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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Retirement Dreams - what are yours?

45 replies

bluehaze · 15/02/2021 16:27

I’ve recently been asked what my retirement dream is and have realised that despite retirement being quite close (5 years) I don’t have a big adventure planned, I haven’t got a plan to sail the world or anything like that , and if I try to pin down an amazing plan I can’t think of anything I’ve been yearning to do. Am I really boring? I’d love to hear what retirements mumsnetters are hoping for.

OP posts:
Soontobe60 · 15/02/2021 16:28

I retired a month before lockdown!!! My dream to travel has been shattered - but on the positive side, I’ve hardly spent a penny of my savings 🤣

hennybeans · 15/02/2021 16:50

Downsize our UK house, buy a small house in Arizona and spend winters there and summers here ( I'm a dual citizen). We're at least 15 years away from that and I don't know if we would miss our DC ( and possible dgc) too much. But that is the dream at the moment.

I also use to fancy going on a cruise for holidays when I'm older, but noro virus and environmental concerns made me hesitant and covid and has put a stop to that wish altogether. Maybe things will change in 15-20 years though.

1Morewineplease · 15/02/2021 17:00

We'd like to retire away from South East. Somewhere quiet but not remote.
Would like to travel and wanted to go on a cruise but, like @hennybeans , we've changed our minds.

An absolute must is a good sized manageable garden , hopefully with lovely views.

Bookriddle · 15/02/2021 17:02

My wife is a only child, her mum and step dads house is being left to her, they live in the Alps in Austria, I'd live for us to live there, especially during the winter, we are both keen skiers! But in truth, it would be down to what my wife wants, we also have the option the live in a beautiful little town in Hungary, where my wife has a flat, personally would prefer Austria tho

KitchenFairy · 15/02/2021 17:06

Downsize our UK home, buy a place abroad (probably Barbados) and spend several months a year there, plus lots of city breaks.

ScrapThatThen · 15/02/2021 17:07

When dh retires we want to go on a three month holiday, probably to temporarily 'live' in one or two places we enjoyed in Australia or New Zealand rather than a grand tour. Then I will carry on working part time or full time while he gets the house ready to sell, and a few years later when the dc are all well through university we plan to move to another beautiful part of the UK in walking country for our early post retirement phase, with some flexibility to move nearer to the dc depending on where they settle and if we could be around to help with any future grandchildren. It's all realistic and doable.

JassyRadlett · 15/02/2021 17:10

Oh @Bookriddle I’m so envious. My retirement dream is a house or apartment in the Alps in Austria, a house or apartment near the beach in Australia (where I’m from) and a flat in London where we live now.

Visas for Austria are now the principal barrier! But even three months a year and rent it out for the rest would be idyllic.

2pinkginsplease · 15/02/2021 17:10

We would love to live closer to the coast. I want to wake u every morning and see the sea!

Original poster
bluehaze · 15/02/2021 18:58

Those are great plans and sound achievable. I actually like what you are saying #ScrapThatThen# About an early post retirement phase. It’s true that there doesnt need to be one plan and that’s it. An evolving plan that has several possible ends according to how it works out could really reduce that feeling of ‘I’ve got one chance, what if I make the wrong decision’.

OP posts:
Original poster
bluehaze · 15/02/2021 18:59

Oh how do I highlight a name. Highlight fail sorry.

OP posts:
HUCKMUCK · 15/02/2021 19:01

DH and I are saving for a motor home which we hope to enjoy before retirement. (Still at least 10 years away).

We just want to travel as much as we can when we retire whether that will mean in the motor home or not will depend how much we live/hate it but we would plan to be away for 3-4 months twice a year. Mainly parts of the uk and Europe.

cabbagevan · 15/02/2021 19:06

I have an empty house overseas (old family home, family now passed) which I haven't been able to get to but ideally I'll get there for a few months each year.

christmasathomeagain · 15/02/2021 19:11

Retirement is a long way off (20 years) but I love the idea of having grandchildren to look after, going on lots of weekends away and visiting my family, lots of meals out etc

lidoshuffle · 15/02/2021 19:11

Just to be away from work and office politics is a dream for me Grin

Bookriddle · 15/02/2021 20:04

@JassyRadlett yeah they have a beautiful home, we was suppose to be there at xmas, but because of covid we couldnt, hopefully this year, missed my skiing trip this year

ChristopherTracy · 15/02/2021 20:07

@hennybeans just being nosy - whereabouts in Arizona and how much would that cost. I often look at the different parts of the States that I like and daydream about 3 winter months being spent in some warmth.

Serin · 15/02/2021 20:11

House in the country, preferably also beside a beach.
Chickens, dogs, lots of friends round to stay and of course lots of grandchildren to stay in the holidays.

MadamBatty · 15/02/2021 20:12

I hope to retire in the next 5 years. I’ll travel, I’ll do walking holidays, I’ll be involved in a charity & I hope to eat a lot of cheese😁

BeautifulStar · 15/02/2021 20:17

Travel the world, buy a house in Cornwall and live there most of the time and then have an apartment in Barbados/Caribbean for winter.

I also quite fancy joining the WI or something!

BoogleMcGroogle · 15/02/2021 20:21

These are nice to read. We hope to retire at 55. Will downsize but maybe move to a small city like Norwich, or Cambridge. I hope we will see lots of the kids, and visit them wherever they are. We are currently renovating an inherited Alpine chalet and hope to spend lots of time there, walking and sailing. I’d also like to use my professional skills in different ways, perhaps doing something like independent prison visiting.

thecatsthecats · 15/02/2021 20:23

@lidoshuffle

Just to be away from work and office politics is a dream for me Grin
I know right? My staff tease me about "what am I getting up to" by taking holiday during lockdown.

Um, not dealing with your shit is what I'm doing. That's literally enough for me.

To answer OP - totally agree on the "pressure of getting it right". My husband and I recently revised our plans to consider emigration in our thirties in favour of three month stints abroad when we semi-retire at 55, mixed with seasonal work.

echt · 15/02/2021 20:26

I was thinking of retiring this year (65+ now) but as all travel plans have been scuppered, I'll work part-time for a while longer.

CherryRoulade · 15/02/2021 20:28

We’re working towards it , want a few more resources first.

Our list includes taking a couple of months to take our boat down the Danube and driving Grand Tour. In between we want to spoil any grandchildren that arrive, walk and swim.
Maybe go back to East Africa for six months volunteering, or possibly India.

Lots of things we haven’t fitted in yet. Edinburgh Tattoo, Holi as part of a trans India train trip, La tomatina, Fete du Citron, Oberammergau, Easter in St Peters Square, a Hurtigruten trip around Greenland. So much we want to do.

blue25 · 15/02/2021 20:29

An adventurous holiday first of all, using some of our pension lump sum. Maybe Alaska & Canada or South America. Then buy a camper van to do lots of UK trips. Would love to do lots of hiking, tennis & skiing.

Also, holidays abroad 3 + times a year or possibly spend 3 months each winter somewhere hot. Need to keep saving!

DramaAlpaca · 15/02/2021 20:29

DH and I want to buy a luxury camper van and travel around Europe in it.