To give up work at 55?

[Ifeelfat]

I can probably afford to. I live in an area of deprivation where the salaries are low and opportunities few, but a) is it lazy and b) should I have more ambition? Would you?

I took voluntary redundancy two weeks before my 55th birthday. I quite enjoyed my job but the company was about to go through a merger and were offering voluntary redundancies. Financially, I was in a reasonable place with no mortgage etc and the redundancy terms were good so I jumped at the chance. I could also access my final salary pension.

I already had several hobbies and seem to have acquired a few more along the way since retiring. I also volunteer with a local charity.

I certainly would struggle to go back to work now.

No point working for the sake of it if you can genuinely afford to retire. I'd love to be able to afford to retire at 50. Absolutely nothing to feel guilt about.

Go for it. There are loads of opportunities and you’re young enough to enjoy them. Trusteeships, volunteering, travel etc. What do you do now and is there any chance of redundancy?

I retired at 57. Never regretted it for an instant. I look back at my working life and shudder at what I had to put up with.

I am considering doing the same. I am 56 and working at home has made me realise that I never want to go back to long distance commuting and international travel. Have told my boss and he is now trying to get me to stay on a bit longer, but I am not sure I want to.

If you can afford it then go for it. I’m planning to work for another 5 years & will retire at 60 taking my final salary plus a small personal pension to bridge the gap until I collect my state pension age 67.

Be absolutely sure your savings & investments will give you enough to live on ... the value will have reduced considerably over recent weeks. You could be a long time retired ... my DF has been retired almost longer than his working life (fortunately on a very good final salary pension which increases every year - he is one of the lucky ones ).

If you can afford it do it. Retired now at 59 and loving it. Never bored still getting used to not having to get up at 6 and work for 12 hours. To be honest work seems a world away kinda surreal have health issues but would be feeling a whole lot worse if I was still working.You begin to see life in a different light realise the little things you miss when working and feeling stressed out. Life is too short enjoy your time.

I am 55 and a widow. I work part time and am a carer for my disabled 84 year old mum and would retire tomorrow if I could afford to.
But unfortunately I need my part time wage as I don’t have enough savings to last until my pension kicks in. When I no longer have my mum to look after I will downsize and retire but as we tend to live well into our 90’s in my family my mum could last past my retirement age.

My husband died before retirement age and all our plans for a enjoyable retirement are gone so if you can afford to retire now do so. Enjoy your time now and sod anyone who thinks differently.

I'm 55 and I work part time. I love my job, I'd hate to give it up, and I intend to keep working part time for as long as possible - I don't ever want to retire.

If you don't enjoy your work, maybe retire from that, and think of work you would enjoy doing, and do that part-time instead? I find it really hard to contemplate not working - not having that structure to my week. Equally, I would hate to work full-time.

But everyone is different - I certainly don't see the point in beavering away at something you don't enjoy for the sake of a work ethic.

Just because you retire from paid employment doesn't mean you have to give up some kind of work. Why not volunteer part time in some field that has meaning for you?

I am 57 and DH is 62. Before all of this we were seriously thinking of retiring this year, I don't dare look at the state of my pension at the moment.

It isn't a case of not liking my job, just that I have lots of hobbies and there are other things I would enjoy doing more

I retired from Nursing when I was 55,financially I was able to,as I have a substantial widows pension from my late husbands employer.I owned my house outright as the mortgage was paid off on his death.

I feel fortunate to have a good lifestyle.Plenty to keep me occupied and I do Voluntary work.

My ex's parents both retired in their late 50s. Downsized from their family home to a modest bungalow and spent the next 10 or so years travelling, some volunteering in the community but generally having a nice time and making the most of things. Sadly one of them died last year at 70, but one of the only good things about it was they had been everywhere they wanted to go (North and South America, various Far East and African countries plus most of Europe), and done the things that they wanted to do. I would have hated them to retire late 60s and not even done half of it.

My job in its current form probably won't exist in 5 years at most. My plan is to hang on as long as I can, semi retire then (early 50s) but probably continue to work on a very much part time basis til 60, maybe beyond depending on finances and how much I'm enjoying working. But I want to get dogs/ be a guide dog puppy walker, move out of London, I don't want to work full time forever. So I'm very much in the YANBU camp. Life's too short to keep working ft - that doesn't mean you can't work pt, volunteer etc.

The DF of someone I know was something big in the City. He retired before he was 40 having paid off his mortgage and accrued substantial savings. His DC were at primary school at the time and don't ever remember him working. Apparently he's spent the last 30 years happily playing golf and monitoring his investments.

I retired at 37, fortunate enough to have paid off mortgage and have investments/savings. There is a lot of boredom, only do it if you are comfortable, have planned for emergencies and have pension in place.
Make sure you have hobbies, I didn't and still trying to figure some out! Found I don't enjoy golf/tennis but travel is fun.
I hadn't really anticipated the sheer amount of free time i would have after working pretty long weeks, which I know sounds obvious but filling your days do require effort.
Good luck

I would give up work at 55 if I could afford to, absolutely no doubt about it. I wouldn't have any difficulty finding things to do with my time, and cleaning the house would not be high on the agenda.
Unfortunately however, I can't afford it so will need to plod on for at least another decade. But if you have the means to stop, then why not? There are still plenty of interesting and worthwhile things you could do. It isn't necessarily lazy not to be working, in fact, depending on what your job is of course, you might be able to contribute more to society if you aren't in paid work as there are so many valuable volunteering roles. If you still want to feel useful but want to be able to be flexible and not tied to a full time job you could consider part time working or volunteering, or volunteer on an ad hoc basis somewhere. Or again, depending on your job, could you do temping of some kind? A friend of mine who is a nurse but doesn't actually have a financial need to work any more joined the nurse "bank" at the local hospital. She gets offered plenty of shifts and does work quite a bit, but if she doesn't like a particular ward, the shift clashes with one of her children having an activity on, or she just doesn't feel like it she can say no. There are probably similar arrangements in lots of other jobs so maybe look into that kind ofvthing. It doesn't have to be all or nothing.

I've been retired since I was 44 due to ill health, I'm 54 now, no way could I go back to working for someone again. Lots of our age group have been working since we were 16, so have been working nearly 40 years. If you can afford to retire, I would do it in a heartbeat.

I was made redundant at 52, planned a short break before looking for another job but unfortunately ended up with a chronic illness that cancelled any plan on ever returning to work, so the decision was taken out of my hands and as time went on I realised I could survive financially, which naturally, had been the biggest concern previously.

The 'b' word (think it's spelt...bored) haha!! isn't in my vocabulary, never has been and honestly I don't have enough hours in the day. I have learned to live with the medical problems and work with them, rather than against them.

Like a lot of people, I left school at 14 but completed further study through my 20's and 30's mostly at night.

So as long as you can afford a lifestyle that you are happy with, then give it a try...if this didn't work out, could you apply for another job in the future? Just a thought....

Wishing you all the best and hope it works out.

I believe most people don't retire early, because;
Cannot afford
Don't want a change of routine
Don't have plans
Health
Worried about future
Dependants

I know a couple of people who delayed their retirement, became seriously ill & never had time to enjoy a retirement

Nobody can predict the future

Things can change quickly, as we have seen with the virus

Thank you all, there’s a definite consensus. I think I’ll put plans in place that don’t include paid employment that I’m tied to, and I’ll try not to feel guilty. I do actually volunteer with a charity anyway, could up those hours if I feel I need to.
Unfortunately I still have dc at school so travel is out for a few years, but after that... it’s very true to say that no one knows how long we have left and I think recent events have highlighted this for many of us.

Thanks OP, I have also found this really helpful. Am also going to set a cut off date to stop!

I will finish paying the mortgage in 7 years when I am 57. My youngest will be 19 by then. We have savings and rental income so I am going to see how I feel then. I already have a voluntary role that I could increase if I wanted.

OP, do you have a workplace pension in place?

How long will your savings last if you have teenagers? I'm really surprised you are thinking of this if you have children that ago - it's a very expensive age! Do you have a partner who is earning?

The problem is that if you run out of money in a few years' time, you'll be a lot less employable than you are now. You're talking about volunteering, which is great, but why not just work the same number of hours and earn some money?

I’m 56 and will retire this year using savings and an inheritance. Some people, including my mother who retired years earlier than 56 have been judgemental - not sure why as I can afford it - have a relentlessly stressful job and until lock down had a tough commute on top. I also want to be free to help out my ageing parents without balancing it with the awful job. I know I’m incredibly lucky. Can not wait. If I’m bored I can prob do consultancy work tho not sure that’s as viable a plan since covid.