Anyone else slightly obsessed with retirement?

[LittleBoost]

I've got about 10 years left until I take early retirement.

I can scale down in those 10 years moving to doing the absolute bare minimum for the last few years (still full-time though).

I'm conscious to not wish my life away but I'm also ever so slightly obsessed with retirement, and very very much looking forward to it.

I track finances each month and model different scenarios. I have plans for my retirement including just doing absolutely nothing.

DP's also excited about retirement but not quite as obsessed as I am, so I try not to wang on about it too much to him 😂

Anyone else slightly obsessed with retirement? Please help me feel less alone in this!

Yes me! Early 50s. Saving as much as possible into an AVC as well as my teacher’s pension (not fantastic due to taking years out in my 20s when kids were young and mostly working part time since then due to DS’s disability). Been saving ‘for emergencies’ for last 10 years and overpaying mortgage massively over last 5 years. Hoping to finish at 56 and take pension from 58 but will probably work between those ages on reduced hours (tutoring and teaching instruments) until 60. I love my current job so very lucky in that respect. Will see…

I probably rework my figures on a monthly basis, I'm 51 in a few weeks & think I will be able to retire in less than 2 years. 🤞🏻
My retirement will look different to most people's though as I am full time carer for my adult DC, who will never live independently & I work full time, but i get so tired now.
I do have a couple of small pensions one is affected by the change from 55 to 57 & the other is only minimal, so I don't really include these in my calculations & a widow's pension I already receive & then mine is other income (not pension based) due to being widowed so young.
I couldn't sustain this until 67/68 but I am scared of stopping giving up a lucrative business & then not having enough & having yo try to find another kob that i can do around my child's needs

Yes, but I'm 55 and know that I can retire at the end of next year so it's getting a bit real.

I’m ready to retire and relax and do as I please but I doubt I’m going to have much to live on. I’ve been a single parent working around children in low paid industries most of my working life. I’m not sure, at nearly 50, I’ll make up the ground on it. I’ll probably be 70 before I’m allowed a life doing as I please!

I've been on annual leave this last week and it's made me even more itchy than usual for retirement 😂

There was another useful thread on here from people who were managing on much less than the suggested minimum income for a reasonable retirement. I can’t believe this is about £32k for a single person with no housing costs. That’s virtually an average salary for someone who is paying for housing and raising a family!
I am confident I can be happy on about £28k once mortgage is paid off. Seems like it will be loads.

Yes. I’m going in 16 months at 55. 100%. I think about it every day. NHS.

I’m 54 and I can’t imagine this. Still feel pretty young. Mind you I don’t have a pension that’s valuable enough yet. May I ask what your job is and what you plan to do?

Me. I am 53 and will be retiring in 2-3 years, exact date TBD, as I don't think I can go bang on 55 as one child will still be in fee paying school. But definitely before 57. Husband and I have been working towards this for our entire careers, even before we met. Mortgage will be paid, kids uni fully funded, and large house deposits saved for them via CTF. We have very healthy pensions and big plans for all the places we are going to visit and the community work we are involved with will likely expand to fill the time as well.
I can't wait, and if I am offered a package that allows me to go sooner, I will grab it with both hands.

I’ve been nursing since 1990. Currently a practice nurse, it’s getting unbearable.
DH also retiring at 55 six months earlier.
Neither of my parents made it to 70. We can afford to go now and live well.
We will book lots of holidays.

I’m 58 and thoroughly pension obsessed. Though I doubt I’ll be in a position to retire until I’m at least 65, I need my wages for helping the kids through uni and setting them up in life a bit. My first pension starts paying out at 60, which is now less than 2 years away! The other ones start at 63 and 65. And of course then the state pension will kick in at 67. I’m also already planning holidays with the extra money, I plan some excellent holidays from age 60 onwards! I enjoy my job thank goodness.

Good luck to you both!

God no, I’m changing career so I can actually work past retirement, I can’t even begin to think about how bored I’d be, I like to be busy.

My DH and I retired a couple of years ago in our early/mid 50’s. We also like to be busy, just not busy doing a job.

I'm currently considering doing a slight pivot in my job & possibly retraining so that I can hopefully enjoy working the next 7 years which will take me to 60. It's also a role that I could possibly do self employed, so I'm hoping that makes it a bit easier towards the retirement.

Yes me, I can't wait and my husband is the same. I would like to retire at 60, so another 6 years to go.
We constantly discuss it, check pensions, make plans etc
I like my job but the people I know who took early retirement are so happy and look so well.
We are enjoying each day until then, not wasting time wishing, but it's just knowing it's coming up that excites me, like a long awaited trip.
I was a stay home mum before my career and loved that too so I know I am OK without work.
No more alarm, bliss.

Yes is the short answer. I think at least 7 more years to go which would take me to 63, though I may go part time at 60. I find the physical and mental strain of work hit me harder every year, and the year I burned out of hospital work (2022, post Covid) has stayed with me. I’m in community now and it’s certainly better having made a change but I’d just like to carry less in my mind all the time. It won’t be a luxurious lifestyle but if I don’t have to force myself through the days that’s luxury enough.

There seems to be a fair few people on here who work in the NHS. Whilst I've been looking at my pension I came across a really knowledgeable woman who deals with all Government pensions, but has an indepth knowledge of the NHS one.
She's on Facebook & has her own company called Pen Gage and she does lots of free webinars on preparing & accessing your pension. Her name is Laura & she will answer questions on the FB page & has lots of free resources re McCloud etc. She's worth a look.

I'm 58 and really only started looking forward to retirement a few years ago. I changed job which brought a bigger salary and much bigger pension contributions. Looking back I should have moved job a lot sooner.

Early next year our mortgage will finally be paid off. Our plan is for DH to retire at the end of next year when he will be 62. He has a very physical NMW job and despite keeping himself very fit he is finding it getting harder.

Our plan is then that I will retire 3 years later at 63. 4 years and 4 months to go.

We are both really looking forward to retirement. We have hobbies both joint and separate which we would like to give more time to.

We are keeping our spending now down first to get mortgage paid off and then to really build our savings. We aren't being frugal but are being careful: one car, holiday every other year, our hobbies probably break even in terms of cost and return.

Yep thinking about this hugely at age 55, and have discussed retiring at 60 with a person who advises on teacher pensions (though worried that he seemed to be advising against AVCs in my context and was keen to sell me something else. Getting sound financial advice is what worries me). I’m a single parent with a hopeless ex who always claims poverty but seems to have managed to go away short haul three times this summer. I still have to get my last two DC through uni costs. And would like to be able to help them with setting themselves up. I’ve been career driven all my life as well as being pretty frugal, and could never imagine not working. Then peri menopause clashed with an unpleasant experience at work 3 years ago and suddenly I lost all motivation. It’s simply not come back!

I hate working and want to stop but also not wishing my life away. The women in my family have no longevity. My mum died suddenly at 67.

my dm is 90 and still keeps active, working in a charity shop twice a week
although she resisted that for a while
as much as i find work hard, colleagues etc., i find 60 too young to give it all up, i get quite annoyed when people mention that I might retire any day soon

About 5 years ago I was definitely more focused on retirement than I am now! I was working all sorts of ridiculous hours, DP was working away through the week, and we barely saw each other. I contemplated going part-time so I could catch up with things on my day off. In short, I was looking forward to retirement because my job was wearing me out!
What I actually needed to do was get some control back, and not be working evenings and weekends.
I've now swapped roles and got rid of some of the mad responsibility, stopped doing extra studies, and I'm almost at the point of not working at the weekend. It's helped getting a balance, and I'm enjoying my job again. I can take one of my pensions at 60, but the other I won't get the full benefit until I'm state pension age. I hadn't heard about FIRE, that sounds interesting and could be helpful.

@Wrenjay this is so good to hear. If you don’t mind me asking what is your budget per year? The fear I have is that my projection is way less than my salary.

@Yellowbirdcage I’m also in the civil service where everybody externally goes on about the pension like you’ll be rolling in it, but that’s certainly not my forecast after decades here and being unexpectedly single has impacted greatly on old age projections.

Have to say I’m very much looking forward to the freedom retirement will bring but fearful of the affordability. I do wish I’d explored it more in my 30s and that’s something I will pass on to kids.

Are you all aware that the age for taking pension early is rising from 55 to 57 wef 2028?
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/increasing-normal-minimum-pension-age/increasing-normal-minimum-pension-age