Offered a great job at nearly 60 and unsure whether to retire or take it, please come and tell me what you'd do, especially if you're in your 50s!

[Strawberriesandcaviar]

I'd love to know how others have handled this and would very much welcome some perspectives, so please post even if you disagree with me or have another POV, thank you.

I've been working for years and I'm good at my job but don't love it. Neither do I hate it and most days I enjoy it. I'm well paid and work remotely.

I'm 60 next year and my dilemma is this:

I've just been offered a well paid job and I'm torn between

1. Accepting it and working another few years, 5 maybe and
2. Saying "life's too short" and turning it down

If I turn it down I will stay up late, get up late, read loads, see films, spend more time with friends, visit my adult children who live a few hours away, maybe travel a bit. In other words, relax for the first time in 40+ years.

DH would be working though so I'd do it alone. We would also have a lot less money but we could cut back though and it would be fine.

If I turn it down I'll be unlikely to get another job (at 60+) so that will be it.

What did you feel about work in your late 50s?
What would you / did you do?
Did it work out?
Do you wish you'd retired earlier?

One friend said "you'd be a moron to turn it down" as it is loads of money and I like the people. So it's a WWYD.

Thanks for any and all views.

I mean the cheaper holidays only applies when you’re a parent to a school child. Most workers can holiday whenever they like during the year.

If you’re going for it, get in their pension scheme and make that work for your future! Good luck with whatever you chose! I’ve just retired at 54 due to ill health but thankfully my works pension allowed me to get my retirement package as if I were retiring at 66 …. I won’t say retirement isn’t nice though! 🤩😉

@LarksAscending though the times off were a little bit longer than peak school holidays we both worked in higher education so still had to suffer peak season even when our kids were not school age.

DH is 59 and has just started a new crunchy job. It’s a massive pay rise and it’s what he wants to do. The intention is to do it for 3 years and see where we are. The mortgage will be paid and the kids hopefully largely independent. If reality is different and he hates it or it’s too stressful, he can change his mind. If he loves it and us ducccessful he could do a bit longer.

in your shoes OP id give it 6 months and see how I felt.

True to an extent. However I can go anytime, within 24 hours notice if needed, I don't have to apply for my weeks off at the beginning of January and have it all mapped out for HR! Retirement brings that kind of flexibility.

I’d take it and see how it went. I assume they aren’t insisting on a 5 year notice period. You may love it and love the people you meet. Working with great people can be so invigorating. Or you might hate and be working with toxic people in which case you swan out of there with no regrets knowing all about the good things that await!

There’s too many unknowns to comment OP as surely it depends on how much you have put away for your retirement and if you feel you want/need to support DC?

I look at it like this, the next 15 years will probably be the best and easiest if your retirement. Also once your state pension kicks in be careful about tax brackets. You’ll be fitter now and be able to travel freely. That said if it’s well paid why not take it and see how it goes.

I'm 56 and have 21 years left on the mortgage and have been unemployed since September so would be snapping their hands off

Take the job!

It is hard to say as the new job is an unknown. I’d personally take it and give it 6 months. If you dont enjoy it, you are free to leave. I think working when you know financially that you can leave any time is a great position to be in.

I’d worry if you retired without giving it a shot, you might feel “what if”. Whereas if you take it and then leave, youve lost nothing (and can use the extra funds on something special).

Good luck and well done on the job offer.

Not sure if this has been mentioned already, but (esp if you are in the 40% or above tax bracket) put as much as possible into a pension to get the tax back. But again, what is your pension income looking like? And that of your DH? There are def ways to plan & manage your investments, savings and retirement income so that it can be as tax efficient as possible.

I took my work pension early at 55 as I wasn't sure how much longer my contracting work would last for. It has continued for now & prob will do till I'm nearly 58 at least - so for now I'm putting more into a pension to mitigate the tax. BUT I would have done things slightly different/ made life easier for myself if I'd known then what I do now about tax, pensions savings etc.

I would take it but try and have some nice weekends away and book some good holidays in with your husband - or whatever else you enjoy - whilst still working.
My first ever job, my mentor/boss was a woman in her late 60s - her husband had died a year before and they had all these big plans of holidays etc.
But just didn't get round to it.
Anyway she drilled into me to make memories and not save things until you are retired, you never know what's going to happen.
So take the job, but make sure to enjoy everything life has to offer while you can :)

Take the job. If you hate it you can quit after few months and retire

I was in a similar situation but a bit younger at 55. Work contract ended and due to caring for DPs I didn’t get a new job straight away. Maybe it was because DPs situation was so unstable ( thankfully they are now in a care home) but I didn’t really enjoy not working. I struggled with the lack of routine, didn’t like not earning and watching the pennies and most of my friends were still working.
Unlike you sadly a high powered role didn’t appear but instead a part time administrative role materialised. I like having a routine 3 days a week and free time in between. The only downside is a small holiday allowance and as DH now retired he wants to go away more.
Its fun having a job I know I can give up when I choose. I would say go for it but don’t think you have to do it for 5 years. Take it a year a time. Maybe once you’re there for a while there might be a possibility to reduce your days.

I'd take it - you can always quit or work fewer than five more years if it's too much/you don't enjoy it. If you'd said in your OP that you have loads of money and don't need this income my advice would be different, but instead you say: 'We would also have a lot less money'. Therefore, it sounds like you can't really afford to retire early. I'm early 50s and just started a new career and I'm loving it - it's given me a new lease of life. So my advice would be try it and see if you like it. You might live well into your 90s. That extra money could well come in handy.

Take the job! 60 isn't old and your DH is still working. If you find you don't like it, you can always leave.

Retire. You can't take the money with you, retire and enjoy relaxing. I'm a huge fan of "not working if it can possibly be avoided" so I would say that.

I took option B in my late 50s.

I've never regretted it, not for one moment.
I'm a decade into it now and have had the best 10 years of my life. I've filled them with adventure, exercise, looking after myself and the people I love and just living every moment to the full.
If you can afford it retiring when you're youngish, still have energy and are in good health is too good an opportunity to miss.

A few things to think about here.
Will your health be good in 7 years?
Current job is stressless
You work from home
Could you go part time? I did and my life was better although i was a little bored :-)

I'm in a similar situation. Waiting to start a new job but feel they are messing me around and having been off over a month since my last job finished I just kind of feel like I CBA with working any more. I can't really afford to stop work though, well I could but it would be very frugal. The only reason I am trying to carry on is to help the kids as the future looks so bleak for young people right now.

How much have you got in your pension pot?

I'm 56 and just about done, planning to finish when I'm 57, despite being well paid in a fully remote job. Just can't be arsed any more.

I started a new business with a friend just as I turned 58. It was challenging, fun, and exhausting in equal measure. After working 50 hour weeks for 5 years I was a bit knackered and sold my share to my friend and am now retired, which I’m loving. Would I have done anything differently? Probably not, one last adventure before retirement felt the right thing to do.
If you take the new job and it doesn’t work out are you any worse off? You could still retire or maybe negotiate them down to part time.

You haven't really said what you actually want to do. What do you WANT to do. Forget what you should do.

From your post it sounds like the idea of being retired really appeals to you. It certainly sounds like bliss to me. If it was me I would retire. Work is just work. Why not start living instead?

If you're genuinely not sure, you should take it. That keeps your options open and gives you more information on which to base the decision on whether or not to stick with it.

I'd work and pile the extra money into your retirement fund. Things are not going to get cheaper and a sum that looked good a few years back is no longer the case. You're lucky to find a well paying position at 60.