How do you stop obsessing over retirement? 🤣

[AssCeiling]

Weird question I know!

I'm about 8 -9 years away from retiring. I'm really looking forward to it.

But I'm also getting a bit "obsessive".

Maybe that's not the right word but every day I find myself thinking about how life will be different when I'm retired. Like I'm sat here now readying myself for work thinking "Imagine what today would be like if I didn't have work. What would I do?"

I don't hate my job at all. I'm not looking to leave or change my hours. I might go PT as I approach retirement age but not yet.

I love my life currently and I really don't want to wish my life away (though I don't think that's what I'm doing). I know it's a really weird question but how can I retrain myself to stop focusing on retirement so much?

Thanks!

@ThymeScent I don't dislike my job at all. I'm well paid for flexible, interesting and autonomous work. I haven't lost my mojo with this job at all. A bit like @maddiemookins16mum said I'm 'tired' of working full stop, not just working in this job. I'm really not looking to change jobs. Just very very much looking forward to retirement.

DH and I were having this discussion last night in a very hipster pub in town. I suddenly burst out laughing because looking around I realised we were definitely the oldest people in there... and we were talking about retirement and pensions. We must have seemed positively ancient to all the cool young twenty somethings 🤣

But yes, I am 46 and spend quite a bit of time day dreaming of retirement and escaping the corporate rat race!

I'm planning a sabbatical when I'm 50, so saving towards that and making that my focus for the next four years. DH and I are going to travel the world and have the gap yah we never dared to do when we were young! (Only now we will do it in slightly nicer hotels 😄)

I have high BP too and work in the NHS. it's stressful but not as bad as a lot of places. Funny how my high BP coincided with starting there! I would love to know whether it would normalise if I ever get to retire. I'm on medication that I've been told by a doctor I will be on forever so may never find out.

@Lifeisntadressrehearsal
Thanks - I knew there was a difference for the period 2008-2014 but I wasn't clear what it was. Are you sure that period would have had a retirement age of 65 though, as that would have been later than state retirement age during those times. Friends of mine who retired maybe around 2014, 2015 received both their council and their state pensions at ages 62/63. Perhaps it depends on the year the person was born as with state retirement age - eg people retiring this year would be entitled to state pension at 66, so presume for them, their workplace pension would pay out fully at the same time.