34 years until retirement…I can’t do it

[MyLovelyMuffin]

I am very lucky in most ways in my job, and have had it much worse in the past. The pay is good, my team are great and the work is doable if challenging as involved the general public and high responsibility.

If I am to retire at 68, I’ve got another 34 years to go. I’m 34 now, so I’m going to have to work that length of time (equal to my whole life) again before getting a pension and not having the pressure. Just the thought makes me feel exhausted.

How do people do this???

Make a financial plan to retire early if your job is well paid

I know what you mean. When I get down I think of Joe Biden becoming a President in his 80's and tell myself that I still have some 50 years to become the Prime Minister if I carry on and don't give up.

Op, I can't tell from your last post whether your feelings are linked to your retirement age or not. When I was your age I kept my decent wage (it isn't mn or london decent but very livable given that i don't own a car or do more than one holiday a year, etc), and I reduced my outgoings and started saving. After 20 years of that I'll have got enough to self fund 5 years of early retirement, then I can take 1 (my main) pension, and the remainder of my savings will supplement the 8 years until my other two pensions will kick in. My job is hard, heart breaking, often stressful. When I get down, I remind myself that i have to work for a living, it's a good job, and I go back to my savings and pension forecast and that refocuses me. I'll have shaved 12 years off my working life and that carries me when I'm struggling. You're young and say you have an OK income, could you do something similar? The cost of living increase scared me but I'm so close now i feel i can add a year to my working life if need be. That doesn't sound like much, but it's a year paid into state and work pensions, a year of additional savings, and a year I'm not drawing on my savings, so it's actually quite significant.

As you get older time passes quicker (or seems to). 😱

I had always said to myself that I was retiring at 60 so I worked hard paying as much as I could into my pension to facilitate this. The chance then came up to retire 3-years early so I checked my finances and took the jump.

Best thing I did.
Luckily I have a good pension, savings & investments and are mortgage/debt free so am going about enjoying my newfound freedom earlier than I ever believed I could.

Work hard, plan for your future and with luck you will be able to enjoy a well deserved retirement... just don't go counting the days just yet!

Oh yes that’s me too scrolling until noon! I didn’t really plan to retire early, just couldn’t bear teaching anymore. I don’t regret leaving after 33 years, but at 54 I realise that gardening and golf aren’t going to do it for the next 30 years, so am
looking for a new job. But so hard to compete against youngsters. Are you looking too?