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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To wonder if any of you are retired, and what did it feel like?

70 replies

Lydiaatthebarre · 12/10/2018 16:05

A woman in work is retiring today and is quite choked up and tearful about it. We're all saying that we'll have a big smile on our faces when it's our turn to go, but in reality I know that it must be quite a strange day and I can imagine feeling a mixture of euphoria and sadness.

Just wondering if any retired MNetters can remember how they felt on their very last day at work?

OP posts:

beelover · 12/10/2018 16:10

I felt sad on the actual day but have never once missed it. Maybe because I am still close to and see all the friends that I made there though.

bimbodoc · 12/10/2018 16:22

Personally i find it great, but no different from being a SAHM as have a child of school age. I now am able to do what my friends who are SAHMs have been doing for years.

twoshedsjackson · 12/10/2018 17:44

When I retired, the big leaving do was followed by a choir tour, so I didn't really brood. Then it was summer hols anyway, but it did seem odd when September came around. Since then, I've done several stints on supply, but it does feel odd not to have to account for every minute of the day at first. (I found myself trotting to the loo at breaktime, I was so conditioned!) Then I gradually came the realisation that I could go to things midweek, and one by one my fellow escapees are coming out to play. Just avoid people thinking that you need things to occupy your time; I think it can be harder if work is the only thing happening in your life. I have more time for my hobbies and social life; in fact, the plans for further studying seem to be permanently on hold.

thatmustbenigelwiththebrie · 12/10/2018 17:46

I fucking can't wait to retire. Only another 40 years! I don't think I will feel remotely sad. I really resent working and can't wait until I don't have to go any more.

eddiemairswife · 12/10/2018 17:52

I wondered how I would feel in the September when school started until the first September weekend, when I was pottering in the garden and realised that if I had still been working I would have been up to my ears in lesson planning.

Bluelady · 12/10/2018 17:56

The best bit is looking out of the window on a cold, wet morning, making a cuppa and taking it back to bed.

frogface69 · 12/10/2018 17:59

I am. It's bloody wonderful. I am poor but my time is my own.

mayhew · 12/10/2018 18:02

I'm retired. Earlier than I planned but the NHS had become brutal.
I chose to take a smaller pension earlier and work 2-3 days a week.
It's pretty good 😊

Seniorschoolmum · 12/10/2018 18:05

My sis retired as a teacher, and was back volunteering in her school within 6 weeks......but free from the shadow of Ofsted.

5 years later she does two sessions a week helping with remedial maths and will occasionally do supply in her local primary if they are desperate. She loves it.

SeamstressfromTreacleMineRoad · 12/10/2018 18:18

I welled up a bit on my last day, but six years later, I fit the traditional 'How did I find the time?' perfectly

Mind you, within six months of my going, the team that I'd worked with for over 20 years had been disbanded and several people made redundant amid much angst...so I reckon I dodged a bullet...!
And yes, the loveliest sound in the world is your neighbour scraping their windscreen at 6.30 am - as you snuggle down for another snooze

Annandale · 12/10/2018 18:22

Only 17.5 years to go...

I would happily retire tomorrow but working in the nhs i have written an advanced care directive which refuses all treatment of any type except palliation once i hit 70. Still no guarantee i won't linger but i dont want to see 80.

VictoriaBun · 12/10/2018 18:26

I would think it depends on personal situation.
Will they be alone at home all day ?
Do they have family/ friends ?
Are they financially sound ?
How is their general health?
If a yes to the above,I'd think they would skip off quite happy.

colbyandmontysmum · 12/10/2018 18:29

I retired this last April but then had to jump into packing up our home as we were moving across the country. After that the unpacking and getting used to know the new area. It's been stressful and hectic but I don't miss my work. I just wish I could relax enough to finally do the things I've always wanted - travelling around the area taking pictures, watercolour lessons, reading, etc. It would help if my DH would stop trying to keep us BOTH busy!!

Marmalizes · 12/10/2018 18:30

It took me over a year to decide. When I made the decision I felt it was the right time. What I hated was the three months notice. I’d have like to have given my letter in and left almost immediately. I was adamant that there’d be no leaving buffet. I’d attended many and never met anyone who enjoyed them. All those sausages rolls and sandwiches and speeches. Yuck not for me. I bought lots of wonderful cakes and tea/coffe so people could just pop in On the day I had mixed emotions. It was all very emotional. I just wanted out. I force myself not to miss it. In my opinion retirement feels like one of the big steps in life, like leaving home, getting married, having your first baby so you just don’t look back. It’s a whole new chapter. Unfortunately by the time most of you reach retirement probably in your 80s you won’t have the time to waste looking back. So I’m grateful I wasn’t born a few years later.

MorrisZapp · 12/10/2018 18:34

What's the retirement age for women just now?

Annandale · 12/10/2018 18:38

67 for me [sigh]

PippaRabbit · 12/10/2018 18:39

I still find it a bit odd tbh. I retired from my career very early but run my own business at our home. I'm still adapting and it's still a novelty not having to rush around in the mornings like this morning when it was pissing down outside and I didn't need to rush to do the horses before work Its nice having time to do things now rather then have to cram everything into a weekend.

ScreamingValenta · 12/10/2018 18:40

Just joining the thread to enjoy your experiences vicariously!

fifithefoof · 15/10/2018 13:29

I retired at 36 and remember a feeling of total elation on my last day of work. And the weeks leading up to it.

I'm considering starting a flower business (growing and arranging) in the future but that'll be strictly when and if I want to.

Lucisky · 15/10/2018 13:52

I retired at 58, nearly 5 years ago, and my oh retired 6 months after me. At first I was like a kid in a sweet shop, it was so lovely to do what I wanted when I wanted.
I worked just about non stop for 42 years and haven't missed it at all.
I am, however, not so organised as I used to be. When you are working, day to day stuff/running a home/hobbies all have to be 'fitted in' around the working day. Now I am very 'manana' about things because there is simply no urgency to get things done within a certain time frame, which is great, but it takes some getting used to.
We are lucky that we are both in good health and can still enjoy life to the full. I really can't imagine working now.

fifithefoof · 15/10/2018 13:57

@Lucisky Haha! I was just saying last week to a friend that we'd become very 'Manana'!

ajandjjmum · 15/10/2018 14:00

DH and I are talking about retiring - mixture of excitement and fear. Watching this thread with interest.

pigsDOfly · 15/10/2018 14:09

I retired nearly eight years ago in my early 60s. Very small business and we all went out for a lovely meal paid for by the owner of the business.

I enjoyed the meal but at no point did I feel emotional about leaving nor did I miss having to get up at 6.15 every morning.

After retirement I got my dog, I've moved house to different areas twice and I do exactly as I want - not one for loads of holidays though. I love being retired.

Having said that, if I only had my state pension to live on I suspect I would have had to continue working and now at nearly 70 be looking forward to a miserable old age.

Retirement can be good but not if you can't afford to eat properly or heat your home and despite what a lot of people seem to think on other MN threads on the subject, there are plenty of pensioners in that position.

abitlosthere · 15/10/2018 14:18

I semi-retired a year ago, since then have been working p/t on a self employed basis, but that is at an end for now.

I am finding it hard to settle, tbh. I don't have to work. We are very far from rich, but have enough coming in to keep us ticking over and plenty of savings to see us through until we get state pensions (we are both in late 50s), but I feel somehow guilty about not doing so. Also, I am caring for my partner who has a serious long term illness which now is restricting what they are able to do. I feel as though I have been catapulted into a lifestyle that I maybe wouldn't have expected for another ten years or so.

Having said all that I really don’t miss working in a corporate environment and all the office politics and other bullshit! The freedom to go back to bed with a cuppa is wonderful!

abitlosthere · 15/10/2018 14:22

Blimey, fifithefoof I thought I had retired very early, but you retired at 36??

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