Retiring early?

[sunhopefullysoon]

Wondering what to do- if I live well within my means I could retire a bit early. I never have any problems with customers but find that I get so anxious if there’s the slightest hint of a problem with any colleague. It affects my day off as it seems to constantly creep into my thinking if I’m not there.
Would you retire early if you could and how did anyone find retiring early regarding how you felt or filled your time?
Thank you.

I retired at 59 six years ago. I got my first Saturday job at 13 and started full time work at 16 and apart from a 1 year maternity leave, I had never been out of work so had no guilt at all at finishing early.
I am very surprised at how little I can live on even though I have a very good pension and could afford to spend twice as much as I do. DH and I will both be getting our State Pensions next year and it will be more than enough to cover our basic outgoings so we can stop drawing on the private pensions and keep them for luxuries and emergencies.
I do get a bit bored with having no real structure in the winter months so keep saying I need to find a club or hobby but never do and manage to keep busy and active. By March I am in the garden almost every day anyway so am always glad I don't have any real commitments.
I look after my DGC once a week and meet my DM and DSis for lunch most weeks. I am very happy being retired. Those 6 years have passed by in a flash.

We did retire early and no regrets. Our retirement has been filled with some voluntary work, hiking and walking and doing old hobbies and trying new ones. We have also just bought a Motorhome and have done a couple of trips and will be doing more. DH joined me at the end of last year in retirement.

Quite a few of our friendship group have retired early aged between 56 and 62 since Covid. They almost all worked in higher education at senior levels and took enhanced severance deals. The two that didn’t were a corporate lawyer and a senior manager in the power industry. We are the ones that this and the previous Government were annoyed with, higher rate tax payers that all took early retirement.

I am hoping to retire in a couple of years time when I am 60 and can take my NHS pension although it won't be a lot so I will need to learn to live on a lot less. Like others I have worked since I was 15, didn't even take more than a few months off for mat leave and have worked in careers that have taken a huge toll on my physical and mental health and I am done with it all ! I expect to need to provide some support for my elderly dad as I am the only one living close. I will likely do a lot of dog walking and find some voluntary work and hobbies. I have four adult children so no doubt grandchildren will feature at some point too and I will be happy to help with childcare.

It’s rare that people regret it - provided they have enough money to live off and that includes being able to cover a car breaking down and a boiler needing replacement

think about - how will you exercise as your body does not want to stagnate , how will you stimulate your brain - what will you learn or take up as a hobby, how will you socialise ( friends and family may still be at work) , how will you contribute - what voluntary roles might you do ? These don’t need to be regular , but something that makes you feel worthwhile helps most people.

I retired a couple of years ago at 57, my OH (who is 3yrs younger than me) went PT (2-days/week) with the intention to finish completely in a couple of years.

Best thing I ever did.
I liked my job and was good at it but post Covid (and WFH for 2yrs), the thought of the daily commute made me think about leaving early and when my company came up with a decent leaving package, I grabbed it with both hands.
Good pension plus savings & investments, no mortgage or debt so no financial worries (which along with your health, is the most important thing to consider).

Have never felt bored, the days seem to fly by.
We have Ddogs, love to potter in the garden (which is really appreciating the extra care it has received), I have my crafting plus we go away in our Moho regularly (always mid-week and never during the school holidays).

Still love the feeling of not setting an alarm and instead, waking up when we (or Ddogs) want to.
A leisurely breakfast (often taken outside under the veranda), we really feel we are living our best life and appreciate that fact, all the years of hard work and overpaying mortgage & pensions has paid off.
Please, if you can do it then take that step.❤️

I retired early, but have recently gone back to work. Despite filling my days with interesting things, nothing gave me the buzz that I got from work.

I started planning my retirement years ago when I started saving to self fund the years before I can draw my pension - or rather, part of my pension is available at 55, but I want to save that up and start drawing at 60. I like my job well enough, but it is highly stressful. That's my fault, I didn't really understand what I was signing up to when I was young, and I didn't know myself so well. As retirement draws nearer, I get a little anxious about stopping relatively young, but I see the relative peace that I've been saving up to pay for as the biggest gift to myself, proper self care. Maybe I will get another job once I've had a good break, but I'll leave that to decide then. I think the thing I'll miss the most is the part of my identity that is so wound up in my job, and the friendships and laughter - I'm sure some of them will remain, but it will be different.

Could you maybe start by going part-time?

It will give you a better work-life balance already and you can still save for your retirement.

I am 54 and I work 3 days a week.

I've been on four days a week since aged 55. A sensible start in my view.

I’m planning on going at 55 - 23 months to go. Will have mortgage paid and enough to cover bills and a decent disposable amount each month.

God yes. My DH and I are working hard towards an early retirement and looking forward to it.

But we both have hobbies and interests to fill our time which we would do more of once we were not working. We are also really active so would spend more time doing outdoorsy stuff and going on longer walks with the dogs. We are also looking forward to doing some travelling and exploring new places in the UK. There are tons of things we would do more of if we had the time to do them. No way would we be bored.

If we could retire early, we definitely would.

I took voluntary redundancy at 57 and what with the settlement and taking my pensions early, I managed it. Mortgage (only 5 years to run) paid off and a good enough income to live on (foreign holidays were out tho').

Best thing I ever did in my life. I have enough hobbies to occupy my time and I love it.

Yes I would and although not there yet I was planning to go in April 27 when I’m 58, however I work in a part of the NHS which will lose 50% staff in next few months so it could be earlier. I have been part time employed 3/4 days a week for 6 years and part time self employed before that. I will have no trouble filling my time. As I currently have a 2nd job just 1 day a week I will probably keep that till April 27 as planned so I can continue to pay into pension till I start to draw it at 58. I think retiring involves a big change of mindset as you switch from saving for retirement to spending in retirement. DH is struggling with this more than I am as he has always been a big saver. I am trying to convince him that most of what he earns now will be lost in tax at some point in the future, he doesn’t doubt my maths but still struggles with the concept of stopping.

We're already semi-retired working part time and both earning around £12.5k each. We'll be fine when we retire properly at 67 and draw out state pension which will likewise be around £12.5k in today's terms. We'll see no drop in income!

We already live a low cost life. Mortgage long paid off. Son left home and working full time in a professional role so needs no support from us. Both cars relatively new and both owned, so no leases/loan repayments and we'd expect both to last a decade or so then we'd just go down to one once retired anyway. No credit card debts. House is good condition, unlikely to need more than basic maintenance. We are happy with pretty normal/low cost holidays and we always avoid school holidays so don't pay a premium. We shop competitively for food and household items doing a rotation of the main supermarkets and buying things when they're on offer rather than supermarket inflated "normal" prices. Our hobbies are mostly low cost, i.e. bird watching, countryside walks, gardening, etc.

I retired 8 years ago at 58 although the last couple of years I've done some casual work for 3 months. I love it...fitter than I've ever been, we go away very regularly and thoroughly enjoy life. Dh retires at Xmas so we have lots more plans.
Mortgage free for 10 years

I’m 51 and I’m going to 4 days a week in September at 55 I will go to 3 days a week and finish at 60. Or if the job continues to get more stressful I will go to 3 days a week in a year or so and then leave at 55. I’d rather be poorer in my pensions eg £30 K a year than £40 K a year and go 5-15 years earlier. That’s the end of that really. DH and I are happy pootling around garden centre and walking the dogs compared to a retirement in Barbados holidays every year.

I am taking voluntary redundancy in December. Should be July/August but HR couldn’t organise a piss up in a brewery! It takes around 6 months to get a teacher pension sorted so instead of being in a beach in September, I have to work an extra 4 months. I still get my VER extra payment, unlike my colleagues who will be made compulsory redundant and finish the same time. Extra 4 months pay and extra pension payments so the LA only have to pay my ‘pension’ payments for 9 months. I will be 59 in the summer.