When do you plan to retire?

[deebyhi]

Just thinking... I'm 40 and the thought of this job full time for another, what... 20-30 years is filling me with horror.

We have a small mortgage as we've only had one house (about £150k left).

I pay the minimum into my pension.

I have three young kids.

What's everyone's plan? What should I be doing now? Clearing debt? Overpaying mortgage? We do have a credit card that we are paying off (few thousand).

The thought of doing my job at 70... it just can't happen haha

I plan to retire soon but I won't draw my pension until 60 or later. Basically I started saving in my 30s so that I could self fund retirement for the years before I start drawing my pension. If all goes well i should still have a small nest egg once I start drawing my pension. For me, the decision wasn't about work but about time with family. I don't have children and everyone meaningful to me are all older, and all quite spread apart, and I wanted the freedom to spend unhurried time with them. I won't need the bulk of income in 20 years that I want for the early part of my retirement, once I'm 70 the need to travel to see family just won't be there. My savings per month started out small, but I was able to increase it year on year with occasional set backs. Now that I'm only a few years away I do frequent number crunching.

This is my plan aswell. By working it'll keep some money coming in to pay bills and allow for lots of holidays etc.

I'm 41 and started already by compressing my hours to 4 days ...not quite reducing my hours as I csnt afford to until mortgage is done but it's made a difference

This is one of my own reasons too

I love these threads. I aspire to retire early but unfortunately I don't see it happening at present, unless DHs business takes off and I can divert more salary into my pension.

My pension is only around 30k at present and I'm late 30s. My retirement ISA has 2k

We do have about 350k equity though so if it all goes tits up, we can sell the house and move somewhere cheap and be mortgage free.

I'm hoping to retire at 70 if i still have my health. I work part time 3 days a week and really enjoy my job so feel like I have the perfect work life balance. I'm mid 50s now.

I’ve not really thought about it to be honest. Currently 40, no mortgage at the moment (paid off) will be moving in the next 12 months and taking another mortgage of less than £200k, which we will hope to pay off in 10 years. That takes me to 50ish. Will probably work for 10 more years, upping pension contributions and saving in to various pots and then retire. Don’t have a very extravagant lifestyle and don’t have any kids, so I reckon we should be alright by then. Husband is 4 years older and works in tech and loves it. He has the opportunity to increase his wages quite substantially over the next few years, not sure when he plans to retire

I'm aiming for 62 (42 now so 20 years), will go at 60 though if I can. I'm paying the maximum I can into my pension and we should be mortgage free by then. I don't know if I can manage current job full time for another 20 years though honestly so will consider going part time or a lower paid lower stress job at 55 and fully retiring at 65 (I can still pay into my pension while taking some out if I go for this option)

It's so interesting reading this thread. There seem to be a number of us who are older, late 50s, 60s who are happy working and not planning to retire. Yet many much younger who are planning to retire as early as possible.

I hadn't really thought about retirement much at all until reading this thread. I guess in my late 50s I don't feel physically any different to how I felt in my 30s so I don't feel 'old'. Perhaps I'm lucky and if so I appreciate that.

Is it that people have become jaded at the thought of work? I know when I started work there was no concept of retiring early, although I thought I would get my state pension at 60. I would love to still get it then but I can't realistically justify any situation nowadays when women should get pensions earlier than men and it's not affordable for everyone to have pensions so early.

Do people under 40 see late 50s and 60s as ancient and can't imagine working? Maybe. I just don't feel old enough to retire. I'm sure there are others who feel the same way.

I don't have an answer, I'm just musing. It's a fascinating subject.

I'm just sick of the bs at work to be honest. Nothing changes and it's same shit different company. But I still have to work.

Once I hit mortgage pay off, I can go pick a job that I'd really enjoy bit those tend to pay lower so for now I stick at it.

I am 55 and have already gone from full time 45 hour weeks to 3 days 24 hours and really feeling the benefits. If I can pick the part of my job I enjoy I’ll stay for a few more years but no more. I paid into a pension from 20, paid the mortgage off by 40 and then saved so financially I am ok
I love to travel and will be doing that whilst I can.

Retiring at 57 with DH who has a very good pension, enough for both of us once we downsize the house. Some of the equity will be used to help DC onto housing ladder and some will be used to buyva small Holiday or BTL to give me my own ‘income’ stream. I do have a nursing pension but it wont be with very much as didn’t start with it until 30 yo and have always been p/t. About £300 a month I think.

I'm 39, mortgage free, two kids, saved about 160k and got about 200k in the pension so far. Aiming for 1.5m pot by 58 to then retire. Contribute about 50% of salary to pension. High earner so appreciate I'm in the minority but I've always prioritised pension saving.

To be honest, I don't think about it too much. I've seen too many friends and colleagues die in their 50's and never see their pensions. I'll be comfortable if I do get there, but not at the expense of living my life now and enjoying each day.

Another colleague is counting down to retirement in 15 years and never shuts up about it (so much for living in the now)... To be honest they are miserable and I don't see that changing when they retire, they'll just find new things to moan about!

I retired at 57 from teaching. I'm 62 now and started getting my Teachers Pension from 60. DH is 60 later this year in September and is retiring at the end of March. His health is deteriorating so he's finishing his project then leaving early and not starting another big project. Our mortgage is paid off, and we have a btl portfolio. Well both get full state pensions at 67.

Literally everyone I know that has retired at 55 has either told me they regretted leaving work too soon or they have gone back to work. I think it's a case that they think leaving work will make them less miserable but then they discover it wasn't the work,it was just them!

@decionsdecisions62

Literally everyone I know that has retired at 55 has either told me they regretted leaving work too soon or they have gone back to work. I think it's a case that they think leaving work will make them less miserable but then they discover it wasn't the work,it was just them!

That's funny, because literally everyone I know who retired at 55-58ish, said it's one of the best decisions they have ever made, and they wish they'd done it a few years before. This is people who retired 3-5 years ago, and people who retired 5 to 10 years ago, and also people who retired 11+ years ago. They LOVED retiring earlier. They have wonderful full lives with many hobbies and interests, and friends, and holidays, and meals out, and daytrips, and theatre trips, and social groups, and they are having a ball!

I have never met a single soul in my life who retired under 60, and then said a few years later 'oh I really wish I was back at work!' 😆

What a very bland and boring and limited life someone must lead to retire in their mid 50s, and then a few years later wish they were back at work. Fucking hell! 😂

.

@Moliross As a bit Lady Bountiful as it sounds, I worked with people who were very privileged and wanted to do something for society. I did actually get shortlisted to work for a charity many years ago but the pay was dire so I turned down the interview. I volunteer now, the incredibly bright and lovely young woman who came to work with us today from another part of the charity and who is responsible for about 50 people and who travels around earns far less than I did in a far more junior role in my workplace.

I also get to do the hobbies I didn’t have time for.

@decionsdecisions62 I had a plan so I volunteer. It means if I do not like it I can leave. I did leave one organisation, I did raise why they were having issues, and they did do some training but I never felt quite the same. Their safeguarding was terrible. I did actually like my job but I don’t miss the horrific commute or having to wear very smart office clothes.

The problem is that meals out, theatre trips and holidays all have to be paid for and these things get more expensive all the time. It's going to have to be a pretty hefty pension to finance that lot. I think that the number of pensioners who can afford that lifestyle will dwindle as DB pensions vanish. People who retired 10-15 years ago have probably got very generous workplace pensions.
We go to a lot of concerts and ticket prices are horrifying now. Theatre also. I had visions of endless theatre matinees but a lot of shows want £100 plus. Your basic standing/cheap ticket for Kylie (Kylie!) in Hyde Park this year is over £100. Top price is £400 plus. It's insane

That's my issue. I have 12 years in a career average salary DB pension and a very decent DC pot that is continui g to grow. Mr Monkey has 25 years in a final salary DB pension plus a small number of DC pots, but there is no way we would be able to fund lots of lovely holidays, hobbies and days out if we retired in our late 50s. Especially seeing as both our families are generally very long lived.

I suspect the "retire in your late fifties and do lots of lovely things" crowd are either a vanishing small amount of average earners who spent their whole career in a final salary pension scheme or a few very privileged high earners.

(There are of course those FIRE weirdos)

It’s filling time isn’t it, this is my week so far.

2 days volunteering

A day with a friend who is a teacher on half term just at her house for lunch with lots of chatting, laughing and possibly crying as she is getting divorced.

A day out on a bit of a muddy walk with a friend, we took food with us and a flask

An evening out with another couple for dinner.

A day alone watching films that DH has zero interest in and some chores.

I do like the theatre, concerts and dinners but I’m satisfied with being out in nature, board games, crosswords. I’m fine as long as I can chat to people.

@TeaGloriousTea

that sounds like a very nice week to me

probably much like my retirement will look when I get there properly. Its no more ‘filling time’ than my job was.

I currently fill my one day a week off by going swimming followed by steam room and sauna ...almost half a day a week like a mini spa break

I'd do it more if I could

At this rate- when I’m 129

For the record, I took early retirement at 55, that's ten years ago now. It was a special package where the pension was based on the number of years done but no actuarial reduction, same for the retirement lump sum. An offer not to be refused for sure!

I can honestly say that it was the best decision I have ever made. I didn't take on any other job (I was leaving the one I had from total burnout and fed upness) so I wasn't going to repeat the drudgery of that. I am truthful when I say I have never once been bored or fidgety or regretful. Nope.

Financially I am doing fine. I am not a "joiner" of things, and prefer my own company most of the time, that means the only person I annoy is myself! I do meet pals and former (also retired) colleagues regularly but not every week for lunch and that's great. I travel quite a bit, a lot of it alone as I prefer it that way, I'm a wanderer with no set itinerary and that (has) can drive other people a bit nuts. But I have two friends who I travel with very well and we do, but we always have our own rooms, safer that way for all of us!

I am single, no kids, no mortgage, no debts, reasonably good health and fitness levels so I say go for it. Life is short and your health is your wealth.

My DH and I retired two years ago when we were 52 and 55. We go away a lot, last year we had 7 big foreign holidays and some UK ones and this year is going to be similar.

We are both members of a nice spa and go there for tennis, to chill and do the exercise classes.

My DH plays golf and I meet friends for coffee, meals out, shopping etc. We go the cinema at least one per week and enjoy costal walks and lunches out.

I visit my parent in their nursing home every five days when I am not away and do various nice activities with my adult DC about three times per month such as a meal out or day trip somewhere.