car or train.
Not working at the moment after redundancy but plan to get a part time job once I'm settled and will host my family and friends coming down from London regularly. I can't wait!
Worked since I was 16 (apart from a year travelling and 2x maternity leave when I was married).
Good luck to you - several of my friends in their 50s have done the same and are very happy. One couple with young teen kids sold in east London and bought a family home plus two apartments - they now have a thriving air bnb business along the SE coast as they manage many properties. Another friend (single woman 53, with adult kids sold in London once her children moved out) and bought an apartment on SE coast and another in Spain so lives between the two and works remotely. I wish you the same.
No way am I ever working full time again!
I will stay in London outskirts with my parents at least one day/night a week. £25 return on train. Also means my adult kids can have my new place by the sea to stay in with their partners and friends when they want to as I'll just go and stay at my parents or friends and leave them to enjoy the seaside.

Same here.

I am 52 and left London last year after selling my property to move to a small seaside town. I work part-time.

I had quite a few major health issues in the past 7 years and it really made me realise I had to do some massive changes in my lifestyle and my priorities really changed.

I think when you have a long term health condition/disability it makes you realise how short and unpredictable life is.

My health and well-being have massively improved since I relocated.